DX LISTENING DIGEST 8-106, September 25, 2008 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 2008 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 1427 Fri 0100 WRMI 9955 Fri 0800 WRMI 9955 Fri 1930 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 7290 Fri 2030 WWCR1 15825 Fri 2300 WBCQ 5110-CUSB Area 51 Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 Sat 2000 WRMI 9955 Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1515 WRMI 9955 Mon 2200 WBCQ 7415 [temporary, confirmed Sept 15] Tue 1100 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 0530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1130 WRMI 9955 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: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD, which seems to be coming out less frequently? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our yg without delay. When applying, please identify yourself with your real name and location. Those who do not, unless I recognize them, will be prompted once to do so and no action will be taken otherwise. Here`s where to sign up http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ ** BAHAMAS. LA ZNS-BAHAMAS --- La ZNS es la emisora pública de las islas Bahamas, su misión es informar, entretener y educar a toda la población del archipiélago situado al este de la península de Florida (Estados Unidos) y la isla de Cuba; tiene, al mismo tiempo, una gran aceptación entre los miles de turistas que visitan regularmente las islas que ocupan casi 14000 km² y poco más de 300.000 habitantes, más de la mitad de ellos viviendo en la isla de Nueva Providencia en donde se localiza la capital. El archipiélago también es conocido como Lucayas, se extiende por más de 1400 kilómetros entre norte y sur. De sus más de 700 islas, sólo 22 están habitadas, a una de ellas llegó Colón aquel célebre 12 de octubre de 1492: San Salvador de Guanahaní [Watling]. Los primeros colonos ingleses [procedentes de Bermuda] llegaron a Eleuthera en 1648, aquí se localiza el núcleo de Spanish Wells. Las islas serían cedidas por Carlos II el Hechizado a los Lores propietarios de Carolina del Sur en 1670 que las acabaron donando a la metrópoli en 1717; en 1728 recibieron su carta orgánica que las dotó de una gran autonomía respecto a Londres. La marina norteamericana las ocuparía en 1776, seis años más tarde [1782] España las recupera, pero al año siguiente tropas reales del Reino Unido desalojan los escasos militares españoles de la guarnición. En 1967 se formó el primer gabinete íntegramente de color y el 10 de julio de 1973 alcanza la independencia pasando a integrarse en la Commonwealth como estado número 33. Casi el 50% de su presupuesto lo proporciona el turismo, sobre todo norteamericano, que se desplaza aquí en los grandes cruceros que tienen su puerto natural en Nassau. En la isla de Mayaguana, casi en el extremo sur, por encima de las Turcas y Caicos, se encuentra una base naval norteamericana. LXX ANIVERSARIO DE LA EMISORA ZNS-BAHAMAS La ZNS nació en 1936 en un estudio situado sobre la "Snappy Hat Shop" en la esquina de las calles Shirley y Este (Nassau). En 1938 se trasladó al edificio oficial de telecomunicaciones hasta que logró tener sede propia en Centreville. La letras le fueron asignadas a las emisoras británicas situadas en el Caribe y el Atlántico [letra Z] y las de las Bahamas ZNS equivalen a Zephyr –Balmy Breeze- Nassau, Sunshine. La gestión del servicio radiofónico correspondió al Departamento de Telecomunicaciones (actualmente Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation). Inicialmente estuvo en el aire dos horas al día en las frecuencia de 640 y 6090 kHz con una potencia de sólo 500 vatios, actualmente opera las veinticuatro horas. En 1947 la onda media de los 640 se veía fuertemente interferida por estaciones cubanas, sobre todo en horas nocturnas, entonces, bajo los acuerdos del Servicio de Radio para la zona de América del Norte, se le concedió una frecuencia nueva a las islas en 1540 kHz. El Sr. Harcourt (Rusty) Bethel estuvo al frente de la radiodifusora entre 1944-1970 y todavía muchos oyentes de las islas le recuerdan al frente de los micrófonos de la ZNS, sobre todo su eslogan: "If It’s O.K. Flour, It’s O.K." A partir de 1950 el servicio radial fue considerado una parte imprescindible para las islas y los costes de funcionamiento fueron asumidos por el gobierno mediante impuesto anual [licencia similar a como funcionan las emisoras públicas en la Commonwealth], fue un período efímero ya que finalmente se acabará adoptando el esquema de servicio comercial [a pesar de su aspecto público] en agosto de 1950, la ZNS se autofinancia por medio de la publicidad sin olvidar el servicio que presta a la comunidad sobre todo con programas de radio que forman, entretienen y mantienen al día cualquiera de los residentes a través de las tres frecuencias: ZNS-1 1540 kHz Nassau-New Providence. ZNS-2 1240 kHz Nassau-New Providence. ZNS-3 810 kHz Freeport-Grand Bahama. La frecuencia de los 1240 kHz suele identificarse como INSPIRATION 1240. La programación difiere poco a la del resto de estaciones anglófonas: noticias, deportes, entrevistas, conexiones con la BBC - sobre todo servicios informativos - espacios religiosos, música caribeña y, por supuesto: jazz en todas sus variantes, desde la época dorada a nuestros días (JUAN FRANCO CRESPO, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6075 --- Radio Causachun Coca, new station audible most nights since 16 Sep around 1000 but very difficult reception due strong CVC La Voz on 6070. Mainly spoken programmes of news and political themes. Finally got a positive ident 1032 23 Sep (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 2380, 0110 25/09, Rádio Educadora de Limeira, Limeira, SP, Portuguese, ID completo, hora certa e em seguida uma música sertaneja de raiz, 22232 (Adalberto Marques de Azevedo, Barbacena - MG - Brasil, HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 9820 BRASIL: R. 9 de julho, São Paulo-SP, PP, 14/09 1408. OM: aniversariantes da semana, Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns, leitura da Biblia, talk sobre Jesus e Nicodemos (um áudio imperfeito, podendo tratar-se ainda da fase de ajustes da antena de ondas curtas, talvez um 'carater experimental', 35553 (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo-SP, Brasil, Conexión Digital via DXLD) 9819.96 --- Radio 9 de Julho, São Paulo noted regular since 0921 21 Sep when heard with lively morning program, seems Catholic-friendly, frequent jingle idents. Fair to good strength. Weak signal noted on measured frequency heard 0300 23 Sep. Still trying to verify morning sign-on time which seems variable - appeared to open at 1000 23 Sep. Sometimes there is a strong Chinese on 9820 in the 0900-1000 period, but not there every day! (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. I don`t know if you have ever mentioned it, but the CBC has a fantastic rock and roll music program on SW. It is ``Randy`s Vinyl Tap``, on 9625, Saturdays at 23-01 UT [Sundays]. If you have reported it before, you haven`t done so recently, and your new listeners should know about it. Randy Bachman, of the Guess Who/Bachman Turner Overdrive fame, plays great tunes and delves into rock and roll history, giving facts and telling personal stories along the way. It is a can`t-miss program for anybody who loves rock and roll (Kent D Murphy, WV, Sept 15, by p-mail, retyped by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) It was mentioned in DXLDs 8-046, 8-058, 8-102 (gh) ** CANADA. Re 8-105, Radio Canada Int'l [Internal] to discontinue (English?) shortwave to Europe, B-08? I "went straight to the source" and emailed Bill Westenhaver asking him about the RCI cuts. Here is Bill's reply. "Dear Kraig, Thanks very much for your e-mail. Yes, we will be dropping English and French on shortwave to Europe at the end of the A08 season. Russian and Ukrainian to Europe will be continuing in the B08 season, as will shortwave to other target areas in the normal languages used for those areas. Hope that this clarifies the matter. 73- Bill Westenhaver, Audience Relations/Relations avec l'auditoire, Radio Canada International" Sad news. Hopefully, not an omen of additional cuts to follow. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, Manassas, VA USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also same response to Rich Cuff via DXLD It was also mentioned at the start + a bit later in last Sunday's Maple Leaf Mailbag: http://www.rcinet.ca/rci/console/index.asp?langue=en&idEmission=1929 73, (Erik Køie, CPH, DMK, ibid.) ** CHINA. CHINA SPACE MISSION ARTICLE HITS WEB BEFORE LAUNCH Thu Sep 25, 9:20 AM ET BEIJING - A news story describing a successful launch of China's long- awaited space mission and including detailed dialogue between astronauts launched on the Internet Thursday, hours before the rocket had even left the ground. The country's official news agency Xinhua posted the article on its Web site Thursday, and remained there for much of the day before it was taken down. . . http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080925/ap_on_re_as/as_china_space_article_1 (via Harry Helms, ABDX via DXLD) Sheeesh; I`ll never believe Xinhua again. Whooops, I never believed them anyway (gh, DXLD) ** CONGO DR [non]. Re 8-105: SOUTH AFRICA Radio Okapi? VTC former- Merlin pause endless loop music file noted again on 11690 kHz, Radio Okapi schedule in French/Lingala via Meyerton 0400-0600 UT on Sept 21. 11890 kHz note the time slot before 1700 UT Sept 21. Two brokered VTC broadcasts registered: 1600-1700 Radio Okapi via MEY towards 340 degrees 1700-1759 DWL Woofferton-UK in French, 170 degrees After the pause signal at 1702 UT noted DWL French program twice, strong from Woofferton-UK, and additional weak short echo sound. VTC "Test music loop" from control room in London is 24/7/12 available (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Sept 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) On the Okapi web site, http://www.radiookapi.net/ they still mention 9635 instead of 11690: Kinshasa 103.5 | Bunia 104.9 | Bukavu 95.3 | Goma 105.2 | Kindu 103.0 | Kisangani 94.8 | Lubumbashi 95.8 | Matadi 102.0 | Mbandaka 103.0 | Mbuji-mayi 103.5. Ondes courtes : 9635(5h-7h), 11890(17h-18h) 73, (Erik Koie, Copenhagen, ibid.) Radio Okapi 9635 was B-07, and also from 26 Oct til 29 March 2009 in B-08. 9635 1600-1700 MEY 100 kW 345 degrees 11890 in summer schedule A-08. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** CUBA. I think Arnie missed some DXUL shows during the hurricane season, but I noticed he was back on Tuesday Sept 23 around 2120 on 11760; did not keep listening as one could normally skim his script on several newsgroups and in his blog http://dxersunlimited.blogspot.com/ but the last one posted there was a month ago. Is he periodically banned from internet access, or what? Well, we can hear it along with WOR and several others at http://www.rfprograms.com/ can`t we? NO: no DXULs posted there since July! DCJC pulses at the rate of 132/minute, Sept 25 at 1311 on 9490, jamming against nothing, since R. República uses the frequency only at 10-11 via RMI via Sackville. Strangely, some other DCJC pulse jammers are at the rate of 120/minute = exactly 2 per second. This is probably deeply significant. RHC, 11800 is back on the air, heard Sept 25 at 2056 in Arabic // 11750 but an echo between them so from different sites, and 11800 weaker. At 2101, both now in Spanish opening Revista Iberoamericana with Siboney IS, and now 11800 with SAH, no doubt from R. Bulgaria also in Spanish to Spain, so the collision continues (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHOSLOVAKIA. 1968 - Czech Radio website project --- Andy Sennitt mentioned this in the Media Network newsletter. It's a web page with embedded audio from Radio Prague and other international broadcasters regarding the fallout from the "Prague Spring". If you enjoy history, you'll want to check it out. Link: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/107061 (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, swprograms via DXLD) ** DEUTSCHES REICH. Re 8-105: ´´Gillars' last broadcast was on May 6, 1945, just two days before the German surrender´´: If so, from where and under which circumstances? Domestic broadcasting from Berlin ceased on May 1st 1945, or precisely in the first hour of May 2. In this night the death of Adolf Hitler had been reported at 23:00 and 00:00 (not admitting that it was an ordinary suicide), and finally at 00:50 they closed down with the announcement "hereby Großdeutsche Rundfunk concludes its broadcasts" ("hiermit beendet der Großdeutsche Rundfunk seine Programmfolgen"), apparently with no other modulation (music, IS, whatever) following this announcement, just open carrier until the transmitter had been switched off. It's unclear if any other transmitters than Berlin-Tegel still relayed this broadcast. And Berlin-Tegel went again on air on May 13, with a locally produced programme because the cable links from the Masurenallee studio building were damaged (afterwards they made do with sending tapes to the transmitter, using bicycles and a boat transfer, until a provisional cable had been laid out). Thus it appears to be pretty unlikely that foreign service programmes still went out from Berlin on May 6 1945 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DEUTSCHES REICH [and non]. BATTLE FOR THE AIRWAVES: RADIO AND THE 1938 MUNICH CRISIS --- David Vaughan in conversation with Sir John Tusa Thursday 9 October 2008, 6.30 pm Embassy of the Czech Republic 26 Kensington Palace Gardens, London W8 4QY Seventy years on from the fateful events of 1938, when the Anglo- French policy of appeasement led to the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia and the onset of World War Two, Battle for the Airwaves: radio and the 1938 Munich crisis by David Vaughan looks at the Munich crisis as it was played out on the radio stations of Czechoslovakia, Germany, Britain and the United States. To mark the book's publication and the 70th anniversary of this event, veteran British broadcaster John Tusa will talk to award-winning journalist and broadcaster David Vaughan, about radio's key role in the run-up to the Munich Agreement and beyond. Using archival radio recordings, from Nazi sloganeering and Chamberlain' s soundbites ("peace in our time") to measured Czechoslovak pleas and live reports from correspondents, they will illustrate how radio brought the threat of war directly into the homes of listeners and made the crisis immediate while at the same time arguing that the 1938 battle for the airwaves was one of the first global media events, marking the beginning of the age of the modern electronic media. Admission free; Booking necessary: info @ czechcentre.org.uk or 020 7307 5180 For more information about Czech Centre events see http://www.czechcentre.org.uk Battle for the Airwaves: Radio and the 1938 Munich crisis. 240 pages with CD recording of key radio broadcasts. Published by Cook Communications, a communications consultancy, and Radioservis a.s., the publishing division of Cesky rozhlas, the Czech Republic's public service radio broadcaster. ISBN 978-80-86212- 79-1 (Jonathan Murphy, Ireland, World DX Club, via Mike Barraclough, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. It`s back – R. Africa, 15190, Sept 25 at 2028 with open carrier, squeezed next to bigger open carrier from Greenville 15185 about to open Hausa, which started sign-on at 2029. Still no mod from E.G. --- probably an habitual long deadair pause between programs on this incompetently-run station. YFR via Ascension 15195 was quite weak by comparison. Recheck at 2044, 15190 back in biz with a screaming preacher. Had been missing the last several days (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5005, Ecuatorial Guinea, R. Nacional, Bata. September 25, Spanish, 2252 African pop, English pop, Spanish pop music, 2256 YL ID, 2258 hi life music, 2300 YL talks, N.A., 2303 s/off. Slight enhancement, 24322. 73 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. GUINEA ECUATORIAL: GOBIERNO ABORTA EMISORA DE RADIO CLANDESTINA --- Guinea Ec.- Amnistía afirma que las acciones contra la emisora de CPDS violan las libertades de expresión y opinión --- Advierte de que el objetivo del Gobierno podría ser "silenciar al único partido independiente de oposición que queda en el país" Amnistía Internacional (AI) ha advertido de que las actuaciones del Gobierno de Guinea Ecuatorial contra los intentos de la formación opositora Convergencia para la Democracia Social (CPDS) de montar una emisora de radio restringen y violan "aún más" el derecho de la población ecuatoguineana a la libertad de opinión y de expresión y al intercambio y publicación de información. . . http://www.europapress.es/internacional/noticia-guinea-ec-amnistia-afirma-acciones-contra-emisora-cpds-violan-libertades-expresion-opinion-20080925113045.html (via José Miguel Romero2, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) WTFK? From some previous story I had the impression it was on FM, surely not SW. Skimming thru next story, published one week ago, still no frequency spotted. Must remember that word, ecuatoguineana/o (gh) Guinea Ec.- LOS PARTIDOS AFINES A OBIANG PIDEN AL GOBIERNO QUE ACTÚE "CON TODA LA FUERZA" SI CPDS NO ENTREGA SU EMISORA --- Malabo asegura que la emisora actúa clandestinamente y varios partidos insinúan que su objetivo es preparar un golpe de Estado Una coalición de partidos próximos al presidente de Guinea Ecuatorial, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, ha instado al Gobierno de Malabo a actuar "con toda la fuerza" en caso de que la formación opositora legal Convergencia para la Democracia Social (CPDS) no entrega a las autoridades su emisora de radio 'Onda Libre', la cual, a juicio de los partidos de esta coalición, es "ilegal" e incluso podría estar sirviendo de cobertura para provocar una "involución" en el país, según informó a Europa Press el portavoz adjunto de CPDS, Celestino Bakale. Según Bakale, los partidos entregaron ayer por la tarde a CPDS y al Gobierno un documento firmado por una tal "Coalición Democrática" en el que instaban al partido de Plácido Micó a entregar la emisora en un plazo de 24 horas, que vencía a las 17:00 horas de hoy (18:00 en España) y que era prorrogable en otras 24 horas. . . http://www.europapress.es/internacional/noticia-guinea-ec-partidos-afines-obiang-piden-gobierno-actue-toda-fuerza-si-cpds-no-entrega-emisora-20080918182151.html (via José Miguel Romero2, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ERITREA [and non]. 8000, Voice of Broad Masses, 1530-1535, escuchada el 24 de septiembre en tigrilla a locutor con comentarios, música de sintonía, segmento musical, SINPO 24342 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Once again, the Ethiopian jammer program is on 8000 (at times a few Hz above) and the target of this jammer, Dimtsi Hafash (VOBME) on 7999.4 kHz (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) ** ETHIOPIA/ERITREA. 7210 --- Radio Fana in clear from 0330 25 Sep. Strength improved to very good level by 0500 when I noted another HOA programme underneath. Am almost certain that this was VOBME parallel to 7999.4 station, which of course is badly QRMed by the presumed Ethiopian station on 8000.8 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE [and non]. [Not unidentified] 17770, Most probably another R Algerienne programme test via Issoudun 500 kW beasts towards Sahara desert and Sahel region noted during Sept, like on Sept 23 around 1400-1523* UT with Qur`an calls on 17770 kHz. Short notice registrations during Ramadan of supposed to be RTA tests on 17770 kHz in the afternoon, similar noted in 0600-0800 UT range on 11875 kHz. [is this written by Wolfy, who likes to call them beasts?] In winter season similar RTA or LBJ broadcasts planned to Sahara/Sahel target at 0400-0600 7295. 0500-0600 5960, 6170. 0600-0700 7295, 9390, 9430. 0700-0800 9435, 2x11625, 13570. 0800-1000 15230, 15320. 0800- 1100 15615. 1100-1600 15315. 1600-1700 15165. 1700-1800 11850, 13570. 1700-2000 9390. 1800-2100 9825, 9835. 1900-2000 9365, 11875. 2000-2100 7470. 2000-2200 7175, 7375. 2100-2300 7295 (Rudolf Krumm, Germany, Sept 23, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 25 via DXLD) ** FRANCE [and non]. Le groupe Bolloré a mis un terme à la diffusion en ondes moyennes de Radio Nouveaux Talents (RNT), après quatre années d'existence en région parisienne. . . http://www.radioactu.com/actualites-radio/97557/radio-nouveaux-talents-bollore-met-fin-a-la-diffusion-de-la-station/ (via Dario Monferini, DXLD) Ciao! Ecco cosa accade quando si pensa che trasmettere in DRM può far diventare ricchi --- speriamo che accada presto la stessa cosa alla tedesca OLD STARS RADIO che infesta i 1575 kHz con l'assordante DRM MODE (Dario Monferini, Milano, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. VOG QSL policy --- Dear John, hi, Please inform your friend Glenn Hauser, that we still send QSL cards. He could send us his reception report with an e-mail apodimos_era5 @ ert.gr or by post (ERT - ERA5 Voice of Greece - Mesoghion 432 - 15342 Aghia, Paraskevi - Attiki - Greece) and we will send him a QSL card to confirm this report. He mustn't forget to send us his postal address. With our best greetings From the Voice of Greece (via John Babbis, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. CAE RAYO DURANTE TORMENTA ELÉCTRICA EN TORRE TRANSMISORA DE RADIO VERDAD Recientemente recibí información de parte del Dr. Edgar Amílcar Madrid, Director de la emisora educativa evangélica Radio Verdad de Chiquimula, Guatemala que opera en los 4052[.5] kHz, que durante una tormenta eléctrica cayó un rayo sobre sus instalaciones del transmisor de onda corta, a pesar de tener 4 pararrayos, más el "chispero" del transmisor. Según la evaluación de los daños, son graves, se dañaron los módulos de salida, destruyó la lámpara de luz roja de la torre y fotoceldas. Incluso el impacto dañó a algunas viviendas cercanas. Así que en la medida de lo posible, si desean colaborar con ellos o simplemente enviar un comentario, envíen una nota a ésa emisora pequeña que ha sido muy atenta hacia los diexistas. Radio Verdad Apartado 5, Chiquimula, Guatemala C.A. radioverdad5 @ yahoo.com Cordiales 73's y a cuidarse de ésta época abundante de tormentas eléctricas (Magdiel Cruz Rodríguez, Jiutepec, Morelos, México, Sept 24, playdx yg via DXLD) Hit by lightning. Must have been Thor instead of God behind that. Come to think of it, have not run across them lately in tuning around before 0600; so off the air? When did this happen? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** INDIA. Re 8-105, unID 5010/AIR Chennai vs. Thiruvananthapuram There's been confusing listings of AIR stations at various sources (I recall ILG being one). For example see A08 file at http://www.geocities.jp/binewsjp/ (Jari Savolainen, Finland, Sept 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) i.e. Aoki, probably the reference used for logs of this. It shows station as AIR Chennai, but the location as Thiru+ (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA [and non]. Monitoring 11620, Sept 25 at 2049, a bad mix of Spanish/English, I guess a language lesson from REE, which moved here a few months ago to avoid collision with Vatican on 11625 --- and South Asian music, which was very fluttery. As I pointed out at the time, the QSY by REE solves nothing, as now it collides with AIR, and the situation can only be much worse in Eurafrica. Per Aoki, AIR GOS Bangalore from 2045 is 500 kW in English at 325 degrees. After 2057, Spain was off and only heard India on 11620 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. NEW DIRECTOR GENERAL FOR ALL INDIA RADIO http://www.televisionpoint.com/news2008/newsfullstory.php?id=1222159454 G Jayalal, deputy director general, All India Radio (AIR) has been promoted as director general of the country's premier audio broadcaster. Jayalal, who was serving as deputy DG, programming, planning and development, took charge as new the DG last week. He has been appointed on a temporary basis. The post has been filled after a gap of more than a year, since the tenure of last DG (AIR) Brijeshwar Singh had ended in May 2007. Singh, an IAS officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre, was a full-fledged DG of AIR. B S Lalli, CEO, Prasar Bharati, had been handling additional charge as DG of both AIR and Doordarshan till recently. Information and Broadcasting ministry had earlier objected to a retired IAS officer holding charge of the DG of DD and AIR. Lalli, a retired IAS officer, was appointed as CEO of Prasar Bharati last year. Subsequently, the ministry was sent a list of nominees for the two posts by Prasar Bharati, and Noreen Naqvi was appointed as DG (DD) on the basis of seniority, though her appointment too is on a temporary basis. Jayalal's appointment has also been ordered on seniority basis. He joined AIR in 1978 and had served as station director of Tirunelveli, Port Blair, Puducherry, Thiruvananthapuram and Bangalore, before heading the southern zone of AIR stations as DDG. (via Jaisakthivel, Chennai-600106, India Visit: http://www.dxersguide.blogspot.com http://www.sarvadesavaanoli.blogspot.com Join: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/sarvadesavanoli dxldyg via DXLD) INTERVIEW WITH AIR DIRECTOR GENERAL G JAYALAL http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/interviews/air-dg-g-jayalal-we-dont-believe-sensationalising-news (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. SPACE HACKERS --- Off topic, but very interesting! This week I saw the documentary "Space Hackers" on Dutch Television. (The documentary can also been seen in 6 parts on You Tube; just go to You Tube and search for Space Hackers). Max van Arnhem, The Netherlands ------------------------------------------------------------- 'SPACE HACKERS' – AN INTRIGUING DOCUMENTARY Two young Italian amateur radio enthusiasts eaves-dropped on top secret space transmissions and in doing so lifted the lid on the race to space. The brothers Achille and Giovanbattista Judica-Cordiglia had their passions ignited by tuning into Sputnik 1 in 1957. They were also keen home movie buffs and captured their exploits on film. With home built equipment they monitored both the Soviets and the Americans as they explored space. Their activities did anger authorities behind the Iron Curtain. At one time Radio Moscow branded the pair as ‘space gangsters’ after they exposed failures of early space flights. Their extensive archive of audio recordings includes that of a human heart-beat and laboured breathing from space in 1961, which an Italian cardiologist diagnosed as being from a dying man. On another occasion cosmonauts were heard experiencing enormous heat, and then abrupt silence, another failed space mission. The boys entered an Italian television quiz show with the topic of space and won easily. With the cash prize they bought tickets and headed to the United States. NASA officials were initially in disbelief when the brothers played their tape recording of Astronaut John Glenn from space, but soon recognised their talent that led to collaborative efforts. The documentary, Space Hackers, depicts amateur radio’s spirit of experimentation which includes orbit predictions, coping with Doppler frequency shift, extensive antenna design and construction. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Midnight, 19 May 1961. A crisp frost had descended on Turin’s city centre which was deserted and deathly silent. Well, almost. Two brothers, aged 20 and 23, raced through the grid-like streets (that would later be made famous by the film The Italian Job) in a tiny Fiat 600, which screamed in protest as they bounced across one cobbled piazza after another at top speed. The Fiat was loaded with dozens of iron pipes and aluminium sheets which poked out of windows and were strapped to the roof. The car screeched to a halt outside the city’s tallest block of flats. Grabbing their assorted pipes, along with a large toolbox, the two brothers ran up the stairs to the rooftop. Moments later, the city’s silence was rudely broken once more as they set to work: a concerto of hammering, clattering, sawing and shouting. Suddenly, an angry voice rang out; the man who lived on the floor below leant out of the window and screamed: “Will you stop that racket, I’m trying to sleep!” One of the young men shouted back “Sorry sir; the Soviets have launched a satellite and we’re trying to intercept it!” The brothers finished setting up, grabbed their head-sets, twiddled the knobs on their portable receivers, hit the record button and listened… “Come in… come in… come in… Listen! Come in! Talk to me! I am hot! I am hot! Come in! What? Forty-five? What? Fifty? Yes. Yes, yes, breathing. Oxygen, oxygen… I am hot. This… isn’t this dangerous?” The brothers looked nervously at one another. They only fully understood the Russian later when their sister translated for them, but the desperation in the woman’s voice was clear. “Transmission begins now. Forty-one. Yes, I feel hot. I feel hot, it’s all… it’s all hot. I can see a flame! I can see a flame! I can see a flame! Thirty-two… thirty-two. Am I going to crash? Yes, yes I feel hot… I am listening, I feel hot, I will re-enter. I’m hot!” The signal went dead. FROM OUTER SPACE There are those who believe that somewhere in the vast blackness of space, about nine billion miles from the Sun, the first human is about to cross the boundary of our Solar System into interstellar space. His body, perfectly preserved, is frozen at –270 degrees C (–454ºF); his tiny capsule has been silently sailing away from the Earth at 18,000 mph (29,000km/h) for the last 45 years. He is the original lost cosmonaut, whose rocket went up and, instead of coming back down, just kept on going. It is the ultimate in Cold War legends: that at the dawn of the Space Age, in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, the Soviet Union had two space programmes, one a public programme, the other a ‘black’ one, in which far more daring and sometimes downright suicidal missions were attempted. It was assumed that Russia’s Black Ops, if they existed at all, would remain secret forever. The ‘Lost Cosmonauts’ debate has been reawakened thanks to a new investigation into the efforts of two ingenious, radio-mad young Italian brothers who, starting in 1957, hacked into both Russia’s and NASA’s space programmes – so effect­ively that the Russians, it seems, may have wanted them dead. The brothers’ passion for radio began in 1949, when Achille Judica- Cordiglia was 16 and Gian was just 10. For them, radio was the Internet of its day, a wonderful invention which fuelled their dreams of exploration; they adored cinema too, and filmed everything they did. More than 50 years ago, on 4 October 1957, an event took place that transformed their lives forever. The brothers were sitting at a table in the large attic bedroom where they should have been doing their homework but, as usual, were tinkering with old radio parts. Suddenly, the programme they were listening to was interrupted – the Soviets had just launched Sputnik I (left), the first satellite to orbit the Earth. “They gave the frequency it was transmitting its beeps on,” recalled Achille, “so we thought: shall we try?” They didn’t know it, but Turin was perfectly situated to track the Soviet satellites; northern Italy was the only area in Western Europe on Russia’s orbital path. The brothers had their recording within a few minutes. Elated, they decided that they would track and record anything that went up into space. The brothers ended up constructing an 8m (26ft) collaps­ible dish which they sneakily perched on the rooftop of the highest block of flats in Turin’s city centre. To try and keep it secret they built it in such a way that it could be erected and dismantled extremely quickly. After the success of Sputnik, Russian Prem­ier Nikita Khrushchev boasted: “The US doesn’t have an intercontinental missile; otherwise, it would have easily launched a satellite of its own.” Russia had demonstrated that it had the power to fire its nuclear weapons to anywhere in the US. Space was about to become the major battleground of the Cold War, and the Judica-Cordiglia brothers dreamed of being part of it. The brothers went on to record the first living creat­ure in space the following month, when Laika the dog travelled aboard Sputnik 2, and then, in February 1958, the beeps from Explorer 1, America’s first satellite. Younger sister Maria Teresa recalled “being in their room was like being in the workshop of Dædalus, it was brimming with ideas… it was one big adventure.” Then, on 28 November 1960, the Bochum space observatory in West Germany said it had intercepted radio signals which it thought might have been a satellite. No official announcement had been made of any launch. “Our reaction was to immediately switch on the receivers and listen,” said Achille. After almost an hour of tuning in to static, the boys were about to give up when suddenly a tapping sound emerged from the hiss and crackle. “It was a signal we recognised immediately as Morse code – SOS,” said Gian. But something about this signal was strange. It was moving slowly, as if the craft was not orbiting but was at a single point and slowly moving away from the Earth. The SOS faded into distant space. The story was picked up by a Swiss-Italian radio station, and the brothers became the station’s space experts. By now, the Judica- Cordiglias were more than ready to capture the first human sounds from space. They came sooner than expected. At 10.55 pm on 2 February 1961, the brothers were scanning Russian frequencies as usual when Achille picked up a transmission from an orbiting capsule. They recorded the wheezing, struggling breathing of what they thought was a suffocating cosmonaut. The brothers contacted Professor Achille Dogliotti, Italy’s leading cardiologist and recorded his judgment. “I could quite clearly distinguish the clear sounds of forced, panting human breath,” said Dogliotti. Two days later, the Soviet press agency announced that Russia had sent a seven-and-a-half-tonne spaceship the size of a single-decker bus into space on 2 February, which had burned up during re-entry. No further information was forthcoming. Had the brothers captured the dying breaths of a cosmonaut? AIRBRUSHED FROM HISTORY James Oberg worked in NASA’s mission control for almost 20 years before becoming a space historian specialising in the Russian space programme. According to him, “the sounds the Judica-Cordiglias heard could be interpreted to mean a lost cosmonaut; in those days nobody could tell. In those days so much was secret and much of the Soviet space programme was wrapped in disinformation, and bred by ignorance.” Large parts of the early Soviet Space programme remain unknown to this day; information was destroyed; most of those involved have died or vanished. Some historians have recently solved some of the mysteries surrounding the early cosmonauts. Oberg himself discovered that a famous photo of the ‘Sochi Six’, a group of Russia’s original top cosmonaut candidates, had been doctored, erasing one of the six men. Oberg discovered that the rosebush was Grigoriy Nelyubov, expelled from the programme in 1961 after a drunken brawl with some soldiers. Some time later, drunk and depressed, Nelyubov stepped in front of a train and was killed. Other airbrushings include Anatoliy Kartashov, who experienced skin bleeding during a centrifuge run, and Valentin Varlamov who vanished after injuring his neck in a diving accident. Vladimir Shatalov, the Commander of Cosmonaut Training from 1971 to 1987, admitted that “six or eight” trainees had died in the 1960s, but wouldn’t say how. The Russian cosmonaut, it seems, had to be perfect or not exist at all. By 1971, nine cosmonauts had vanished from the official photographs which were re-released in honour of the 10th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s flight. So, did any cosmonauts actually die in space? Russian journalist and 1965 cosmonaut candidate Yaroslav Golovanov claimed that on 10 November 1960, a cosmonaut called Byelokonyev died on board a spaceship in orbit. Mikhail Rudenko, a retired senior space engineer, claimed a few years ago that three early victims were test pilots who were simply blasted straight up into space between 1957 and 1959. Sadly, there is no evidence to back these claims. But the Soviets were experts at making people and evidence disappear, so it is all too easy to believe that more deaths might have occurred in those desperate early days of the space race. Risks were taken at the insistence of Khrushchev, who needed results for political leverage. Tests were not completed and safety checks were ignored. On 23 October 1960, a rocket exploded at Baikonur vaporising 165 technicians, an event that was hushed up by the Soviet authorities for over 30 years. One fatality that we do know about from those early days was that of Valentin Bondarenko. At 24, he was the youngest cosmonaut. He met his terrible end on 23 March 1961, while in a pressure chamber as part of a 10-day isolation exercise. Bondarenko dropped an alcohol-soaked cotton swab on a hot plate, which – in the oxygen-rich environment – started a fire that ignited his suit. It was 20 minutes before the pressurised door could be opened. Bondarenko was pulled out barely alive, crying “It was my fault”, and died eight hours later, comforted by his best friend, Yuri Gagarin. News of the accident was hushed up until 1986. Two weeks after Bondarenko’s death, on 11 April 1961, an Italian journalist working for the International Press Agency in Moscow received a tip-off that something “of immense importance” was about to happen. He called the Cordiglia brothers. “We leapt out of bed,” said Achille, “dashed over to our receivers and began listening. Suddenly, in what was a magical moment, the hiss faded and this Russian voice emerged from very far away for a few seconds.” At that stage, no one in the West – not even the President of the United States – knew that the Russians had launched a rocket. Russian translators were few and far between but the brothers had this covered – their younger sister was fluent in Russian. The first sentence they heard was: “The flight is proceeding normally. I feel well. The flight is normal. I am withstanding well the state of weightlessness.” As the brothers listened, the cosmonaut experimented with zero gravity. They lost the signal as the cosmonaut prepared for re-entry while whistling a communist hymn. It was only then that President John F Kennedy was awoken at 2am to be given the news that Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space. Five weeks later, on 19 May 1961, the brothers picked up what is now their most infamous recording, which they claim is of a woman cosmonaut whose ship burned up on re-entry. Then, a few days after this, they picked up a tantalising few seconds of another transmission: “Conditions growing worse, why don’t you answer?” Both recordings are clear and accurately translated. TORRE BERT The brothers got permission to take over a disused German bunker on the outskirts of Turin at a place called Torre Bert. Reclaiming all the scrap metal and old pipes they could find, they enlisted the help of a dozen student volunteers and constructed a series of antennæ, eventually creating a super-dish with a diameter of 15m (50ft) and weighing one and a half tonnes. The brothers stuck a sign on the bunker wall: Torre Bert Space Centre. Inside, using discarded WWII American army equipment, they created an exact replica of Cape Canaveral, including an enormous map of the world behind a Perspex sheet along with an LED display that marked satellites’ progress. Kitchen clocks provided the time in London, Moscow, Cape Kennedy and Turin. Volunteers wore white coats. While the US spent 15 million dollars on one listening post, Torre Bert had cost the brothers nothing; and, as they soon discovered, it worked just as well. With the opening of Torre Bert, the Judica-Cordiglia brothers became local superstars. “Those days were frenetic and exciting,” recalled Gian’s wife Laura, “because when word got out that there was a space mission it was packed with girlfriends, friends, students; even professors started coming.” The brothers found partners to create their own amateur space-tracking network, dubbed ‘Zeus’. When they got word of an imminent launch, they notified 16 stations across the world. Gian’s fiancée coordinated the operation. The Americans were due to put a man into space on 20 February 1962, 10 months after Gagarin. The Judica-Cordiglia brothers were desperate to listen in, but NASA kept the wavelength secret for fear of Soviet interference. “We came across a photograph of an unmanned NASA Mercury capsule being recovered from the ocean,” said Gian. John Glenn was going to fly in the same craft. In the photograph they could see the antenna. “If we could accurately determine the length of this antenna then we’d have the frequency.” But the brothers lacked a scale. They told their father, a lecturer in legal medicine at Milan University, who had a solution. In the picture, four frogmen were sitting in a boat. He used the bizygomatic index – the distance between the right and left cheek bones in proportion to the width of the face – to calculate what 1cm (0.4in) represented on the photograph. “It seemed so simple but no one else had thought of it. Somehow, we’d managed to crack America’s top secret!” Achille said. On 20 February 1962, while John Glenn lay flat on his back inside the instrument-packed capsule Friendship 7, a buzzing Torre Bert was packed full of students, professors, children, friends, family, hangers-on and one or two shady characters (of which, more later). For several long minutes, static streamed into Torre Bert, when suddenly Achille hissed “SSSSSSHH!” And then it came through: the voice of the first American in space: “Capsule is turning around. Oh, that view is tremendous! I can see the booster doing turnarounds just a couple of hundred yards behind. Cape is go and I am go.” They listened as Glenn gobbled malt tablets, squeezed a tube of apple sauce into his mouth and told ground control he felt fine. “I have had no ill effects at all from zero G. It’s very pleasant, as a matter of fact. Visual acuity is still excellent. No astigmatic effects. No nausea or discomfort whatsoever.” Then Friendship 7 shuddered. Glenn’s body was squeezed by G-force. A fiery glow enveloped the ship as he began re-entry. Cape Canaveral lost radio contact. So did the Judica-Cordiglias. For Cape Canaveral, the silence lasted for seven minutes. Then came Glenn’s exultant voice. “Boy!” he cried. “That was a real fireball!” Inside Torre Bert, it was a scene of jubilation. “Nobody could believe we’d done it. What a feeling!” said Achille. As every computer hacker knows, finding out secrets can be dangerous – but the risk is what makes the game so thrilling. That risk was about to catch up with the Cordiglias. THE GUARDIAN ANGEL A few days later, the Judica-Cordiglias’ doorbell rang. Standing there like a character straight from a spy movie was a serious-looking, swarthy man in a long coat with a heavy Russian accent. He said he was a journalist. The brothers gave him an interview. Shortly after the Russian ‘reporter’ left, the doorbell rang again. This time it was a short Italian man with a neat beard in a smart suit. He pulled a photo out of his pocket. It was of the Russian ‘reporter’. “This man is not just a journalist; he works for the KGB, so beware. I work for SIFA [the Italian Secret Service], counter intelligence,” he said. “Know that we are looking after you. But be careful,” he warned them. “We can’t be every­where.” And he left. The brothers later became firm friends with this man they called their “guardian angel”. I was told by a retired journalist that the same KGB agent eventually became a Russian ambassador to a European country. Armed with a name, I tracked him down in the Czech Republic. He agreed to meet me in the art-deco basement bar of Prague’s extraordinarily ornate Municipal House. Sitting amongst the tourist hubbub, speaking to me on condition of anonymity, he told me a tale from 50 years ago, a time when Eastern Europe was a very different place: “Of course we were interested in the Judica-Cordiglia brothers; they were hacking into our communications. Imagine that today; a pair of amateur kids taking apart the Russian space programme like it was a toy. “I heard the Gagarin recording, transcribed it and verified it was genuine. Our cosmonauts were warned to be careful what they said while in space after this and we had the brothers followed.” I next tracked down the brothers’ “guardian angel”, who insisted that his name and location be kept secret. “When the Judica-Cordiglia brothers were approached by the Soviets,” he told me, “we immediately decided to make contact with them. Our goal was to protect them but also to obtain information about Soviet spacecraft. At first they didn’t trust me, but soon we became friends.” The brothers didn’t realise how much danger they faced. The retired KGB agent had told me: “They had to be dealt with – an accident perhaps – but then that TV programme happened and they were famous. That saved their lives. I was glad; they were good kids.” THE FAIR OF DREAMS The telephone call that may well have saved their lives came from Mike Bongiorno, Italy’s most popular TV presenter who told them: “I want you to come on my quiz show Fiera dei Sogni [The Fair of Dreams], and if you win I’ll make your dreams come true.” For the Judica-Cordiglias, their dream was to visit NASA, something they thought was way beyond their reach, but now they had a chance. The only catch was that they had to win Italy’s most popular and toughest TV quiz, the Italian equivalent of Mastermind. Contestants had to answer questions on their specialist subject within a certain time frame; incredibly, the brothers answered every single question correctly, and in record time. They arrived in the US on 26 February 1964. They filmed everything. First stop was the huge white building that was NASA headquarters in Washington. Waiting for them on the top floor was John Haussman from Tracking and Data Acquisition. He wasn’t looking forward to babysitting two space-mad Italians. They bounded into the room carry­ing their tape recorder. “After we introduced ourselves we played the tape and started filming,” Achille remembered. “When he heard the sound of Glenn’s voice calling “Mercury Control” Haussman leapt out of his seat.” “How did you get this?” Haussman demanded, “It’s not possible!” He phoned a colleague. “You’ve gotta come and hear this.” James Morrison, NASA’s Space Programmes Technical Director arrived minutes later. “I’ll be darned!” he exclaimed. “How did you do this?!” Turning to Haussman, he said, “We should be more careful; if they intercepted it so can the Russians.” A few minutes later the room was packed and the two boys found themselves discussing orbits with America’s top scientists – their dreams really had come true. The next part of their story has remained secret to this day. Many sceptics have argued that it was impossible for the brothers to have listened into so many Russian space missions. It may be, as some have claimed, that the brothers sometimes felt under press­ure to produce results and were tempted to satisfy the insatiable popular demand for space stories by fabricating sensational new recordings. It’s unlikely, for example, that the soft beating sounds they once recorded were really a cosmonaut’s heartbeat as they claimed; heartbeats were broadcast from the capsules, but as electrical signals which sounded like static. But it’s also true that the Russians always made every effort to keep their disasters secret. In April 1967, Vladimir Komarov died when Soyuz 1 crashed on re-entry due to a design fault. His ship was a prototype of the one Russia hoped to send to the Moon, but had been plagued with major design problems from the start. Not wishing to reveal their mistake, the Russians said that Komarov’s parachute had simply failed on re-entry. Some accounts suggest that the Bochum tracking station, part of the Zeus network, overheard Komarov cursing the ship’s designers while he was still in orbit. Experts now accept that the brothers did record some Russian and American space missions, but that their interpretations weren’t always accurate. NASA knew exactly what they had accomplished back in 1964 and wanted all their information. But the brothers wanted something in exchange: “We were missing two frequencies used by the Soviets and we wanted to know if NASA had them. The problem was that NASA didn’t really trust us!” Eventually, they decided on a straightforward swap. In total silence they began passing pieces of paper back and forth. Achille recalled: “When I finished writing the first frequency, Haussman said to me with a half smile: ‘Correct.’” “Now,” Gian said, “it’s our turn.” The man handed them a piece of paper. “I was disappointed because we already had that one.” NASA didn’t have the next two frequencies that the Judica-Cordiglias gave them. NASA Director Harry J Goett told them: “You guys have done a remarkable job.” “Then, when NASA gave us the third and fourth frequencies, they were totally new!” said Gian. “We shook hands and then practically ran from the building.” The brothers bear-hugged and danced in the street out of sheer joy at what they had accomplished. Once they arrived back in Turin, they found Torre Bert besieged by fans, enthusiasts – and spies from both sides who had started hanging around. Every now and again, their “guardian angel” appeared to tell the brothers just who these sinister characters were. Documents went missing, including some blurry pictures of the Moon transmitted from the Soviet Lunik 4 probe. “But we’d already sent copies to the papers,” said Gian, “so it didn’t matter.” Despite threats from the KGB, the Judica-Cordiglia brothers continued. They captured the final mission of the Vostok spacecraft by the female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova and the first-ever spacewalk, taken by Aleksei Leonov in March 1965. Afterwards, when Leonov tried to climb back into the airlock, he found that his spacesuit had inflated so much that he didn’t fit. He managed by opening a valve in his suit to let some pressure bleed off – a risky procedure. This information was withheld by the Russians, but the Judica-Cordiglias passed it on to NASA, believing it might save an astronaut’s life. A few weeks later, on 7 April 1965 General Nikolai Kamanin, Russia’s head of cosmonaut training, claimed that it was impossible that the brothers could have tracked any of their rockets. In an article published in The Daily Red Star, he called them “The Gangsters of Space!” According to Achille: “This denial only supported all the work we had done. We had succeeded with little equipment in undermining the Soviet Union.” By 20 July 1969, 12 extraordinary years had passed since Sputnik’s first beep. During that final emotional night at Torre Bert, it was all systems go as the Judica-Cordiglias reported the Moon landing live to millions of radio listeners. But it was the end of an era. The pictures were broadcast live on television. The mystery had gone; it was the beginning of the end for radio. It wasn’t the end of the brothers, though. They went on to set up Europe’s first cable TV network. Achille trained to become a ‘space doctor’ and is now a leading cardiologist, while Gian helps police to tap the mobile phones of Italy’s criminals. The Judica-Cordiglia brothers remain adamant that they recorded lost cosmonauts. Standing in front of their unique library of recordings, Gian told me: “Fifty years ago, it wasn’t possible to build a simple computer that weighed less than a ton, yet we were firing men and women into outer space who were prepared to die the loneliest of deaths. They were true heroes. And, thanks to radio, we know about their sacrifices.” He patted a shelf full of recordings. “We must never forget them.” FURTHER READING Rex Hall & David Shayler, The Rocket Men: Vostok and Voskhod, the First Soviet Manned Spaceflights (Springer-Verlaf, 2005). Vladimir Suvorov and Alexander Sabelnikov, The First Manned Spaceflight: Russia’s Quest for Space (Bova Biomedical, 1997). Rex Hall, David Shayler and Bert Vis, Russia’s Cosmonauts: Inside the Yuri Gagarin Training Center (Springer-Verlag, 2005). FILM INFO Special thanks to Italian film-makers Alessandro Bernard, Enrico Cerasuolo & Paolo Ceretto, makers of Space Hackers, a documentary about the Judica-Cordiglia brothers. HOW DID THE BROTHERS KNOW THEY WERE TRACKING A SATELLITE? As a satellite travels at 18,000 mph (29,000km/h) or faster, the Doppler effect makes the frequency of its signals change considerably as it approaches and recedes: when it is approaching a listening point, its frequency is higher; when it is moving away, its frequency is lower. By measuring the shift of the Doppler effect, it is possible to estimate a satellite’s speed and therefore its expected rotational time and its distance above the Earth. A signal the Judica-Cordiglias picked up on 28 November 1960, which they believe was an SOS transmission from a Russian spacecraft, had a slower Doppler effect than normal, as if the craft was not orbiting the Earth but was at a single point and slowly moving away into space. HOW DID THEY KNOW WHEN TO LISTEN? The Judica-Cordiglias weren’t able to listen to the satellite transmissions all of the time because the orbit would take the satellite out of range to the other side of the planet. They had about 20 minutes during each orbit, so it was crucial that they knew when they could listen (they weren’t able to man their posts full-time). There was also the problem that the Earth’s rotation would mean the direction that their antennæ needed to be pointed in to get the best signal had to be changed to account for this. Their solution was simple. The Earth is inclined on its own axis at an angle of 23.5 degrees. The brothers got a globe, straightened it up and marked the satellite’s orbital path around it. A 360-degree rotation of the Earth happens every 24 hours and so, by dividing 360 by 24 they had the rotation of the Earth in one hour, namely 15 degrees. By measuring the Doppler effect, it was possible to conclude that most satellites had a rotational period of about 90 minutes around the Earth so that would make 15 degrees plus 7.5 degrees, meaning the Earth will have shifted beneath the satellite by 22.5 degrees, so they had the direction. As for the timing, they created conversion tables. In 24 hours there are 14,440 minutes. So, for example, if they listened to a hypothetical satellite at 6.34 am, that is 394 minutes after midnight, they would add the 394 to 90 minutes of satellite rotation to obtain 484 which is equivalent to 8.04am – they used these intervals to get some sleep, run errands, go to school or do their homework. A LIST OF THE SUSPECTED LOST COSMONAUTS THE BROTHERS CLAIM TO HAVE RECORDED May 1960 Unnamed cosmonaut lost when his orbiting space capsule veered off course. November 1960 The brothers picked up an SOS message in Morse code from a troubled spacecraft. February 1961 Recorded the suffocation of a cosmonaut. April 1961 Just prior to Yuri Gagarin’s flight, a capsule circled the Earth three times before re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. May 1961 Weak calls for help from an orbiting capsule. October 1961 A Soviet spacecraft veered off course and vanished into deep space. November 1962 A space capsule bounced off the Earth’s atmosphere during re-entry and disappeared. November 1963 Unnamed female cosmonaut perished on re-entry. April 1964 Cosmonaut lost when capsule burnt up on re-entry. (via Max Van Arnhem, Netherlands, Sept 19, MWC via DXLD) ** IRAN. Beautiful rendition of Qur`an, with reverb, Sept 25 at 1345 on 15150, VIRI Arabic via Sirjan, and good reception. Lasted at least until 1400; at 1420 check, nice pop string music, 1422 YL talking reverently in Arabic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISLE OF MAN [and non]. Radio Caroline DJs reunited IOM Today, Isle of Man, 25 September 2008 Former Radio Caroline North DJs, newsreaders and engineers returned to the Island at the weekend to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the radio station's departure from Manx waters. It was the first gathering in the Island of staff and fans to remember the ship that operated off Ramsey bay between 1964 and 1968. More than 100 delegates attended the convention, from the station's founder, Ronan O'Rahilly, and newsreader Nick Bailey to fans from across the UK. Among the DJs were Alan Turner, who was one of the three DJs who broadcast continuously on the MV Caroline's journey from Harwich to Ramsey in July 1964. . . http://www.iomtoday.co.im:80/what-where-when/Radio-Caroline-DJs-reunited.4527495.jp (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** LAOS. Via remote receiver in the Philippines: 4412.6v, Sam Neua (presumed) 2255 sign on Sept 23 with instrumental interval signal. At 2257 I heard what sounded like Laos' national anthem (I matched it up via a version on the Internet.) 2258 talk by woman but I could not make out what she was saying. They started playing music at 2300, but the signal seemed quite low (Hans Johnson, Cumbredx via DXLD) Following up on this one today, they were already on at 0948, so listed *1000 is not quite correct. I will have to get up a bit earlier to see when they sign on exactly (Johnson, Sept 25, ibid.) ** LITHUANIA. [9770] --- The Mighty KBC, Holland, via Sitkunai heard weakly 19 Sep with Dutch folk music 1029, then opening ident. Reception largely unusable in NZ target area due heavy QRM from strong Asian station on 9765. Will check again for next test at this time on 26 Sep (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That would be VOR in Korean via Irkutsk, 125 degrees at 10-11 per Aoki (gh) ** NETHERLANDS. PI9NOZ/A --- This callsign was used on 27 June by the KPN Broadcast Services' amateur radio club for a special event activity from the station at Zeewolde Flevoland http://www.pi6atv.com/pi9noz The Dutch KPN Broadcast Services discontinued its shortwave transmissions from that site at the end of 2007, and the station will be totally dismantled later this year. Special QSL via PA3FZV, direct or bureau. QSL VIA AI5P Rick says that the QSL cards for his recent AI5P/KH2, V73PX and AI5P/KH0 operations are expected from the printer in about six weeks. [TNX The Daily DX, 27 June 2008] (df5sx to dl1sax, Sept 23) (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Sept 25 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. Radio Netherlands Cancels SW to N. America [discussion continued from 8-104] One point I have not seen anyone raise so far: why does it have to be all-or nothing?? If the point is to save the cost of three transmitter-hours per day, why not cancel two and keep one? That would keep a LOT of RNW fans happy, if they could still hear it at just one of the three totally duplicated times. Guess what, it could also serve the English-speaking Caribbean areas and even Latin America at the same time. Now, worse than Japan, there will be NO ENGLISH SW broadcasts at all from RN overnight into mid-morning local (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Apparently, there are people in the Netherlands with plenty of money willing to finance SW broadcasts in Dutch to North America. And unlike the English service they don't have to keep proving to their benefactors that they have an audience (Sergei S., IL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The Dutch Service has a mandate to broadcast to expatriate populations. In that sense, you are correct (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) The Dutch service is paid for by the Dutch taxpayer (including me). The Dutch government knows exactly how many Dutch expats they are, and where they are. We have a separate mission statement to serve this niche audience. But even there, the number who listen to shortwave is dropping. There will come a point at which the shortwave transmissions will no longer be viable. But, in fact, we receive a far larger amount of feedback from North America to our Dutch service than to our English service. If there a lot of people in North America still listening to our English shortwave transmissions, most of them appear to be incommunicado :-) What amuses me is that shortwave listeners always imagine they are part of some huge international community. In fact, as I visit the websites of different international broadcasters, I and more and more seeing the same listeners' names cropping up in mailbag programmes. The number of SWLs in North America who actually listen to our programmes for the content, as opposed to those who only tune hoping for a QSL every time we use a new transmitter site, is probably a few thousand at the most. Someone even suggested on this list that it was not more than a thousand. They could well be right. That means the cost per listener is astronomically high. Our Spanish service still reaches hundreds of thousands of listeners by shortwave in Latin America. They get a huge listener response compared to English. That's because in many parts of Latin America, shortwave is still used for domestic broadcasting. And it's a key target for us in terms of press freedom rankings, which North America isn't (Andy Sennitt, RNW, ibid.) Andy, How does the closure affect, if anything, the 1) QSL policy and 2) the mailing list? I QSLed Bonaire and Flevo (and Happy Station) years ago and I read the schedules when they arrive. I certainly enjoy Radio Netherlands and will listen to broadcasts beamed to other areas. Thanks and 73, (Liz Cameron, MI, ibid.) Hi Liz, Not at all, as far as I know. The mailing list is platform- independent, so if you want to continue listening to us via another platform or on shortwave beamed to another area, you can still receive it. RNW will still be broadcasting via over 20 shortwave transmitter sites, so there's plenty of scope for those looking for QSLs :-) (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) And as Andy also outpointed, the Bonaire frequencies will still be on the air in our evenings, only Spanish instead of English, so start listening to them in Spanish instead. Who needs English? (gh, DXLD) Raul, I'm as puzzled as you are by the current indifference to shortwave. When I tell my three grown-up kids (the oldest is a ham) how they can listen to foreign countries on the internet, they couldn't care less. But when I tell my husband (who's not a ham, but has understood my radio obsession enough to help me put up antennas) what a shame it is that one by one, nations are pulling up their drawbridges (anyone else remember how much fun it was to listen to R. Tashkent?), he understands -- especially when I remind him of the scene in Around the World in 80 Days when Michael Palin is listening to the BBCWS on a boat in the Red Sea. These are interesting times; perhaps the sunspots are drying up for a reason :-). 73 and peace de (Anne Fanelli in late-summery Elma NY, ibid.) It's not indifference. Some of the guys in our Programme Distribution Department are radio hams, and are genuinely saddened by the gradual move away from shortwave. But you people who have a shortwave radio only see things from the listening end. I used to be an SWL, and indeed a Dxer, for quite a long time. But working inside an organisation like RNW makes you see things from a totally different perspective. It's hard to tell a journalist that he or she cannot go to Africa to report on a human crisis because you have spent all the budget broadcasting three hours a day on shortwave to an area of the world where hardly anyone listens any more. About 50% of our annual budget has been spent on programme distribution in recent years. In other words, it costs us as much to get the programmes to the listeners as it does to produce them. We are now trying to reduce these distribution costs, and have to identify the areas where we can make savings while inconveniencing the minimum number of people. Shortwave is by the most expensive way of reaching our audience, so it's the first thing to look at when you want to make cuts. We stopped broadcasting on shortwave in English to Europe some years ago, with very little complaint, suggesting that there weren't many regular listeners left. Quite a few SWL's are not honest to broadcasters about their listening habits. You'd be surprised how often I've seen letters and emails from people claiming that they are regular listeners to a programme that ended several years earlier! I know that many people on this list are disappointed, even angry, at the decision. But we can't change reality. Another thing - I am prepared to come on this list and try to justify what some of you think cannot be justified. I don't recall anyone from the BBC or DW getting involved in a dialogue with shortwave listeners when they dropped shortwave to North America. But there's a limit to how much one person can cope. I am nearing that limit. So I am going to take the rest of the weekend off. (Andy Sennitt, RNW, Sept 20, ibid.) ``But where in blazes does DRM fit into all this? Very 73 and good listening de Anne Fanelli in Elma NY`` The DRM service (experiments, pilot project, whatever) of RNW for North America already went away last spring. Did BBC and Deutsche Welle not have DRM transmissions via Sackville? They are gone as well. The sun has already set. ``What amuses me is that shortwave listeners always imagine they are part of some huge international community. In fact, as I visit the websites of different international broadcasters, I and more and more seeing the same listeners' names cropping up in mailbag programmes.`` Try this with the German services still around. Always the same names, everywhere. I would be surprised if any of them has substantially more than Harry's 1000 listeners, with the exception of RFI and Voice of Russia (available via local FM or mediumwave transmitters). Concerning the non-existant community: What is the origin of the belief that broadcasters urgently need to get reception reports? Could it be that this myth has been created by certain broadcasters themselves, with the goal to get letters that can be counted as listeners mail, just to justify the own service? Or simply to force shortwave fans to listen to the program content at all, a trick used at least by RBI (I saw an internal paper that openly explains this as the objective of the diploma program of RBI Bronze, RBI Silber, RBI Gol, RBI Eichenlaub mit Schwertern). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) Concerning the non-existent community: What is the origin of the belief that broadcasters urgently need to get reception reports?`` I think it was initially promoted by government broadcasters as a way to justify their funding --- "look at all these people who are writing us from all over the world!" Unfortunately, most people were far more interested in QSL cards and other souvenirs than they were in the culture, history, or politics of the home countries of broadcasters. Maybe the best way to understand international SW broadcasting in the post-World War II era is to look at it as an extension of the Cold War. Stations in the USSR and Warsaw Pact countries sent out lots of QSLs, so stations in NATO nations had to do the same. The VOA had relay stations near the USSR, so Cuba had to become a relay base for the Voice of Vietnam, etc. And so it went, each move by one side producing a response from the other, resulting in an escalation, etc. With the end of the Cold War, most of the rationale for such efforts also ended. The rise of the internet was another huge blow. It was an interesting time to be a SWL/DXer, but that time, like the Roman Empire, is now history and will not return (Harry Helms W5HLH. Corpus Christi, TX EL17, ibid.) Andy Sennitt wrote: ``It's not indifference. Some of the guys in our Programme Distribution Department are radio hams, and are genuinely saddened by the gradual move away from shortwave.`` But at least it appears that their work is still appreciated and considered necessary, which is not a matter of course. Did you see the recent taz (the Berlin-based leftist newspaper) interview with Deutsche Welle director Erik Bettermann? There he said that DW's new strategy "as an example, affects a complete technical department dealing with shortwave transmissions" (a bit vaguely quoted from memory). ``We stopped broadcasting on shortwave in English to Europe some years ago, with very little complaint, suggesting that there weren't many regular listeners left.`` Let's keep the chronicle complete: This happened exactly five years ago, at the end of the summer 2003 season. At the same time the general amount of shortwave transmitter hours had been cut by 40 percent as a cost-saving measure, mostly by reducing the frequency hours for Dutch in Europe. Since this time the use of the Zeewolde/Flevoland transmitters was so low that I was in fact surprised that RNW still held to it for another four years. Around the mid-nineties it had already been discussed to cancel the shortwave transmission of RNW English in Europe and keep only the newly added mediumwave service, at this time via Bolshakovo on the now defunct 1386 outlet. At this time the shortwave service had been kept after the listeners response had been considered sufficient to do so, unlike the situation in 2003. Since 1994 RNW English to Europe no longer went out via Zeewolde (at this time Dutch to Europe had been increased and 5955 confined to it); instead it moved to transmitters in Germany, by way of an airtime exchange with Deutsche Welle if I'm correct. It used 6045 from Jülich throughout from 1994 to 2003 plus a second transmitter, and this was first the 100 kW transmitter at Nauen until DW abandoned it in 2000, then this frequency (first 7190, later 9860) moved to Wertachtal, running a transmitter in 25 percent mode, i.e. at 125 kW. 6045 was non-directional, using a quadrant antenna, while 7190/9860 beamed to the UK and Ireland. ``I don't recall anyone from the BBC or DW getting involved in a dialogue with shortwave listeners when they dropped shortwave to North America.`` Thus I was also not expecting you to participate in this discussion. ``But there's a limit to how much one person can cope. I am nearing that limit.`` I'm at this limit for years now, and a cost-benefit-analysis yields no good result. I'm just surprised when I see how known my name appears to be. Trouble is that I'm unable to get anything out of that. This just to explain a recent remark I could not resist from making here (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Reading this, I just feel absolutely sick inside. Wow, this just really hurts (Rick Barton, AZ, Sept 20, ABDX via DXLD) I wasn't thinking necessarily of a nuclear exchange per se (although I don't negate that entirely), but at least something more likely, that of a Post-Oil society, which I know is coming as that resource, which we are so utterly dependent on, is finite and we are already at or past peak oil production. (Google "peak oil" to learn more of what I mean.) Either way, a world is coming requiring much simpler technology, hopefully still including postal mail delivery, limited electricity, maybe limited telephone, but I am also hoping analogue radio of a level much like what we had in the 1920 to 1940s. Digital would be far too sophisticated for this world. Computers, if they exist, will be limited once again to back-office financial or government uses. And to me the shift of television to digital put the nail in that technology's coffin for tomorrow's world. Satellites, let alone internet, won't be part of this world either, leaving only over-the- air shortwave radio as a means to serve potentially any large number of people outside of limited government circles with news beyond a local area. Again, I can't fault the short-term decisions by international broadcasters to reduce over-the-air transmissions due to financial decisions. What bothers me most of all, given my perspective quickly outlined above, is that it will also leave these same broadcasters potentially poorly positioned to step back into filling this void as it will likely become necessary later. But maybe that has already happened with all the shortwave transmission facilities around the world already privatized and outside a broadcaster's ready access. RNW's current demolition of the Flevoland facility leaves them, if I am not mistaken, without a local shortwave transmission facility except those accessible to them only by satellite and possibly backup leased lines. For that matter, most broadcasters are in this same boat, with transmission facilities remote from program origination points and all subject to being cutoff in tomorrow's world. This is in part what I meant by "security" in my earlier posts (Kevin Anderson, swprograms via DXLD) Scott Royall wrote: ``Oh yes, the internet is going to be superseded, but by something even more pervasive and omnipresent. Analog has its uses, definitely. I use it whenever I key up my IC706, but the technology that actually allows me to talk is as digital as it gets! You might say, "That's different," but no, it's really not. Digitalization is a process, and it's not going away. I think that you are alluding to a post- apocalyptic situation, where technology would be effectively rolled back. I submit that you and I probably won't be around in that case. We most certainly won't be casually discussing it over the internet.`` I think that you are alluding to a post-apocalyptic situation, where technology would be effectively rolled back. I submit that you and I probably won't be around in that case. We most certainly won't be casually discussing it over the internet.` And, let me add not to put too fine a point on things, that we probably wouldn't want to be around anyway (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) Yes Kevin, I pretty much knew what you were thinking. Notice that I am not really dismissing your scenario, because such thinking has been part of humanity since we crawled down from the trees. My own belief is that such scenarios come from the same part of our brains that manufactures religions. It's as if we can't accept that we are worthy in our own right to be the dominant species. We keep expecting the other giant shoe to drop on us. One of the problems I have with such dire scenarios is that they don't ever follow through to the logical conclusion. Why would a downward spiral stop with 1920 technology? Of course it wouldn't, because it's going to build up momentum. there is no way for 1920s technology to support six billion people so there would be an inevitable mass die- off, collapsing governments to little more than city-states. Do I need to tell you what that would do for metal prices? The ability to produce would quickly evaporate, and I've already seen a report of a tower being stolen for its metal. In your nightmare scenario, nobody would be inclined to broadcast to other states; the far more likely response would be to nuke those perceived as threats. That would thereby complete our slide to the Dark Ages. The drawback of any nightmare scenario is the ignorance of the fact that the Dark Ages was the last era where we had technology that individuals could maintain completely independently. That's why it's the only honestly likely stop to any full-scale global collapse. As I see it, we're going up a steep and slippery road with the Dark Ages in our mirror. That's where we'll end up again if we start seriously sliding. As a post-script to the above, I'm writing this in dying light. My house still doesn't have main power after hurricane Ike. Would you like to guess which devices are still going? Yes, the battery-powered digital stuff. I do have enough of a generator to keep them fed, but their analog counterparts don't do enough to justify charging them. Of course, this is not your nightmare scenario, but I find it telling. (Scott Royall, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) My problem with all this doom and gloom is that it ignores history. Yes, societies succeed and fail (but others, at the same time, were doing just fine, thank you). Yes, sometimes things take a step backward before they go forward. Economic crises occur because humans sometimes make mistakes or see their situation in negative economic terms, whether it is or isn't. And yes, we have the capability to destroy ourselves if we so choose. (And have since way before July, 1945.) Yes, disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes happen. (Hmm, maybe I should write a book on the "Coming Earthquake in California". Oh, sorry, been done.) What it misses is that technology development and knowledge accelerates. Nevertheless, predictions of the end appear every time there is some sort of domestic or international crisis. In my not quite half century I've heard it at least a dozen times. About every 4 years, I think. I imagine if we go back to 1961, 1939, 1929, 1914, etc. we could find many more examples. The probability of the human race wiping itself out is not zero. It's also not one or anywhere close to it. Economic demand will make alternate sources of energy used and workable if oil ceases to be available. Will there be societal disruption as some jobs are created while others disappear? Yep. Will new technology shift demand to new products from old ones? Yep. (Ask owners of conventional phone lines... just a few years ago there were dire predictions of economic disaster if we didn't change the telephone systems because we were running out of phone numbers due to computers and fax machines. Now those lines are freeing up so fast they can't be sold.) So, nothing that has happened in the past year (high oil prices, natural disasters, financial crises) is new. It has happened before and will again. So, unless an external event such as an asteroid hit occurs or the Gospel huxters prove correct and a God gets even with us, human society will still be here tomorrow. Whether you, or I, or our shortwave radios are here or not (Rob de Santos, ibid.) SHORTWAVE RADIOS FOR AN EMERGENCY (IF THERE ARE ANY SHORTWAVE BROADCASTS TO HEAR). === Kim Andrew Elliott discussing International Broadcasting and Public Diplomacy "What if, just what if you wake up one day and discover that the U.S. dollar has imploded to half its valuation, then the day after half again, etc.?! ... A battery operated AM/FM/Shortwave radio with a hand crank Faraday type of electromagnetic power supply is in order for your link to what's happening in the outside world." Carl Nemo, Capitol Hill Blue, 19 September 2008 http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/11316 http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=4856 (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Ah yes, another example of the increasing use --- pioneered in recent editions of Passport to World Band Radio --- of vague, borderline incoherent paranoia to promote shortwave radio! It sounds like something out of a Costa-Gavras film. . . . . huddling in the dark, desperately listening to a shortwave radio, bravely getting vital information The Man doesn't want you to have. . . . . With all due disrespect, anyone who writes something like the passage quoted above is either clinically delusional or a liar (Harry Helms, W5HLH, Corpus Christi, TX EL17, ibid.) I am someone who got into SWLing for the "thrill" of farwaway listening, but it's the content and alternative viewpoints that has kept my interest for the past 20+ years. I will DX once in a great while (primarily at French Creek) but 90% of the time when I turn on a radio, I'm looking for something to inform or entertain me that I don't have to struggle to hear clearly. That's why much of my "Easy Listening" column each month focuses on ways to hear broadcasters that we used to easily listen to via shortwave. Does that belong in a "SWBC" based club? I think so --- but if a majority of membership would say that this focus is inappropriate, and if "the powers to be" were to concur, then I would certainly cease and desist. Now, especially in Africa and South America, and to a lesser extent, South and East Asia, it's a different story. Shortwave broadcasting fulfills an important role in the day-to-day lives of a large number of people in those locations, and broadcasters that have given up on SW in English to North America (DW, RNW, BBC, RFI, HCJB, Kol Israel) generally continue to focus significant resources on shortwave to Africa. Kol Israel would be the exception on that list. What disappoints me is the list of stations that have simply given up trying to reach any English-speaking international audiences via shortwave or other platforms (RAI, Radio Budapest, Radio Norway, YLE, RVI, RDP) I can see that Radio Netherlands' Bonaire site, where their North America-targeted transmissions originate, has become extremely expensive to operate, since the electricity for the transmitters comes from diesel-fueled generators. We all know about the price of diesel fuel over the past couple of years. However, I would think that broadcasters like WRMI, WBCQ, and WWCR would be able to provide economical alternatives for broadcasters trying to reach the Northeastern US. In all three instances their power comes from the regional electric grid, not from diesel transmitters. Perhaps the amount of listener feedback from NA listeners who exclusively listen via SW has fallen off in recent years (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, NASWA yg via DXLD) This news is just devastating to me personally. I work in a trade industry where I listen to SW outdoors on portable radios. At home, I enjoy the sound of tube audio and regularly listen to broadcasts on antique broadcast receivers and communications gear. A number of members of the Arizona Antique Radio Club tell me they enjoy weekend SWLing on their vintage receivers also. (A couple of them have told me that R.N.W. is their favorite). Internet streaming just doesn't do it for us. I feel for Richard Cuff. What will be left for "easy listening" down the road? Pastor Peters? Gene Scott? plz plz. These broadcasters arent giving SW listening a chance to come back. maybe it wouldn't anyway. I'm NOT the expert. But I can`t help but to remember (20 years ago) when Medium Wave listening had fallen to the point that I was fully expecting any day to see new radios in electronics stores that were FM (band) only. then Medium Wave did an amazing turn around. I just hate to see all this "giving up" stuff. When I first wandered out to the southwest and settled in the PHX area (in 1984), one of the top radio stations in town was KOY, 550 kHz, with a popular 1960s DJ, Bill Heywood. That changed quickly as AM listenership fell off. Many AMers dropped music formats or went to FM - some of them simulcasting on their old AM frequencies. As you can imagine, few who had the choice of listening to high energy dance music on, say, KOPA, were listening on their old 1440 kHz. outlet. They had all gone up to 100.7. By the late 1980s, it was hard for me to find anyone who even listened to the AM band at all, other than a hard core group of teenage punk rock fans who had glued their tuning knobs to 1060 KUKQ, the station that played the Ramones, the Pixies, the Sidewinders and the like! (that even died when "the Edge" - KEDJ signed on the air on FM a few years later). So I half expected to see MW perhaps even being phased out somewhere down the road, if what I saw happening locally was the trend nationally. It was THAT bad. Then Tom Leykis came to town bringing in a bunch of political talk radio hosts from the Atlanta and Miami areas and made a major station out of 910-KFYI (now on 550). Today, the "AM band" here is big-time, with both political and sports talk shows, ranging from local hosts like Gambo and Ash to syndicated shows like Jim Rome, Dennis Prager, and ...uh... you know, that guy I can't name without creating a firestorm... (he came from Cape Girardeau, MO).. ;D The tie-in to SW here is that the talk radio trend, and the upsurge in ratings for MW listenership here, was unforeseen, and I wonder why SW broadcasters can't see that there could be unforeseen things in radio's future that would make them wish they would have stuck around on SW a little longer. (NOT that I'm any expert). (Rick Barton, AZ, NASWA yg via DXLD) Note the moderator's response in the end. Meanwhile the original poster has replied "And about broadcast in South Asia, people prefer Bollywood films and their songs over intellectual broadcasts in English." Is this any different from the situation in Europe and North America? I don't think so. And they did not just the online survey (about which Andy posted also here if I recall correct) but did also ask on air for listeners reactions? If so one can also not argue about elder listeners who do not have a PC. It's also worth to observe how much of the responses there are from ordinary listeners without an SWLing / DXing / ham radio / whatever background. It's just a small fraction. Meanwhile I wrote something that puts the story into a context in a strictly impersonal way. Below these musings in English, if there is an interest in continuing the discussion here, too. First another personal remark: One should stop riding and get off when noting that the horse is dead. This marks the end of shortwave as a relevant broadcast medium in the USA and Canada. The programming still transmitted on shortwave in and into North America should be of interest to very small niche audiences only. In some cases it may even damage the reputation of the medium further. As an example to mention is the programming of the end-of-the-world- preacher "Brother Stair" that occupies a considerable amount of airtime on private shortwave stations in the USA and goes out via the shortwave transmitters in Germany, too. It also does not appear that DRM will change this situation again. Like RNW also Deutsche Welle and BBC have already stopped their DRM transmissions in North America and concentrate their efforts now on Europe and, in the case of DW, India, too (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ``What we needed to find out were how many regular shortwave listeners (e.g. at least once a week) we have in North America. The clear answer is 'not many'.`` This reminds me of the situation last year when Glenn reported several technical problems (distorted audio, dead air, etc.) in RAI's English broadcasts to North America. At the time, I wondered if anyone other than Glenn --- whether in North America or at RAI in Italy --- was listening to those transmissions. RAI dropped its NA SW service shortly thereafter, and I honestly believe Glenn was the only listener to some of those transmissions! (Harry Helms W5HLH, Corpus Christi, TX EL17, ibid.) Why was no one listening? Probably terribly boring content! (Kraig, KG4LAC Krist, Manassas, VA USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think it has more to do with the technical and cultural interests of American society more than anything else. On a trip to Europe back in 2000, I was amazed to see the variety of programming that was available on television. By way of DBS, television programming from virtually every nation of the EU was available. I watched CNN Europe briefly (not much different from CNN US), then the BBC, then RAI, and finally settled on one of the French channels that had an interesting program about northern Quebec. This has more to do with cultural diversity rather than technical interests, and it's a direct result of being a more open-minded society than we have here. In recent years, I see that there is much more interest in technical issues at a hobby level in Europe than there is in the US, especially in terms of radio-related topics. Not surprising, since radio is a very suitable medium for being in touch with other cultures and opinions, and in an open-minded society such access is generally welcome, rather than disdained by Christian fundamentalists as an avenue of evil free-thinking socialism. Here in the US, we're more content to play with our digital watches while wishing that we had never left the primordial sea. At least back then the financial sector was much more stable (Chris Trask / N7ZWY, Tempe, Arizona 85285-5240, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) "Boring" is subjective, although you have a good point. I've often felt most international broadcasters were targeting the funding authorities in their home country instead of their supposed overseas audiences. But my "listening for content" is non-existent these days, and it's because of the internet. I prefer to obtain information via reading instead of listening, and if I am curious about, for example, the number of immigrants into the Netherlands last year I'll just Google "Netherlands immigration totals 2007" instead of tuning to RNW. I have a ton of foreign newspapers bookmarked in my browser, but I have NO station frequencies stored in the memories of any of my receivers! BTW, every nation/culture is somewhat insular and ignorant of nations and cultures beyond their borders. This is true even among the supposedly educated and sophisticated. For example, I got a good laugh out of a Times of London columnist who last year wondered why President Bush didn't "dismiss" Vice President Cheney from his post. I have found SWLs/DXers to be far more interested in world events and genuinely knowledgeable about other nations/cultures than the average person, and I suppose that is one of the big attractions the SWL/DX community has long had for me. There are some great non-radio insights which can be gleaned from lists like this one (Harry Helms W5HLH, Corpus Christi, TX EL17 http://harryhelmsblog.blogspot.com/ ibid.) And finally a few of the posts on the RN website, http://www.radionetherlands.nl/features/media/080912-shortwave-america which I think have not yet appeared here: (gh) Russell Lay, 21-09-2008 - USA I agree with the vast majority of listeners here. I am sorry that most SWBCers are evidently following a herd mentality. I own a Sirius radio. The WRN channel only runs a small portion of RNW programs, at inconvenient time. I don't have Sirius in my house, because the setup is too complicated for the antenna. I can't hear it at work as there is no access to a window for the antenna. Internet audio is boring and for whatever reason, it lacks the "live" feeling of radio. And, my NPR outlet plays foreign programs after midnight, not during the day, when they tend to run their own network programs. The truth is, as small as your SW audience might be, it will be even smaller on the Internet, satellite, and via NPR. I can bring my radio anywhere -- in the yard, to the beach, to the office. Bottom line, I'll just forget about the Netherlands I suppose, like I've done every other country leaving SW in North America. pete medellin, 21-09-2008 - usa Since you decimated your program offerings last year, you won't be missed much. Just like BBC and VOA, you're not worth listening to anymore, even on the internet. So much for your globalization. I assume it`s another victim of the 'peace dividend'. Will, 21-09-2008 - USA All dedicated shortwave listeners must surely have known that things like this (the BBC and RNW ending transmissions) were coming, as the Internet has changed so much in how many things are now done. Add satellite radio to the mix and it'll be surprising to find any of the former big shortwave broadcasters in a few years. People want convenience, and the shortwave medium has never given it. I, however, have always loved the "magic" of the medium, and will never use my computer as a pseudo-radio, nor pay a satellite provider for convenience and lose the beauty of shortwave radio that I grew up with. The reason I put up with selective fading, static crashes, receivers with no frequency readout (tuning by ear and memory), etc. was because it was a challenge, and that was FUN! I'm sorry to see RNW leave my life, and I certainly understand the decision, but I won't be going to the other methods to hear it, I'll be too busy bandscanning to hear the small, domestic tropical band stations that will probably be on the air for quite some time to come. Chuck Ermatinger, 19-09-2008 - USA This is the end of RNW to North America. You're mistaken in thinking everyone here has high-speed internet. It is NOT affordably available in my area. Internet radio is TELEPHONY, not radio! Shortwave provided me with excellent reception all these years. Your programs were among the best on radio. This decision is unthinkable and will cut off most of your USA audience. Philip Stiff, 19-09-2008 - Canada Huge mistake shutting down shortwave. Instead of being a major "broadcaster", RNW now seems content to become just one of the millions of podcasters on the internet. Lost in the pile of obscurity. Don Rhodes, 19-09-2008 - Australia While I am not resident in the US, please don't try and tell SW listeners that RN and other International broadcasters are available on the net/rebroadcasters/pods, etc. As another respondent observed you cannot take a comp with you on holidays, camping trips, or any other time when away from home. I have listened to SW stations poolside in hotels while on overseas trips, you try that with the net. I guess the decision is now made, but do remember that it was short- wave that made RADIO Netherlands world famous, and NOT the net. Adios Amigos. Don Rhodes Rik van Riel, 18-09-2008 - USA None of the the listed partner stations near me actually have any RNW programs listed in their program schedule. I'm all for alternatives, but please don't pretend you have a lot of partner stations when they do not actually transmit any of your programs. Henry Atherton, 18-09-2008 - USA This is an accurate and sensible move. I want to thank Radio Netherlands, and the Dutch people, for providing the most truthful news on this planet for all these years. And for your interesting and insightful programing, though it could sometimes be dangerous: I fell out of my chair I laughed so hard during one program. I now read news here, and listen on the internet. But before this technology, Radio Netherlands was a beacon of sanity no matter where I travelled because of shortwave and my trusty Zenith TransOceanic. Many thanks (selected by gh and not necessarily representative, for DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RADIO NEW ZEALAND IS CELEBRATING 60 YEARS OF INTERNATIONAL SHORTWAVE BROADCASTING http://www.rnzi.com/pages/whatsnew.php#243 On September 27, the Dominion Day holiday in 1948, New Zealand's first international short-wave service was launched by Prime Minister Peter Fraser. It took the name 'Radio New Zealand' and was part of the New Zealand Broadcasting Service (NZBS). The network has had a chequered history but, sixty years on, is stronger than ever, broadcasting today as Radio New Zealand International, an award winning, internationally recognised service, providing an essential link between New Zealand and its Pacific neighbours. Today Radio New Zealand International is well respected and widely heard across the Pacific and into South East Asia. Eighteen Pacific radio stations re-broadcast Radio New Zealand International material each day and the service is available through digital and analogue short-wave, and via the internet. In 2007 Radio New Zealand International won the prestigious International Radio Station of the Year Award at the Association for International Broadcasting (AIB) Media Excellence Awards in London. The AIB represents more than 25,000 public and commercial radio and television professionals worldwide and their annual awards recognise the very best in international broadcasting. Radio New Zealand International also won the award for Most Innovative Partnership, in recognition of its work with radio stations and media across the Pacific. Radio New Zealand International Manager, Linden Clark, acknowledges the technological revolution that has allowed the network to achieve its current international recognition. "From humble beginnings using two second hand transmitters US military transmitters left behind after the Second World War, the station has grown to become a significant international broadcaster using shortwave, digital and analogue technology which allows us to play a vital role in increasing understanding and awareness of New Zealand's role in the Pacific." Anniversary celebrations this week will include a special programme to be broadcast on Radio New Zealand National at 12.20 am on Saturday 27th September [UT +12 = 1220 UT Friday Sept 26] and at 9.06 pm on Tuesday 30th September [UT +13 = 0806 UT]. This programme will also be broadcast on Radio New Zealand International throughout the week. It includes the opening announcement by the Prime Minister of the day, Peter Fraser, excerpts from early programmes and interviews with former and current staff (via Mike Terry, Sept 25, dxldyg via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. KGOU Airs Special BBC Debate on Economy - 4 p.m. Today! --- KGOU will broadcast a special debate on the global economy this afternoon at 4 o'clock, shedding light on the latest developments on Wall Street and Capitol Hill. The BBC’s Andrew Neil will moderate the discussion, with a panel of experts including BBC Business Editor Robert Preston, economist Nouriel Roubini of New York University, Terry Smith, CEO of a London stock brokering firm, and Steve Roach, an economist with Morgan Stanley. All Things Considered will begin at 5 p.m. today (KGOU newsletter via DXLD) Today being Thursday Sept 25, and 4 pm being 2100 UT [or 2106?]. Perhaps this will be on other public radio stations and even BBCWS. KGOU does stream. [In advance via the dxldyg] (gh, DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 7324.96 --- Radio Wantok Light poor to fair 0630 with US religious programming, local announcements 25 Sep (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Did they ID that way or as Wantok Radio Light? (gh) ** RUSSIA. Sept. 24, 6000 kHz, 2004z, VOR in Serbian, Samara 245 , excellent signal, news summary with music in background. I must say Samara txs have so soft, nice audio quality, which is perfect for music. Sept. 24, 7340 kHz, 2010z, VOR in Serbian, St Petersburg 225 , good signal, talk. The transmitter is producing some not pleasant hum in the background. Later when checked, at 2040z there was slight interference on the same frequency from unID language, I thought it was Swedish, but R Sweden does not broadcast on this frequency I can't remember the exact date (Sep. 19 or 23), at 0900z VOR in German, frequency announcement attracted my attention. The OM host, who is pure Russian, was saying the frequencies in rather not standard pronunciation. Instead of ZWANZIG, DREISSIG, FUENFZIG... he pronounced ZWANZISCH, DREISSISCH, FUENFZISCH! Best regards & many 73s! (Dragan Lekic from Subotica, SERBIA, Sept 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Re 8-105: RUSSIA --- 270 kHz being no strong local signal in Novosibirsk could mean that it has been moved to Oyash and no longer originates from the old No. 1 site near the Inya-Vostochnaya railway station http://maps.google.de/maps?ie=UTF8&hl=de&ll=55.127287,82.988791&spn=0.004533,0.009656&t=h&z=17 171 and 576 are no local transmitters, they go out from the transmitter plant at the Raduga village near Oyash, more than 60 km northeast of Novosibirsk. And if 171 still has local programming it's not from Novosibirsk but from Tomsk instead. It should be also noted that "NVS" are in fact two different shortwave sites. One is the old No.5 site between the southern outskirts of Novosibirsk and the village of Tulinskiy, with numerous 100 kW transmitters, often run in 200 kW pairs: http://maps.google.de/maps?ie=UTF8&hl=de&ll=54.92142,82.858458&spn=0.036453,0.077248&t=h&z=14 Frequencies with 500 or perhaps, if still in use, 1000 kW originate not from this site but instead from the newer (inaugurated 1967) Raduga site (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT HELENA. Sigo teniendo una inquietud y deseo saber si alguno de ustedes tiene la dirección de algún correo electrónico de Radio Santa Helena que esté activo? Yo les escribí un correo a radio.sthelena @ helanta.sh pero fué rechazado. Les agradezco cualquier información al respecto! Gracias! (Ing. Santiago San Gil González, CLUB DIEXISTAS DE LA AMISTAD, Venezuela, DX LISTENINIG DIGEST) That was the address last reported for acting manager Gary Walters (gh) Radio St. Helena Saga --- After seeing the discussion on the status of St. Helena QSL response, I decided to give a try and send a follow-up letter Inquiry to Mr. Robert Kipp. RDC-Roberts-Data @ t-online.de His response within 24 hours indicated that my name was not on the list of reporters who sent in reports to the station. Apparently the staff at Radio St. Helena have a list of some sort of who sent in reports and if a QSL have been sent out. He suggested for me to fill out his questionnaire about what was in my envelope, what type of stamps and asked for a copy on my original report. So I filled out what was involved with my report and sent back (via e-mail) my original report and the filled-in questionnaire. Checking my e-mail browser this morning (25th) received this e-mail that my Radio St. Helena QSL (2007) was posted on the 22nd of September. Robert requested if I e-mail back him when I receive. Interesting. This is the first time that I have encountered any problems with mail to St. Helena (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. U.K. (non) --- I find it always amusing to see FEBA Radio items been put under SEYCHELLES [non] label as they've had no activity at Seychelles for a long, long time. Nostalgic reasons? Why can't it be under UK [non]. WRTH lists them in UK. 73, (Jari Savolainen, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I do it precisely for historical reasons as that is where the station originated and broadcast from for so many years. Seychelles is also more or less the center of its coverage area (Africa and Asia) even tho other transmitter sites are now used. When you are dealing with `[non]`s, you have a lot of latitude! What does FEBA really have to do with the UK as opposed to say, USA? So many of these gospel-huxters are multinational. Filing under Seychelles [non] also helps to keep it distinct from all the others --- let`s see, is Bible Voice Canadian or UKOGBANIan or what? I have suggested that WRTH ought to pull all of these multinationals out of specific country headings, and I think Mauno was amenable to the idea (Glenn Hasuer, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, thanks for the reply. Yep, I understand the historical reasons, just wonder how many more years FEBA items will stay under Seychelles. Just kidding, but maybe some newcomers to the hobby may wonder what's this all about. 73, (Jari Savolainen, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN [and non]. Monitoring 11620, Sept 25 at 2049, a bad mix of Spanish/English, I guess a language lesson from REE, which moved here a few months ago to avoid collision with Vatican on 11625 --- and South Asian music, which was very fluttery. As I pointed out at the time, the QSY by REE solves nothing, as now it collides with AIR, and the situation can only be much worse in Eurafrica. Per Aoki, AIR GOS Bangalore from 2045 is 500 kW in English at 325 degrees. After 2057, Spain was off and only heard India on 11620 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. PEPA BENÉITEZ, NUEVA DIRECTORA DE RADIO EXTERIOR http://www.discapnet.es/Discapnet/Castellano/Actualidad/Noticias/Linea+Social/detalle?id=137377 Pepa Benéitez ha sido nombrada directora de Radio Exterior de España, la emisora internacional de Radio Nacional, según anunció hoy RTVE en un comunicado. RTVE aseguró que este nombramiento "busca reforzar el proceso de modernización de la radio pública, unido al de renovación de la imagen corporativa de RTVE, un cambio que también se impulsará en Radio Exterior". Benéitez lleva más de 30 años en la plantilla de Radio Nacional. Ha sido corresponsal en Jerusalén y participó como coordinadora en la creación de la primera emisión de Radio 5 Todo Noticias, tras ejercer como subdirectora del programa "Informe Abierto" de Radio 1. Más tarde se convirtió en jefa de Programas de Radio 5. Benéitez aseguró hoy que su objetivo principal será "dar a conocer la imagen de nuestro país en el mundo". "Estaremos muy pendientes de las iniciativas del Gobierno en materias como política exterior, económica, cultural o científica", señaló. RTVE también anunció hoy el nombramiento de Mónica Pérez Carabias como subdirectora del Fondo Documental de RNE, uno de los archivos sonoros más valiosos de Europa. Estas dos profesionales sustituyen, respectivamente, a Eduardo Moyano y Jesús Nicolás Cózar, quienes dejan RNE tras acogerse de forma voluntaria al Expediente de Regulación de Empleo (ERE). (via José Miguel Romero2, dxldyg via DXLD) But how does she feel about OC? (gh) ** SYRIA. Olá pessoal, Assim como circulou na lista perguntas sobre o monitoramento da Rádio da República Árabe da Síria, a Rádio Damasco, informo que hoje 24/09/2008 eu monitorei a frequencia da mesma e pude ouví-la com um bom sinal, porém com o áudio um pouco baixo e sofrendo com um ligeiro fading. SIRIA, 9330, 24/09 2217-2249, R. Damasco, Adhra, segmento de nx "Boletim Informativo", intercalado com mx regionais, id "Aqui Damasco, la emissora de la República Árabe Siria", px referente a presença árabe, px "La noticia y su comentário", SS, 45333. A escuta foi efetuada com meu bom e velho DE1103 e com o auxílio da longwire de 7 metros. Dentro de alguns instantes eu disponibilizarei no blog um vídeozinho e uma gravação da escuta. Fiquem a vontade para verificar. 73's! QRA: Thiago P Machado [PY2002SWL], QTH: Brasília-DF, Brasil [GH54XC], http://bsbdx.blogspot.com radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [non]. Somehow a few weeks ago I discovered Taiwan on 15600 at 22 UT. A month or two ago I remember a flurry of reports about Taiwan on WOR, but I don`t remember this broadcast being mentioned. Some days it is crystal clear, and some days it is terrible, or not existent (Kent D Murphy, WV, Sept 15, by p-mail, retyped by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) WYFR relay at 44 degrees for Europe. In B-season this shifts to 9355 where it should be better in NAm too (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** TURKEY. A radio station which had reacted positively on the invitation was the Voice of Turkey. Mr Hasan Mueminoglu and Ms Ufuk Gecim explained that this station now broadcasts in 30 languages from Ankara on shortwave and in five languages in the tourist area of Antalya on FM. They are also introducing a website. In total the foreign service has 500 employees. Turkish Radio & TV (TRT) in total with domestic services on radio and TV has 8,000 employees. Turkey is coming closer to a European way of living and that is why, it has an increasing interest in spreading information about the country on the Voice of Turkey and fulfill the wishes and questions by the listeners. Reception reports are highly appreciated from DX-ers and verified by a variety of beautiful QSL- cards (EDXC Conference in Vaasa 2008 report by Anker Petersen, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) This is taken from http://www.edxc.org/events/Conference_2008.htm which has lots of photos of the participants and they are captioned! So you can see who is who, altho some of their dimensions appear somewhat distorted (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See C&C ** UKRAINE [and non]. Sept. 24, 5970 kHz, 2035z, WYFR in Arabic, Wertachtal, Germany 150 , OM talking (preaching), with strong signal, but from time-to time R Ukraine [new home service relay], music can be heard on the same frequency with good signal. But in the most of the time WYFR is killing the R Ukraine's signal (Dragan Lekic from Subotica, SERBIA, Sept 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. 13675, BBC, 1700-1900 Sept 25. Noted a program of news and features. I ended up listening to this frequency today while 15400 and 17830 were both fading badly. In addition, 13675 was carrying Central Asia edition (presumed) while 15400 and 17830 were broadcasting West Africa edition (presumed) of their broadcast. 13675 had some slight fading while being at a fair level (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, this is direct from one of the UK sites, but puts quite a good signal into North America in the opposite direxion (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Sept. 24, 7105 kHz, 1930-1959z, VOA in Serbian, Biblis, Germany 126 , excellent signal, but from time to time R. Belarus in German, Minsk 252 , strongly interferes on the same frequency. Note the powers: Biblis 100 kW, Minsk 250 kW! On this VOA Serbian show I heard an announcement that as of October 01, 2008 all radio-broadcasts WILL BE DISCONTINUED COMPLETELY (on SW, satellite, and affiliates)! TV shows will continue. For almost 3 weeks now, because the frequency is too high, I cannot hear breakfast show of the VOA in Serbian 0530-0545z on 9460 kHz from Biblis 126 ! I must say on VOA Croatian they don't say anything about the cuts, so apparently they are saved, for now. I've checked VOA Bosnian website, and there was an announcement that they will also CANCEL THE ONLY ONE RADIO-SHOW 1500-1515z Mon-Fri, and in the future will expand TV broadcasts! These quiet cancellations (since there are no official press releases on VOA or BBG websites) are really unpleasant. When VOA cancelled Russian broadcasts, the BBG & VOA did not released that to the public. I'm just hoping that new US President Obama (if elected) will restore VOA radio shows. Best regards & many 73s! (Dragan Lekic from Subotica, SERBIA, Sept 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5050, 24/09 0040, WWRB, Manchester/TN, talk rlgx em "FF"(??), esta emissora transmite em EE, porem ouví esta tx em FF, com as mesmas caracteristicas da tx em EE, inclusive canções rlgx em EE, mencionando varias vezes "Haití" 33333. Rx Kenwood R 5000 + Datong FL2, Atx T2FD, Digital audio recorder Sony ICD B 26 (Marcio Martins Pontes, Registro - SP, Membro DXCB, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** U S A. Tony Alámo confirmed on WWCR 15825, in the 13 UT hour weekdays. Sept 25 at 1330 another low-key sermon about Job; 1354 retune, choir singing How Great Thou Art, 1358 outro with Alamo`s Texarkana P O Box (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Field strength measurements invited for the KFI switch CGC Communicator #858 Sept 25, 2008, Robert F. Gonsett, W6VR, Editor Following is an open letter from Marvin Collins, former Chief Engineer of KFI, 640 kHz, Los Angeles: The activation of KFI's reconstructed tower "is due to take place at 5:15 PM on Thursday September 25 [0015 UT Friday Sept 26]. It will be part of the John and Ken show which airs from 3 PM to 7 PM. I believe there will be a remote broadcast from the tower site. "It would be interesting to have readers look for a change in signal strength. Send the results of your data to Marvin Collins, w6oqi (at) arrl.net and be sure to include the location where you made your measurements." [Editor's note: Multiple measurements are recommended in case the switch time changes. Since KFI is THE legendary station in southern California, this will be a monumental event.] (CGC Communicator Sept 25 via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) It might be more obvious at fringes of its large daytime coverage area into AZ, NV, UT even western NM; oops, XEJuárez in the way now (gh, DXLD) I'm pretty sure it'll have IBOC as soon as the new tower turns on. Remember, the transmitter was already in place before the old tower fell. They couldn't run IBOC into the short tower - it didn't have the bandwidth to handle it - but the new tower is more than capable. CC runs IBOC at night on antenna systems that can handle it - my local WHAM 1180, which is ND-U, keeps it on at night, while sister station WHTK 1280, which can't pass IBOC through its 4-tower night array, turns it off at sunset. KFI, of course, is ND-U... s (Scott Fybush, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. Re 8-105: This is a follow-up to Willis Monk's logging of KLVI 560 [Beaumont TX] on 9/23 and Glenn Hauser's observation that the station may be operating non-directional following its return to the air post-Hurricane Ike. On 9/24 at 2100 CDT I heard KLVI in WIND null with a sports talk show just ending, legal ID and into ABC news. I can never recall hearing this station at mid-evening when they should be running directional. This is one worth listening for, especially if you need the station. 73 (Bill Dvorak, Madison WI, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. KREH 900: What Radio is Really About DURING IKE, VIETNAMESE RADIO RUN BY A 'SMALL VILLAGE' New America Media, News feature, Ngoc Nguyen, Posted: Sep 23, 2008 Editor´s Note: It´s been more than a week since Hurricane Ike streamed across the Gulf of Mexico, causing catastrophic damage to coastal cities in Texas. During the darkest moments of the disaster, Radio Saigon Houston struggled to stay on the air to inform and comfort listeners. Some staff, listeners and their families even showed up to help, reports NAM editor Ngoc Nguyen. Vu Thanh Thuy hunkered down and rode out the storm in a house next to her radio station, so she would be able to get to work on Saturday, Sept 13th, 2008, the morning after Hurricane Ike was expected make landfall in Galveston. "Although we were on top of the news, we felt lost and scared," said Vu, a journalist, radio host and CEO of Radio Saigon Houston (KREH 900 AM). "I never thought we could be so lost, scared and confused, not knowing what to do. We decided we have to keep the radio on, even without electricity." Vu and her husband, Duong Phuc, and about eight other staffers used a gas-powered generator meant for home use to power the station. They hoped to reach 160,000 Vietnamese Americans living in Houston and Galveston, through battery-powered radios. . . [much more] http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=ec51f616ab3195c251ab3d6e70b9222e (via Kevin Redding, Sept 25, ABDX via DDXLD) ** VANUATU. Re 8-105: Formerly on 3945 and 7260 kHz. 3945 0530-1000[-1115 excl Sats], 1900-2130. 7260 1900-1000[-1115 excl Sats]. (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Sept 25 via DXLD) 7260 --- Thanks to David Ricquish tip via DXLD have been monitoring frequency today 25 Sep and noted Radio Vanuatu weakly in Bislama (Pidgin English) at 0325 until 0400 when blocked by loud Arab station [Algeria via UK]. Frequency clear again after 0600 when American religious program heard and signal strength improved to fair by 0700 when tuning signal played, followed by news bulletin in Bislama (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS BRITISH. LAS ISLAS VÍRGENES-ZBVI RADIO 780 kHz Las Vírgenes Británicas comprenden 36 islas - algunas deshabitadas - que se localizan al Este de Puerto Rico - unos 100 kilómetros - y a unos 50 del grupo de las Vírgenes Norteamericanas (ex Antillas Danesas), tienen 153 km². La isla principal es Tórtola en donde encontramos la capital Road Town, le sigue Virgen Gorda y las más pequeñas de Anegada y Jost Van Dyke. El grupo tiene forma oval concentrado en torno a Tórtola. La mayoría de sus casi cincuenta islas son de origen volcánico, terreno sumamente exuberante, montañoso, verdes valles y algunas paradisíacas playas de arena blanca bañadas por cristalinas aguas de color turquesa, en sus costas localizamos también numerosas cuevas que atraen a miles de visitantes cada año y que hacen del grupo uno de los lugares más atractivos del mundo para veleros y yates de recreo. Este grupo insular fue descubierto por Cristóbal Colón en 1493 (en su segundo viaje) y las bautizó como las once mil vírgenes en honor de Santa Úrsula y las 11.000 víctimas que sacrificaron sus vidas en Colonia en el siglo IV. Santa Úrsula forma parte también de su escudo nacional y desde el XVII forman parte de la Corona Británica. Desde 1672 es territorio británico y el gobierno recae bajo la directa responsabilidad de un Gobernador que es nombrado por su Majestad; el Reino Unido se responsabiliza de la defensa y la política exterior. Un Jefe de Ministros asume, tras las elecciones, la obligación de nombrar los Ministros y el resto de responsables para asegurar la gobernabilidad del archipiélago, incluso en materia económica y fiscal, gozan de una larga historia de estabilidad política. El derecho insular se basa en el sistema inglés que se complementa con la legislación local. Los servicios financieros y el turismo son el origen de la mayor parte del presupuesto que se ve ayudado por la agresiva política de "paraíso fiscal" que, gracias a la alta profesionalidad y la excelente infraestructura e integridad de sus autoridades han conseguido crear uno de los mayores centros financieros del mundo. El turismo de alto poder adquisitivo ha hecho el resto para crear una economía sana y vigorosa. El mercado inmobiliario de urbanizaciones exclusivas a precios de infarto tiene también su mérito, las principales se localizan en Rockefeller Little Dix Bay, Necker Island y Biras Creek. Según la Constitución de 1967, el Gobernador preside el Consejo Ejecutivo; en la actualidad goza de una gran autonomía y tienen un atractivo régimen fiscal (tasa del 15% para las empresas, uno muy bajo para las personas que va ascendido hasta llegar al máximo del 20% según circunstancias personales e ingresos), tampoco hay impuestos para el rendimiento del capital, la vivienda, las herencias, sucesiones o transmisiones.¡Nuestros políticos en lugar de tanto empacho con el término "nación" podrían dedicarse a crear las mismas condiciones para los que tenemos que aguantar todas sus salidas de tono! A comienzos del XXI la población de las Vírgenes Británicas apenas sobrepasaba los 20.000 habitantes, de los que un 15% viven en la isla mayor. No hay desempleo e incluso importan trabajadores -no ilegales como se hace en España- para poder atender las necesidades de profesionales y personal cualificado necesario para la alta capacidad del archipiélago. El otro grupo son las Vírgenes Norteamericanas: St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John y más de 50 de diferente tamaño, en total el grupo tenía una superficie de 345 km² y una población ligeramente superior a las 100.000 almas. El grupo fue comprado en 1917 a Dinamarca por 25 millones de dólares; esta fue una política practicada casi desde el nacimiento de los Estados Unidos como nación independiente; España vendió en varias ocasiones territorios e islas, entre otras las del Pacífico [algunas de ellas nunca quedaron reflejadas en los documentos o tratados, por lo tanto, teóricamente deberían ser españolas, pero ningún gobierno de Madrid ha ejercido sus derechos, sobre todo tras firmar las ventas mediante presiones]. Los servicios postales son prestados por la Post Office que alquila los apartados y la lista de correos o entrega general, hay también dos oficinas en Virgen Gorda. Las comunicaciones son prestadas por la Cable and Wireless (West Indies) Ltd., que tiene la red más avanzada de todo el Caribe. La C&W presta el servicio marítimo de radio que emplea los canales de 126, 27 y 84. La TV retransmite 28 canales en Tórtola y Virgen Gorda, el resto de las islas son cubiertas mediante el satélite. Hay una emisora de radio en onda media (ZBVI hoy filatelizada) y varias de FM operando en: 90.9 MHz ZJKC Isle. 95 MHz ZJKC Isle. 100.9 MHz ZKING. 101.7 MHz ZKING. 103.7 MHz ZROD. 106.9 MHz ZVCR. [I see some of those weird callsigns appear in WRTH 2008, but I don`t think the BVI are really ITU entitled to all those prefices --- gh] ZBVI RADIO 780 kHz o 780 UNIVERSAL RADIO Es la principal emisora comercial de las islas Vírgenes Británicas y la única que opera en la onda media con una potencia de 10 kW. Inició sus transmisiones en 1965, tiene una antena de 300 pies que reposa sobre un suelo de cobre anclado sobre agua salada que facilita la transmisión de la señal y permite cubrir sin dificultad la totalidad del Caribe Oriental, llegando a tener una audiencia potencial de más de un millón de personas, llegando sin dificultad a todo el Este del Caribe, República Dominicana, Barbados y Granada. Su programación esta basada en música adulta, contemporánea y caribeña (calypso, reggae y zook). Asimismo, el servicio de noticias ofrece reportajes de interés local, regional o mundial (varias veces al día conectan con el célebre BBC World Service). Pero sin duda alguna los más populares son los programas montados en base a las peticiones de los oyentes de todas las edades, sobre todo el fin de semana donde encontramos el clásico Request Line. Al momento de redactar el presente material este era el personal responsable de la ZBVI Radio: -Harvey Herbert (Director). -Sandra Potter Warrican (Directora de Operaciones). -Iris Jones (Programación). -Angela Burns Piper (Directora de Informaciones). -David Jones (Servicio Meteorológico). La dirección postal de la ZBVI Radio es: Virgin Islands Broadcasting Limited. P O Box 78 Road Town TORTOLA (British Virgin Islands) http://www.zbvi.vi/ o http://www.zbviradio.com y el correo a ZBVI@caribsurf.com como dirección electrónica, lamentablemente los mensajes enviados han sido devueltos por el servidor, tampoco han contestado nuestras cartas por sistema postal tradicional y el trabajo lo hemos elaborado con el material encontrado en su web y el de mi propio archivo junto con el material filatélico relacionado con la emisión conmemorativa realizada el 9 de agosto de 2005, fue un sello de 40 centavos conmemorativo del XL aniversario de la estación, mostraba la antena y el logotipo de la emisora. En el grupo norteamericano operaban varias estaciones de onda media por las frecuencias de 970, 1000, 1290 y 1340 kHz y diferentes emisoras más en la Frecuencia Modulada de 88.9, 95.1, 97.9, 99.5, 106.1 y 107.1 MHz y, como curiosidad, entre sus directivos había apellidos tan genuinamente españoles como Morán, Ricardo, Figueroa, Arroyo, Ortiz o Noble. Lamentablemente, a pesar de haber sintonizado en algunos de nuestros viajes por el Caribe alguna de estas emisoras, nunca contestaron los informes de recepción, siendo imposible mostrar, siquiera como curiosidad, una QSL de las islas. Otra vieja emisión con motivos radiales [aunque utilitarios] se realizó el 14 de septiembre de 1967 al completarse la línea cablegráfica y telefónica entre Bermuda y Tórtola. Fueron tres faciales: 4c Cartografía de las islas enlazadas, navío cablero. 10c Centro de comunicaciones de Chalwell. 50c Buque cablero Mercury. Casi veinte años después nos encontraríamos los conmemorativos dedicados a la Cable and Wireless con motivo del XX aniversario de su establecimiento en Tórtola que se pusieron en circulación el 28 de octubre de 1986 [este año 2006 estarán celebrando también su XL aniversario y quien sabe si de nuevo será filatelizada]. En el pasado, las comunicaciones entre la región caribeña y el resto del mundo tuvieron bastantes dificultades; era entre dos y seis meses el tiempo que llegaban a invertir las cartas en sus viajes de ida y vuelta a otros lugares del globo [aunque tampoco es anormal que hoy mismo esté ocurriendo algo similar en muchas zona de España, por ejemplo en la que yo vivo donde, a veces, las cartas llegan con dos o tres meses de retraso respecto a la fecha en que fue confiada al correo]. Fue la Cable and Wireless la que cambió las cosas, sobre con el alto grado de tecnificación alcanzado, ello hizo posible llevar a todo el mundo estos apartados y paradisíacos rincones de las Vírgenes. Actualmente las comunicaciones se realizan en tiempo real con todo el orbe. Las autoridades postales le dedicaron ocho sellos [también reproducidos en cuatro preciosas hojitas bloque en las que el facial se varió cinco centavos en los seis primeros sellos y 50 céntimos en los faciales de un dólar]. Estos efectos postales tuvieron la particularidad de entrar en diferentes temáticas y no sólo en la radio utilitaria: naval, buques cableros, teléfono, emisoras de radio utilitarias, cartografía, etc. Aconsejamos [a los posibles interesados] un pormenorizado estudio para situarlos allá en donde mejor les convenga. Los sellos fueron emitidos en formato díptico y el motivo central fueron los buques cableros. 2x35c C. S. Retriever (1861) y Sentinel. 2x60c Mercury (1962) y Cable Enterprise (1964). 2x75c Recorder (1955) y Pacific Guardian (1984). 2x1$ Great Eastern Steam Ship (1870) y cablero Venture (1977). Dichos faciales fueron reproducidos en dos hojitas dedicadas al PRESENTE y otras dos al FUTURO de las comunicaciones en la región del Caribe Oriental. En ambos casos, en la parte derecha de los efectos, una ilustración de las islas que están cubiertas por la señal de la C&W desde Tórtola hasta Trinidad. Realizaron varios sobres de primer día ilustrados con el transmisor de Tórtola, se empleó un matasellos exclusivo el 28.10.86. Diseñados por Court House Studio, se imprimieron en litografía por la Format International, dentado 12½ y filigrana Post Office. Nota Bibliográfica: Se consultaron diferentes enciclopedias, WRTH, Almanaque Mundial, informativos filatélicos de la BVI Philatelic Bureau, páginas webs institucionales y de la estación de radiodifusión filatelizada (JUAN FRANCO CRESPO, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Sept. 24, 7520 kHz, 2045z, NUMBERS STATION IDed as '105' (several times at the beginning mentioned 105), with a very strong(!) signal, totally blocking WHRA:A5 on the same frequency. At 2049z numbers station stopped broadcasting, so the WHRA was with almost excellent reception, still with talk show. [what language were the numbers in? --- gh] [earlier:] Sept. 24, 7520 kHz: 1959:30z, VOA s/off, Udorn, Thailand 300 , fair to good signal MIXING with WHRA:A5 in English, Greenbush 250kW/060 , announcement 'we are now bcing on 7520 kHz', very good rcptn. Later when Udorn concluded s/off, WHRA was rcvd with a quite good signal, talking show. Best regards & many 73s! (Dragan Lekic from Subotica, SERBIA, Sept 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 15476 (not 15475), Sept 25 at 2057 with bits of audio, but mostly just carrier. I usually figure this has to be LRA36, RNASG, but it was still on at 2108 vs usual closing around 2100. Did anyone notice today whether it stayed on late, at least the carrier? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ EDXC 2008 REPORT ILLUSTRATED: http://www.edxc.org/events/Conference_2008.htm (via Dario Monferini, playdxyg via DXLD) See also TURKEY The European DX Conference this year was held 5-7 September in Vaasa, Finland organized by the Finnish DX Association as the 50th Anniversary meeting of the club. The conference web pages are at http://www.netikka.net/edxc2008 The conference report by Anker Petersen, photos by Jari Perkiömäki and Anker Petersen are at http://www.edxc.org/events/Conference_2008.htm More photos can be seen at http://www.netikka.net/edxc2008/photos.html (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO PHILATELY see VIRGIN ISLANDS BRITISH above ++++++++++++++++++++++++ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ Review: Lenthall, _RADIO'S AMERICA: THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND THE RISE OF MODERN MASS CULTURE_ H-NET BOOK REVIEW Published by Jhistory@h-net.msu.edu (September 2008) Bruce Lenthall. _­Radio's America: The Great Depression and the Rise of Modern Mass Culture._ Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007. 288 pp. Index. $20.00 (paper), ISBN 978-0-226-47192-1 Reviewed by Noah Arceneaux, School of Journalism and Media Studies, San Diego State University A Well-Researched Rerun For a great many academics, and for much of the public as well, the history of American culture over the past two centuries can be neatly summarized into a narrative of standardization and homogenization. According to this oft-told tale, a nation of independent, self-reliant producers has been transformed into a nation of passive consumers who gobble up mass-produced entertainment spectacles and news programs that are created by distant media conglomerates with little or no relation to local communities. Bruce Lenthall, an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania, would agree to a certain degree with the previous (if intentionally exaggerated) statement, situating the grand moment of transformation in the 1930s. It was within this decade, according to Lenthall, that the impersonal relations of the industrialized marketplace subsumed the romanticized _gemeinschaft_ of the American past. Radio, as the first electronic form of mass media, represented this cultural transition and was simultaneously the vehicle that brought the elements of this mass culture directly into American's living rooms. The fact that radio went from something of an expensive novelty in the 1920s to a truly mainstream media device during this decade is central to Lenthall's justification for examining this tumultuous period. Lenthall is not advocating an Adorno-like version of cultural hegemony, however, as he continuously argues in this well-researched, wide-reaching synthesis of radio history that audience members found their own ways to incorporate the medium into their daily lives to help them make sense of the rapid changes brought about by the twentieth century: "Listeners were not simply manipulated by their mass culture, but found limited possibilities to negotiate with it" (p. 55). But, if the "grand homogenization" narrative is not new, the narrative of the active audience is almost equally familiar. Lizbeth Cohen's famed _Making a New Deal_ (1990) presented a similar argument almost twenty years ago regarding the radio ownership among working class immigrants in Chicago. Kathy Newman's _Radio Active: Advertising and Consumer Activism, 1935- 1947_ (2004) articulated an even more strenuous, and provocative, version of this argument-that the growth of commercialized radio during radio's first decades empowered listeners to become consumer advocates in later years. The "active audience" is indeed not a new thesis, and Lenthall's work is an attempt to meld this theoretical concept into the historiography of early radio. For scholars of a contemporary media phenomenon, direct first-hand ethnographic observation is available and living audience members can (whether accurately or not) explain to the academic the how's and why's of their media usage. Surveying audience behavior several decades after the fact, by comparison, is admittedly an arduous task, and Lenthall mines letters from radio listeners for evidence of his argument. Various letters written to the program "Vox Pop" inform much of the analysis in Chapter Two (one of the most central sections in the whole book), though one cannot help but wonder if Lenthall has not overstated his claims. Do letters in support of program, or in protest of an advertisement, really speak to universal truths about the American response to the growth of mass culture? This critique is not to dismiss the work, but too much of the argument falls back on asserting a claim rather than illustrating its truth. Statements about audience members "negotiating" mass culture, or using the medium to "personalize" its influence are repeated throughout the text as Lenthall presents a greatest-hits approach to 1930s radio history. No one can fault him for not doing his homework, and for those not already familiar with the existing literature on the era, the work will no doubt point the way for much further reading. The book discusses, among other topics, the criticisms of commercial radio from the cultural elites, FDR's use of radio for political purposes, Father Charles Coughlin's fascist rants, Dr. John Brinkley's medical quackery, the esteemed radio productions of Norman Corwin and Arch Oboler, and the origins of media research from the dueling figures of Paul Lazarsfeld and Theodor Adorno. By contrast, we get much less information regarding the institutional history of the medium during this period, the government's philosophy of regulation, or details regarding radio programming itself (save for the high-brow material of Oboler, Corwin, etc.) In an endnote (p. 216), Lenthall faults previous scholars for devoting too much emphasis to these subjects, as if the meanings that radio brought to the audience could be interpreted or assumed from these standard approaches to radio history. This work, by contrast, seeks to understand "what radio actually meant to those who experienced the medium" (p. 216), though as previously noted, evidence to this effect is more a matter of speculation than empiricism. The endnotes to the book, (the work is sadly lacking a proper bibliography), are a fairly comprehensive survey of American cultural and media history. Lenthall has also made use of several archives in his quest for new material, including the files of the FCC, the Library of American Broadcasting, the NBC Papers held by the Historical Society of Wisconsin, and the RCA Papers at the Hagley Museum in Wilmington, Delaware. But, like a remarkably polished cover band that knows every Top 40 pop song, or a chef who has access to every conceivable ingredient, Lenthall knows his material inside and out but fails to synthesize the raw ingredients into something that is truly new or refreshing. The hyperbolic prose on the back of the book claims that it is written for a broad audience, and those who are not familiar with radio or media history in general will no doubt find something of interest. The work, or least specific chapters, may also be relevant for graduate students. Serious radio scholars or historians of this period in American history will find themselves wishing for more. Copyright (c) 2008 by H-Net, all rights reserved. H-Net permits the redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonprofit, educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the author, web location, date of publication, originating list, and H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. For other uses contact the Reviews editorial staff: hbooks@mail.h-net.msu.edu. ------------------------------------------------------- jhistory@H- NET.MSU.EDU http://www.h-net.org/~jhistory (via David Mindich, DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Re: Public demonstration of PLC/BPL interference, 8-105 So those horrid things are being used in Japan, not just the UK. Any word on any groups lobbying the FCC to allow their use here? I don't want to think about encountering that kind of interference while trying to listen to Africa (Terry Wilson, Grand Rapids MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The PLC interference research group introduces reception interference by PLC with the video of the PC in HAM FAIR 2008 at 23 to 24 Aug. in Ariake Big site, Tokyo. http://plcsuit.jp/index.html (Japanese) http://plcsuit.jp/hamfair2008inBigSite.htm (Japanese) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNyRjpSMHg0 (17635 kHz) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4qmJGkCZ_s (21790 kHz) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MeptOpZMS8 (14522 kHz) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfAf4ZLIRgE (4630 kHz) (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ CLEVELAND CLINIC STUDY: CELL PHONES CAN LOWER SPERM QUALITY By CNN's A. Chris Gajilan (CNN) -- Keeping a cell phone on talk mode in a pocket can decrease a man's sperm quality, according to new research from the Cleveland Clinic. "We believe that these devices are used because we consider them very safe, but it could cause harmful effects due to the proximity of the phones and the exposure that they are causing to the gonads," says lead researcher Ashok Agarwal, the Director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine. In the small study, Agarwal's team took semen samples from 32 men and brought them to the lab. Each man's sample was placed into small, conical tubes and divided into two parts: a test group and a control group. The control group was unexposed to cell phone emissions, but kept under the same conditions and temperature as the test group. The semen in the test group was placed 2.5 centimeters from an 850 MHz cell phone in talk mode for 1 hour. Researchers say that 850 MHz is the most commonly used frequency. They used the measurement of 2.5 centimeters to mimic the distance between the trouser pocket and the testes. Agarwal reasoned that many men keep their active cell phones in their pants pocket while talking on their headsets. Overall, researchers found an increase in oxidative stress such as a significant increase in free radicals and oxidants and a decrease in antioxidants. Agarwal says that equals a decrease in sperm's quality, including motility and viability. Evidence of oxidative stress can appear under other conditions, including exposure to certain environmental pollutants or infections in the urinary genital tract. "On average, there was an 85 percent increase in the amount of free radicals for all the subjects in the study. Free radicals have been linked to a variety of diseases in humans including cancer," said Agarwal. Free radicals have been linked to decreased sperm quality in previous studies. However, the study does have major limitations, he acknowledged, such as the small sample size. It also was conducted in a lab and so cannot account for the protection a human body might offer, such as layers of skin, bone and tissue. Agarwal is in the early stages of further research that can model the human body's role in protecting from radio-frequency electromagnetic waves emitted from cell phones. Agarwal also admits that there is no clear explanation of this demonstrated effect, but he shared some of his theories. "Perhaps the cell phone radiation is able to affect the gonads through a thermal effect thereby increasing the temperature of the testes and causing damaging effects in the sperm cell." In a previous study, Agarwal and his team found that men who used their cell phones more than four hours a day had significantly lower sperm quality than those who used their cell phones for less time. Those findings were based on self-reported data from 361 subjects. While representatives from the cell phone industry had not yet reviewed the latest study, they were cautious to give this study much merit. "The weight of the published scientific evidence, in addition to the opinion of global health organizations, shows that there is no link between wireless usage and adverse health effects," said Joe Farren, a spokesman for the CTIA-the Wireless Association. "We support good science and always have," he said. "It's important to look at studies that are peer-reviewed and published in leading journals and to listen to the experts." Agarwal emphasized that it is far too early for men to change to change your cell phone carrying habits, noting that his own cell phone was in his pocket as he talked to CNN. "Our study has not provided proof that you should stop putting cell phones in your pocket. There are many things that need to be proven before we get to that stage," he said. Full study on the web: http://www.fertstert.org (I DXed with a lot of UHF convertors (6AF4 tube osc.) and still managed to have a son.) (Brock Whaley, HI, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see FRANCE; NETHERLANDS ++++++++++++++++++++ IBOC: see USA: KFI DTV CONVERTER BOXES Some weeks back a discussion here on DXLD centered on DTV converter boxes. This prompted me to investigate the various market offerings and repair the antenna system at my folks' place. I think I've found what some on here may be looking for. After some research I settled on the Zenith (LG, actually) DTT901. This does not appear to be the cheapest box on the market with a retail price of $80 US (a $40 converter box coupon defrays half the cost). I received mine on Friday, installed a new TV antenna on Saturday and probably have a couple of hours of "play" time with the unit. This unit is well suited for those of us using rotors who have access to stations in two or more directions. After the initial setup that includes settings such as language and screen size (4:3 or 16:9), the unit will perform a channel scan on all channels from 2 through 69 (I'm not sure if this is configurable since scanning above channel 50 will be a waste of time in several months). But, unlike other units I've read about, the DTT901 has an "EZ Add" menu option that adds new found DTV channels to those that are already listed. The result is a list that continually expands rather than being replaced with each scan. A couple of features that may be of interest to DXers are the signal meter and manual tuning. The signal meter shown on-screen is made up of four colored blocks with a progress bar shown over them. Unfortunately, the legend only goes from "Bad" on the left to "Good" on the right. In my short bit of testing yesterday, even if the signal meter shows as high as the leftmost block but not quite bumping into the second block, the unit shows "No signal" and a black screen. It would be nice if the signal meter could display in dBm and if the decoding threshold could be manually set. But then, this is a consumer device and that is probably too much to expect. The second item of interest is manual tuning. The DTT901 does allow tuning outside its scan list. Simply enter the channel number from its remote and the unit will attempt to tune it. Pressing the "Signal" button on the remote brings up the signal meter so one can see if a DTV stream is present at all. I was able to test this with KLKN yesterday which showed a weak stream, but with no (apparent) usable strength. This being a price targeted consumer device, it does have a few shortcomings besides the simple signal meter. First, there are only three manual controls on the box itself, power switch and Channel Up/Down. It doesn't appear as though the menu or other functions can be accessed without the included remote. Second is the remote. As other reviews have stated, it is small as are its buttons. Labels for some functions such as menu, signal, and zoom are printed with a very low contrast silk screen and hard to read unless one is in good light. Assuming that senior citizens may be among the users of this converter box, the remote may make it difficult to operate at best (I'm 45 and had to look at the thing carefully to see the labels). Third, the output is NTSC or Composite Video only. While it would seem to make little sense to include HDTV capability, this may be an issue for someone looking for a manual tuning box if their HDTV set lacks that feature. Sensitivity appears to be good considering that the nearby DTV stations are on temporary facilities. I was able to get KOLN, 10.1 and 10.2, from Lincoln, NE (65 miles) without issue. KLKN, 8.1 and 8.2, (also from Lincoln at the same distance and beam heading) only after sundown. However, KLKN's UHF pattern has its null in our direction per FCC data. Both stations will revert to their VHF channels upon the DTV cutover so I expect 100% service after that date. Regarding cutover date information, I found a site that has been keeping up with the applications as TV stations wrestle with the pending changeover: http://www.rabbitears.info From that site I found that KSNB from Superior, NE has applied, as of August, to remain on channel 4 rather than transition to 34 as earlier planned. I hope they get the waiver since nearby KHAS, Hastings, NE will remain on channel 5 for DTV. Another interesting tidbit gleaned from that site is that KMBC in Kansas City has applied to go to 29 rather than remain on 9 after the cutover citing VHF coverage issues and being the only VHF station in the KC metro area. So this looks like a good site to keep up with last minute changes as we enter the home stretch of the DTV conversion. As for the DTV picture itself, outstanding. It is comparable to the output from any of our DirecTV receivers. Even with a good analog signal from KOLN, their DTV stream is a better picture with higher contrast and excellent color balance. I'm now looking forward to the DTV conversion. "The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears this is true." [tagline] Ham radio, Linux, bikes, and more: http://n0nb.us/index.html 73, de (Nate Bargmann, KS, Sept 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The U.S. DTV scheme is based upon DTV signals that "ping" out the Analog-original's channel number. Thus, in Los Angeles, a DTV-box "search" function first brings up the "Ch. 2" ping, from KCBS- DT/actual Channel 60; then a "Ch. 4" ping from KNBC-DT/actual Ch. 36 (which displays 4-1, then 4-2, 4-3 and 4-4 for sidestream channels such as NBC News); then a "Ch. 5" ping is received from KTLA-DT/actual Ch. 31, and so on. I don't know of any cases offhand where co-channel Analog operations, say, 150 miles apart, are both assigned to the same DTV channel. Therefore, a good rotor-driven antenna setup (and possibly a good inline pre-amp) is most essential to any rural users who currently employ that technique to separate two co-channel analog stations. Remember that your DTV box will actually be looking at two separate channels/freq. allocations in order to complete DTV decoding; theoretically your reception of each will be much clearer. The downside, is that boxes which do not "add" channels and/or do not recognize duplicate "pings", will probably only receive the first- pinged channel. Let's say your hilltop location allows you to swing the beam West for a Channel 4 from 160 miles away, and to the East for another Channel 4 135 miles away. Let's say both stations are now transmitting DTV on hi-VHF channels, rather than UHF, thus making reception of each actual DTV carrier more feasible. Each "pings" Ch. 4; I fear most boxes will only lock in the first one detected upon installation. Boxes that "add" channels automatically as time marches on, will be the best ones by far to take care of such upcoming situations (GREG HARDISON, CA, ibid.) From my limited reading I know that the stream contains a Program and System Information Protocol, PSIP http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSIP that should tell the receiver about the stream. I do see the station's callsign on the DTT901 when it begins to decode a stream. In the case of two stations on channel, I presume nothing will be shown until the SNR gets high enough for low BER decoding of one or the other unlike the analog effect I've seen where the picture from one station is visible but the FM capture effect results in the other station's audio being heard. From the "If I didn't have bad luck I'd have no luck at all" department, I get out to the folks place this afternoon and glance up at the new antenna to see one of the rearmost low band elements drooping down at a slight angle. I'm guessing a large bird decided it would be a nice roost and bent it slightly. The antenna is a Winegard 7084P that is fairly well constructed, but could probably benefit from being as heavy as an amateur transmitting antenna. Perhaps something designed along the lines of CATV is what I'd need, but they're likely not avaiable as a VHF lo/hi, UHF combo. I'll probably wind up having to replace it in several years. Sigh. 73, de (Nate Bargmann, ibid.) Is it Channel 12, 52, 35 or 16 ? http://dxinfocentre.com/pix/16.3-Erie.JPG WICU-DT (NBC) subchannel on WSEE-DT (CBS) ID's as Channel 12 DT 52 Virtual is 35.3 Physical is 16.3 So this version of WICU ID's as Channel 12/52 or 35 but is actually on channel 16. And this won't confuse granny? (William R. Hepburn, Grimsby, ON, CAN, WebSite: http://www.dxinfocentre.com WTFDA via DXLD) Nope - because Granny will never know that it's on RF 52, or RF 16. All Granny sees is "35.3" - and if they were doing it right, they could make that "12.3" or even "12.1". It'll go away in February, anyway - the only reason it's there is because WICU-DT 52 is running flea power; they're not spending the $ to go full-power on 52 when they'll just be shutting it down and flipping 12 to digital come February. Erie has not exactly been a poster child for the DTV transition; it's only in the last few months that anyone at all has gone to full power or started passing network HD. s (Scott Fybush, NHY, ibid.) Virtual channels are only a problem for us as DXers. From the point of view of a broadcaster, it is SO much easier for me to be able to tell a viewer that WXXI will continue to be "channel 21" after Feb. 17 than to explain that we'll suddenly become "channel 16." It also maintains a level playing field - here in Rochester, for instance, our channels 10 (NBC) and 13 (ABC) return to 10 and 13 from 58 and 59, respectively, in Feb. But the third of the "big three" affiliates, channel 8 (CBS), will keep its present DTV assignment on 45. Is it fair that WHEC can keep the "channel 10" branding it's enjoyed for 55 years, and that WHAM-TV can keep the "channel 13" branding it's enjoyed for 45 years - but that "channel 8" has to start all over as "channel 45" after almost half a century on its channel? It also alleviates the confusion that comes in markets where a vacated analog channel gets taken over by someone else's DTV. In Syracuse, I'm sure WSTM, with almost 60 years of history as "Channel 3," will be much happier remaining "channel 3" than having to rebrand as "channel 24," when THAT branding has been associated with public TV WCNY for almost half a century. (WCNY-DT will stay on 25; WSTM-DT has to vacate its present 54 and will move down to 24.) Yes, we DXers care deeply about what RF channel a station is using --- but to John Q. Viewer (or Granny, if you prefer), it's of no more relevance than whether their cellphone is using 842.6125 MHz or 847.5500 MHz. As long as the call completes when they hit "send," or as long as KATV still comes up when they press "7" on the remote, that's all that matters. The only area where the actual RF channel would be a concern to Granny would be when it comes to selecting an antenna, especially in places like Philly and Albany where there will still be low-band VHF DTV. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) Problem is with weaker signals (esp. those found when using rabbit ears). If a signal is weak during a scan and the PSIP can't be read probably, it may get scanned & logged by its physical channel. Most of my tuners do this. Would make a whole lot more sense if, in February, every station in the USA resorted to a digital signal on its original channel, except for those above 51 which would get a new one. Identities could've been kept. Virtual channels would've been unnecessary. The channels 2-6 could've retained their original 100 kW power if noise was an issue on those channels. BTW, check this one out... http://dxinfocentre.com/pix/16.2-Erie.JPG It's virtual channel 35.2 - but ID's as 16.2 !! (the physical). Now that MUST cause confusion (Bill Hepburn, ibid.) I understand the desire to keep a legacy ID/branding. But cable co's have put local stations on different cable channels than the OTA assignments for years. KLRT analog is on cable in Little Rock and Pine Bluff on ch 13 (but OTA on 16). A few stations, such as KQCW use a "cable ID" as part of their imaging "CW 12/19", the 12 for their cable position but its not common. RF channel 7 will still be in use post transition in Central Arkansas but not by KATV, but by KETS-DT (which occupies RF ch5) Little Rock. In Southeast Arkansas/Northeast Louisiana channel 10 will remain active but with another broadcaster. KTVE-DT will remain in RF ch 27, but KETZ-DT will move to Channel 10. I'm assuming that KETZ-DT will use virtual 12-n. Now Granny in Little Rock has put off transitioning until early February 2009 and her trusty old "Little Rock Special" finally gets used for DTV on transition day. She can still get a good signal on KTHV and KETS which are both VHF, but KARK may or may not decode depending on condition of feedline, condition of the antenna etc. She assumes that she's watching physical channel 4 when its actually 32. One area that I see lacking in the transition the lack of giving the new RF channel either on air or online for those OTA viewers to install new or upgrade existing antennas. The stations here never mention their physical channel even deep in their websites. Some broadcasters are keeping their legacy channel assignments for post- transition DTV, its occurring in adjacent markets Jonesboro AR (KAIT), Monroe LA (KNOE), Memphis (WMC), and Springfield MO (KOLR). On February 2009 the verdict on virtual channels and any confusion will be decided by the jury consisting of the viewing public (Fritze H. Prentice Jr, KC5KBV, Star City, AR Grid: EM43aw http://tvdxseark.blogspot.com ibid.) ``Problem is with weaker signals (esp. those found when using rabbit ears). If a signal is weak during a scan and the PSIP can't be read probably, it may get scanned & logged by its physical channel. Most of my tuners do this.`` I have not noticed this happening in "real-world" (i.e., non-DX) situations with several tuners (Accurian, Zenith/Insignia, the built- in ATSC tuners in my Magnavox DVD recorders) in multiple markets across the US. In my experience, if the signal is providing enough data to be viewable, it's providing PSIP data. There are some stations (like WSEE-DT/WICU-DT) that don't quite have the PSIP concept figured out yet. They'll get there. ``Would make a whole lot more sense if, in February, every station in the USA resorted to a digital signal on its original channel, except for those above 51 which would get a new one. Identities could've been kept. Virtual channels would've been unnecessary.`` The channels 2-6 could've retained their original 100 kW power if noise was an issue on those channels. The low-band Vs would not have been happy. Hit the forums for Chicago or Cleveland on avsforum.com sometime and see how poor reception of WBBM-DT and WKYC-DT is, just to name a couple of prominent examples. The problem goes beyond noise - e-skip disruption to local reception is a very real issue for those strange "average viewers" who somehow think of e-skip as a bad thing (I know, I don't get it either ;-) - and there's the simple physical reality of the size of antenna needed for a 6-meter signal. I have tried to watch several "full-power" low-band VHF DTVs in spots within their markets where signals should have been strong, and even with a good, fully-extended pair of rabbit ears, they just don't come in. (KVBC-DT 2 Las Vegas and WBBM-DT come to mind immediately.) In effect, the real core is 7-51, and there's just too much rearrangement that has to be done to make that work without channel mapping. There are other big advantages (from the broadcaster's perspective, if not the DXer) to virtual channels - they make it much more transparent for stations to extend their reach via translator, for one thing. A lot of rural Utah communities will finally see the Salt Lake stations on their "true" channel numbers - "CBS 2" will appear on channel 2, "ABC 4" on 4, and so on. If it's any consolation, I don't expect the ATSC standard to last nearly as long as the NTSC standard did. With all the other forms of content distribution out there, we're not likely to be watching "TV stations," as such, over the air in another 20 or 25 years, I imagine. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) HD ON THE HOUSE --- CABLE CO'S WANT YOU TO THINK YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR HIGH DEF. THINK AGAIN. By Lonny Knapp I balance as graceful as ganesha atop a kitchen chair in front of my living room window. Glancing over my shoulder, I scowl at the dormant screen of my brand new 42-inch Toshiba flat-panel television, raising the rabbit ears above my head. Still no joy. Standing on tippytoes, I stretch my arm a little to the left and suddenly a digital blast like machine-gun fire breaks the silence. For a moment, a crystal-clear picture appears on the screen. The image freezes, distorts and disappears again. Inspired, I aim the antenna westward and gingerly place it in my wife's favourite hanging plant. I spring from my perch just in time to catch the opening credits of my favourite program airing in glorious high definition. Cable companies would like you to believe that you have to subscribe to their services in order to watch your favourite programs in high definition. But don't believe it. The fact is, you don't have to pay a monthly cable bill to receive HDTV. It's free. All you need is a set of rabbit ears and a relatively new television with an HD (ATSC) tuner...... Article continues at: http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=164592 (via Saul Chernos, Ont., WTFDA via DXLD) BMC'S AM MIGRATION PLAN (end of AM as we know it ?) Anyone have insight, comment or analysis? http://www.radioworld.com/pages/s.0100/t.14795.html "The next 100 channels (77.0 to 86.9 MHz) would be used to migrate AM stations to the proposed FM new EXB band channels, where they would operate in digital mode." I just learned of it in AM Stereo Forum (Email group), but since this was published Aug 1 2008, I could be way behind the times (Robert F. Sutherland, via Mark Connelly, MA, NRC-AM via DXLD) There was some talk of this prior to its release. This is one proposal among several, and it isn't a heavily-supported idea. The main drawback is the cost of setting up a new FM operations, and worse yet mandating digital. Most of the Am stations which cannot go digital cannot for financial reasons, because they're barely making it as it is, and are too small to afford either the outlay to go digital on AM, and therefore also couldn't afford this alternative. The devil here is just who believes they are going to profit if this gets adopted. AM isn't suitable for many of the other services which are often mentioned for the abandoned TV spectrum, due to propagation and nnoise issues, so one has to wonder whether the folks who think this will be a killing for them - whomever they are - even know that (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), [15 mi NNW of Philadelphia], ibid.) There have been a number of proposals floated that would remove TV channels 5 and 6 (76-88 MHz) from TV service and assign them for an expansion of the FM band. Some plans call for the new FM frequencies to be assigned to existing AM stations, others call for their assignment to non-commercial stations, some call for IBOC to be banned in the regular FM band and used only in the new band, some simply call for the creation of new FM stations. I don't think any of them are going anywhere. (while the FCC itself did make mention of such a thing, no major broadcasting organization - not even non-commercial or community radio groups - are supporting this) Many people, including some of those proposing such things, seem to believe that TV channels 2-6 will not be used when analog TV shuts down next February. TV CHANNELS 2-6 ARE ***NOT*** GOING AWAY NEXT YEAR. (emphasis intentional because the misconception is very widespread!) Several dozen full-power digital TV stations will occupy the 54-88MHz spectrum. Roughly two dozen will occupy channels 5 and 6. Speaking for one station in particular, WTVF* here in Nashville - their permanent DTV assignment is channel 5. They have already built their channel 5 digital facility, and have been seen testing it on the air. If channel 5 were to be removed from TV service... - WTVF would have wasted at least $100,000 (probably more) spent on a channel 5 digital transmitter. - A new channel will have to be found for WTVF's permanent DTV operation. - That channel will have to be found IMMEDIATELY to provide time for WTVF to order a new digital transmitter, a new antenna, and to arrange for installation of the new equipment. Obviously, none of this stuff is cheap - and the station hasn't budgeted for it. - WTVF cannot remain on its current DTV channel, as it's "outside core"; the channel is to be used for Verizon's "V-Cast" mobile TV. Leaving WTVF on channel 56 will delay full deployment of V-Cast in Middle Tennessee - costing Verizon spectrum they've already paid for and were counting on getting in February. - WTVF would likely have to either cease analog operation early, or suspend digital operation, as a third antenna would be necessary for the permanent digital facility and it's unlikely their tower can hold it. They'd have to remove their analog antenna, their current digital antenna, or both to make room for the second digital antenna. Now, multiply those issues by WMC and WCYB, the other two stations in Tennessee that will operate digital facilities on channel 5 after transition. And by other stations around the country, in markets as large as Philadelphia, where stations are currently planning on operating their digital facilities on channel 5 or 6. This proposal would cost a few dozen TV stations an ENORMOUS amount of money -- would cost Verizon and the other companies that bought 700MHz spectrum access to the frequencies they paid for -- and would delay the digital TV transition. It isn't going to happen. *I probably shouldn't speak up for WTVF, as they're my employer's main competition(grin)! (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, NRC-AM via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ A NEW SUNSPOT EMERGES Spaceweather.com reports: For the first time in months, a significant sunspot is emerging on the sun. It is a fast-growing active region with two dark cores, each larger than Earth. The magnetic polarity of the sunspot identifies it as a member of new Sunspot Cycle 24. Because the year 2008 has brought so many blank suns, some observers have wondered if we are ever going to climb out of the ongoing deep solar minimum. Today's new sunspot is an encouraging sign that the 11- year solar cycle is indeed progressing, albeit slowly. Visit http://spaceweather.com for sunspot photos and updates (via Ted Randall, DXLD) APOD: 2008 September 24 - Active Region 1002 on an Unusually Quiet Sun Here's a link to a really keen picture of the Sun, showing the sole active region currently on it: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080924.html (Curtis Sadowski, IL, WTFDA via DXLD) BBC News (Science) reports here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/sci/tech/7632331.stm that the solar wind is at a 50 year low. Anyone know how this will affect SW comms in the 11 year cycle? (Dennis Pepler, UK, monitoringmonthly yg; also via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) SOLAR-ACTIVITY FORECAST FOR THE PERIOD SEP 26 - OCT 2, 2008 Activity level: very low Radio flux (10.7 cm): a fluctuation in the range 64-70 f.u. Flares: weak (0-2/day) Relative sunspot number: in the range 0-25 Astronomical Institute, Solar Dept., Ondrejov, Czech Republic e-mail: sunwatch(at) asu.cas.cz (RWC Prague) ____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _ Geomagnetic activity forecast for the period Sep 26 to Oct 2, 2008 quiet: Sep 26 to 29 quiet to unsettled: 0 unsettled: Sep 30 and Oct 2 active: Oct 1 minor storm: 0 major storm: 0 severe storm: 0 Geomagnetic activity summary: geomagnetic field was quiet from Sep 18 to 24. 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 3, 11, 14-15 active to disturbed: Sep 30, (Oct 1-2, 4-5), 12-13 quiet: Sep 26-28, (29,) Oct 6-10, 16-22 Survey: mostly quiet: Sep 23-24 quiet to unsettled: 17, 19, 22 quiet to active: Sep 18 unsettled to disturbed: Notice: Days in brackets refer to a lower probability of possible solar activity enhancements depending on previous developments on the sun. Petr Kolman OK1MGW, Czech Propagation Interested Group, e-mail: kolmanp(at)razdva.cz (via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ###