DX LISTENING DIGEST 9-016, February 22, 2009 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 1448 Mon 0600 WRMI 9955 Mon 2300 WBCQ 7415 Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 Tue 1630 WRMI 9955 Wed 0600 WRMI 9955 [or new 1449] Wed 1630 WRMI 9955 [or new 1449] WBCQ is also airing new or archive editions of WOR M-F 2000 on 7415 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 or http://schedule.worldofradio.org or http://sked.worldofradio.org 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://podcast.worldofradio.org or http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/podcast.php OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** AFGHANISTAN. Here's a 2004 story of one of the three Radio Peace stations. This one of Orgun (Jari Savolainen, Finland, Feb 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: SOLDIER-DJS USE AIRWAVES TO ENTERTAIN, INFORM AFGHANS Peace Radio broadcasts national and local news in Dari and Pashto each day, as well as children’s stories every Wednesday and Saturday. By U.S. Army Sgt. Frank Magni 17th Public Affairs Detachment FORWARD OPERATING BASE ORGUN-E, Afghanistan, Dec. 17, 2004 — It doesn’t take requests, doesn’t play Top 40 or run contests, but for 18-hours a day Peace Radio, channel 9365 on short wave radio, entertains and informs residents of Paktika province with a theme that benefits both Coalition forces and Afghan civilians. Transmitting from Forward Operating Base Orgun-E, Peace Radio is run by three soldiers from the U.S. Army Reserve who never expected to be disc jockeys in Afghanistan, but who are enjoying the experience because of its uniqueness. . . http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/Dec2004/a121704cm1.html (via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 11710.84, RAE (presumed), 0004-0010, Feb 18; in Japanese with tango music; best in USB (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. RA, 6020, very good Feb 22 from 1315 tune-in until abrupt 1355*, coverage from previous morning on ABC Local Radio of National Service of Mourning, re bushfires in Victoria; included poetry, speeches by Princes Anne, Governor General, etc. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wish someone else would have noticed this. I was checking reception of CBCNQ 9625 at 2200, Sunday 22, and suddenly splatter arose from 9630. But instead of RA Indonesian service, news in English was heard for fifteen minutes when they became aware of the punching error. Thought it was a change of schedule. One tends to look for RA after local mid- afternoon on the higher frequencies, but propagation has been so poor that no signal is heard on 17795 or 17785. Occasionally 12080 with their magic 10 kW is barely audible by 2230. 73 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH [and non]. Deutsche Welle eyes FM switch, wider audience in Bangladesh Sunday, February 22, 2009 8:48 AM From online newspaper, BD24.com Germany's Deutsche Welle will soon switch to FM in its pursuit of a bigger Bangladesh market share as short wave broadcast increasingly becomes a thing of the past...It plans to share websites with people in "two to three years", and make sure when the short waves disappear "we are still an important force in the media here in this country", Lucas (Head of SE Asia team) said. Full article: http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=76912&cid=2 (via Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BELARUS. 7135. Radio Belarus International (Minsk / Kalodzicy), 2212-2220, 2/18/2009, English. Slow music with talk by woman. Talk by man and woman at 2220. Moderate signal with slightly muffled audio. Parallel 7360 heard with weaker signal. No signal heard on 7390. SINPO 33333 (Jim Evans, TN, Logs made using Sony ICF-SW7600G and whip antenna. Germantown, TN, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Escutas realizadas em Joao Pessoa-PB HI22nu, Radio: IC - R1500 - Antena: 3DX3: 7135.0, 2158-2203 14/2 Radiostation Belarus, Minsk, (English) música clássica; breve comentário de OM; ID emissora; continua falas de OM. 35333 (Antonio Laurentino Garcia, PR7BCP, HCDX via DXLD) ** BENIN. In WRTH 2009 (International Section) TWR Parakou lists a 100 kW-SW-transmitter - does anyone know, if this one is already in operation? (Johann Wiespointner, Schörfling, Austria, DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Radio Santa Cruz, Bolivia, 6134.8, noted here at 1000. Nice flute music at 1010, followed by "Radio Santa Cruz" ID by woman announcer. Pretty decent signal. Nice peak right about then, and I see that sunrise is shown for Santa Cruz at 1008, and the temp is a nice 73 degrees as compared to 18 here. Signal already beginning its slide back into the muck at 1030. Also noted Radio Fides, La Paz, Bolivia on 6155.2 at about 0945, weak. Went back and checked Radio Fides and signal much improved at 1035. Sunrise for La Paz is about 1029, and temp there is 43, at a much higher elevation than Santa Cruz. (About 12,000 feet more!). 19 Feb 2009 (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6155.27, Radio Fides, La Paz, 1035-1055, Feb 21, Spanish talk by man & woman. ID. Ads. Jingles. Poor. Weak (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4845.2, R. Cultural Ondas Tropicais, 0147-0200, Feb. 22. Carnival music with excited male announcer in Portuguese. Dead air at 0153, but some noises of attempt to re-establish program feed – unsuccessfully as of 0200. Seems like they intended to stay on later than usual 0157 s/off, but ran into problems. Strong signal up to S7 (Paul Brouillette, Geneva, IL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4925.2, 13.2 2220, R. Educação Rural, Tefé with 40 minutes of romantic music in Spanish puzzled me. At 23 there was a big identification in Portuguese, followed by a religious program. Strong! S 3-4. BEFF (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Feb 22 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 6185, RNA, 2315-2348, Feb 17. Fading in at tune-in, good by tune-out; // 11780 (very good); pop songs. Mexico had no chance of reception (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9505, R. Record, 2324-2346, Feb. 21. Futebol highlights with several studio announcers and apparent audio clips from various games of "Paulista" team. Player interview. Some carnival music. Definite ID in passing at 2345. This one not often heard here lately. Weak but clear (Paul Brouillette, Geneva, IL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9819.2, 2154, Radio 9 de Julho, man and woman talking in Portuguese with time pip at 2200 followed by canned ID by a man announcer. Jingle ID at 2202 followed by a female vocal selection. Program of a man and woman talking with some musical selections. Poor to fair. 26/1 (Richard d’Angelo, Wyomissing, PA, Ten-Tec RX-340, Eton E2, Drake R-8B, Lowe HF 150, Eton E5, Alpha/Delta DX sloper RF systems Mini Windom, Datong FL3, JPS ANC-4, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) 9819.47, Radio Nove de Julho, Sao Paulo, SP, 1330-1335, February 21, Portuguese, ID and announcement: "A Radio Nove da Julho, emissora católica....", TC, program conduced by male and female, 34433 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Asunto: EL CASTOR MENSAJERO 22-02-09 --- "En la emisión de este domingo me acompañará la supermexicanísima Gabriela Mayorquín. Además de leer sus cartas conversaremos vía telefónica con Guy Simard, un oyente canadiense radicado en La Beauce, Quebec y, en el Espacio DX, contaremos con la participación de César Augusto Rodriguez, Omar Alfredo Ortiz Robayo y Marius Dragulescu, todos oyentes de RCI en Colombia. Buena escucha y buen fin de semana!" (via Yimber Gaviría, Colombia, Feb 20, DXLD) I listened to the then latest show available on demand, a.k.a. podcast, from the previous week 15-02, via rciviva. Its blurb said: ``En la emisión conversamos vía telefónica con Pedro Iraeta, un oyente salvadoreño, radicado en Montreal. En el Espacio DX contamos con la participación de Francisco Rubio Cubo de España, Marco Rubén Ruiz Díaz y Leonardo Nicolás Enmanuel Reiman de Argentina`` The Espacio DX segment ran from 41 to 48 minutes into the 53 minute file, so on the broadcast would have been at approx. 46-53 minutes past the hour, or 51-58 minutes if starting 5 minutes late. Included brief voiced DX reports from the three contributors listed. The first one had totally wrong info about Amigos de la Onda Corta on REE, as already discussed and corrected here, i.e. Sat 0500 instead of the correct time 0605; also gave the totally extinct time of Sunday 1105 instead of 0005, along with imaginary frequencies for each, including DRM 9780. The second one was a listing of stations in Spanish which provide lessons for their own language, including Japan, Iran, Taiwan, China; fine, but no details other than day of week the LLs appear. The third one had four items, half of them with mistakes in the frequencies, Croatia on 7385 instead of 7375, and Austria on 9840 instead of 9870. Yet the program hosts didn`t know enough to send these back for correxion before broadcast! Was any of this corrected the following week? The rest of the show I spot-checked had a lot of good listener interaxion, with brief non-DX clips from individuals greeting others, etc. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 9755, RCI noted around 0030 [UT Sat] Feb. 22 with a decent signal, compared to their nearly season-long inaudibility. Comments from Stephen Harper about Obama's recent visit to Canada. But, wait! It's not an English program! This was just a long clip which was then promptly translated into Ukrainian (Paul Brouillette, Geneva, IL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 1650 in Canada http://www.cinaradio.com/ It is now on the air (Artie Bigley, Columbus OH, Feb 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very uninformative website, undated as to when `now` is/was/will be, but did find this press release tucked away. I assume GTA means Gateway To Asia, as they assume everyone knows what it means. But it could be Greater Toronto Area? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Viz.: Mississauga, Ontario FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - CONTACT: Neeti P. Ray, President Tel. 416-777-1650 Fax. 905-795-9030 Email: cinaradio@gmail.com NEW GTA RADIO STATION FOR SOUTH ASIANS IS ON AIR Mississauga, Ontario (December 22, 2008) – GTA’s new ethnic radio station, 1650 AM CINA Radio, is now on air. Licensed by the CRTC to Neeti Prakash of Radio India, CINA Radio will broadcast programs to the South Asian community of the GTA 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. CINA Radio is the first radio station in Canada licensed to serve primarily the Indo-Pakistani community, a significant recognition for the community. Programs will be broadcast in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi. Weekend programs will also include Gujarati, Bengali and English (West Indian). The station promises world-class programming, with a format not currently available. Neeti Prakash hopes that the new radio station will further enhance the South Asian community’s unique identity, as one separate from the rest of the GTA. The radio station is currently on ‘test air,’ which will continue for about 3 weeks, as required by CRTC regulations. Regular broadcast will start upon completion of the test period. Thousands of Torontonians would remember Radio India, the program that dominated the South Asian airwaves in the 90s. Radio India had lost all 61 hours/week of programming on the mainstream station (610 CKTB) the day the station inherited new owners who eliminated ethnic programming. It was then that Neeti Prakash resolved not to come back on air until he could own his own radio station, licensed to him by the CRTC. CINA Radio is the result of that resolve, and will now be the permanent home of Radio India. More updates in the days and weeks to come… # # # (via DXLD) Hi, we are not streaming yet. Our over-the-air broadcasts have been DXed in Europe - I guess skywaves carry us that far. Neeti Ray, 1650 AM CINA Radio, Toronto, On. (Feb 19 via Artie Bigley, OH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. "Wife of CBC radio host dies of cancer" === Metro Morning's Andy Barrie, who took a leave of absence to care for his spouse, says he plans to return to work (via Dale Rothert, DXLD) Glenn, I think you're probably aware that Barrie was at CFRB before switching to CBC Toronto (Dale Rothert, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And more about him too, Parkinson`s (gh) ** CANADA. 6069.96, CFRX Toronto, 0144-0210, Feb 22. CVC/Chile off- the-air, but still had some adjacent QRM; ID "News Talk 1010 CFRB, an Astral Media station"; ToH news, sports scores, weather and traffic; two women talking about Bali tours (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 4940, Voice of Strait, 1500-1530, Feb 22 (Sun.); pips (5+1), "Focus on China" program in English (broadcast only on Sunday); "This is the Voice of Strait, Fuzhou, China"; series of one minute news items about China, alternating between Gary and a woman announcer, with musical bridges between items; promo for China; mixing with AIR Guwahati. They announce the program as a half hour and for two Sundays now it has indeed been that long. Earlier noted in parallel with 4900, with Chinese Opera, only parallel from 1431 to 1455 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. The Voice of Jinling-Jinling zhi Sheng on 5860 kHz broadcasts it now at 0100-1600 UT. (ex 1130-1400 UT). English ID as Jiangsu Radio Impassioned. QRMed on R. Farda at 0830-1400 on 5860 kHz and MET FAX on 5857.5 kHz in S. Korea. program sked in Chinese http://www.jsbc.com/schedule/dtjm/jlzs/SW5860/index.shtml de Hiroshi (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Feb 13, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Sei-ichi, Thank you for posting this information! During the new extended time period for the Voice of Jinling, I can hear them in the clear from 1400 to 1500. Before 1400 there is light QRM (perhaps from R. Farda?), but after 1500 a fairly strong Radio Free Asia (along with the accompanying heavy jamming noise) is also heard on the same frequency, in Korean via Tinian. China is only very faintly heard underneath (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Feb 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 6065, CNR-2/China Business Radio, 1330-1400, Feb 18; "This is English Evening on China Business Radio"; continues with their shortened program (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. The Japanese section of China R International (CRI) will issue 56 racial [sic] series of electronic QSL for e-mail report from Feb 20, which is changed every 10 days (that is 3 different QSL's in a month). I think it continues until Sep 20, 2010! (Shin-ichi Shiraishi, Sendai, Japan, DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) 7220, Feb 21 at 1533, soft song in Japanese with guitar; QRM de WA4FUR, Steve in Georgia, who had concluded that no one was using the frequency! Good signal except for intermittent QRHam. What does PWBR `2009` say? Vietnam, RFE/RL, Central African Republic or Zambia. None of these likely with such a good signal in Japanese, so onward as usual to more up-to-date online references. Aoki has these on the air at 1533: V. of Broad Masses, Eritrea; R. Bangui; R. Liberty, Lampertheim in Russian; V of Vietnam in Vietnamese --- AND CRI in JAPANESE, 500 kW, 95 degrees from Jinhua site, obviously the choice. HFCC has same except 59 degrees. EiBi also includes the CRI Japanese broadcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 8794.00 USB, Chianjiang Maritime R, Wuhan, 1350, Feb 14, instrumental orchestral music, time pips at 1400, short ann in Chinese (female speaker), music, later announcement (maybe some meteo infos or similar), 25322 (Johann Wiespointner, Schörfling, Austria, DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. 10210, Sound of Hope, jammed by Firedrake, 1230, Feb 10, on new frequency (ex 10200 ? DSWCI Ed) // 9000. Upon recheck at 1530, 10210 had gone, but 9000 still was heard (Maarten van Delft, Putten, the Netherlands, DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) ** CHINA. 11945, Feb 21 at 1603, good signal but flutter, with classic rock song in English, ``Say You, Say Me,`` by Phil Collins? 1606 Chinese announcement, 1610 YL singing song in Chinese. Your credulous list-logger would assume this is R. Free Asia as scheduled via Tinian. But we know that is thoroly jammed by the Chicom, so we must investigate such a possibility, or rather probability! Tuned around 25m for a parallel and found one just barely audible on 11765, bothered by WHRI 11785 overload. Ahá, per Aoki, no RFA scheduled there, but instead Sound of Hope during this hour. Ergo, what I was hearing on 11945 was not RFA but Chinese jamming, presumably CNR-1 program as usual, which at least at midnight is playing music instead of news (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 900, Tangshan PBS, 5th program, Sound of Caofeidian (Story Channel) began broadcasting officially on June 20, 2008. Sound of Caofeidian bases on the high speed development of Tangshan's Caofeidian economical model district. It broadcasts classical novels and stories for Tangshan and peripheral audience. Sound of Caofeidian uses 900 kHz frequency, covering Tangshan and many peripheral localities. The daily schedule is 18 hours uninterrupted (06:00 - 24:00 local time). ("Alert" - first broadcast express via finndxer via ARC Information Desk 16 Feb 2009, edited by Olle Alm via DXLD) Here is an example of the widespread use of lower power MW stations in China in areas with poor FM propagation. All stations are located in the Sichuan province. Due to synchronized operation, individual stations cannot be sorted out from co-channel stations airing the same programmes. kHz kW Station # Location 612, 981 3 510 Maerkang 612, 981 3 515 Kangding 639, 1116 1 532 Ganzi 639, 1116 1 536 Aba 909, 1359 10 537 Hongyuan 612, 981 1 538 Ruoergai 612, 981 1 543 Batang 612, 981 1 544 Daocheng 909, 1359 1 545 Maoxian 612, 981 1 547 Jiuzhaigou 612, 981 1 548 Rangtang (Thomson Broadcast & Multimedia, Winter 2009 via ARC Information Desk 16 Feb 2009, edited by Olle Alm via DXLD) I think 612, 909 and 1116 are all for Sichuan PBS News/General Service, and the others for CNR-1. All of the stations mentioned in the document are from a recent programme to install MW stations in remote parts of Sichuan. What's noteworthy is that the document makes no mention of transmitters for minority languages - you'd expect most of the same stations to be carrying Sichuan PBS in Tibetan at least. There are also other stations synchronised on 612, 909 and 1116. These are the ones I know about: 612 - Luzhou (Sichuan tx station 518) 10 kW, Meishan, Neijiang (521) 10 kW, Panzhihua (516) 10 kW, Yibin (524) 10 kW 909 - Fuling, CQ 100 kW, Leshan (525), Wanzhou, CQ, 10 kW 1116 - Chengdu-Xindu 200 kW, Dazhou 10 kW. 'CQ' sites are now in Chongqing Municipality which separated from Sichuan several years ago. I don't know what the current status of these two sites is (Alan Davies, Ambon, Indonesia, 2 Feb 2009, ibid.) ** CONGO DR [and non]. ERA vs Kahuzi 6210 kHz --- Ciao a tutti, Il sistema più semplice per accertarsi se su 6210 kHz si sta ricevendo la Grecia o il Congo è quello di fare una verifica, in parallelo con 9420 kHz, della programmazione in onda; il resto sta tutto nella nostra buona fede o correttezza hobbistica. Personalmente, fino ad oggi, nel tardo pomeriggio ho sentito solo la Grecia 15650 - 9420 = 6210, che anche nella stagione B08 ha orari che coincidono con quelli di R. Kahuzi e che, come giustamente confermato da Glenn Hauser su DXLD 9- 014, è un problema non di ricevitori ma di impianti trasmittenti. La stessa cosa succedeva a Deanovec in Croazia, quando la HRT si sentiva su 5040 = 6165 - 1125 kHz (SWL I1-0799GE, Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, bclnews.it via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA. 7370, Croatian Radio HS-1, Deanovec (100 kW non directive), from Feb 18: 0858-1357, new frequency in Croatian, ex 9830. (Ivanov, via BC-DX and Gupta Feb 16, via DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) On Feb 16 and 17 at 1030-1045, it was still on 9830 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) And on the 19th the station is still heard using 9830 - nothing on 7370 - at 1115. It's a fair to good signal today, but with deep(ish) fades (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still on 9830 on Feb 21 (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Feb 23 via DXLD) ** CROATIA [and non]. Re 9-015: Apparent change in relay schedule --- Hi Glenn, Heard English news last night at scheduled 0300 on both 3985 // 7375(Germany). Also, did hear English tonight 2315-2330 on 3985 only. 7375 did not start until 2330 in Spanish (Terry Toope, Newfoundland, Feb 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. 9760, Cyprus BC Corp., 2241-2245*, Feb 21. Two women in Greek talk. ID. Nice local music. Off in mid-song. Excellent signal, best I've ever heard them (Paul Brouillette, Geneva, IL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHIA [and non]. Radio Free Europe begins broadcasting from new location: Listen RM audio stream from Radio Prague: http://helix.radio.cz:8080/ramgen/rm/EN/09/02/EN090219-14-high.rm?start=16:22.69&end=23:30.22 Download MP3 audio from Radio Prague: http://www.radio.cz/mp3/podcast/en/panorama/090219-radio-free-europe-begins-broadcasting-from-new-location.mp3 Read the full article at Radio Prague's website: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/113440/ (Dragan Lekic, Serbia, Feb 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHIA [and non]. Radio Prague has released a certainly impressive new set of high gloss multi-coloured `Transportation` QSL cards for 2009 which include several steam locomotives, a couple of railcars and a motor car with rail-track wheels used by rail workers c. 1947 to 1970s. To obtain, send a reception report and ask for a `Railway Transportation` card; otherwise, you may end up with a `soccer` card. Direct transmissions come from Litomysl, while relays are via Ascension, Duchanbe, Krasnodar, Miami, Sackville and Woooferton (via Grant Skinner & Paul Manning, Feb World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** DESECHEO ISLAND. 10107, K5D, 0700 Feb 17, I made contact with Desecheo Island in CW mode at 0100 local time. I was not aware of this DXpedition, just came across their very strong signal in the middle of the night on a band, that recently, has gone dead after sunset. He was listening up frequency, but only by 1 kHz, so didn't bother putting the rig into split operation; just listened with the wide filter. After working him, I tuned downward and heard massive K5D pile ups on 40 and 80 meters but did not bother to join in the mess (David Hodgson, KG4TUY, TN, Feb 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. Re 9-015, gh`s comments about fonetix, and why not add SWBC to DX-peditions?? I think it's because many hams learned their first set of phonetics in the military, which differs from the ITU set; fortunately (having enough problems with the technical stuff!), I never labored under that disadvantage :-). [well, I think military fonetix today are strictly ICAO: alfa, bravo, charlie, etc., --- gh] This is a great idea! While it's true that many hams are SWLs (my gateway to amateur radio), the DXpedition crowd seems to be narrowly focused on putting a DXCC country on the air for the DX community and I'll wager that few of them would be interested in one-way communications like the R. St. Helena broadcast. The logistics would be relatively easy; probably the licensing would be the tough nut to crack, but not impossible compared with the other obstacles a typical DXpedition must overcome. A shame, since hams and SWLs tend to live on opposite sides of the same street. 73 de (Anne Fanelli in Elma NY, WI2G, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also LANGUAGE LESSONS below ** DIEGO GARCIA. 4319-USB, 2255, 2/17/09. Very weak improving to P-F by 2323. Mostly news features with a few music bumpers. Peaked 2330- 2335. First time reception (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA, AOR AR 7030 Plus, Wellbrook 115', ALA-100 Sloping Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4319 USB, Armed Forces Network verified with a full data logo card in 14 days from v/s Robert Winkler from the Riverside, CA address (Richard D’Angelo/NASWA, Wyomissing, PA, U.S.A., DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) ** DJIBOUTI. 4780, Radio Djibouti (presumed), 1444-1515, Feb 20 & 21. Pleasantly surprised to come across this grayline reception. Their sunset about 1517, my local sunrise was about 1450. From 1444 to 1503 heard non-stop repetitive chanting/singing along with indigenous stringed instruments; 1503-1515 mostly just talking in a language that sounded like Arabic; reception slowly improving up to almost fair, but faded down to poor by 1515. Overall reception conditions have been outstanding for the past few days, as noted by Dave Valko, et al. (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. New test station on FM band, Cairo --- Hello DXers, for the last two weeks or so I have been following a new - test - station on the frequency 88.7 broadcasting 24/7 with the fist two bars of an Egyptian song by Mohamed Abd Elwahab, (1907 - May 3, 1991), who was a prominent 20th century Egyptian singer and composer. 88.7 used to carry the cultural program network till something went wrong with the FM transmitters in Cairo and the ERTU dropped that frequency. Wonder which network will be aired on that frequency? More to come soon. All the best (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, skype:mrdxer, Feb 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. REBELDES ASALTAN SEDE PRESIDENCIAL EN GUINEA ECUATORIAL afrol News, 17 de Febrero - El Gobierno de Guinea Ecuatorial ha confirmado el martes un "ataque terrorista" en Malabo por parte de rebeldes del Movimiento de la Emancipación del Delta del Níger. Malabo se encuentra paralizada, mientras el presidente Obiang y resto del gobierno se encuentran en Bata. . . http://www.afrol.com/es/articulos/32443 (via José Miguel Romero2, Spain, Feb 19, dxldyg via DXLD) Might disrupt SW broadcasts, domestically, anyway (gh) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, Radio Africa, 1130-1150, Feb 21, presumed the one here with English religious programming. Poor with low modulation. Some peaks up to a fair level at times (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GUINEA ECUATORIAL, 15190, Radio Africa, 0822-0827, 22-02, locutor, inglés, comentario religioso. 34433. (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [and non]. 7175, 0549, Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea good in Arabic-type language 27/1. Best in LSB mode to avoid hams. Not here everyday, and often obliterated by Ethiopian jamming. Possibly uses 7165 some days as same jammer heard there on occasions. 7220 also audible some days just prior to 0400 opening when smothered by Rumania, but signal improves and quite readable after 0500 some days. (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWEs to NE, E and SE, plus various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** ERITREA. The last few evenings I have noted excellent African conditions. Last night, Feb 18, I heard Radio Bana from Eritrea on 5100 kHz from around 0405 UT. I had been listening to the Broad Masses of Eritrea on 7175 kHz who I had at nice levels with its sign on at 0355 prior to switching to 5100 kHz. If conditions are good again tonight, I hope to catch the sign-on from Radio Bana. 73, (Rich D`Angelo, PA, Feb 19, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** ERITREA. 7165, VOBME, program 2, *0356-0410, Feb 22, sign on with IS initially on 7175 at 0355 but moved to 7165 at 0356. Talk at 0400. Horn of Africa music at 0406. Fair to good until covered by noise jammer at 0409. 7209.98, VOBME, program 1, *0355-0420, Feb 22, sign on with IS. Talk at 0400. Short breaks of Horn of Africa music. Tribalchants at 0413 followed by local rustic music. Fair to good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. 9610.00, Voice of Asena, via Samara, Russia (250 kW 188 degrees), New opposition station via TDP - from Feb 16: Mo/We/Fr 1730-1800 in Tigrinya to East Africa (Ivanov, via BC-DX and Gupta Feb 16, via DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) and previously in DXLD First broadcast heard here on Monday Feb 16, Carrier signed on at 1730 and broadcast began at *1731! ID: "Radio Asena" and political talk in Tigrinya about Asena (often mentioned) and Eritrea, 44333 QRM R Canada Int. in English 9610 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) ERITREAN OPPOSITION STATION RADIO ASENA ALSO BROADCASTS IN ARABIC Radio Asena, known as Dimtsi Asena and Sewt Asena in Tigrigna and Arabic respectively, yesterday aired successfully “the first ever Arabic broadcast to Eritrea by an independent opposition media” [According to Dave Kernick, that claim is not correct - see comments]. With that, Radio Asena has kept its promise and declared its objective of broadcasting to Eritrea in two languages, Mondays and Wednesdays in Tigrigna and Fridays in Arabic [1730-1800 UTC on 9610 kHz]. (Source: Eritrea Daily)( February 21st, 2009 - 9:34 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) 2 comments so far 1 Dave Kernick February 21st, 2009 - 12:58 UTC They’re making a spurious claim, other opposition stations also broadcast in Arabic - Voice of Democratic Eritrea http://www.nharnet.com for instance. 2 Dave Kernick February 22nd, 2009 - 11:16 UTC An RFI interview with the station’s founder can be heard on demand on the Voice of Asena website (assenna.com), along with archive files of this week’s broadcasts (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 5979.93v, Voice of Tigray Rev, *0255-0325, Feb 22, sign on with IS. Talk at 0259. Horn of Africa music at 0301. Weak but readable. Off frequency at sign on but slowly moved up to 5980.0 by 0301. // 5950 - weak under Okeechobee, FL (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. ETIOPÍA, 6890, Radio Fana, Addis Ababa, 1931-1937, escuchada el 19 de febrero en oromo a locutor con comentarios, SINPO 24422 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 7110, Radio Ethiopia, *0259-0320, Feb 20, sign on with electronic keyboard IS. Amharic talk at 0300. Horn of Africa music at 0304. Fair to good. Very weak on // 5989.33, 9704.18. 9559.51v, Radio Ethiopia, *0659-0720, Feb 20, sign on with electronic keyboard IS. Talk at 0700. Horn of Africa music at 0704. Weak. Very poor in noisy conditions. Constantly drifting between 9559.25-9559.67 during this time period. Threshold signal on // 7165 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 13730, Demitse Tewahedo, via WHRA, Greenbush, ME, USA (250 kW / 075 degrees), Monday 1900-2000, Amharic to East Africa. Broker: VTCommunications Relays (Ivanov, via BC-DX and Gupta Feb 09 via DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) New broadcast? Not even a carrier noted here at 1930 on Monday Feb 16, but maybe faded out? (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. via Samara, Russia, 7485, Ginbot 7 Dimts Radio, *1700-1730*, Feb 21, sign on with Horn of Africa music & into Amharic talk. Weak but readable. // 9610 - very weak under a strong Radio Canada International. Tues, Thur, Sat only (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. CLANDESTINE - 15195 Addis Dimts R. *1600-1657* Feb 22 [Sunday]. Opening announcement with 4 "Salaams", ID, and sked, then assorted talks past 1650, all in presumed Amharic. The noise took over after 1650 but closedown seemed to be about 1657. Good signal from 1600 to 1645; via Samara (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** EUROPE. PIRATE - Playback International being heard at 44443 in Newfoundland. Tune in at 2104, with variety of music, from "If You Could Read My Mind" to "Shut Uppa Your Face" and "I Like to Boogie". Clear IDs between each song. Still there at same strength at 0046 recheck. I could almost hear this last weekend, using a 15 m long wire. Today, I put up a new 80 m wire, and what a difference it made! (Terry Toope, 0053 UT Feb 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Forgot the frequency but previously on 6870 (gh, DXLD) Being heard in New Zealand on new 6880 at 0602 UT with identification (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, NZ, Feb 21, ibid.) 6880.0, Radio Playback International, 2315-2340, Feb 21, pop ballads. Several IDs. Poor to fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. 11720.00, Scandinavian Weekend R, Virrat, 1215-1320, Sa Feb 07, talks in Finnish, at 1320 ID, address, etc. in English (male speaker): "From the town of Virrat ...", 45544 (best ever heard, increased power or optimized antenna?) (Johann Wiespointner, Schörfling, Austria, DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) ** FRANCE. Regarding ``RFI English, 15605, Monday Feb 16 at 1631 starting a strange show called ``Mission Paris``, announced as a co- produxion with Deutsche Welle, and the EU. Seems to be a drama, with lots of SFX, à la video game? About demonstrations, mentioned remote- control (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: This is a long-running series, airing on Monday, for those wishing to learn French. I find it more irritating than instructive (Mike Cooper, GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See GERMANY below; also on DW ** GERMANY. DW questionnaire --- list programmes from the 22 shown below that you like to hear as soon as possible to ensure English programming continues and send to Inbox, Deutsche Welle, 53110 Bonn, Germany. CURRENT AFFAIRS: News, Newslink, Newslinkplus MAGAZINES: World in Progress, Spectrum, Money Talks, Inside Europe, Eurovox, Hits in Germany, Arts on the Air, Dialogue, Living Planet, Cool WEEKEND SELEXION: Concert Hour, Inbox, Inspired Minds, Network Europe, Insight, Sports Report, A World of Music. LANGUAGE COURSES: Mission Europe, Radio D (Feb World DX Club Contact via DXLD) How about by e-mail?? (gh, DXLD) ** GREENLAND. 3815, KNR, Tasiilaq, 2042-2047, Jan 27, talk, very weak, 15321 (Bernard Mille, Bailleul, France, DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) Also a seldom catch at 2125-2135, Feb 16, ann in Greenlandic, songs, 2130 KNR news jingle and news, 24322. QRM female netcall from Russian airports *2127-2128* (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) One logging of Greenland using a Web receiver in the UK: 3815-USB, Kalaalit Nunaata R. 2115-2130 21 Feb. Nonstop unrecognizable pop music, 2130 W with five words with separation between each, quite probably a countdown. Musical fanfare signature, then M with presumed news in Kalaallisut(?) or similar Inuit language; sounds very much like Quechua!! 2142 same fanfare as outro, then PSA by W then M. 2143- 2144 W with short feature intro, then M in presumed Kalaallisut. What sounded like another feature from 2145 to 2154 presented by M. Long pop song with W vocal 2154-2159. Then the same canned PSA by W in presumed Kalaallisut and M in English heard earlier at 2142 with the English portion sounding like "?? for fighting the ?? people... example… programs ?? open to you. You can enter your...". 2159 countdown by W again ending with tone denoting ToH, then same fanfare and W with apparent news to at least 2205. Poor to fair but clear. Heard on a Bedfordshire, UK Web receiver (Dave Valko, PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. Christian FM's in Guatemala? I have a question for the list at large. Do I put these listings in the new edition of Emisoras de FM? OK - here's the scoop. I acquired a radio list (compiled 5-2008) of all religious AM & FM broadcasters in Guatemala yesterday. There is a total of 92 stations in this list. Of the 92, 65 operate on the FM dial. The SIT (government license office in Guatemala City) does not included these broadcasters in their LICENSE LIST. Currently, none of these are entered in the master copies of the upcoming 'Emisoras de FM' edition. (They do have religious broadcasters in their license list, however those are broadcasters that applied for a broadcast license - please read on.) What do you think - add them or ignore them? Here is my dilemma with this list. There is positively no way to verify how accurate this list is. The organization that compiled the list is called Reinmex. They are based in the US, however I have no contact persons with the organization to verify their list. Their goal is putting together lists of non-commercial religious broadcasters from around the world and putting these lists up in XLS format on their .org website. If you actually go to their website to 'check them out', you simply get a list of File names (not the normal HTML website page), with no links to connect with the website developer or other persons. Before you say yes or no, please read the next paragraph. Just a very brief background why this is addressing Guatemala and not some other country. During 1982-1996, when Guatemala went through their civil unrest period and ended up under martial law, organized radio broadcasting became a total mess, with pirate radio operations showing up everywhere. Even a ton of religious broadcasters popped up here and there, in an effort to provide the *word of God* amidst all of the propaganda. None of these particular radio stations were LICENSED by the Guatemala government. Most served language dialect groups. In 1996, when Guatemala returned to a Republic form of government, one of their first steps was to clean up the pirate radio operations, most specifically radio stations that were in opposition to the government. If certain pirate stations were *approved* by the government, the owner/operators of the station had to apply for a license. I don't understand the reason(s), but a lot of the dialect religious broadcasters were left alone to operate in their small villages and never asked to apply for a license. This is the group of stations on this list. They are ones that do not hold a Guatemalan broadcast license, but are said to be operating on the AM and/or FM dials. The information on this list does not have kilowatts. Only station name, address, village or city, owner/operator, and frequency on the dial appear. I cannot confirm how accurate this list is. (Aside note: There is probably a small percentage of dxers that would have an opportunity to *snag* a Guatemala fm radio station in general, and, I venture that most of these on this list are of the low-power variety.) Dilemma? Do I use or ignore? Your comments appreciated. I'm not sure if Mike wants replies to this ONLIST - so please use your good judgement (Jim Thomas, wdx0fbu, Milliken, Colorado, (40 miles north of Denver), Feb 21, WTFDA via DXLD) Include them, but with disclaimer just as above (gh, DXLD) ** HONDURAS. 3340, HRMI Comayagüela, 1047, Feb 17, Spanish. Ballads and talk thru ToH; no ID noted; poor and rapidly deteriorating (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH-USA. NRD545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Bevs, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3339.98, HRMI, 0815-0835, Feb 20, Spanish ballads. Spanish ID announcement at 0830 as Radio Misiones Internacionales. Very good signal (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4775, AIR Imphal, Feb 18. Still having transmitter problems; very faint audio at 1321; no audio, just open carrier at 1424 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA [non]. On Feb 22 both AIR Imphal (4775) and AIR Shillong (4970), completely off-the-air (nor found on another frequency); 1328 + 1358 + 1435 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA [and non]. AIR Mumbai on 7190 instead of 7195 again for the 3rd consecutive day today 19 Feb 2009. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, dx_india via DXLD) Still on 7190 - 20th Feb, 2009 - 0100 UT; 7195 occupied by PBS (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, ibid.) i.e. 7195 PBS Xinjiang 2330- 0200 1234567 Uighur 50 230 Urumqi, per Aoki (gh) AIR Mumbai continues on 7190 kHz for 5th day (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, 0329 UT Feb 21, dx_india yg via DXLD) Clearly the engineers have more important things on their mind than operating on the correct frequency: (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR, DOORDARSHAN ENGINEERS ON PROTEST MODE Published: Fri, 20 Feb 2009 at 21:11 IST http://www.samaylive.com/news/air-doordarshan-engineers-on-protest-mode/609721.html New Delhi, Feb 20: Close to 600 engineers of All India Radio and Doordarshan protested today wearing black badges voicing objection to the amendment of the Prasar Bharati Act and asking fulfilment of their service related demands. The engineers demonstrated in front of AIR and Prasar Bharati offices here claiming that the recent amendments to the Act deny existing government employees of Akashvani and Doordarshan to choose either to switch over their services to Prasar Bharati or to remain in government service. The protesters under the Union of Akashvani & Doordarshan (Prasar Bharati) Engineering Employees (UADEE) also said their demands related to "proper implementation" of the 6th Pay Commission recommendations were not fulfilled. "Demands related to transfer of employees and proper implementation of the recommendations of the sixth pay commission also remains unmet despite long pending petitions in this regard," UADEE General Secretary Ram Shankar told PTI. In a release, the union threatened to intensify its agitation if their demands remains unfulfilled (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDIA. INTERNATIONAL DRM DIGITAL RADIO WORKSHOP IN INDIA "New Delhi, India – With the growing interest shown by India in the adoption of DRM - the universal, openly standardised, digital radio system – the DRM consortium is organising presentations and a dedicated DRM session during the BES Expo International Conference to be held in Delhi from 23-25 Feb 2009. Mrs. Ruxandra Obreja, Chairperson DRM Consortium, will deliver the keynote speech on the first day of the conference. […]" The complete release is attached and available on http://www.drm.org/fileadmin/media/downloads/DRM-AIR_Press_Release.pdf . For additional details about DRM presence at BES please contact DRM Project Director, Vineeta Dwivedi at projectdirector@drm.org. Kindest regards (Fanny Podworny, Project Office Manager, Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), Feb 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) We already published details of the special DRM transmissions for the BES. Of note is this additional excerpt: H. R. Singh, Engineer-in-Chief, All India Radio, the overall engineering head of the All India network said, “Our regular DRM transmission from a 250 kilowatt shortwave is the first step of our digital radio switchover strategy. The DRM transmission is being beamed towards Europe from 1745 to 2230 UTC on 9950 KHz and a NVIS service in DRM mode is also under operation from 1430 to 1730 IST on 6100 KHz, to cover an area of approximately 800 kilometre radius around Delhi. We are also in the process of converting four 250 kW shortwave transmitters to DRM mode by March 2009. There are plans to introduce DRM transmissions in high power medium wave and short wave transmitters on a large scale in the near future.” (via gh, DXLD) ** INDIA [non]. DRM Transmissions towards India for BES Expo Deutsche Welle Additional DRM transmissions to BES/ India carrying the recently launched DW / BBC service for Europe, from Trincomalee (Sri Lanka) to India (New Delhi) Date : 22nd to 26th Feb, 2009 Time : 0500-0759 UTC Freq: 12055 kHz. TDF There will be special DRM transmissions from TDF / Issoudun to India Date : 23rd to 25 Feb 2009 Code: DRM Power = 150 kW, Frequency = 21620 kHz, Azimuth = 80 , Antenna = Alliss 4/4 Time = 0830-1300 UTC DRM Parameters: Mode B, BW = 10 kHz MSC : 16 QAM CR = 0.62 Audio bit-rate ~ 14 kbits/sec, Audio Encoding = AAC, no SBR, Depending on reception results, these parameters could be adjusted. TDF would be pleased to receive DRM reports from India and other parts of the world. CVC CVC will be broadcasting in Hindi towards India for the duration of the BES Expo 2009 in Delhi. Dates: 23 - 25 Feb 2009 Time: 08:30 - 12:00 UTC (14:00 - 17:30 local time, India) Frequency: 17590 kHz Any reception reports and comments would be welcome (DRM Software Radio Forum via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dx_india via DXLD) Site for CVC 17590? Jülich, 100 kW, 90 degrees (gh, DXLD) ** INDONESIA?? 2960, RPD Manggarai (tentative), 1213 20 Feb, light music on electric guitar at tune-in (peaked at this time). Then causal talk by M, definitely NOT sounding like English. A different M commented briefly at 1216. 1217 back to easy music for 15 seconds, then M voice-overs. 1219 sounded like island choral music. Very fady and just about gone by 1220. Certainly didn't sound a like a domestic harmonic. Could this have been Manggarai? Anyone hearing this lately?? INDONESIA?? 2897.03v, RPDT2 Ngada?? Music at 1118 20 Feb, then M announcer at 1123. Just not strong enough to determine the type of music or language. Didn't seem that much weaker than 2960. Drifting up too. Was up to 2897.1 by the time it disappeared at 1231. No harmonic works for MW, so what could this have been?? Nothing heard on a California web receiver, but then again West New Britain wasn't coming in either. Would be shocked if this was indeed Ngada. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, JRC NRD-535D, Hammarlund HQ-129X, 60m T2FD, 100' Windom, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3344.96, RRI Ternate 1334-1405+ Feb 22. Lite vocal music with chatty YL after each selection. Sounded like Bahasa Indonesia so presume this is Ternate rather than Poppondetta. Fair at best and deteriorating but still there at 1405, with no ToH break (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4789.96, RRI Fak Fak, 1428-1453*, Feb 18. Believe it was in the mid-2007 that this was last reported lower than the recent 4790.03. In BI with EZL pop Indonesian songs; nice kroncong music before sign-off; clear "R.R.I. Fak Fak" ID; light to moderate CODAR QRM. 4790.03, RRI Fak Fak, 1325 + 1449, Feb 20. Back to their usual frequency after a being on 4789.96 on the 18th (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RRI Fak2, 4790 at 1420 Feb 20 going from music to YL talking, still fair signal at this late hour, with inevitable CODAR QRM. Only significant signal on 60m besides 5025 Cuba and 5030 China which were weakening prior to fadeouts. With BFO on, I noticed the 4790 carrier was slightly unstable. Still no sign of 4750 Makasar. This must have been a good Indo morning if I had monitored earlier. Yes: Dave Valko in PA nabbed a number of PNGs and Indos on 3 MHz about 2-3 hours before. Local sunrise in Enid today was 1313 UT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4790.04 RRI Fak-fak 1411-1454* Feb 20. ID and chat by YL; occasional Indo vocal mx; tuned out but noted at 1454 with "Love Ambon" and close-down. Fairly good signal w/CODAR accompaniment (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 4790.04, RRI Fak Fak, 1338, 2/22/09. Fast-paced Indo talk between OM & YL. Heavy CODAR sweep. Without CODAR, fair to good (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA, AOR AR 7030 Plus, Wellbrook 115' ALA-100 Sloping Loop, http://www.radiodx.net/wordpress/ dxldyg via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4790.0v, RRI Fak Fak, 1443-1454*, Feb 22. Recently have noticed a definite slight drifting in frequency. Sign-off announcement ending with "R.R.I. Fak Fak"; light to moderate CODAR QRM (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. RRI Nabire? See UNIDENTIFIED 6125.48 ** INDONESIA. 9525.90, Voice of Indonesia, 1302-1330+, Feb 20, tune-in to opening English ID announcements. English News at 1304. Poor to fair. Stronger than usual (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET [and non]. Internet Vs. Terrestrial Radio I, too, lament the changes which are altering my radio hobby. And I celebrate them as well. I don't like the disappearance of analog TV, which nullifies much of my summer DXing, but I also didn't like AM radio's switch to syndicated talk in most places. But yet ... But yet ... On the Internet, you can hear stations on the other side of the world with the same clarity you'd get from a local. Of course, there's no challenge aspect to it, but for the radio _listener_, the options have multiplied exponentially, precisely when things have gotten generic on the AM and FM dial. Here's some mind-blowing stuff for you to consider. As all of them do, the last commercial radio station I worked for spent amazing amounts of money on transmitter equipment, processors, studio gear, etc. I run an Internet radio stream. I believe it goes out to Texas, and then to the rest of the world. It's cleaner-sounding than my last commercial employer's station. I've worked at two automated stations, and for less than $300 I can buy automation software which is more sophisticated than either station's equipment, without needing thousands of dollars' worth of reel-to-reel decks. The world is still full of wonder. It just changes form as time goes on. Do I miss what is gone? Absolutely! I'd love to be able to turn the dial and hear thrilling and surprising, or at least diverse, radio again. Yet, even 20 years ago, I'd have never believed that I'd be doing live Internet radio shows that anyone could hear anywhere in the world, and they'd come from my house. And no boss tells me what I have to play. I may have a small umber of listeners, and can no longer make money playing tunes for people on the air, yet I have more freedom than I did in the old days. Don't think that I love change; in fact, I'm generally resistant to it. But we do gain some things, too. I wish we could have it all--marine operators and AT&T transmitters on short-wave, AM music stations, analog TV, the Radio Netherlands DX Jukebox, WRUL, 50's AM top 40, 60's FM underground, NBC's News And Information Service, and numerous other pleasures of the past. But there is pleasure to be had today. As for those "powers that be," that's a different can of worms. Radio has been forever altered by consolidation and the corporate money game, and in recent years large companies who bought into radio had very little interest in maintaining stations, just controlling them. That doesn't work for any other business, and it ultimately hasn't worked for radio either. (If you're going to buy a pizza restaurant, owning it accomplishes little, unless you can lure customers to buy food from you.) Internet radio is an alternative to "the powers that be," because most commercial radio gives listeners the desire to escape. Rock radio in the 50's was an escape from more traditional forms, and FM "progressive rock" was an escape from top 40. And the wheel continues to spin (Rick Lewis, http://TheRideRadio.net amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. BBC'S SECRET WAR WITH THE OFFSHORE PIRATES --- A poster on the Radio Caroline Mailing list spotted this article in today's Sunday Telegraph. Previously unseen documents from the BBC archives disclose how the corporation was so alarmed at the rise of the stations that it launched a secret "dirty tricks" campaign to have them shut down. The files show the extraordinary lengths to which the corporation went to undermine their new rivals: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/4741298/BBCs-secret-war-with-the-pirates.html (Mike Barraclough, Feb 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST; also via Dale Rothert, DXLD) ** IRAN. 13800, Feb 19 at 1412, nice Iranian music, but soon replaced by boring discussion in Arabic about Islam, Iran. Then found much weaker // on 13790. Yes, VIRI Arabic service until 1430 is scheduled on both, 13800 being Zahedan at 289 degrees, 13790 Kamalabad at 178 degrees, per HFCC. PWBR `2009` shows the latter as ``Tehran`` with a macron over the a. Kamalabad is the site right next to Teheran, per map in WRTH; my Times Atlas of the World does not even have Kamalabad in the index, having failed to realize that one day it would become a world-famous SW transmitter site, however insignificant it may otherwise be (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Which one, anyway? MSN Map Point, the most comprehensive online index I'm aware of, knows no less than eight Kamalabads in Iran, not even including the one near Teheran, instead one within six kilometres of Sirjan! But no need to worry, this Kamalabad is located southeast from Sirjan while the shortwave plant has been rammed in the countryside northeast of the town. Note the star configuration of the curtain antennas, screaming "German-built", the rotatable antenna that should be identical to the ones at Moosbrunn and Kvitsøy and the elaborate building layout: http://maps.google.de./maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=de&geocode=&q=kamalabad&sll=51.151786,10.415039&sspn=20.397525,39.550781&ie=UTF8&ll=29.597528,55.786257&spn=0.027539,0.038624&t=k&z=15 Northeast of the shortwave installations there is also a separate mediumwave facility. Must be 549 kHz, 400 kW (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Use http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IR/ and see 39 times Kamalabad at http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IR/a/K/a/m/a/l/ TX site located 33 miles west of Tehran centre: in Ostan-e Markazi close to Karaj http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IR/34/Kamalabad.html 35 49 41.02 N 50 52 05.77 E http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=35.828061&lon=50.868269&z=16.5&r=0&src=yh http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=35.828061&lon=50.868269&z=16.5&r=0&src=msa http://maps.google.de/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=de&geocode=&q=35+49+41.02+N++50+52+05.77+E&sll=51.151786,10.415039&sspn=19.953152,39.550781&ie=UTF8&ll=35.828078,50.868287&spn=0.40195,0.617981&z=16.8 but Google Maps - Satellit doesn't functioning in Germany tonight. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** IRAN. Spurious signal 7056 / 7194 kHz, 1600-1727 UT. Wir haben wieder ein Problem: IRIB erscheint um 1600 UT auf 7056 (7055) kHz stark verzerrt. Uli hat die gleiche Aussendung auf 7125 kHz gefunden. Hast Du eine Idee? (DARC/IARU Ham Radio Bandwatch, Feb 16, via BC-DX Feb 22 via DXLD) Guten Abend, sieht nicht nach einer Intermodulation aus, eher ein unsauberes Spur-Signal. 2x Tuerkisch 7125 1600-1730 zone 29S,39N KAM=Kamalabad bei Teheran 500 kW 289 degrees TURKI-ES=Turkish IRN IRB 7310 1600-1730 zone 29S,39N KAM 500 kW 298 degrees TURKI-ES IRN IRB IRB 7310 minus 7055 kHz = 255 kHz, ist a bisserl' viel Versatzdistanz in kHz. Also, ist eher anzunehmen, 7056 ist ein verzerrtes Spurious Signal aus der fundamentalen 7125 kHz. IRIB - Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting contact: web site Nicht nur AIR hat ganz fuerchterliche Signale dieser Tage. IRIB 7055 .. 7056 kHz. Heute am 21.2. hier in Stuttgart auch gehoert und zu bestaetigen. Feldstaerke am besten 1710-1727 UT, trotz Afu Konteststationen aus Frankreich co-channel Bereich 7056 kHz. Fundamental 7125 kHz Kamalabad Iran in Tuerkisch. a) 'Kratz-Geraeusch'-Spurs am staerksten auf 7054.55 bis 7059.31 kHz, b) aber auch schmales Spur Signal symmetrisch auf dem oberen Band bei 7194.30 bis 7194.47 "im 'Kratz'-Takt" zu 7055 kHz aufzunehmen, natuerlich nur mit schmalstem Filter, wegen superpower Moskau 7195 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Feb 17/21 via DXLD)) ** IRAN [non]. ``Rick Steves` Iran`` was an excellent hour-long travelog aired on OETA in Oklahoma the night of Feb 18; but I can`t find it on the PBS website, so maybe something not so new, or too new for them to have caught up with it. TV Guide online shows it as a 2008 produxion, but airing now as ``new``. Worth outseeking (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello Glen[n]. I agree, the Rick Steves Iran show was worth watching. In the credits it said filmed in April; I'm assuming 2008 and released in 2009. If you paid close attention to the credits he had to have put in some monumental time getting permissions and approvals. Most unusual were the interviews with women and access to some areas. I could not find it on the PBS website either. Wonder if this was an attempt to help soften the Iranian image to the US? If so it succeeded quite well (Steve Cross, MWC, OK, ptswyg via DXLD) Hi, Rick Steves did the trip in 2008. He has a website that covers Iran. There were also two radio shows he did at the following web addresses (they are big and go for something like an hour). I haven't listened to them yet but I've found most of his other radio shows (via the internet) OK. Rick Steves in Iran: Perplexing Issues: http://podcasts.ricksteves.com/feeds/pgm158pod.mp3 (24.6 Mb) Rick Steves in Iran, part two: Iran for Tourists: http://podcasts.ricksteves.com/feeds/pgm159pod.mp3 (24.6 Mb) I haven't seen the shows mentioned with regard to Australian radio or TV. Regards, (Wayne Bastow, Wyoming, NSW, Australia, 33 23' 44.29" South, 151 21' 11.99" East, ibid.) Hi Glenn, Rick also produces an excellent podcast. There have been a few editions covering Iran. You can find them on iTunes, and also at http://www.ricksteves.com Cheers, (Mark Fahey, NSW, Feb 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. QSL JMH - Japan Meteorological Agency - new Kagoshima site. Der Jubel am Briefkasten war heute gross, als der langersehnte Brief mit gleich 5 QSL Karten von der Japan Meteorological Agency ueber Empfangsberichte zu deren Testsendungen u.a. ueber die neue Sendestelle Kagoshima (Tnx an Wolfgang Bueschel fuer den entscheidenen Hinweis) eintraf. Auf meine 5 Mitschnitte zu den jeweiligen Sendungen xx:10 UTC auf den Frequenzen 2863, 6679 und 8828 kHz kamen auch 5 QSL Karten. Ferner war noch ein persoenlicher Brief des technischen Managers und ein Bild des Volmetsenders beigelegt. Die QSL Vorder- und Rueckseiten kann man auf Passwort: a-dx betrachten (Thomas Lindenthal-D, A-DX Feb 21, BC-DX via DXLD)) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 9780, Furusato no Kaze, 250 kW, 45 degrees from Taiwan, good in Japanese just after opening at 1600 Feb 21, just far enough away from Sackville DRM centered on 9800 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9880, "N. KOREA", Furusato no Kaze via Darwin, 1440-1500*, Feb 17, Japanese. W with talks between brief series of musical notes; various recorded talks; talk over music at 1456 with phone number & contact info; pulled the plug at 1500 sharp; booming signal (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH-USA. NRD545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Bevs, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) QSL of sis station: see PALAU ** KURDISTAN. 4849.86, Voice of Iranian Kurdistan, via Salah al-Din, Northern Iraq, *0300-0315, Feb 11, Kurdish martial music, 0304 and 0308 ID: "Aira dangi Kurdistan Irana", martial song, Kurdish ann by female, 0309 Muslim Call to Prayer - and then the Iranian jammer immediately started! Maybe it was a Sunni-muslim prayer; CODAR QRM, 33433 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) ** LAOS. 6130, LNR, 1410-1425, Feb 21. News in Laotian, indigenous music bridge till start of an English lesson, with Laotian translations; "Hello my name is Kathy. Welcome to New Dynamic English"; weak. For over a month now this has had unusually poor reception (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. 21695, Voice of Africa, 1455-1515, Feb 21, English talk about local geography. IDs. Talk about Libyan politics. Afro-pop music. Weak. Better on // 17725 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. 5009.96, RTB Malagasy, Antananarivo, 0203-0232, Feb 17, vernacular. Music program with choral-like music and instrumental ballads; cover of Beatles` "Obladee Oblada" in presumed Malagasy; good at tune-in; deteriorating by BoH (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH- USA. NRD545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Bevs, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5009.93v, RNM, 1503-1538, Feb 17; better than the usual recent fair reception; non-stop music (African pop, French ballads, etc.); poor by tune-out. Best in LSB. I find it strange that I am not hearing anything on the parallel of 6134.9, as there is nothing being heard there that would cause them any QRM if they were there (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Madagasikara - Feb 19 2009 [sic; must mean UT Feb 20]. 5010 very strong and in the clear very nice local music with an excellent signal of S-10. regular ID jingles 0245-0306. Madagascar still propagating --- 5010, News and more local music. Signal still in at a decent S-8,9 at 0404 with grayline at tip of South Africa and daylight at the RM transmitter. RM usually deep in the mud by 0340 and gone by 0400, but still hanging in very well and in the clear. 02-19-09. In my opinion, something had to have changed for the better at the transmitter. Since January 09, I have NEVER heard Radio Madagasikara this clearly with strong audio and a strong signal of this quality. I was a regular listener in winter of 07-08 in the evenings while trying to put the newborn asleep. I received them with a +7 to +9 ONCE in usb. Normally, it was +3, maybe bobbing to +4, which was a "great catch". As I finished writing this at 0412, still there and in the clear with a nice but falling S-5, 7 (Stephen Price, Johnstown, PA, R-5000, 400ft "L" antenna and buried ground, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. 3215, R Feon'ny Filazantsana, via Talata-Volonondry, 1628-1645, Feb 11 and 13, Malagasy religious talks and hymns by vocal and choir, 34333 Utility QRM. Off when rechecked at 1657 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) 3215, Cf. UNID in DX-Window no. 370: In the last of December 2008, I made daily recordings on 3215 between 1625 and 1710 of this station. Daily I had a very weak station with few talking and religious music. On Dec 21 the signal was best and I am quite sure this was this station ending around 1700 (Max van Arnhem, Hoenderloo, The Netherlands, Feb 10, DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) ** MALI. 9635, RTVM, *0800-0820, Feb 20, sign on with opening French ID announcements & flute IS. Vernacular talk at 0801. Fair. Very weak on // 7284.58 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Re: 4800, XERTA, R Transcontinental de América, Current address is Calle Gabriel Guerra #13, Col. Zona Escolar, C.P. 07230, Ciudad de México (Wilkins via DXplorer, via DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) Ex C.P. (= Código Postal) 07239 México 75, in WRTH 2009 (DSWCI Ed., ibid.) ** MEXICO. Tarjeta QSL del Sistema Rasa Comunicaciones --- Saludos cordiales queridos amigos diexistas y radioaficionados. Espero se encuentren muy bien. Hoy viernes me he llevado otra grata sorpresa como diexista y radioescucha, ya que al revisar mi apartado postal en Barcelona, me he encontrado con un sobre que contiene la tarjeta QSL de verificación del Sistema Rasa de Comunicaciones de Mexico. El 19 de Noviembre del 2008 envié mi informe de recepción a la emisora XEQM Candela, por haberla escuchado en la frecuencia de los 6105 kHz. Como cosa curiosa a las tres semanas de haber enviado este informe de recepción la emisora sale de la onda corta dando entrada a otras señales del mismo Sistema Rasa. Comparto imagenes con todos ustedes. atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez. Apartado Postal 488, Código Postal 6001-A, Barcelona, Venezuela. http://sintoniadx.spaces.live.com/ Feb 20, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. ABOUT THE WITHDRAWN KUSC(FM) CROSS-BORDER APP TO FEED XHLNC We [KUSC] withdrew our application to the FCC for permission to provide programming to XLNC because the Mexican station appears nowhere in the FCC's database of Mexican stations. It was determined that it would be best to withdraw our application, and reapply, after the FCC and Mexico's SCT get their databases coordinated (Eric DeWeese, General Manager, Classical KUSC, Los Angeles, edeweese (at) kusc.org CGC Communicator Feb 22, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. After doing some antenna adjustments on the roof, to optimize local DTV, I come down and find Es in channel 2, Feb 19 at 2235 UT. Really off-season in February! Women`s variety program in Spanish, color included. Bug in upper right looks like Tele/Ven (on two lines) or Tele/Ver. Typical signal from Mexico, however, rather than Venezuela. Clearer look at bug and it is Tele/Ver, so channel 2, Veracruz. Third line in fine print below it may be callsign. Lots of local ads, promos followed, ``orgullosamente TeleVer``, Carnaval de Veracruz, etc. Logo can be seen here: http://www.telever.com.mx/ Ah, what a pleasure to see the dynamic fading of analog TV from abroad, which too soon we shall be deprived of at home; the whine of video offset interference. At 2245 UT in better; 2247, signs of signals and CCI on 3 and 4 minus matching KFOR, still analog. After 2300 ch 2 was in a drama or movie which appeared to be black and white, tho maybe the color burst frequency was QRMed or just above MUF. By 2342 there was channel 5z CCI, and by 2355 video and audio in Spanish on channel 6. When Es MUF was visibly and audibly on channel 6 in Spanish, UT Feb 20 at 0002, I started monitoring FM, on the DX-398 with whip mostly positioned horizontally or diagonally depending on local QRM, and a lot of unexplained local mixing products leaving only a few frequencies sufficiently open for DX. First at 0002 noted that 87.75 had at least two Spanish audios mixing. This time I think they were Mexican TV stations rather than Los Ángeles FM stations pretending to be LP TV stations. IDs reference Fred Cantú`s list: http://www.mexicoradiotv.com/frec_fm.htm It turned out I was getting one station from each of three cities down the Gulf coast simultaneously. 93.9: 0004, in stereo, giving phone numbers too rapidly, one maybe 834-8309, ``La cadena que más suena en todo México, la Qué Buena``, romantic music. 0021, multiple shouts by different voices of slogan ``Aquí suena``, PSA on elecciones by IFE government agency; Cuban music. 0045, Que Buena, ads for Fábrica de Francia; PSA for ``Veracruz en tu Casa``, ``Ven a Coatzacoalcos``, Poza Rica ad; Tuxpan water shortage as worx are closed for cleaning. 0046 ``Aquí suena la Qué Buena``. Opening still in progress but I had other things to do. Cantú: 93.9 XHTXA Ke buena Tuxpan, Ver. 14,490 watts. 97.7: 0005, Spanish music, RDS reads WFM 97.7; some CCI too. 0017, DJ says ``seguimos defecándola, sí, señor`` -- really? Talking dirty. And then spoken ``WFM 97.7``. Jamaica travel promotion; fútbol en Matamoros; ad in Spanish for event at Dodge Arena, with 956 area code, which is extreme S Texas along the border, a concierto to take place on 15 de agosto! Didn`t catch name of performer but must be big if they are advertising it four sesquimonths ahead! Adstring presented at breakneck speed, peso prices. I don`t see how even a native could retain the details of phone numbers, etc. 0020 ad for Arboleras del Río. 0042, ad for periódico El Bravo, tel. Number. (I think this was frequency; at this time I had to step down to 97.55 to avoid QRM.) Cantú: 97.7 XEEW WFM Matamoros, Tamps. 2,860 watts. 95.3: 0006, Spanish timecheck for 6:06, rapid DJ, giving phone numbers, `la gran cadena . .. de MVC[?] Radio``, rock music by YL in English, stereo. RDS reads EXA FM. 0017, DJ says ``EXA FM 95.3`` [pronounced ek-sa]. 0024, another election PSA, always with slogan ``Así, nuestra democracia crece``, by Instituto Federal Electoral; 0026 adstring including a Tampico event on Feb. 28. 0028 another IFE PSA explaining that elexion day is 5 de julio, but registration deadline is 31 de marzo. Anti-organized-crime PSA. 0030 full ID as ``Exa FM, XHOX, 95.3, 60 mil watts, Calle Primera ---, Tampico, Tamaulipas``. Cantú: 95.3 XHOX Exa FM Tampico, Tamps. 30,410 watts. 99.7: 0010, Spanish talk re exército mexicano, $, RDS on my receiver still shows defunct local KNID-FM; mentions protestas in Chilpancingo, Guerrero. No ID but Cantú: 99.7 XHPB Mar FM Veracruz, Ver. 49,503 watts is the only station in the skip zone along the gulf coast as per other logs. US Stations: 96.5: 0032, ID as ``The Beach 96.5``. Must not be in Oklahoma. 0037, ``Beach 96.5, in the Beach Patrol jeep, live on the beach``, ad for Immaculate Word Academy; CCI in Spanish. Beach 96.5 is KLTG in Corpus Christi, http://www.thebeach965online.com/ 99.5: 0009, Mexican music, weak with fades. 0036, Payne-Weslaco Ford ad in English, then Little Caesar`s ad in Spanish. 99.5 must be KKPS Brownsville, etc., bilingual http://www.quepasa995.com/ Still CCI heavy at times on KFOR-4, and some CCI on KOCO-5 as late as 0235 UT, as well as mush on 2 and 3 (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sporadic E TV DX is back again tonite, but not as big an opening, so far, as last nite. 0133 UT Saturday, Spanish on 2, presumably Mexico, and working up to ch 3, skip interference to 4 KFOR and 5 KOCO by 0140 (Glenn Hauser, Enid, 0142 UT Feb 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 5985.77-.81v, Myanma Radio. Randomly heard from 1318 to 1531, Feb 20. Yet again they have switched back to the transmitter I assume is located at Yagon, as opposed to the usual transmitter at this time from Nay Pyi Taw, which has a steady frequency of 5985.00. Yesterday after 1500, I noted VOR (sounded to be in Turkish), with a much stronger signal than Myanmar, both on 5985.0. So do they hope for better reception being slightly off-frequency or are they just doing maintenance/repair work at Nay Pyi Taw? Noted a distinct drifting down in frequency. Was in vernacular till English at 1530. 9730.84, Myanma Radio, 1445 + 1535-1543*, Feb 20. Their Minorities and Educational Service in vernacular; brief indigenous instrumental music and off; almost fair. Feb 21 noted what seemed to be a country wide power outage. All three Myanmar SW stations were off the air for a while. Both 5985.79v (Myanma R.) and 9730.84v (Myanma R. - Minorities and Educational Service) were not broadcasting for a time between about 1330 to 1400. Myanmar Defense Forces BS via Taunggyi, on 5770, took much longer to return to the air, heard again at my check at 1518. This seems to be an ongoing problem per < http://www.monnews-imna.com/newsupdate.php?ID=1311 > (Feb 5, 2009): "Electricity in most parts of Burma is non-existent or inconsistent at best, with even major cities like Rangoon suffering from limited supplies and frequent outages." 5985.00, Myanma Radio, 1318, Feb 22. Switched back to being via the Nay Pyi Taw transmitter, at least I assume via that location (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. 828, Arrow Talks - The long-awaited Dutch talk station with the working title Arrow Talks is set to launch on mediumwave 828 kHz in the second quarter of 2009. The station will also take over the cable frequencies and Internet stream of Caz! which will be closed. That's apparent from an advertising rate card issued by the station's owners, as reported on various Dutch media sites. The actual on-air name of the new station has not yet been announced (Andy Sennitt, RN Media Network 28.1.2009 via ARC Information Desk 16 Feb 2009 via DXLD) Meanwhile events have overtaken this: On Feb 16 the Dutch telcom regulation authority Agentschap Telecom announced that the FM allocations for Arrow Classic Rock and Arrow Jazz FM will be terminated as of March 11 because Arrow failed to pay its licence fees. Dutch websites specify the outstanding debts as 6.9 millions Euro for Arrow Classic Rock and 2 millions Euro for Arrow Jazz FM. The FM network used for Arrow Classic Rock is an expensive (in regard to the licence fees) one without any obligations in regard to program content. Originally it was in use by an AC station called CAZ. This station was run by SBS Broadcasting which had been purchased by ProSiebenSat1 in summer 2007, and in this process CAZ had been sold to Arrow. They immediately reused the FM network for Arrow Classic Rock, hereby replacing 675 kHz which they finally sold to Radio Maria. Since then CAZ had no terrestrial outlets anymore. In March 2008 Arrow purchased a new, much cheaper mediumwave licence for 828 kHz and activated the transmitter in July with CAZ, apparently to avoid any risk of loosing this frequency. The 828 kHz licence is not affected by the current events, but of course it is now completely uncertain what will happen if Arrow can not avoid the loss of its FM licences (it appears that no other chance is left than paying 9 million Euro within the next few weeks). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Here goes, every one! Special Happy Station Show Tribute! UPDATE! After doing some research I discovered that the first transmission of PCJ Philips Radio to the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) took place on March 11th, 1927. So I think it would be a fitting tribute to Edward Startz and Tom Meijer for the years of broadcasting to the world, ``Smiles across the miles``, to have the first program air on Wednesday March 11th, 2009. As I am getting many people contact me with emails and recorded messages, it would also be a bit more time to make this program very special. Station for transmission is WRMI (Radio Miami International) on 9955 kHz, 31 meters. After the program is transmitted on shortwave it will be uploaded as a podcast. But those who listen to the shortwave version will be able to get a special QSL Card that a friend is designing for me. 9955 will be beamed to North/South America and Caribbean. For fans and listeners outside this region, don`t worry; I am trying to find a SW distributor for other areas. But you can still try 9955 and also the podcast will be there, with something special for you. The theme of the show will be: A show by fans for fans, and to give a special thank you to Tom Meijer and everyone who worked on the show for years it aired on Radio Netherlands. Music on the program will be pieces that have been played on the original Happy Station going back to 1928, and don`t worry, there will some Tom Meijer songs from his Skymaster sessions and from an album he recorded in Atlanta, USA. Would like to hear your suggestions for the first piece of music. My thought was because Eddy Startz would always play a March, maybe that would be a good opening for the first track. What are your thoughts? Also, all music will be off vinyl and recorded on tape at 15isp (inches per second) and digitally transferred for broadcast. Here is some technical information. About the studio, the first show will be recorded in: Recording location: Taipei, Taiwan Studio: Taiwan Classical Music Radio Turntables: 2 Stanton ST-150 Mixer: Scorpio 5000 Tape decks: Studer A807 Microphone: Sony C38B (Keith Perron, thehappystation yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1448, DXLD) Good news for New Happy Station Show! Update 2 --- Hi Everyone, Today I got an email from Radio Netherlands which made me very happy and excited. They have given me permission to use the Happy Station Show as a name. So we`re on the way. So please feel free to help me get the word out. If you need more information please contact me. Regards, (Keith Perron, Feb 16, ibid.) THE HAPPY STATION SHOW RETURNS === Press Release February 17, 2009 After an almost 15-year absence on the shortwave dial, The Happy Station Show returns this March. What is Happy Station? The Happy Station is one the longest running shows ever on shortwave. In March of 1927 when Philips Radio started broadcasts over station PCJJ as a way to reach the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia). Sometime in 1928 a very young Edward Startz created the Happy Station, he changed PCJJ to PCJ, which he said stood for Peace, Cheer & Joy. The show continued until the start of war. During WW2 the only shortwave done by the Dutch was via the BBC in London broadcasting back to Holland with Radio Orange. After the war around 1946 the Dutch Government founded Radio Nederland Wereldomroep and Edward Startz returned to microphone as presenter of The Happy Station Show. Edward remained with the show for 43 years, way past the legal age to retire in the Netherlands. In January 1970 Tom Meijer who was working for the Dutch section of Radio Nederland took over as host. This was a major transition. With Tom the show took on a new life and energy. The Tom Meijer era was one of fun, with Tom making you feel that the Sunday broadcasts were bringing all the listeners together for a family gathering. It truly was your Sunday family show of smiles across the miles. Tom Meijer stayed with Happy Station for 21 years until he retired. After he left the show it was first taken over by long time Radio Netherlands announcer/producer Pete Myers and then by Jonathan Groubert. The Happy Station Show was canceled in 1995. Why return Happy Station? The Happy Station had and still has a very loyal audience and now the time is right to return with the same message of Peace, Cheer & Joy and Smiles Across The Miles that Edward and Tom brought listeners every week. What is different? One of the major changes with the Happy Station today is it won't be a Radio Netherlands production. Instead it will be independently produced and distributed. Radio Netherlands has given permission for the new producer and presenter to use the name Happy Station, as long as it's made clear there is no affiliation with Radio Netherlands. The new Happy Station host will be Keith Perron, a Canadian broadcaster who has been based in Asia for almost 10 years. He has worked as an announcer/producer with CKUT Montreal, Radio Canada International, and Radio Havana Cuba, CHMB Vancouver, China Radio International and has freelanced for Monitor Radio, CBC Radio and others over the last 17 years. The new Happy Station Show won't be produced in Holland, but will be based in Taipei, Taiwan and will be distributed using many different channels and all aspects of technology, new and old to bring the show to the audience. The first will be shortwave on the frequency of 9955khz via WRMI (Radio Miami International) for listeners in North and South America. After the shows first transmission on shortwave, it will be uploaded as a podcast so fans of the show not in the target region will be able to tune in. A plan is in place to bring it on shortwave to other regions of the world; this will be announced at a later date. A facebook page has also been set up where listeners can send in pictures and recorded messages, which will be used on the show. With the revival of The Happy Station Show there will also be a Happy Station youtube channel, where listeners will be able to upload videos from where ever they are in the world. The new host of the show will also present videos and a behind the scenes look at the new show and it's new surrounding. For listeners who remember the Spanish version of the show La Estación de la Alegría, Keith will at a later date present both editions. At the beginning the show will be bi-weekly, when the Spanish edition comes at a later date, it will rotate with the English Happy Station. For those who fondly remember Tom Meijer you will also have a chance to hear him again in guest spots as well as some of the songs he recorded at Radio Netherlands over the years. The first edition will be a tribute to Tom and the original Happy Station with contributions from listeners from around the world and some very famous voices from the shortwave dial. For more information, audio samples and pictures contact: Skype: pcj.happystation Email: pcj.happystation @ gmail.com Telephone: +886 938408592 Facebook: The New Happy Station Post: Happy Station Show Attn: Keith Perron, 8th Floor, No47, Lane 31, Section 1, Sanmin Road, Banciao, Taipei, Taiwan (ROC), 22070 Some complete Happy Stations shows and extracts are available at the Radio Netherlands Historical Audio Archive, as well as other English language programmes, latest two full Happy Station shows uploaded are Open House Show 4 February 1972, uploaded January 23 and a Seasons Greetings Programme from December 13 1965 uploaded January 8, click oudere posts at the bottom of the page for earlier uploads: http://blogs.rnw.nl/haa/?s=happy+station (via Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DXLD) http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=48638249355 is the link to the group that has been started on Facebook (Adam, Feb 16, shortwaveradio yg via DXLD) The Happy Station returns. Does it? So it ain't Dutch, it ain't by a Dutchman, it's not got anything to do with Holland and it's manufactured in Taiwan, not Hilversum. And it's only a show, not a station. Will it be Happy? Or just playing Emo music, death metal and Leonard Cohen to manic depressives? Forgive my cynicism :0( (Mark Palmer, Feb 20, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Not cynical at all, Mark - I think you're merely expressing what a lot of other folk must have been thinking (I certainly was!) when I read this. But then, isn't it typical of South East Asia to take great European names in the field of radio (thinking of receiver manufacturers particularly) and exploit the brand but lose its essential essence, lifeblood even, of the nation where it started? Anyway, what was all the rubbish in the original posting about having the 'approval' of Radio Netherlands to use the name? I don't think you can copyright a programme name anyway, can you, at least not under British intellectual property law and probably the same goes for most of Europe. Any programme producer or station could have gone ahead and done this long ago, if they'd had a mind to. I loved the original Happy Station, but it was of its time. This may bring something back to us by the way of nostalgia - Mike Barraclough played a few clips from Happy Station at Reading a few months back - but with the exception of Dr Who, it`s rarely possible to better the original in radio or TV, I think (Mark Savage, Feltham, ibid.) Un-Happy Station? I couldn't agree more with Mark Palmer`s comments about the so-called Happy Station return. It's a bit like Radio Caroline 'returning' by broadcasting from an office in Kent and not being available on good old ordinary radio sets (Bob Gardner, ibid.) At least give it a chance (gh) ** NIGERIA. 9690, Voice of Nigeria, *0758-0810, Feb 20, opening theme music. Vernacular talk and tribal music at 0759. Vernacular talk at 0800. Radio-drama. IDs. Very good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA [non]. via Russia or France? 15180 Aso Radio International, 1600-1635, Feb 20, opening ID announcements at 1600 and talk in Hausa. Many mentions of Nigeria. Some Afro-pop music. Local tribal music. Fair to good. Mon-Fri only (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. PAKISTAN ARMY FINALLY GETTING ELECTRONIC JAMMERS TO SCRAMBLE "RADIO MULLAH" http://therearenosunglasses.wordpress.com/2009/01/27/pakistan-army-finally-getting-electronic-jammers-to-scramble-radio-mullah/ LAHORE: Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas on Monday said the military was acquiring the latest technology to jam the illegal radio transmissions of the Swat Taliban, a private TV channel reported. The ISPR spokesman told the channel that the Taliban's FM radio transmitters were mobile and could not be destroyed immediately. However, Abbas said, the acquisition of the technology would help block the illegal transmissions. General Abbas said the Taliban were trying to create an atmosphere of fear in Swat and wanted to extend their presence to other parts of the country, the channel reported. He told the channel that the Taliban were trying to project themselves as a parallel government in the valley, but the military would control the situation soon. daily times monitor (via José Miguel Romero, Feb 21, dxldyg via DXLD) Full story abottom at RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM ** PALAU. Nippon no Kaze via Palau QSL --- PALAU, NIPPON NO KAZE via T8WH, MEDORN, 9965. Full-data, including transmitter site, e-mail letter in 13 days for a report to info @ rachi.go.jp The letter suggests I watch the “movie MEGUMI in English, which is a documentary animation on the abduction of Japanese girl by North Korea”. Postal address is Policy Planning Division, Headquarters for the Abduction Issue, Cabinet Secretariat, Gov. of Japan, 1-6-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda- ku, Tokyo, Japan (Wendel Craighead, Prairie Village, Kansas, USA, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** PALESTINE [non?]. 5835, Al-Aqsa R, Gaza, via ?, 1810-1915, Feb 04, Arabic songs, talks, 45444, but until 1900* QRM from VOA Deewa R, via Udon Thani in Pashto (QSA 5), Al-Aqsa then 32332. But not heard on 5815 or 5835 on Feb 06, 07, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15 or 16! (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD) 6220.02, Al Quds TV audio channel, Jerusalem, via ?, 1658-1915, Feb 04, Arabic news, talk, political speeches about Gaza and Israel, ann: "A Salam alaikum ... Al Quds", 35332, from *1800-2155* covered by Mystery R (p) with QSA 5, then Al Quds: 31331. It had disappeared at 2155. But not heard on Feb 06 , 07, 09, 11, 12, 13, 15 or 16! (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark and Patrick Robic, Leibnitz, Austria, ibid.) 6220.03, 1936 CLANDESTINE? Al Quds Television Network from Beirut is the confirmed origin of unID Arabic station first noted here 31/1 over Mystery Radio (Italy) till closing at 1958. According to Tarek Zaiden in Egypt [DXLD!], Al Quds means ‘Jerusalem’ so this appears to be a pro-Palestinian broadcast (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWEs to NE, E and SE, plus various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 4890, 1456, Port Moresby poor in unID language – 26/12 (Des Davey, Te Kuiti, New Zealand, FRG 7000, FRG 7700, 50m wire, 50m inverted L, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) This has been inactive for a long time. Possibly special for Boxing Day? Have not seen any other reports of it, but I don`t see any other likely candidates on frequency, except, of course, AIR could always throw a wild card by punching up a wrong frequency. Or a third harmonic of something on 1630, but none known in Pacific area (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3305, R. Western, 1133 20 Feb, M studio host in what sounded like all English and listener acknowledgment in English mentioning "thank you very much, enjoy" and song dedication. Did have some nearby SSB traffic QRM at this time. 1135-1139 lively island pop songs, 1140 M in Pidgin with apparent song announcement mentioning 1980, PSA. 1146-1148 M returned. 1150 M mentioning "radio station", ending with song announcement, and into lively island song. 1158 full ID with frequency, meterband, FM frequency, mention of February, and goodnight, soft music, brief bird call, and end of program at 1159*. Surprised to hear this. Fair strength but getting too much local QRN. 3365, R. Milne Bay, 1159 20 Feb M with religious program sounding like English to at least 1203. Came back about a minute and a half later and found the program was off and only a buzzing in the signal remained. Maybe they cut it off in mid-program?? The buzzing (no audio) continued for at least the next 5 minutes. Fairly decent. 3325, R. Bougainville, 1200 20 Feb, long period of nonstop music. Could hear talk by M and W in presumed Indonesian from apparently RRI Palangkaraya underneath for a while. 1221 W with song announcement, then promo for music program and back to music. 1226 NBC promo, live W again mentioning "11 o'clock". 1226-1230 "Red Red Wine" by UB40, and W with song announcement, and back to pop music. 3235, R. West New Britain, 1153-1158 20 Feb, native music with chorals and percussion, then into pleasant island song filler, 1159 W in Pidgin, then pop and island music program with same studio W announcer hosting after every song with TCs and song announcements, and many listener messages after 1200. Picked up after 1210. Came back at 1234 and playing more pops. 1302 W again but no ID noted, and more music after 1304. 3335, R. East Sepik, Just caught Bryan Adams song "We're in Heaven" while passing through at 1211. Good 20 Feb. 3385, R. East New Britain 1304 20 Feb, reggae. 1306 M taking phone caller, 1308 deadair, then pop song. 1312 short canned promo and more romantic music. 1320 live M in Pidgin and took another phone call, long ad-talk to BoH. 1330 M again, then choral music, and soft song at 1332. Suddenly off at 1336:54. Already fading at tune-in, but did stay in for more than an hour and a half after local sunrise as would be expected. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, JRC NRD-535D, Hammarlund HQ-129X, 60m T2FD, 100' Windom, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Morning Micro-DXpedition PNG Loggings Saturday, February 21, 2009 --- After yesterday`s nice showing of PNGs, I decided to go up to the SGLs with the hopes that they'd be coming in at armchair copy with continued good conditions. Indeed, they seemed to be a little better when I checked at home at around 0950. Up at the site, they were doing fairly well (not great though) for the first 45 minutes or so. But around 1115, when they should have started to improve, they quickly went downhill!! It looked like it was going to turn out to be a bust, but then they picked back up around 1200 and peaked nicely for about 20 minutes. Another interesting aspect of this morning`s propagation was the very poor showing of Asians. Granted, the BOG was aimed at PNG and not Asia, but it wouldn't have made that much of a difference in directionality. It was another cold morning and it didn't take long for the fingers to start going numb. I didn't realize how cold it was at the time. RX: JRC NRD-535D ANT: 394 at 310 Beverage (BOG) QTH: Pennsylvania State Game Lands #26 Duration: 1035-1305 UT. Solar Indices: Solar Flux = 69, A Index = 4, K Index =0. No storms. WX: Partly cloudy. Cold, 11 F!! (-11 C.). 3235, R. West New Britain, 1041 21 Feb, C&W music. 1044 "Night Shift" by The Commodores. 1048 same W in Pidgin heard yesterday including a mention of the NBC. 1049 island songs, then 1058 nice full ID by W after song announcement "?? program NBC West New Britain ?? Saturday night.", then voice-over ID promo by M "NBC West New Britain, free sound". W returned with news and sports mentioning Highlands, "talk", Province, island, Simbu, February, Western Highlands, family, a phone #, and Monday. Returned at 1146 and caught M ID and ending with Gamelan type muisc, then W again. Up to S-9 at 1100. 3315, R. Milne Bay, 1106 21 Feb, M news, deadair briefly, 1107 mention of NBC, "broadcast tonight", then into choral very briefly and M in English, "Hello and welcome back again to our listener ?? program. . . Welcome aboard and stay tuned especially" 1114 more messages. Island choral song. 1119 many more messages. 1130 M mentioning "Saturday Night program", listener greetings and messages. 3260, R. Madang, 1112 21 Feb, talk by M in local dialect. 1113 indigenous flutes very briefly, then M in Pidgin with pgm segment outro. 1120 took a phone caller, and again at 1127 and 1143. Fair at best. Not nearly as strong as it used to be years ago. 3290, R. Central, 1133 21 Feb, pleasant island pop song, brief deadair, the Island song at weak level. 1159 nice full closing ID by W "Time now is 10 o'clock. And you have been listening to NBC Central, The Voice of the Country. NBC Central, Voice of the Country broadcast to the people of the Central Province on a frequency of 3,290 kHz in the 90 meterband. . . The station`s transmitter and studios are located in Boroko. . . We certainly hope you have enjoyed listening. After the playing the national song, this station will close transmission. . . until tomorrow evening. I am ?? wishing you all a very good night and God bless". Instrumental NA and program end. The carrier did remain on past 1241. Do they keep the transmitter on 24 hours?? 3325, R. Bougainville, 1136 21 Feb, talk by W mentioning Saturday night, TC, program, Province. 1141 Reggae music, 1143 W again. Fairly strong but weak modulation. 3335, R. East Sepik, 1201 21 Feb, end of closing in Pidgin ``. . .same time long 5 o'clock. . . long night", then instrumental NA. Still going though at 1206 with pop music program hosted by giddy young lady (girl??) in English. Came back at 1245 and caught English ad by alternating M and W mentioning "Papua New Guinea Web site ?? Internet. become registered radio?? international news. ?? working class people. For more information please call." Still going past 1303. Is the English program after the official closedown a relay of their FM service?? (Dave Valko, PA, HCDX via DXLD) ** PERU. Febrero 20 2009: 4834.9, 2320 UT, R. Marañón; con música propia de la región norteña del Perú (Armonía 10, Hermanos Yaipén, Grupo 5, etc.), SINPO: 33323 (DXSPACEMASTER, ALFREDO BENJAMIN CAÑOTE BUENO, Lima, Perú, Conexión Digital Feb 21 via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. Reception from DW 15620 in Russian this Saturday at 1530 was not very good for Muzprosvet avant-garde music show, so I was glad instead to find on 9570, Feb 21 at 1540, some nice classical organ music with orchestra catching my ear. 1544 Russian ID for Radio Blagovest, seemingly mentioning a seminary in New York, then talk/sermon in clearly enunciated Russian; 1554 ending, banging bells, ID again; 1555 R. Veritas Asia ID by YL in English, said next broadcast would be in Vietnamese, but 9570 off at 1555:40*. Aoki shows the 1500-1557 hour on RVA in Russian is R. Blagovest, 250 kW, 331 degrees. WRTH 2009 does not mention R. Blagovest under the RVA listings; it`s just a program title. This page at RVA about its Russian service never mentions Blagovest, but quotes some reception reports from Vashek Korinek in South Africa, who seems rather inactive now, and (Iwao) Nagatani, Japan. See http://www.rveritas-asia.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=127 which also has a crummy map cutting off all of Russia east of Omsk, as if that were not the primary target from the Philippines at 331 degrees! I don`t find Blagovest mentioned anywhere on the RVA site, but there is no search funxion. Google is unable to translate either component or the whole word, but looking at various hits, it seems to refer to Russian Orthodox music, bells in particular. But RVA is Catholic! A 2004 logging in the HCDX archive from the Ukrainian-Canadian Volodya Salmaniw elucidates what I was hearing: ``PHILIPPINES 11795, 1544-, Radio Blagovest Jun 13 Excellent reception in Russian, with Protestant type programming in Russian, with organ music (foreign to the Russian church), then ID 'Vy sluyshayte Radio Blagovest', followed by Moscow address, and finally 'Radio Blag'. (Salmaniw, Victoria, BC)`` Seems unlikely a Catholic-run station would really be carrying a Protestant program. Perhaps to the Orthodox, anything Catholic sounds so far-out as to be Protestant (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Glenn, Radio Blagovest is indeed a Catholic program, but intended for wider audience. It used to be aired via TWR Monte Carlo back in the 80`s, and the programs were produced in Brussels. At present they are recorded in Russia, I guess. Yes, Blagovest is a type of bell- ringing. --- 73! (Serghey Nikishin, Moscow, Russia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND [non]. FRENCH GUIANA. 9660, Polish R. relay, 2252-2300*, Feb. 21. Pipe organ and choir in large church. Very nice audio quality. Voice over ID by woman with sked, frequencies, at 2254. Music continued right to s/off. Excellent. An English service would be perfect here just prior or following! (Paul Brouillette, Geneva, IL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 738 kHz: National Public Radio, Moscow - Since November 4th, 2008 the schedule changed in Moscow and the region. At 2100-0300 UT it broadcasts a block of programs in English from National Public Radio. A detailed schedule can be found at the station http://wrn.ru (open dx via finndxer via ARC Information Desk 16 Feb 2009 via DXLD) Quite interesting. First Berlin, now Moscow. It seems that for developed countries NPR becomes more and more the new voice of America (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. RT's New Website: Good Stuff! Russia Today TV just unveiled its new website at: http://www.russiatoday.com The new design, additional features and beefed-up content look pretty impressive - no comparison to Voice of Russia's ruvr.ru. I was pleasantly surprised to see Russian literature section with its comprehensive list of Russia's writers and poets. The English translations of the authors' major works are published online in their entirety! The Russian cuisine section should not be visited if you feel hungry or dieting. Fun in Russia feature is targeting Moscow viewers. - RT is the most popular English TV channel in Russia. There's also a live cam of a group of orphaned wolf cubs. Supposedly it goes on at 15 UT. The Russian visa advice in Travel&Visa seems to be incomplete, though. There are new pictures of RT's onair personalities. The album doesn't have as many faces as before and is not comprehensive. George Watts' picture is gone. Considering Yulia Shapovalova's glamorous hair, I'm sure her pic will get most hits. An important fact about RT's giving up on "thought control" :) Hopefully, other broadcasters will follow suit: You can have RT's internet news service just the way you like it. No more thought control! On RT's website, you're the boss. Stuck on a massive article, too big to digest over lunch? Some of our pieces are quite extensive, but it's no longer a problem: simply grab the headline of the currently-open story, or the picture of any others on the page, and move it into the site-bar on the right. Bingo! Next time you log on to our website the article(s) will be one click away. Keen on Russian cuisine or literature? Or found a blog you like on the site? These don't have to be read in one go any more - it's right site-bar to the rescue: simply grab a whole section or a blog and drop it in your personalized bar to save extra clicks and valuable reading time. You can remove any item from the right panel with a single click (note the green `x' on the right of each item), enabling you to be your own content editor. Log on and wander around. At RT we believe news reading too is a creative process. http://www.russiatoday.com/ (via Sergei S., Russia, Feb 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also PHILIPPINES ** SAUDI ARABIA. 11935, BSKSA Riyadh, Feb 17, Arabic. Listed " Holy Kor'an" program with vocal chants; announcer with rapid-fire Arabic talk from 1146 thru tune-out; weak but clear (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH-USA. NRD545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Bevs, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. Re 9-015: 15435, BSKSA Qur`aning with no buzz, Feb 18 at 1510, so settled in for my morning fix, 1515 ID as from Mecca -- - but don`t DF this in order to align your prayers, as it`s really a bit off from Riyadh site! (gh) But with 648/1512 kHz one would be not that much off. A modest power mediumwave transmitter in Mecca itself appears to exist, too. So the special thing about "Call of Islam" appears to be that it originates from Mecca studios. Or do they produce it in Jeddah, from where some of the foreign language programs originate? In other words, are both indeed different studio sites? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) BUZZ on 15435 kHz again today --- Strong BUZZ signal Thursday February 19. 15425 to 15440 kHz bandwith, wider signal on lower sideband. Riyadh 1500-1800 500 kW 320 degrees, also direct to Europe / No AM. 73 wb Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2009 4:15 PM Subject: [A-DX] Störung auf 15435 kHz Moin: eine Sendung der BSKSA aus Riyadh ARS wird hier "durch einen starken Heulton fast dicht gemacht" - ist das nur im NW von DL zu hören? 73 (Theo Averbeck, A-DX Feb 19 via Büschel, ibid.) Today Feb 20th BUZZ noted with smaller bandwidth on 15433 to 15437 kHz range at 1720 UT. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Also hearing the same loud buzzing here. Very strong at 1640 UT between 15433-15436. Strongest on 15435. I think I can hear a station on 15435 under the buzzing. Probably Saudi Arabia. Feb 20 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) S9+20dB with Arabic behind, in snowy Copenhagen. 73, (Erik Køie, Denmark, 1707 UT Feb 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Feb 21 I was standing by on 15435 for the sign-on of BSKSA, and on it popped at *1458, big buzz overriding their own Arabic talk. Continued intolerable, still at 1531 check over muezzin; Sawt ul-Buzz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. Re 9-015: Slovakia left medium waves completely on February 1, 2009 but it is now returning with a new transmitter: Frequency: 1098 kHz Location: Slovak Radio building in Bratislava Program: 0500-1700 UT, Radio Patria (for national minorities), power "up to 10 kW"; 1700-0500 UT, DRM tests (S4 Radio FM), power 1 kW. The L-shaped horizontal wire antenna is installed on the roof of the building. The licence for these broadcasts is valid until December 31, 2009 (Karel Honzik, CZECHIA, Feb 19, MWC via DXLD) Re 9-015, Bratislava 1098 kHz: Pheeeew, this was a tough one, and in fact it is sheer madness to invest four hours in researching such a story for nothing... Nothing at all about this on the website of Slovenský Rozhlas, except the reproduction of a third party (SITA news agency) report: http://www.slovakradio.sk/inetportal/slovensko/index.php?page=showSprava&id=63985&lang=1 Otherwise no mention in the frequency lists, no nothing. But this discussion is revealing: http://www.radiotv.cz/spolecne-diskuse.html?id_diskuse=7520 First, it is not the old Bratislava city transmitter in Nové Mesto, in the past listed with two 5 kW outlets on 792 and 1017, with the latter being closed together with most other mediumwave outlets in January 2008 while 792 (which I guess was only a daytimer anyway) went dark already years ago: http://maps.google.de./?ie=UTF8&ll=48.17777,17.143725&spn=0.005487,0.009656&t=h&z=17 Instead it is indeed a transmitter on the roof of the Slovenský Rozhlas building, the famous upside down pyramid: http://www.drmrx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2069 It seems that Slovenský Rozhlas first intended to use it for DRM experiments only, but they changed their mind after coming under pressure because the Hungarian-language broadcasts were no longer audible in Bratislava. All they were offered was a tiny FM outlet with 30...50 watts, and so they got the idea with the cheap, own (rather than leased from Slovak Telecom) mediumwave transmitter. They even seek clearance for an output of 10 kW. Of course it appears to be doubtful if they will get such a plan trough at this site, inmidst the city. The limitation of the approval until yearend probably applies to the DRM experiments at night only. So the AM transmissions could last longer, since I see no indication for any changes in the situation concerning FM frequencies. This is also interesting: http://sk.radiotv.cz/digital-clanky/1248/sro-sa-vrati-na-1098-khz-a-pripravuje-vysielanie-v-drm.html In February 2007 the chief engineer of Slovenský Rozhlas still planned to use 1098 with 750 kW again and talked about installing new, DRM-capable transmitters because Slovak Telecom had already removed the Tesla SRV 750 rigs from the 1988 high power site near Nitra. Only five months later the first reports about a closure of all mediumwave frequencies started to appear. And this is quite revealing in regard to the financial situation of Slovenský Rozhlas: http://www.rozhlas.sk/inetportal/2007/index.php?lang=1&stationID=5&page=patria_hud_pozdravy They charge 9.90 Euro for a compliment in the request programmes of Rádio Patria. Quite hefty, a public broadcaster in Germany would be heavily beaten for such an idea (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Feb 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. SLOVAK RADIO GOES INTO DRM http://www.drmrx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=2069 (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good luck in figuring out that awful translation --- ``3 masts in her pangs charcoal``, indeed (gh, DXLD) ** SLOVENIA. Tuning around 20m, still not finding K5D Desecheo again, but landed on 14178 where S58SA was in contact with W6FDR, Feb 19 at 1430. Said he was running 800 watts. Who`s this? QRZ.com has the answer: S58SA, Anton Savernik, Ljubljanska Cesta 88, 1230 Domzale, Slovenia, with his portrait --- and they will be relieved to know that there was no inappropriate content on http://www.qrz.com/callsign/S58SA --- how do they definite ``inappropriate``, anyway? Anything off-topic from ham radio? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. Aún no salgo del `shock``: sintonizada - el 20/02/2009 - la Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation, en los 9541.7 kHz, a las 0730 UT, con SINPO de 45443. Aunque usted no lo crea. Música reggae, locutor en inglés y constantes menciones de ``Honiara``. Segmento - a las 0757 UT - de la Solomon Airlines con los números de vuelo y las horas de llegada y salida. Menciones constantes de ``Honiara`` y ``Solomon Islands``. Señal fortísima por unos 45 minutos, con desvanecimiento progresivo hasta debilitarse más allá de las 0820. Sin duda, un extrañísimo fenómeno de propagación. Ojalá pueda obtener una QSL de ellos. Un DX que pensé que jamás lograría. 73s y excelente escucha, (Adán González, Catia La Mar, Estado Vargas, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Enhorabuena [and non] 9541.5, R. Happy Isles on 2/22 with best signal heard yet, S4 level – the signal was good enough to detect a strong hum or other transmitter distortion on the frequency – couldn’t tune it out by varying frequency. The signal was also good enough for me to record at 6 kHz bandwidth – normally I don’t exceed 5 kHz. From 0849 tune, pop music, commercials, program announcement by woman in English, a couple of Island music selections, more announcements by man and woman, drum IS at 0900 followed by English feature program by woman. Drum IS again at 0916. After 0908, had some short periods of decreased power when a Chinese-language station would dominate (< 15 seconds each). At 0930, the Chinese station took over the channel – listed in PWBR as Voice of Hope, Taiwan. The “power drops” by SIBC could have been intermittent transmitter operation by V. of Hope which has a nominal 0900 s/on (Bruce Churchill, Fallbrook CA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) It`s Sound of Hope, not Voice of Hope, 9540, shown in PWBR at 0900- 1100, and of course, jammed. Aoki agrees but clarifies this is Sat & Sun only, 100 kW, 325 degrees from Tanshui site. So for the n-th time I suggest one may be hearing the jamming rather than SOH, u.o.s. Did you or has anyone heard SIBC really announce the ``Radio Happy Isles`` slogan lately? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AMERICA [and non]. Radio Cochiguaz on the air now/Radio Cochiguaz está en el aire ahora!! Dear Friends. In a few minutes we will hit the air again on 6307 kHz AM. Yesterday we also was broadcasting but do not know if anybody could hear us. Today we will begin broadcasting at 22 UT and be on air until 10 UT tomorrow. There is also a possibility that we from about 0530 until 1400 UT will be on 6208 kHz [sic; Spanish version below: 6290 or 6308] via an European outlet. We remind you that every correct report to our casilla de correo will be answered with a QSL card. Best wishes from Cachito http://www.geocities.com/rcochiguaz e-mail: radio_cochiguaz @ yahoo.com Casilla de correo 159; Santiago 14; Chile Estimados amigos de la onda corta. Dentro de algunos minutos estaremos transmitiendo nuevamente en la frecuencia de 6307 kHz AM. Anoche también estuvimos en el aire pero no sabemos si alguien lo pudo escuchar. Estaremos en el aire desde las 22 UTC hasta la 10 UTC del día de mañana. También hay posibilidad de que mañana desde las 0530 UTC hasta las 14 UTC en la frecuencia de 6290 o 6308 kHz salgamos vía un transmisor ubicado en Europa. Recordamos que todos los informes de recepción que sean correctos y enviadas a nuestra casilla de correo, seran verificados con una tarjeta QSL. Cordiales saludos de Cachito, http://www.geocities.com/rcochiguaz correo electrónico: radio_cochiguaz @ yahoo.com Casilla de correo 159; Santiago 14; Chile (via Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Feb 21, dxldyg via DXLD) Dear Friends, We will inform/update you with our activities and hopes we are not bother you. We are to go into the last week of February, our anniversary month. Because of this we will be very active this days until the end of the month. We can't guarantee that we will be on every day, but the possibility is there. Check the frequency from time to time, 6307 kHz between 22 and 07 UT. It is a true DX to catch our signals as we these days are using only 20 W (80 W PEP). We depend very much of good conditions, something that haven't been present these days it seems. All the best from Cachito Amigos! Queremos mantenerles informado sobre nuestra actividad; por eso este mail y esperamos no molestarlos. Estamos por entrar en la última semana del mes de Febrero, nuestro mes aniversario. Por tal motivo, estaremos frecuentemente en el aire esta semana, hasta finalizar el mes. No aseguramos que estaremos todos los días, pero casi. Peguen una vuelta por nuestra frecuencia, la 6307 kHz de tiempo a tiempo (entre las 2200-1000 UT). Como ya mencionado anteriormente, es un logro verdadero captar nuestra emisión, que en estos días se hacen con solo 20 vatios (80 W PEP). Dependemos mucho de las buenas condiciones, algo que al parecer no se han dado hasta el momento. Esto sí es Diexsismo en los tiempos de las megas potencias. Cordiales saludos de Cachito (via Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Feb 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. EBC San Fernando (España) en OFF --- Hola a todos. No es ninguna novedad. Estoy actualizando mis listados y he entrado en la página de la Armada Española a buscar información de la emisora de señales horarias y esto es lo que indican: Transmisión de señales horarias en HF, durante dos periodos de 25 minutos diarios, en 15006 y 4998 KHz. Respectivamente, entre 1000 y 1100 horas UT. Temporalmente fuera de servicio. http://www.armada.mde.es/ArmadaPortal/page/Portal/ArmadaEspannola/ciencia_observatorio/06_Hora#Hora2 (Juan Antonio Arranz, Spain, Feb 18, playdx yg via DXLD) ** SUDAN. 7200, presumed R. Omdurman, Khartoum, 0242-0303, Feb 20, Arabic. M with continuous Kor'an-like chants in Arabic; announcer at 0255 with presumed ID though too much 7205-VOA Persian via Wertachtal for anything solid; back to chanting; brief announcer and music at ToH tho pretty much unusable by then; fair at tune-in. No sign of listed Bulgaria (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH-USA. NRD545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Bevs, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. via Sines, Portugal, 17745, Sudan Radio Service, *1500-1530, Feb 21, English Lets Talk program about local Sudanese elections. Arabic talk at 1530. Good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWAZILAND [and non]. Unusual Logging For Me --- Hi Glenn, In a previous e-mail to you, we were discussing Radio Vaticana on 6040 kHz, via Canada, at 0250 to 0320. Reception conditions have varied from very good to barely audible, depending on propagation conditions. Last evening, I logged TWR Swaziland in this time slot. Radio Vaticana was barely audible in the background, presumably absorbed on the signal's path from Canada to here. First time I've heard TWR - Swaziland on this frequency, with a completely readable signal. 73's, (Ed Insinger, NJ, Feb 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA. 9330, Radio Damascus, 2055-2115+, Feb 19, tune-in to local Mid-East music. Brief English news bulletin at 2057. Anthem at 2059. Opening English ID announcements at 2101 with frequency schedule. Mentioned website. English news at 2105. Fair signal. Slight hum. Occasional low modulation during 2105 newscast. Poor on // 12085 with hum & low modulation. 9330, Radio Damascus, *2103-2201*, Feb 20, local music. Opening English ID announcements. English news at 2105. Local music. Fair to good signal at sign on with good modulation and only a weak hum but modulation got weaker & hum louder as the broadcast wore on. Poor signal by 2201 sign off. Weaker on // 12085 with hum and weak modulation (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. 6200, Xizang PBS - Lhasa, 1630-1633, Feb 22. Start of the "Holy Tibet" English program; poor. This program has certainly pasted their prime reception for this DX season (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. 3975, 1442, VOT fair in presumed Turkish 19/12 (Des Davey, Te Kuiti, New Zealand, FRG 7000, FRG 7700, 50m wire, 50m inverted L, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ?? Turkey is not known to use the 75m band at all, so how did you get this ID? Aoki shows for B-08, R. Pakistan, 1430-1530 in Dari, 100 kW, 270 degrees from Islamabad, API-9 transmitter, but I`m not sure that is really on the air either. More likely would be RRI Pontianak on 3976, but Indonesian is quite different from Turkish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. 4976, R. Uganda, 0409, 2/20/09. Seldom heard here due to low audio modulation. Poor to fair this time. Sounded like OM presenting news (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA, AOR AR 7030 Plus, Wellbrook 115', ALA-100 Sloping Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. This was filed under RUSSIA by mistake in first edition of 9- 015: Program reductions at BBC Russian --- Dear DXers, On Friday evening I was listening to BBC Russian radio program, and I've heard something that they will change the time slot for the breakfast show as of FEBRUARY 16, and, I don't recall correctly, but they will reduce program content as of MID-MARCH (or they will tell the listeners about reductions in mid-March, I don't recall). Regards, (Dragan Lekic from Serbia, Feb 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [and non]. Re 9-015: BBC WORLD SERVICE JOURNALISTS IN 'OFFSHORING' STRIKE --- 20 February 2009 By Tom Gillespie http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=43138&c=1 National Union of Journalists members at the BBC World Service's South Asia division are planning to hold a 24-hour strike next Thursday in protest against "offshoring" plans. The BBC plans to move some World Service programme-making from London to Islamabad, Delhi and Kathmandu. The decision means that, according to the BBC, 10 London-based staff now face redeployment or redundancy. NUJ national broadcasting organiser Paul McLaughlin said: "The World Service is based on fearlessness and impartiality. "This has been possible because they have remained independent from outside interference. If their editorial is moved overseas then they lose that independence. "Our objective is to settle this dispute. Striking is always a last resort. "What we need is a dialogue with the BBC but they haven't offered a solution. Unfortunately they want to impose a plan that is unacceptable for our members." The BBC has said the move will bring the World Service closer to "both the stories and our audiences, and will allow us to react more quickly to breaking news". In a ballot of 40 NUJ members in the South Asia division of the World Service, 87 per cent voted for strike action on a 73 per cent turnout, a result McLaughlin said "showed the determination and solidarity of this group of members". A BBC World Service spokesman said: "We are disappointed that members of the joint unions have voted to support industrial action and have not accepted the management's revised proposals for the restructure of BBC Hindi, BBC Nepalese, and BBC Urdu. "Our individual discussions with staff have already significantly reduced the number of those potentially facing redeployment from more than 30 to 10. "However when action is taken we will ensure that there will be no disruption to services to listeners and users of the website. "We believe the proposals will create new opportunities for staff and greatly improve our service to our audiences in the region." Last July, NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said: "We are committed to opposing these offshoring plans which are ill-founded and put at threat not just jobs, but editorial quality, integrity and the future of the World Service." (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dx_india yg via DXLD) BBC vs pirates: see INTERNATIONAL WATERS ** U K. NEW RADIO STATION TO SHAKE-UP THE INDUSTRY Submitted by: Vail & Associates, Thursday, 19 February 2009 DAB Radio Gets Colourful . Launch of Colourful Radio takes place on Monday 2 March . Media mavericks Henry Bonsu and Gordon (Mac) McNamee behind launch A new radio station will be launched on 2 March 2009 by an unlikely partnership of two broadcast media mavericks. The award-winning broadcaster Henry Bonsu teams up with the legendary ex-pirate, Gordon (Mac) McNamee to launch Colourful Radio on DAB in London to a potential audience of 12 million listeners. Henry was famously axed by the BBC for being 'too intellectual' and Gordon is the man who fought government's control of the airwaves and won with the launch of pirate radio station Kiss FM in the 80's. Colourful Radio is set to take the radio industry by storm with a mix of the best soul, jazz, reggae and r'n'b from the sixties to the current day, coupled with informative debate on topical issues. . . http://www.response source.com/ releases/ rel_display. php?relid=45693&hilite= (via Alan Pennington, England, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) See also DIGITAL BROADCASTING below for put-down of DAB ** U S A. The voice of WWV --- DON ELLIOT HEALD [with portrait:] http://www.legacy.com/atlanta/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=124363826 Don Elliot Heald, beloved husband, father and grandfather, leader in the broadcast industry and in Atlanta civic life, died February 19, 2009 at his home at Canterbury Court. He was 86 years old. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, on July 7, 1922 to Jay Morrill Heald and Ethel Elliot Heald. The family moved to Lakeland, Florida where he grew up among his father's orange groves. Heald began his broadcast career at WRUF in Gainesville where he graduated from the University of Florida in 1947. It was a news job at WSB radio that lured him to Atlanta. In 1950 he moved to WSB-TV television and in 1952 he married the former Sara Farmer. They began to raise a family and Heald became a prominent voice and active participant in Atlanta life for the next fifty years. As Atlanta's leading television station, WSB provided the platform for Heald to build a notable professional and civic life. He served as News Director, Sales Manager and then V.P. and General Manager of WSB- TV for 16 years. He was responsible for creating the news team Atlantans still watch today, hiring both Monica Kaufman and John Pruitt. Heald often referred to his thirty years at WSB as the "golden age" of television. He was the founding president of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Southeast, and served as a national trustee. He was inducted into the NATAS gold circle for fifty years of service to the industry in 2004. Prior to that Heald entered the Georgia Broadcasters Hall of Fame at UGA in 1997. Heald was also the telephone voice of the Audichron time-of-day service for generations. [and WWV!] He served as Chairman of the Protestant Radio and Television Center and was the host of the Protestant Hour radio show for fifty years. For nearly fifty years he narrated the televised Christmas Eve service from the Episcopal Cathedral of St. Philip, where he served as a vestryman, junior warden and senior warden. Heald also served as president of the Kiwanis Club of Northside Atlanta, president of the Atlanta Advertising Club, president of the Peach Bowl Football Classic, and member of the Salvation Army Metropolitan Advisory Board. Upon retiring from WSB-TV in 1980, Heald devoted his time to the American Cancer Society. As the national Chairman he was instrumental in moving the headquarters from New York City to Atlanta. During retirement he also helped launch WGXA-TV in Macon, GA as President of Russell-Rowe Communications from 1981 to 1995. His family was his greatest delight in life. Known as "Bub" to his three sons and daughters-in-law and his seven grandchildren, he gathered them together every Thanksgiving in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL and every summer at Lake Burton, giving him and Sara some of the fondest memories of their family life. Don Elliot Heald is survived by his wife of 57 years, Sara Farmer Heald of Atlanta, GA; sons and daughters-in-law David and Deborah of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, Tom and Evelyn, Frank and Mary of Atlanta; grandchildren John and Laura of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, Sarah, Anna, Robert, David and Mary Emma of Atlanta; sister Mrs. J. Maxwell Williams, Tampa, FL; nephews and their wives Max and Carol Williams, Memphis, TN, Jay and Ann Williams, Largo, FL, and Tom and Jane Williams, Ocoee, FL. A Service of Celebration and Thanksgiving will take place at 2:00 pm, Tuesday February 24, 2009 at the Cathedral of St. Philip. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service and there will be a reception in the Child Hall immediately following the service. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to The Cathedral of St. Phillip, the American Cancer Society or Hospice Atlanta (via Brock Whaley, and Alan Furst, DXLD) OBIT --- WWV should observe a minute of silence. Altho the story fails to mention it, he was well known as the voice of WWV (gh DXLD) Mr. WWV update --- "Services will be held on Tuesday at 19 hours, 0 minutes, Coordinated Universal Time." (Whaley, ibid.) ** U S A. PASSING OF MARGARET JAFFIE - VOA TOUR GUIDE Anyone who took the tour of VOA headquarters in the 74-94 period probably met Margaret Jaffie (Dan Ferguson, SC, Feb 18, NASWA yg via DXLD) Viz.: MARGARET JAFFIE, 1920-2009 Margaret Jaffie, who welcomed tens of thousands of visitors to the Voice of America at its Washington headquarters from 1974 to 1994, died Feb. 12, 2009 in Sun City Center, Florida, after a heart attack. She was 88 years old. Ms. Jaffie, who received a Congressional Award for Exemplary Service to the Public in 1985, was one of Washington's best known tour leaders. Over two decades, she walked more than 100,000 miles in leading visitors through the corridors of VOA, the largest, U.S.-funded overseas broadcasting network. Leading tours sometimes five times a day, Ms. Jaffie soon learned to wear tennis shoes as she led them past studios and master control to observe live broadcasts to every corner of the earth. Upon her retirement in late 1994, her colleagues presented her with a pair of tennis shoes dipped in gold. The public service award by Congress read: "Ms. Jaffie's pride and affection for VOA and its people are contagious. Visitors, be they Members of Congress, foreign diplomats, or American high school students, come away from her tours excited by what she has shown and told them." Born in Scranton, North Dakota, Ms. Jaffie attended St. Cloud Teachers' College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and received a B.A. degree and teaching certificate that served her well in subsequent years. Her husband, the late Robert Jaffie, served as a U.S. Information Service foreign service officer in posts in Nepal, India, Pakistan and Ghana from 1955 to 1971. Ms. Jaffie accompanied him throughout. During their time abroad, she was an instructor in English as a second language. After Robert's death, she was a State Department escort officer from 1973 through 1975. Margaret Jaffie, whose unflagging enthusiasm, patience and courtesy during her VOA tours led the AAA tour book for the Washington area to single out the tour for special mention. Her retirement years were spent visiting her daughter, Nancy, at posts in Egypt and Botswana. Nancy said that her mother "was extremely proud of representing VOA and USIA for 20 years. She always said that the people who worked there were among the best and most dedicated professionals and that she felt privileged to work alongside them." (via Dan Ferguson, NASWA yg via DXLD) Source? Probably Wash. Post (gh) OBIT ** U S A. WYFR BROADCAST SCHEDULE A-09 29 Mar 2009-25 Oct 2009 by time Note: Schedule information showing languages for transmissions carried by WYFR for other broadcasters will have to be obtained directly from the other broadcasters. [and this is about Okeechobee ONLY, not including a huge number of overseas relays via various sites] TIME (UTC) LANG FREQ (KHZ) AZ 0000-0045 ENGL 17805 142 0000-0100 FREN 15255 151 0000-0100 PORT 17725 140 0000-0100 PORT 17750 160 0000-0200 SPAN 11835 285 0000-0445 ENGL 6985 355 0000-0445 ENGL 9505 315 0100-0145 PORT 7520 142 0100-0145 SPAN 17725 140 0100-0200 PORT 17845 160 0100-0245 SPAN 17750 160 0100-0300 SPAN 15255 151 0200-0245 ENGL 11835 285 0200-0245 SPAN 17845 160 0200-0300 ENGL 5985 181 0200-0300 ENGL 9680 315 0200-0300 SPAN 11740 222 0200-0300 ENGL 11855 222 0300-0345 SPAN 11580 160 0300-0345 SPAN 15215 160 0300-0400 PORT 7730 160 0300-0400 SPAN 9680 315 0300-0400 ENGL 11740 222 0300-0400 SPAN 11855 222 0300-0400 ENGL 15255 151 0300-0445 SPAN 5985 181 0300-1145 SPAN 9715 285 0304-0400 SPAN 6915 355 0400-0445 SPAN 7730 160 0400-0445 SPAN 9985 160 0400-0445 PORT 11530 87 0400-0445 SPAN 11740 222 0400-0445 SPAN 15255 151 0400-0500 RUSS 9355 44 0400-0600 ENGL 5950 285 0400-0600 ENGL 6915 355 0400-0700 ENGL 9680 315 0500-0545 SPAN 7520 222 0500-0600 SPAN 5850 181 0500-0600 MAND 5985 315 0500-0600 GERM 7730 44 0500-0600 ARAB 9340 87 0500-0600 ARAB 9355 44 0500-0600 SPAN 9985 44 0500-0600 FREN 11530 87 0500-0600 FREN 11580 44 0504-0700 SPAN 9505 222 0600-0700 ENGL 5850 181 0600-0700 CANT 5985 315 0600-0700 SPAN 6915 355 0600-0700 ROMA 7730 44 0600-0700 FREN 9340 87 0600-0700 FREN 9355 44 0600-0700 ITAL 9985 44 0600-0700 ENGL 11530 87 0600-0700 ENGL 11580 44 0600-0745 ENGL 7520 44 0700-0745 POLI 7730 44 0700-0745 SPAN 9355 44 0700-0745 SPAN 9680 315 0700-0745 PORT 9985 44 0700-0745 ITAL 11580 44 0700-0800 ENGL 9505 222 0700-0800 ARAB 11530 87 0700-0845 ENGL 5950 285 0700-0845 ENGL 9340 87 0700-0945 SPAN 5850 181 0700-1100 ENGL 6915 355 0700-1245 ENGL 5985 315 0800-0845 FREN 11530 87 0800-0845 FREN 11530 87 0800-0945 SPAN 9505 222 0800-1000 PORT 9625 140 0800-1000 SPAN 11970 151 0800-1045 PORT 9605 142 0800-1045 PORT 11770 142 0800-1100 SPAN 9550 160 0800-1145 SPAN 11855 160 0900-1000 SPAN 5950 355 0900-1045 PORT 6175 160 0900-1145 ENGL 9755 285 1000-1100 FREN 9625 140 1000-1100 FREN 11970 151 1000-1245 ENGL 5950 355 1000-1600 SPAN 6085 181 1100-1145 SPAN 6915 355 1100-1145 SPAN 9355 160 1100-1145 ENGL 9550 160 1100-1200 ENGL 7730 222 1100-1200 ENGL 9625 140 1100-1300 SPAN 11970 151 1100-1345 SPAN 9605 222 1200-1245 PORT 9625 140 1200-1300 FREN 13695 355 1200-1300 ENGL 17555 160 1200-1345 SPAN 7730 222 1200-1400 SPAN 15770 160 1200-1545 SPAN 13800 160 1200-2145 ENGL 17795 285 1200-2345 SPAN 15130 285 1300-1400 ENGL 11865 315 1300-1400 FREN 11970 151 1300-1400 MAND 13695 355 1300-1400 PORT 17555 160 1300-1600 ENGL 11910 355 1300-1645 ENGL 11830 315 1400-1500 SPAN 11865 315 1400-1500 ENGL 13695 355 1400-1500 PORT 15770 160 1400-1500 SPAN 18980 142 1400-1545 SPAN 11670 222 1400-1545 SPAN 11970 151 1400-1545 SPAN 17555 160 1500-1545 ENGL 15770 160 1500-1545 PORT 18980 142 1500-1600 MAND 11865 315 1500-1600 SPAN 13695 355 1600-1645 ENGL 11865 315 1600-1645 FREN 11910 355 1600-1645 ARAB 15770 44 1600-1700 ENGL 6085 181 1600-1700 ENGL 13695 355 1600-1700 ENGL 21525 87 1600-1700 ITAL 21670 44 1600-1800 RUSS 18930 44 1600-1800 ENGL 21455 44 1600-2145 ENGL 18980 44 1700-1745 FREN 17885 87 1700-1800 SPAN 13615 315 1700-1800 GERM 17750 44 1700-1800 PORT 21525 87 1700-1845 SPAN 21670 44 1700-1900 SPAN 6085 181 1700-2000 ENGL 13690 355 1700-2000 PORT 17725 140 1800-1900 ITAL 17750 44 1800-1900 FREN 18930 44 1800-1900 GERM 21455 44 1800-2000 FREN 21525 87 1800-2145 ENGL 13615 315 1800-2200 ENGL 17845 87 1900-1945 ENGL 6085 181 1900-1945 FREN 21455 44 1900-2000 RUSS 15600 44 1900-2000 ARAB 17750 44 1900-2000 ENGL 18930 44 2000-0200 SPAN 5985 181 2000-0200 SPAN 11855 222 2000-2045 ENGL 17750 44 2000-2045 ARAB 21525 87 2000-2100 SPAN 13690 355 2000-2100 ROMA 15600 44 2000-2100 GERM 15695 44 2000-2100 ENGL 17725 140 2000-2100 POLI 18930 44 2100-0200 SPAN 15215 160 2100-2145 ENGL 13690 355 2100-2145 PORT 15695 44 2100-2145 ARAB 18930 44 2100-2200 SPAN 15600 44 2100-2200 PORT 15770 87 2100-2200 FREN 17725 140 2200-0200 ENGL 5950 355 2200-0200 ENGL 15440 285 2200-0345 PORT 15190 142 2200-2245 FREN 15600 44 2200-2245 ENGL 15770 87 2200-2245 ARAB 17845 87 2200-2300 SPAN 15255 151 2200-2300 PORT 17725 140 2200-2300 SPAN 17805 142 2200-2345 ENGL 11740 315 2300-0000 FREN 6985 355 2300-0000 ENGL 15255 151 2300-0000 ENGL 17750 160 2300-0000 PORT 17805 142 2300-0100 SPAN 17845 160 WYFR BROADCAST SCHEDULE 29 Mar 2009-25 Oct 2009 Frequency Sort KHZ TIME UT LANG AZ 5850 0500-0600 SPAN 181 5850 0600-0700 ENGL 181 5850 0700-0945 SPAN 181 5950 0900-1000 SPAN 355 5950 1000-1245 ENGL 355 5950 2200-0200 ENGL 355 5950 0400-0600 ENGL 285 5950 0700-0845 ENGL 285 5985 2000-0200 SPAN 181 5985 0200-0300 ENGL 181 5985 0300-0445 SPAN 181 5985 0500-0600 MAND 315 5985 0600-0700 CANT 315 5985 0700-1245 ENGL 315 6085 1000-1600 SPAN 181 6085 1600-1700 ENGL 181 6085 1700-1900 SPAN 181 6085 1900-1945 ENGL 181 6175 0900-1045 PORT 160 6915 0304-0400 SPAN 355 6915 0400-0600 ENGL 355 6915 0600-0700 SPAN 355 6915 0700-1100 ENGL 355 6915 1100-1145 SPAN 355 6985 0000-0445 ENGL 355 6985 2300-0000 FREN 355 7520 0100-0145 PORT 142 7520 0500-0545 SPAN 222 7520 0600-0745 ENGL 44 7730 1100-1200 ENGL 222 7730 1200-1345 SPAN 222 7730 0300-0400 PORT 160 7730 0400-0445 SPAN 160 7730 0500-0600 GERM 44 7730 0600-0700 ROMA 44 7730 0700-0745 POLI 44 9340 0500-0600 ARAB 87 9340 0600-0700 FREN 87 9340 0700-0845 ENGL 87 9355 0400-0500 RUSS 44 9355 0500-0600 ARAB 44 9355 0600-0700 FREN 44 9355 0700-0745 SPAN 44 9355 1100-1145 SPAN 160 9505 0000-0445 ENGL 315 9505 0504-0700 SPAN 222 9505 0700-0800 ENGL 222 9505 0800-0945 SPAN 222 9550 0800-1100 SPAN 160 9550 1100-1145 ENGL 160 9605 0800-1045 PORT 142 9605 1100-1345 SPAN 222 9625 0800-1000 PORT 140 9625 1000-1100 FREN 140 9625 1100-1200 ENGL 140 9625 1200-1245 PORT 140 9680 0200-0300 ENGL 315 9680 0300-0400 SPAN 315 9680 0400-0700 ENGL 315 9680 0700-0745 SPAN 315 9715 0300-1145 SPAN 285 9755 0900-1145 ENGL 285 9985 0400-0445 SPAN 160 9985 0500-0600 SPAN 44 9985 0600-0700 ITAL 44 9985 0700-0745 PORT 44 11530 0500-0600 FREN 87 11530 0600-0700 ENGL 87 11530 0800-0845 FREN 87 11530 0700-0800 ARAB 87 11530 0800-0845 FREN 87 11530 0400-0445 PORT 87 11580 0500-0600 FREN 44 11580 0600-0700 ENGL 44 11580 0700-0745 ITAL 44 11580 0300-0345 SPAN 160 11670 1400-1545 SPAN 222 11740 0200-0300 SPAN 222 11740 0300-0400 ENGL 222 11740 0400-0445 SPAN 222 11740 2200-2345 ENGL 315 11770 0800-1045 PORT 142 11830 1300-1645 ENGL 315 11835 0000-0200 SPAN 285 11835 0200-0245 ENGL 285 11855 0800-1145 SPAN 160 11855 2000-0200 SPAN 222 11855 0200-0300 ENGL 222 11855 0300-0400 SPAN 222 11865 1300-1400 ENGL 315 11865 1400-1500 SPAN 315 11865 1500-1600 MAND 315 11865 1600-1645 ENGL 315 11910 1300-1600 ENGL 355 11910 1600-1645 FREN 355 11970 0800-1000 SPAN 151 11970 1000-1100 FREN 151 11970 1100-1300 SPAN 151 11970 1300-1400 FREN 151 11970 1400-1545 SPAN 151 13615 1700-1800 SPAN 315 13615 1800-2145 ENGL 315 13690 1700-2000 ENGL 355 13690 2000-2100 SPAN 355 13690 2100-2145 ENGL 355 13695 1200-1300 FREN 355 13695 1300-1400 MAND 355 13695 1400-1500 ENGL 355 13695 1500-1600 SPAN 355 13695 1600-1700 ENGL 355 13800 1200-1545 SPAN 160 15130 1200-2345 SPAN 285 15190 2200-0345 PORT 142 15215 2100-0200 SPAN 160 15215 0300-0345 SPAN 160 15255 2200-2300 SPAN 151 15255 2300-0000 ENGL 151 15255 0000-0100 FREN 151 15255 0100-0300 SPAN 151 15255 0300-0400 ENGL 151 15255 0400-0445 SPAN 151 15440 2200-0200 ENGL 285 15600 1900-2000 RUSS 44 15600 2000-2100 ROMA 44 15600 2100-2200 SPAN 44 15600 2200-2245 FREN 44 15695 2000-2100 GERM 44 15695 2100-2145 PORT 44 15770 1200-1400 SPAN 160 15770 1400-1500 PORT 160 15770 1500-1545 ENGL 160 15770 1600-1645 ARAB 44 15770 2100-2200 PORT 87 15770 2200-2245 ENGL 87 17555 1200-1300 ENGL 160 17555 1300-1400 PORT 160 17555 1400-1545 SPAN 160 17725 1700-2000 PORT 140 17725 2000-2100 ENGL 140 17725 2100-2200 FREN 140 17725 2200-2300 PORT 140 17725 0000-0100 PORT 140 17725 0100-0145 SPAN 140 17750 1700-1800 GERM 44 17750 1800-1900 ITAL 44 17750 1900-2000 ARAB 44 17750 2000-2045 ENGL 44 17750 2300-0000 ENGL 160 17750 0000-0100 PORT 160 17750 0100-0245 SPAN 160 17795 1200-2145 ENGL 285 17805 0000-0045 ENGL 142 17805 2200-2300 SPAN 142 17805 2300-0000 PORT 142 17845 2300-0100 SPAN 160 17845 0100-0200 PORT 160 17845 0200-0245 SPAN 160 17845 1800-2200 ENGL 87 17845 2200-2245 ARAB 87 17885 1700-1745 FREN 87 18930 1600-1800 RUSS 44 18930 1800-1900 FREN 44 18930 1900-2000 ENGL 44 18930 2000-2100 POLI 44 18930 2100-2145 ARAB 44 18980 1400-1500 SPAN 142 18980 1500-1545 PORT 142 18980 1600-2145 ENGL 44 21455 1600-1800 ENGL 44 21455 1800-1900 GERM 44 21455 1900-1945 FREN 44 21525 1600-1700 ENGL 87 21525 1700-1800 PORT 87 21525 1800-2000 FREN 87 21525 2000-2045 ARAB 87 21670 1600-1700 ITAL 44 21670 1700-1845 SPAN 44 WYFR BROADCAST SCHEDULE 29 Mar 2009-25 Oct 2009 Language Sort LANG TIME UT KHZ AZ ARAB 0500-0600 9340 87 ARAB 0500-0600 9355 44 ARAB 0700-0800 11530 87 ARAB 1600-1645 15770 44 ARAB 1900-2000 17750 44 ARAB 2200-2245 17845 87 ARAB 2100-2145 18930 44 ARAB 2000-2045 21525 87 CANT 0600-0700 5985 315 ENGL 0600-0700 5850 181 ENGL 1000-1245 5950 355 ENGL 2200-0200 5950 355 ENGL 0400-0600 5950 285 ENGL 0700-0845 5950 285 ENGL 0200-0300 5985 181 ENGL 0700-1245 5985 315 ENGL 1600-1700 6085 181 ENGL 1900-1945 6085 181 ENGL 0400-0600 6915 355 ENGL 0700-1100 6915 355 ENGL 0000-0445 6985 355 ENGL 0600-0745 7520 44 ENGL 1100-1200 7730 222 ENGL 0700-0845 9340 87 ENGL 0000-0445 9505 315 ENGL 0700-0800 9505 222 ENGL 1100-1145 9550 160 ENGL 1100-1200 9625 140 ENGL 0200-0300 9680 315 ENGL 0400-0700 9680 315 ENGL 0900-1145 9755 285 ENGL 0600-0700 11530 87 ENGL 0600-0700 11580 44 ENGL 0300-0400 11740 222 ENGL 2200-2345 11740 315 ENGL 1300-1645 11830 315 ENGL 0200-0245 11835 285 ENGL 0200-0300 11855 222 ENGL 1300-1400 11865 315 ENGL 1600-1645 11865 315 ENGL 1300-1600 11910 355 ENGL 1800-2145 13615 315 ENGL 1700-2000 13690 355 ENGL 2100-2145 13690 355 ENGL 1400-1500 13695 355 ENGL 1600-1700 13695 355 ENGL 2300-0000 15255 151 ENGL 0300-0400 15255 151 ENGL 2200-0200 15440 285 ENGL 1500-1545 15770 160 ENGL 2200-2245 15770 87 ENGL 1200-1300 17555 160 ENGL 2000-2100 17725 140 ENGL 2000-2045 17750 44 ENGL 2300-0000 17750 160 ENGL 1200-2145 17795 285 ENGL 0000-0045 17805 142 ENGL 1800-2200 17845 87 ENGL 1900-2000 18930 44 ENGL 1600-2145 18980 44 ENGL 1600-1800 21455 44 ENGL 1600-1700 21525 87 FREN 2300-0000 6985 355 FREN 0600-0700 9340 87 FREN 0600-0700 9355 44 FREN 1000-1100 9625 140 FREN 0500-0600 11530 87 FREN 0800-0845 11530 87 FREN 0800-0845 11530 87 FREN 0500-0600 11580 44 FREN 1600-1645 11910 355 FREN 1000-1100 11970 151 FREN 1300-1400 11970 151 FREN 1200-1300 13695 355 FREN 0000-0100 15255 151 FREN 2200-2245 15600 44 FREN 2100-2200 17725 140 FREN 1700-1745 17885 87 FREN 1800-1900 18930 44 FREN 1900-1945 21455 44 FREN 1800-2000 21525 87 GERM 0500-0600 7730 44 GERM 2000-2100 15695 44 GERM 1700-1800 17750 44 GERM 1800-1900 21455 44 ITAL 0600-0700 9985 44 ITAL 0700-0745 11580 44 ITAL 1800-1900 17750 44 ITAL 1600-1700 21670 44 MAND 0500-0600 5985 315 MAND 1500-1600 11865 315 MAND 1300-1400 13695 355 POLI 0700-0745 7730 44 POLI 2000-2100 18930 44 PORT 0900-1045 6175 160 PORT 0100-0145 7520 142 PORT 0300-0400 7730 160 PORT 0800-1045 9605 142 PORT 0800-1000 9625 140 PORT 1200-1245 9625 140 PORT 0700-0745 9985 44 PORT 0400-0445 11530 87 PORT 0800-1045 11770 142 PORT 2200-0345 15190 142 PORT 2100-2145 15695 44 PORT 1400-1500 15770 160 PORT 2100-2200 15770 87 PORT 1300-1400 17555 160 PORT 1700-2000 17725 140 PORT 2200-2300 17725 140 PORT 0000-0100 17725 140 PORT 0000-0100 17750 160 PORT 2300-0000 17805 142 PORT 0100-0200 17845 160 PORT 1500-1545 18980 142 PORT 1700-1800 21525 87 ROMA 0600-0700 7730 44 ROMA 2000-2100 15600 44 RUSS 0400-0500 9355 44 RUSS 1900-2000 15600 44 RUSS 1600-1800 18930 44 SPAN 0500-0600 5850 181 SPAN 0700-0945 5850 181 SPAN 0900-1000 5950 355 SPAN 2000-0200 5985 181 SPAN 0300-0445 5985 181 SPAN 1000-1600 6085 181 SPAN 1700-1900 6085 181 SPAN 0304-0400 6915 355 SPAN 0600-0700 6915 355 SPAN 1100-1145 6915 355 SPAN 0500-0545 7520 222 SPAN 1200-1345 7730 222 SPAN 0400-0445 7730 160 SPAN 0700-0745 9355 44 SPAN 1100-1145 9355 160 SPAN 0504-0700 9505 222 SPAN 0800-0945 9505 222 SPAN 0800-1100 9550 160 SPAN 1100-1345 9605 222 SPAN 0300-0400 9680 315 SPAN 0700-0745 9680 315 SPAN 0300-1145 9715 285 SPAN 0400-0445 9985 160 SPAN 0500-0600 9985 44 SPAN 0300-0345 11580 160 SPAN 1400-1545 11670 222 SPAN 0200-0300 11740 222 SPAN 0400-0445 11740 222 SPAN 0000-0200 11835 285 SPAN 0800-1145 11855 160 SPAN 2000-0200 11855 222 SPAN 0300-0400 11855 222 SPAN 1400-1500 11865 315 SPAN 0800-1000 11970 151 SPAN 1100-1300 11970 151 SPAN 1400-1545 11970 151 SPAN 1700-1800 13615 315 SPAN 2000-2100 13690 355 SPAN 1500-1600 13695 355 SPAN 1200-1545 13800 160 SPAN 1200-2345 15130 285 SPAN 2100-0200 15215 160 SPAN 0300-0345 15215 160 SPAN 2200-2300 15255 151 SPAN 0100-0300 15255 151 SPAN 0400-0445 15255 151 SPAN 2100-2200 15600 44 SPAN 1200-1400 15770 160 SPAN 1400-1545 17555 160 SPAN 0100-0145 17725 140 SPAN 0100-0245 17750 160 SPAN 2200-2300 17805 142 SPAN 2300-0100 17845 160 SPAN 0200-0245 17845 160 SPAN 1400-1500 18980 142 SPAN 1700-1845 21670 44 (Evelyn Marcy, WYFR Okeechobee, Feb 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re 9-015, WWRB streaming --- FWIW a direct link to the page with the streaming audio links, looks like it was pulled from the sidebar. http://www.wwrb.org/wwrbonline.php (Travers DeVine, Feb 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 3215, 0730. WWRB. Weak in English. 12/1 (Ian Cattermole, Blenheim, New Zealand, JRC 535, EWE, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) No, it wasn`t. WWCR starts on this frequency at 0200 (gh, DXLD) 6430, 0417. WWCR, Nashville. Fair at tune in with English programming and improving to good level. 0730 Glen[n] Hauser’s World of Radio on Sunday 25/01. 2nd Harmonic of 3215 (which was inaudible). Overseas reports [i.e., gh, DXLD!] suggest they may have accidentally been using 6430 kHz as a fundamental frequency (Dene Lynneberg, Pukerua Bay, New Zealand, Rx: ICOM R-75 Antenna: 100 metre longwire, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) 6430, 0915, WWCR, Nashville. Good with English programming on presumed 2 x 3215. Fundamental frequency not audible 24/01 and not heard since 1 Feb (Fred Humphreys, Porirua East, New Zealand, Rx: ICOM IC-R71 Antenna 70 metre longwire, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) Harmonic long since fixed, but old info just reaching us (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WNQM-1300 Nashville - Radio Vida --- WNQM-1300 in Nashville is now in Spanish as "Radio Vida". My last log of them on Jan 2 had them in English. Not sure if this is already well known, but was a bit of a surprise to me. I had thought at first this was one of the Texas Spanish language religious broadcasters listed on 1300 kHz. From a google search, WNQM appears to have been a sister station to shortwave broadcaster WWCR. The FCC database doesn't appear to show the station having changed hands recently, so perhaps Radio Vida is still related to WWCR (Brandon Jordan, Memphis TN, 19 Feb, IRCA via DXLD) WNQM 1300, like WWCR Shortwave, WMQM 1600, along with its sister stations in Knoxville, New Orleans and etc. are nothing more then "You Pay, We Play". So most likely, someone is just leasing the station from them (Paul Walker, Ord NE, ibid.) Hi Paul. I found the Radio Vida website at radiovia1130.com. The web page notes "1130 Am en el dia, 1130 AM en la noche". Sure enough, day- timer WYXE-1130 Gallatin, TN is listed as Radio Vida. Vida is leasing WNQM to fill in the hours when WYXE is off the air. I'll have to give WYXE a try one morning or evening. 73, (Brandon Jordan, ibid. Hey Glenn, Radio Vida is aired from 6:35 pm to 12:05 am [CT] Monday through Friday, 9 pm 1:05 am on Saturday, and 7 pm-1:15 am on Sunday. World of Radio is still carried every Saturday at 3:55 am [0955 UT; from March 14, 0855 UT]. I hope that helps. Have a great weekend, (Chris Buchanan, Production Director, WWCR/WNQM, F.W. Robbert Broadcasting, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5920v, WBOH, Feb 19 at 1350, giving FBN contact info in Spanish, with usual het caused by its being off-frequency compared to Irkutsk, which manages to transmit much closer to the correct frequency. Spanish is not shown on the FBN schedule at this hour, which fails to mention what timezone is used, an external broadcaster so inward-looking they think everyone goes by their own local zone! http://www.fbnradio.com/new_page_copy(1).htm --- and what a weird URL format. We must assume it`s EST/EDT, i.e. currently 8:30-9 am, when it`s all in English, supposedly. Just as I tuned across WBOH 5920v, UT Sat Feb 21 at 0653:40 they started to play The Star Spangled Banner, until 0654:50, then to honky-tonk hymn with barbershop harmony. Perhaps FBN plays the SSB around this time each day? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7505.35, WRNO -- Signal on the air at 0156:32, then program start up at 0158:58 with ID by M over music, "This is WRNO Worldwide broadcasting of frequency 7505 kHz from its transmitter site in New Orleans LA", and immediately into pop music. 0203 canned echo ID with freq and QTH, news by Jonathon Peter 0204-0206, canned ID, and back to music. Good signal but occasional brief fades. (20 Feb.) 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, JRC NRD-535D, Hammarlund HQ-129X, 60m T2FD, 100' Windom, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) News still de BBC? (gh) ** U S A. JOHN MORITZ --- Many of you will remember John Moritz who was "Shortwave Center" and "Flashsheet" editor for NASWA back in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I have recently discovered the very sad news that John passed away in November 2006 from a heart condition. He was 59. Over the years he lost interest in the DX hobby and focused his energies on the local school sports program in Youngstown, OH. I remember John as an excellent DXer, always funny, sometimes provocative, and a real friend. R.I.P. to one of the great names in the hobby. John Herkimer (via Dan Ferguson, Feb 21, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** U S A. KGO RADIO GOES GREEN --- San Francisco station KGO AM says that it has gone partially green. According to its website, KGO became the first major commercial broadcast media outlet in California to reach its listeners by harnessing the power of the sun to reduce its dependence on the region`s power system. The KGO solar energy program began last winter. The now completed solar panel installation is located at the station`s transmitter site near San Francisco’s Dumbarton Bridge. Not only does it reduce KGO’s daily load on the power grid, but it will serve as an ongoing test facility for emerging solar technology. You can see the construction of the solar power system as it progressed from 2008 to now: http://dynamic.kgoradio.com/solar.php (thanks to RAY CRAWFORD, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) They have clearly gone to a lot of trouble and expense; good for them. But lacking in this illustrated blog is anything about how much power solar actually provides the transmitter site. I suspect it is only a fraxion of the 50 kW output on 810, and maybe is used mainly to power other things in the building than the transmitter itself. Why not make this clear? Latest entry is last July 31, when it was up and running. Could solar keep the station on the air in a catastrophe? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. OUR INHUMAN MANIA FOR PERFECTION Eric Felten, The Wall Street Journal When Jennifer Hudson flawlessly sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl—her first appearance since the October murder of her mother, brother, and nephew—audiences marveled that she didn’t miss a note. Now we know how she managed it, said Eric Felten: She lip-synched her performance. Hudson is in good company. At President Obama’s inauguration, the quartet that included cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman also faked it, pretending to play as the audience listened to a recording. In both cases, the excuse for this deception was that the “slightest glitch” would have ruined the historic moment. Since when? In this age of airbrushing and Botox, perhaps “flawlessness” has become a requirement for models and movie stars. But musical performance cannot, and should not, meet expectations of perfection. Without risks, art is mere artifice, devoid of the humanity—and slight flaws—that gives great work its depth and allows it to touch our hearts. John Ruskin, the 19th-century British critic, was right. “To banish imperfection,” he wrote, “is to destroy expression, to check exertion, to paralyze vitality.” (The Week, Feb 20 via DXLD) I noticed immediately when all the background crowd noise suddenly went away as the performance started, but hoped it was just a case of good close-in miking. It`s completely understandable that string players whose fingers must be exposed and unimpeded would not want to perform to be heard in below-freezing temperatures! But surely they were not ``pretending to play``. The bows must surely have been sawing the strings, with the proper fingering, in order to make it believable, and axually putting out less than perfect sounds, playing along in synch with the pre-recorded version which they could hear in their ears, with the live performance only those seated close by could hear. The real problem is insisting on holding inaugurations on the Capitol steps in dead of winter. It`s unpleasant for the dignitaries, too. Isn`t there any inside venue available in Washington? Not where a crowd of millions could watch with their own eyes, but how many were close enough axually to see and/or hear anything? In this electronic age, it might as well have been held in Kenya, Indonesia or Hawaii, all of which can count on much more pleasant weather in January, or inside the rotunda with giant video screens for the crowd to watch. Or dispense with the live musical performances around noon and do them at some other point in the days-long ceremonies (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. ``READERS: Do you listen to religious broadcasts? If so, who's your favorite? If not, why not?`` Primarily I listen to KVRK, Christian rock. I listen to WAY-FM affiliates over streaming (I don't live close enough to pick up over the air). I find WPOZ to be a listenable stream from Orlando. All of these are contemporary Christian to Christian rock formats. Christian talk, preaching, hymns, and praise and worship have little appeal to me. I am only 54, not senior enough to like those things. I grew up on rock music, and only upbeat Christian music inspires me in any way whatsoever. As a Christian believer, I have a right to say that the vast majority of Christian radio is a waste of electricity, time, and frequencies (Bruce Carter, Feb 19, ABDX via DXLD) For me Christian radio & TV is a waste of airtime. While I love the good Lord I don't watch any Christian TV or radio as I prefer to buy CD's or download free sermons from the preachers I like. Besides I wouldn't give one cent to those filthy rich radio & TV preachers. Let them all go broke & quit swindling people with all the con games they play!! (Robert M. Bratcher, Jr., ibid.) ** U S A. He was known for getting big FCC fines BISHOP, BROADCASTER LEVI WILLIS DIES AT 79 --- February 21, 2009 Bishop Levi E. Willis Sr., a prominent local minister and broadcaster, died Friday morning in Norfolk at the age of 79. Bishop Willis, a national figure in the Church of God in Christ (COGIC) denomination, founded the local church Garden of Prayer in Norfolk. He rose to become the national chairman of COGIC's general assembly. In 1974, he became the first African-American to run a radio station in Hampton Roads. He hosted a popular call-in show on such stations as WOWI-FM and WPCE-AM. By the late 1980s, he owned more than 20 radio stations across the nation. . . http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_willisobit_0221feb21,0,2469763.story (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) OBIT His organization lost 1280 WSVE Jacksonville, FL due to a long list of NALs that were unpaid... inspections of stations that were so far deteriorated... it's an incredible story. WSVE and other stations (I think about 5 in total) were "ganked" - the stations ordered shut down, not to be transferred, and the licenses were DELETED altogether. Or at least so in Jacksonville. It was a class D that never returned from it's sign off in 2004. I had an acquaintance who purchased a block of time weekdays from Noon to Three on WSVE. When I caught wind of the agreement Willis' Organization signed with the FCC, I called the fellow at the station during his show telling him that his last show on that station will be Friday. No one from management told him about the station going dark, and we've been friends ever since. I helped him find a new radio home on two occasions since then... and I always have a free meal (through one of his sponsors) whenever I care to catch up with him in town. In 2002, I've had the good fortune of criss-crossing parts of AL, MS, LA and a smaller corner of AR and GA, just riding around collecting short airchecks and lots of station IDs of whatever AM stations I happened across. Did this for a number of weekends spread across three months. Every hour I'd stop on the roadside and set up a rag tag collection of portable radios, Mini Disc and cassette tape recorders. Once I made my capture, I'd race off for another location to do it all over again. Sometimes I'd do it for nearly two days straight without sleep and return to my temporary headquarters at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi and sleep it off on the third day and organize the recordings. Between eating cheap fast food for the trip, gas prices being relatively low and having a car that got terrific gas mileage, I was able to knock out some territory. No one to answer to (I was a temporary bachelor) and just my academics during the week... I was able to eat much healthier fare during the week while in (military) school... it was a LOT of fun. When I had the occasion to encounter a Willis station, you could count on a at least two of things. A) The audio quality was definitely sub-par. B) You were blessed if you had the occasion to hear a legal ID on some of the stations. Some stations did well on IDing. Still, many others seemed to have operators that really had no clue on the requirement. Automation was a five CD changer run on shuffle mode One who has benefited from many free lunches due to the good graces of Radio Station expense accounts across the land (Ron Gitschier, Palm Coast FL, ibid.) Rhonda Random - well known DJ. df (Dan Ferguson, ibid.) ** U S A. VIDEO: Crews go vertical for KUNI transmission line repair By Adam Belz The Gazette, Updated February 17. 2009 7:19PM Photos: GALLERY: Climbing the KCRG tower [Cedar Rapids IA] Bone-chilling wind gusts of around 40 mph howl as Ken Rickhoff of Electronics Research, Inc. prepares to ascend to the top of the KCRG tower west of Walker to repair the KUNI 90.9 FM transmission line Tuesday. Check back soon for video of the ride up the tower. [caption] WALKER - John Pellham hangs by a cable, a thousand feet in the air, with nothing between him and the clear blue sky but the bright red gridwork of a radio tower. He and a few other rough-and-tumble tower climbers from Texas, Florida and Michigan are working on the KCRG-TV9 tower west of Walker, trying to get KUNI 90.9 FM back on the air. . . http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090217/NEWS/902179992/1006 more: http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2009/02/19/news/local/11032928.prt (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) More: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-publicradio,0,3402202.story (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** VATICAN. 9600, Vatican R., 2312-2317, Feb. 21. Noted Vatican here in English clashing about equal level with SAH on co-channel Cuba. Vatican moving on into Asian language at 2315 (Paul Brouillette, Geneva, IL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Vietnamese. So still uncoördinated and broadcasting a 3-minute English service first (gh) ** VATICAN [and non]. MADAGASCAR, 9660 MDG, Vatican Radio now at 0300- 0400 UT in English Kiswahili 7360 SMG and new 9660 MDG-(ex SMG). Remaining 0400-0700 UT slot still via Santa Maria de Galeria-Vatican State (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Feb 21 via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. 4739.60v, R. TV Son La. Not heard for the last two days around 1320. Normal sign-off is 1401. 4739.59v, R. TV. Son La, continues not to be heard in the 1325 time period, long before their normal 1401 sign-off. Are they signing off earlier or are they really off-the-air? (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Feb 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. 6135, 0453 21/2, R. Republic of Yemen, via Al Hisiwah 34553. Elc. Equipamento: Sony 2001D, Antena LoopStick GE OT. Atenciosamente, (Eduardo, Grid Locator : GG66qq, Mairiporã- SP- Brasil, dxclubepr yg via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. 4965, R. Christian Voice/CVC, 0350-0435, Feb 20. Bible story in English; African religious songs; ToH into vernacular; many TCs and IDs ("6:01 Central Africa Time … Radio Christian Voice"); frequently gives phone numbers; fair. 6065, R. Christian Voice/CVC, 1550-1628, Feb 22. First time I have ever heard them here. Preacher taking on-air calls, in English, talking about morality and marriage with callers; TCs for "Central Africa Time"; tells a caller: "Yes, this is Christian Voice"; after 1600 mostly religious songs. Pre-1600 had heavy CNR-2 QRM, till their sign-off. Post-1600 was fair. Their sunset at 1635 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 1Africa still on 9420 colliding horribly with Greece, Feb 20 at 2200 tune-in; thought I might have been too late to reconfirm, but CVC stayed on past 2200, giving me time to count a SAH of 215/minute vs Greece, = 3.6 Hz. CVC was again trying to persuade African stations to become affiliates, and finally turned off at 2203:44* leaving Greece descathed. We are waiting and hoping, which Spanish combines into a single word, for CVC to start using 13835, a new frequency they have registered for this same 17-22 UT transmission (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still colliding Feb 21 (John Babbis, MD, DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. 3396, ZBC Gweru, 0249-0303, Feb 17, vernacular. Lite Afropops with announcer between selections; talk over music at ToH and presumed news headlines until 0303; poor-weak (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH-USA. NRD545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Bevs, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3396, R. Zimbabwe, 0208-0344, Feb 20. In vernacular with DJ playing variety of music (Hi-Life, jazz, English song, etc.); usual canned ID at ToH (African drums, "… Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Zimbabwe … shortwave", long list of cities with FM frequencies ["On FM, Harare 96 MHz", etc.] and detailed schedule for SW); gives phone number to call in; on air calls; many TCs ("24 minutes to 6 o'clock"). No hint of anything on 4828 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) They are still keeping at least two shortwave transmitters on the air. 3396.0 was heard // to 4828 at 0200-0220, Feb 21, with continuous African music (Terry Toope, Newfoundland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. 11745, 1710-1900* CLANDESTINE, 10.02, SW Radio Africa, via Woofferton, UK English/Shona/ Ndebele talks, IDs, political statements 45444 // 4880 via Meyerton, but not on 12035 which was used in the A08 schedule. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, Feb 22, playdx yg via DXLD) Yet primetime shortwave has just added 12035, based on DX Mix News, Bulgaria. There was also an incorrect report that this started at 1800 instead of 1700 (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 4980, 0018-0032, Feb 21, vernacular. W between brief wind/stringed instrumental bits; animated speaker joins briefly at 0024; more music with announcer at BoH; very poor and barely audible; Xijiang PBS-China?; I can't recall the last time I heard anything on this frequency (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH-USA. NRD545, RX- 350D, MLB1, 200' Bevs, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Could be third harmonic of something on 1660 --- like WWRU in New Jersey, Radio Korea. Or yet another off-frequency AIR station (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 9-015, strange money-man on 5779.75 --- Seems to be some pirate. Noted a logging of the same at http://www.shortwavedx.blogspot.com/ on 14 Feb. It seems they were also on 3910 (Jari Savolainen, Finland, Feb 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5900, Feb 19 at 1350 open carrier, fair strength. At this hour, per Aoki, the only thing scheduled is Vatican in Russian via Tashkent, 100 kW, 56 degrees. I wonder if it was one of their 20- minute programs, with the rest of the semihour wasted, or lost feed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6027, re 9-015: Thanks for this info. My first observation was on Dec 13 as follows: 6027.0 1202-1216 MLA RTM Kuala Lumpur (tent.). 13/12, mostly Malay- like YL/OM talks with short musical pauses – poor, splashes from 6030 (CNR) Will try to identify this spurs on the next week with my "new" old soviet communication receiver called R-326 (of course, if the propagation at 1200-1300 UTC will make it possible)... R-326: http://www.cqham.ru/trx/r326.html 73! (Mikhail Timofeyev, St. Petersburg, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Wolfy and Glenn, Believe Aoki should completely delete the reference to 6025 RTM Kuala Lumpur/Kajang. Back in June, 2006 RTM Kuala Lumpur/Kajang moved their frequency from 6025 (was actually heard on 6024.9), up to 6049.6. Numerous times since then I have reported hearing Asyik FM and Suara Islam/Voice of Islam (both via RTM Kuala Lumpur/Kajang) on 6049.6. To the best of my knowledge they have not been heard again on 6025 (nor 6027). Aoki should amend the 6050 listings, as I do believe RTM Sarawak/Sibu is indeed on 6050, just not at all the times as shown, many of which I think actually apply to broadcasting times for RTM Kuala Lumpur/Kajang. The Voice of Islam reference on 6050 should be amended to delete Sibu and instead show via Kuala Lumpur/Kajang. Also I think that Glenn has found the answer to what was heard on 6027. Very likely the PBS Yunnan spur. If it should be heard again, a check of the other two frequencies should positively resolve this issue (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Feb. 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6125.48, 2220-2235, Feb 19, weak carrier hetting CNR -1 on 6125; could not pull out any audio, barely detectable at tune-out. On several occasions last Nov and Dec I heard something around 1300 on the exact same frequency which Mauno Ritola said was "most probably" RRI Nabire. So naturally I am wondering if this is them again or perhaps some kind of persistent spur? Can anyone else hear this? (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, Feb 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Martien, I think you are sceptical for a reason, my "most probably" was only based on observations around 1300 hours and the frequency. But today it was on already after 2000 and shows no signs of weakening now after 2100, although the greyline has passed and you had it still much later. It is on 6125.49 kHz today. Maybe a spurious product from China? 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) Dear Martien, Confirm RRI-Nabire on Feb. 19 at 2100 and 2130 UT by the monitoring of A. Ishida. Fade-out in Japan after 2200 and cannot confirm it at 2230. cf. http://n-1.at.webry.info/ by A. Ishida in Japanese. RRI-Nabire http://n-1.at.webry.info/200902/article_9.html [audio linx] (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Japan, Feb 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 9810, Feb 19 at 0001, lite Cuban jamming audible against nothing. Perhaps a new Radio República transmission is starting up? Sackville poorly audible with RCI on 9755 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. UTIILITY INTRUSIONS --- Hey Glenn, Was just reading your latest in MT concerning the intruders. Quite a coincidence, as I was just discussing the same signals with someone on the #wunclub IRC channel. I'm pretty certain that all the three 50 bd/850 encrypted signals you mentioned are US Navy. Checking the ITU Monitoring files: 9830 and 12015 is not mentioned by any stations, 11687.5 has a bearing of 288 degrees from France. So Cutler may well be the source of the 11 MHz signal. Propagation to here would support that too. I'm quite sure that Cutler is alive and well on HF contrary to the popular belief. The fact that 9830 and 12015 are not heard by any of the ITU stations is probably a good indication that they are on the West Coast which means Dixon, CA or Hawaii. Cutler is about 200 miles north of me and I'll need to take a drive up there this summer to solve the mystery of the 75bd signals I wrote about in one of my recent columns. Cheers --mco (Mike Chace-Ortiz, Feb 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ A lista do DXCPR é aberta a todo espectro da radiodifusão e tudo o que envolve, sendo que as vezes o tema pode passar pela religião ou pela política mas tudo dentro do razoável e inerente ao assunto rádio, ou a radiodifusão em geral, sem hipocrisia e sem tendências. Sobre as OC/OT, este tema tbem é fartamente comentado através do boletim semanal DX Listening Digest do Glenn Hauser, é em inglês com alguns poucos tópicos em português, mas hoje em dia com o advento dos tradutores eletrônicos não tem desculpa, da sim para entender muito bem, e convenhamos que sobre as OC/OT brasileiras acho que atualmente não temos muito a comentar a não ser o "acende e apaga" das emissoras e as divulgações de algumas escutas, ou.... comentar o pq não se tem o que comentar sobre as OC brasileiras. :-) 73 (Marcelo Bedene, Curitiba-PR, dxclubepr yg via DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ DESECHEO, NOT REALLY SPANISH Re: The derivation of the name of the place should be interesting. The root in Spanish refers to refuse, or throwing stuff out. This page confirms it means ``thrown away``: http://www.dokufunk.org/amateur_radio/dxcc_entities/index.php?CID=4728?=EN I was having my doubts about the "desecheo" term, so I went to the site of Diccionario de la Real Academia Española to make sure. As I suspected, desecheo doesn't exist in our language (someone non-Spanish native language invented it). The real term is "desecho" and despite my half good English I figured out the meaning goes more properly to "waste material/products" or waste disposal. So I've been thinking this must be a tiny island used as a "basurero" (garbage land; how sad!) by some of the nearby Caribbean countries, specially Puerto Rico. Am I right? 73 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, Feb 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Could also refer to guano, if much there (gh, DXLD) MUSEA +++++ OLD TVS NEVER DIE . . . THEY JUST GO TO THE RADIO & TELEVISION MUSEUM IN BOWIE, MD., WHICH DETAILS THE EVOLUTION OF THE SET. By Amy Orndorff February 21, 2009 http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-et-tvmuseum21-2009feb21,0,5209697.story Washington -- 2009 will be forever known as the year the rabbit ears died. [WRONG --- rabbit ears can still receive DTV in urban areas. Way to go with your lead, Amy!* --- gh] When the country converts to digital television, that little black- and-white box in the kitchen will convert to a paperweight. The hand- me-down in the college dorm? Obsolete. The good news is that there is a place where televisions go when they die -- a television heaven, if you will. It's the Radio & Television Museum in suburban Bowie, Md., and it is a shrine to the RCAs, Zeniths and DuMonts of yesteryear. The converted farmhouse has two floors containing more than 100 radios, 15 televisions (back from the days when TVs were furniture) and countless items of memorabilia, including early issues of TV Guide and television advertisements. Docents give tours, or you can walk through the museum yourself, which takes about 1 1/2 hours. The museum, like the history of the television, begins with the radio. Visitors can experiment with a model of Heinrich Hertz's 1880s transmitter and receiver, which first proved the existence of electromagnetic waves and made radio and television possible. Press a button on the transmitter to send an electromagnetic wave to a receiver that lights up. Listen to a re-creation of the first broadcast from a radio station: the results of the 1920 presidential election proclaiming Warren G. Harding's election. The broadcaster at KDKA in Pittsburgh was so unsure how many people were listening and how far the program was reaching that he asked listeners to reply via letter. Those people were the scattered few who had bought radios to be on the cutting edge of technology before there was even programming to listen to. The museum gives people "a sense of history, of how their iPods came about," says docent David Grossman. "It wasn't instant like it is now." Radio quickly became the way presidents communicated with the people. Through this month, an exhibition includes recordings of presidential speeches and Herbert Hoover's radio. One speech worth listening to is Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1933 inaugural address, in which he declared that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." Another section of the museum is dedicated to televisions, although anyone who can't recall having a TV set without a remote may not recognize some of the early iterations. The RCA model that debuted at the 1939-40 New York World's Fair stands almost 4 feet tall, weighs more than 100 pounds and used a mirror to project the picture. Flipping through TV Guide from the early 1950s, you can count the stations on one hand. (And you thought Bruce Springsteen's "57 Channels (and Nothin' On)" was quaint!) More horrors: Among the televisions is the eye-catching Philco Predicta, a set from 1959 that was designed to look futuristic and is painted a popular-only-in- the-'60s avocado green. The museum also features a library of television programming from the '50s, '60s and '70s. You can ask a docent to put on one of your favorites (many of the museum's televisions still work, and chairs are set up near them) or catch a scheduled show. Though the museum is regularly updated with relics, there is no word yet when the exhibit on rabbit ears will debut. Amy Orndorff writes for the Washington Post (via Kevin Redding, Feb 21, ABDX via DXLD) *DIGITAL-READY ALUMINUM FOIL While I am a radio person, I am watching the DTV switchover with concern. I notice, in talking to local TV Chiefs, that most consumers have problems with indoor rabbit ears. In days gone by, people would add tin foil to those rabbit ears. However, today that isn't good enough. I am setting up a company to sell a new product that will eliminate all those problems. I will be the exclusive distributor of a brand new product called "Digital-Ready Aluminum Foil." Operators are standing by. ;) (Tom Bosscher, Grand Rapids, Michigan, tom (at) bosscher.org, CGC Communicator Feb 22 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) SHORTWAVE MUSIC +++++++++++++++ Recurring theme: shortwave (or shortwave-like sounds) as music Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Kurzwellen described ways for musicians to react while manning the controls of short-wave radios" Providence Phoenix, 18 February 2009. Scottish undergound group Yahweh "drape their frail tunes in layers of vinyl ‘surface noise’, distant, analogue farts and hums, distressed, itchy Can-esque guitarlines, down-a-well banjo and broken shortwave radio chatter." The List, 19 February 2009. The Handsome Family: "Curious studio trickery abounds: the weirdly shuffling 'Love is Like' has a hint of Animal Collective's out of box thinking about it, the wonky organs and glockenspiel sound as if they are crackling out of a short-wave radio set." Altsounds, 19 February 2009. John Duncan's "new composition, titled 'The Hidden,' ... features 'digital audio debris, generated audio noise, field recordings, and shortwave radio static.'" Gapers Block, 19 February 2009. Posted: 22 Feb 2009 (Permalink http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=5957 for linx, via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ TREASON ON THE AIRWAVES: THREE ALLIED BROADCASTERS ON AXIS RADIO DURING WORLD WAR II. Author Dr. Judith Keene (University of Sydney). This work traces the extraordinary journeys of three World War II radio broadcasters in Germany and Japan whose wartime choices became treason in Britain, Australia, and the United States. John Amery, a virulent anti-Semite who was a member of a highly respected and well-connected British family, joined Hitler's propagandists in Berlin. He was executed for treason by Britain after the war. Charles Cousens, a popular radio personality at home in Australia, was a soldier in Japanese captivity. He was put to work on Radio Tokyo creating English language shortwave programs with a team of Allied prisoners of war. Cousens was later tried as a traitor in Australia. Iva Toguri, better known as "Tokyo Rose," was an American student visiting relatives in Japan when war broke out. She broadcast her English show on Radio Tokyo out of necessity rather than conviction. The United States jailed Toguri for treason. Through these three powerful stories, this work not only sheds new light on the history of wartime radio broadcasting in Germany and Japan, but also examines the laws of treason in Britain, Australia, and the United States, providing an overview of the way in which each country dealt with suspected collaborators after the war. The author demonstrates, too, the significance of radio propaganda during World War II and the techniques the Germans and Japanese used to engage listeners and command a significant audience. The stories of these broadcasters mark some of the most famous treason trials in Britain, Australia, and the United States. The decisions of the three -- each of whom who made a choice between patriotism and survival -- helped shape modern-day treason trials. This work sets Amery, Cousens, and Toguri in their family and social contexts to show the choices that were available to them and how they became part of the enemy's endless cycle of propaganda. All three accounts provoke thoughtful questions as to the nature of justice -- and the justice of retribution (thanks to MARTIN HADLOW, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) Source? I doubt he wrote this review himself, and no further info on the book, but one may search it out (gh, DXLD) 2009 EMISORAS DE FM If you don't frequent the WTFDA Forums very often, then you may not be aware that there is a NEW edition of 'Emisoras de FM' in the works. I promise it to be the most concise edition to date for México, Central America, and Caribbean FM listings. It quite possibly might be the FINAL edition I will publish. Here is the link to the Forum page- http://www.wtfda.info/showthread.php?t=2764 For anyone that has been an active TV DXer and now, with the changes of channel assignments with the DTV scheme, maybe it`s time to adopt FM as part of your DX routine. The upcoming 'Emisoras de FM' edition is projected to go to the printers before April 1st. So what`s the latest? The NEWEST information available for FM radio stations in all geographical areas covered in the book, have been added. This means that the NEWEST information for Cuba and Haiti FM listings are included, two countries where previously much information was missing in the book. Its been a tough accomplishment to get the governments from those two countries to part with their FM broadcasting databases. I am proud to say that after almost a year of pounding away at them, I was able to secure that information and include it in the 2009 Emisoras de FM. There are almost 300 Cuban FM stations; Haiti currently licenses 170 FM radio stations. Since I have acquired this information, I took the courtesy of checking unID's on the WTFDA Forum against the Cuban and Haitian lists. If you care to look at what I have uncovered recently and have been able to identify, venture on over to the WTFDA Forums and check it out. IF you still have some SS or FF unID's that haven't been solved, maybe you would like to email me personally. Keep your eyes 'peeled' here for the latest announcements for the upcoming edition of 'Emisoras de FM'. BTW, if you're keeping track of the western hemisphere countries that have a Digital TV transition program in place, Haïti announced theirs on December 29, 2008 (Jim Thomas, wdx0fbu, Milliken, Colorado, (40 miles north of Denver), Feb 20, WTFDA via DXLD) See also GUATEMALA NUEVO BLOG DX DESDE EL PUERTO DE VERACRUZ El colega Rafael Grajeda Rosado nos ha sorprendido con su nuevo blog; por favor visiten el siguiente link: http://elrincondeldiexistaveracruza no.blogspot.com/ Ah, y por otro lado, la ASOCIACIÓN DE ESPOSAS DE DIEXISTAS Y RADIOAFICIONADOS DE LA REPÚBLICA MEXICANA EN CONTRA DE LA RADIO, ha creado su nuevo blog anti-dx; por favor visitar el siguiente link: http://toda-lucy.blogspot.com/ NOTA: Por favor, NO descuidemos a nuestras compañeras, ya que ellas ven a nuestro hobby como su rival, a poco no les han dicho, ¿ya te vas con la otra?, refiriéndose al radio o a la computadora. .... Saludos desde Jiutepec, Morelos México. Por favor, no falten a nuestro evento que va viento en popa, y probablemente que también haya un evento de esposas anti-dx (Magdiel Cruz Rodríguez, Feb 20, http://entre-ondas.blogspot.com playdx yg via DXLD) put-on? CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ ANNUAL MEXICAN DX-MEETING Guests confirmed so far to our event in Cuernavaca on Jul 31 - Aug 02, 2009: Jeff White of WRMI, USA. Dr. Edgar Amilcar Madrid, Radio Verdad, Chiquimula, Guatemala. (Banda Tropical Station). Everybody are welcome! (Magdiel Cruz, Feb 04, http://entre-ondas.blogspot.com via DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ JAMMING: A PRIMER Tuesday, February 17, 2009 --- By Chris Cork http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=163003 Much has been talked but little actually done in the matter of jamming the so-called "Mullah Radio" that has done much to inflame the situation in Swat. The government appears to take the position that this is an immensely complex and expensive task, requires vast resources and the import of foreign equipment – most of which is not necessarily the case. Few will have little idea of what "jamming" actually entails – or even what it is. Radio jamming is the generally deliberate transmission of radio signals that disrupt communications or the radio channel by increasing the signal-to-noise ratio; which is defined as the ratio of a signal power to the noise power corrupting the signal. Signals can be unintentionally jammed or interfered with by another broadcaster transmitting on the same frequency without first checking that the channel is in use; alternatively, the signal can be disrupted by the switching on of something like a cable TV plant. The plant radiates a signal which, for instance, could interfere with the emergency frequency used by aircraft. None of this is "new knowledge" and has been around almost as long as radio itself. (Marconi is generally credited with the invention of radio in the last years of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th.) Intentional communications jamming is usually aimed at an adversary's radio signals to disrupt control of their equipment and communication/information systems during a battle. A transmitter, tuned to the same frequency as the opponent's receiving equipment, and with the same type of modulation, can, with enough power, override any signal at the receiver. There is a range of ways in which this can be done. The most common types of this form of signal jamming are random noise (sometimes called "white" noise), random pulse, stepped tones, warbler, tone, rotary, pulse, spark, recorded sounds, gulls (as in the sound of the common seagull, which is a disconcerting "squawk") and sweep-through. These are all forms of noise designed to overlay broadcast and render it unintelligible, and they can be divided into two groups – obvious and subtle. Obvious jamming is easy to detect because it can be heard on the receiving equipment. It usually is some type of noise such as stepped tones (bagpipes, for instance, an instrument played in Scotland with a penetrating "drone"), random-keyed code, pulses, music (often distorted), erratically warbling tones, highly distorted speech, random noise (hiss or "white noise") and recorded sounds. Various combinations of these methods may be used, often accompanied by a regular Morse-code identification signal to enable individual transmitters to be identified in order to assess their effectiveness. For example, China, which has used jamming extensively, and still does, plays a loop of traditional Chinese music while it is jamming channels. The purpose of this type of jamming is to block the reception of transmitted signals and to cause a nuisance to the receiving operator. Subtle jamming is jamming during which no sound is heard on the receiving equipment. The radio does not receive incoming signals, yet everything seems superficially normal to the operator. These are often technical attacks on modern equipment, such as "squelch capture." Thanks to the FM capture effect, Frequency Modulated broadcasts may be jammed, unnoticed, by a simple unmodulated carrier – something that would present little or no difficulty to the communications wing of our armed forces were they to be directed to locate and interdict transmissions from "Mullah Radio." (Location will not be a problem either – simple signal triangulation will suffice.) Screwing up the oppositions comms (radio-geek-speak for "communications") has been something in the military manifest for many years. During World War II ground radio operators would attempt to mislead pilots by false instructions in their own language, in what was more precisely a "spoofing attack" than jamming. Jamming of foreign radio broadcast stations has also often been used in wartime (and during periods of tense international relations) to prevent or deter citizens from listening to broadcasts from enemy countries. However, such jamming is usually of limited effectiveness because the affected stations usually change frequencies, put on additional frequencies and/or increase transmission power. A more sophisticated form of jamming is used to limit access to the Internet by totalitarian regimes – China and Saudi Arabia, for example, both of which severely limit Net access. Pakistan has the capacity to do this also, but it has been used infrequently. Netizens are usually able to find a way around Net jamming by using proxy servers. Jihadi groups make extensive use of the Internet to propagate their message. The increased use of Net-based comms systems like Messenger and Skype present other challenges to the jammer; with Skype giving particular difficulties as it uses an encryption system whose key it refuses to release. In occupied Europe during WW2 the Nazis attempted to jam broadcasts to the continent from the BBC and other allied stations. Post-war and into the Cold War Soviet jamming of some Western broadcasters led to a "power race" in which broadcasters and jammers alike repeatedly increased their transmission power, utilised highly directional antennas and added extra frequencies to the already heavily overcrowded shortwave bands, to such an extent that many broadcasters not directly targeted by the jammers (including pro-Soviet stations) suffered from the rising levels of noise and interference. Radio Free Europe and its sister service Radio Liberty were the main target of Soviet jammers, followed by Voice of America and the BBC World Service. The BBC World Service is still jammed in China from time-to- time. Against this background of nigh-on a century of interruptive activity of radio signals, both shortwave and FM, we may be able to see that our own inability to shut down or disrupt Mullah Radio is not a failure of technology on our part, nor is it something beyond our technological reach. Indeed, were we to be really serious about shutting down Mullah Radio it would be a simple matter at field-level to locate the signal source and then vector an appropriately armed aircraft and blow the thing – and its operators – to kingdom-come. It is doubtful that the operators are yet so sophisticated that they can auto-shift frequencies to confuse any jammer, their on-air timings are not difficult to determine and the equipment they use is not so portable as to be something they can backpack from location to location. Simply put, they are the proverbial sitting ducks. The failure is not military or technological – it is political. It is a failure that stretches far back into the Musharraf years and is probably linked to the fallacious notion of "strategic depth" that still in part informs military and political thinking. Today we are seeing a shift in the political winds as the new American crew breezes through our part of the world. President Zardari has spoken clearly and forcefully in the last few days of the threat presented to us by the Taliban. Their power and reach are both extended and consolidated by the use of radio and other media, and the State has been either absent, slow or simply negligent in terms of understanding the threat presented by Mullah-radio. We can and should switch off their mouthpiece. Jamming would be the humane way of accomplishing that – starting tomorrow. The writer is a British social worker settled in Pakistan (The News, Pakistan, via Alokesh Gupta, India, Cumbre DX via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ IBM EYES STIMULUS FUNDS FOR BROADBAND OVER POWER LINES Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:59pm EST NEW YORK, Feb 17 (Reuters) - IBM (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) plans to take advantage of the U.S. economic stimulus package signed earlier on Tuesday by offering Internet services over power lines to more rural consumers. IBM said its venture with International Broadband Electric Communications (IBEC), a company that provides broadband over power line (BPL) services, had begun to sign up Internet customers in rural parts of Alabama, Indiana, Michigan and Virginia and that it hoped to access more government funds. . . http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1738980420090217 (via Pat Dyer, TX, TV/FM Skip Log via DXLD) http://www.ecommercetimes.com/rsstory/66244.html?wlc=1235079994 or http://tinyurl.com/d82tox (Rob de Santos, Columbus, OH, swprograms via DXLD) and a follow-up: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/communications/66254.html (gh, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see CANADA; INDIA; KOREA NORTH; SLOVAKIA and ++++++++++++++++++++ DAB discussion below YouTube - analog sign off feb 17 2009 http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=analog+sign+off+feb+17+2009&aq=f A few last-time sign offs posted on Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/results?uploaded=w&search_query=sign+off+2-17-09 Nice final words from WDEF! This Concludes Our Broadcasting Day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po_hBMtTaDg&NR=1 Channel 15 in Madison, Wisconsin signing off of analog for good. Making alot of people upset, The end of analog TV http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQnBKBuJS4Q Behind the scenes at one of the station sign offs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj_KpgSQdbY&feature=related Es pest WEDU signing off, if such could be called that. YouTube - The end of analog TV in Orlando http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvMKlP7brXY&NR=1 Hey gang! Let's all have an end of analog party! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw0NURBUcwY&feature=related One of the FOX Illinois stations making the switch. (all via Curtis Sadowski, WTFDA via DXLD) o For DTV converter boxes, stereo sound is "optional:" http://dtvfacts.com/latest/441/dtv-adapter-stereo/ o Looking ahead to the Los Angeles DTV switch: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-dtv17-2009feb17,0,4108978.story (CGC Communicator Feb 19 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) KARE: MAN SHOOTS TV OVER CONVERTER CONFUSION - This DTV conversion should REALLY get interesting this June! http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/174518-KARE_Man_Shoots_TV_Over_Converter_Confusion.php?rssid=20065 (Curtis Sadowski, Paxton IL, WTFDA via DXLD) HOW WE BUNGLED THE DIGITAL TELEVISION TRANSITION ---- Well, now the second-guessing about how it could have gone better begins: http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/02/how-the-governm.html (via Curtis Sadowski, WTFDA via DXLD) One of the numerous replies to this article: There's a map of the 421 TV stations that transitioned over at http://tvmap.org It's interesting that some areas of the country that you think would be all digital - like Silicon Valley - had only a few stations make the transition. I wonder if their applications were denied by the FCC? Posted by: LB | Feb 20, 2009 1:17:01 PM === So I looked at that tvmap.org --- unbelievable, full of mistakes, as I just checked out a few in my area. Has KETA on new channel 32, which is the one they just left, had been temporary, back to 13 now. Has KWTV on new channel 39, which is the one they just left, had been temporary, back to 9 now. Search on Oklahoma City and you also get Tulsa mixed in --- just some, not all stations in each market. Has KVII Amarillo as CBS instead of ABC. Color shadings of powers from 1 to 5000 kW in red, yellow and green are too subtle, and make no distinction between UHF and VHF, so 100 kW on VHF low shows as pale rather than full. (At least it was max with analog.) At this rate it must be worse than useless on a nationwide basis. Someone went to a lot of trouble to design this website and its functionality. GIGO. 73, (Glenn Hauser, WTFDA via DXLD) NIGHTLIGHTS AND THE FCC The Sinclair stations are apparently running the "nightlight" video for two weeks, which would put signoff at March 3. (I intend to be there when they push the button to turn off my local WUHF 31...) Many of these seemingly inane decisions are NOT coming from the stations, but from the FCC. They released a very long notice tonight that sets out all the hoops and hurdles they expect stations to follow over the next few months: http://www.fcc.gov/FCC-09-11.pdf Comments on the proposed new rules are being taken through next week, and I'd urge anyone who thinks these rules are crazy to make their feelings known... s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) The first thing that jumps out of this is that it confirms Analog Nightlight operation will be allowed for 30 days beginning June 12th - - that the actual drop-dead date for all full-power analog operation will be July 12th. (+/-, haven't read the whole thing yet...) More: - Yes, July 12th is the drop-dead date for analog nightlight service. - Stations whose analogs are still on must notify the FCC by March 17th of the date on which they intend to cease analog operation. Stations that fail to notify will be assumed to be going off on June 12th. - Stations will no longer be allowed to go off on 30 days' notice. They will be held to the date specified in their March 17th notification, unless they can show an emergency situation (including equipment failure). - No analog will be allowed to go off between now and April 16th. - The Commission is considering specifying a particular *time* on June 12th at which stations are to go off. (probably 11:59:59 pm) However, they seem disinclined to do so - they propose to allow stations to go off at any time on that date. - Major network affiliates wishing to go off between April 16th and June 12th must certify 90% of their audience will still receive analog service (either regular or "enhanced nightlight") from at least one other station. They must also comply with the eight conditions set for February 17th signoffs for major network affiliates in markets where all affiliates proposed to go off. - The table of presumed-authorized nightlight stations will be revised. Three stations have already been removed: KXGN-5 and KALO-38 (whose post-transition digital channel is the same as their analog channel, making analog nightlight operation impossible. In any case, KALO is in Hawaii where all analogs have been off since January 15th). And KPBS-15, whose analog channel is to be taken over by public-safety two-way radio (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, Feb 20, ibid.) DAB A FINALIST IN THE FIASCO AWARDS A website based in Catalonia lists Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) as one of nine finalists in the Fiasco Awards 2009. According to the website: “In 1988 the first tests were carried out in Geneva, and ten years later broadcasting began in Spain. The most important radio stations showed up with few enthusiasm to the call for tenders that the Spanish and the Catalan Governments launched from the year 2000 onwards, and for the last eight years they have been broadcasting with no audience. The estimated investment on digital radio has been of 50 million euros in Spain, an amount that got to 350 million thanks to the help of the other six European countries that believed in this technology. In Catalonia the fiasco was accomplished in November 2008, when after ten years without an audience, the Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals - the Public Catalan Media Corporation - brought digital radio broadcasting to a halt.” Readers of this Weblog can vote until 25 February via the Fiasco Awards website. (February 19th, 2009 - 11:09 UTC by Andy Sennitt Media Network blog via DXLD) 6 comments so far 1 Michael Hoover February 19th, 2009 - 13:11 UTC Here in Portugal the national radio networks have been broadcasting in DAB for some years. I’ve never seen a DAB radio for sale in Portugal, there’s zero promotion of it and whenever I’ve listened to it (not very often admittedly) the data rates seem very low giving abysmal audio quality. 2 ruud February 19th, 2009 - 14:37 UTC My vote is for DAB (as fiasco of the year). Maybe there is also a little prize for DRM? 3 Steven Allan February 19th, 2009 - 16:42 UTC Though I feel that DAB is a waste of time and money, I don`t see it is as a fiasco; it`s the wrong word. Also, the article in respect of digital radio is as out of date as DAB itself and most of the points made seem to be deliberately biased rather than fair comment. However, Windows Vista really is a fiasco. Even more unpopular than Gordon Brown, Microsoft seem determined to make the situation worse by preventing people from buying XP and hurrying out Windows 7 (Windows Vista Second Edition) thereby forcing them to keep their old computers, download pirated versions of XP etc. So as an opponent of DAB, my fiasco vote has to go to Windows Vista. 4 Henk February 19th, 2009 - 18:36 UTC I fully agree with Steven. Vista is the fiasco of the year. I presume DAB & DRM will still be contestants next year, so we’ll probably get another chance to vote for one or the other in 2010. 5 Alastair Bawden February 19th, 2009 - 20:29 UTC Going off the main tack just a bit, what actually is happening with DRM? Is it being used? 6 Mark February 20th, 2009 - 1:57 UTC @Alastair Bawden: I’d like to think they’ve just never heard of DRM (MN blog via DXLD) But see UK, launching new DAB station HD (IBOC) is disabled on KNX and KFWB Hello all, I'm not sure how long HD will be disabled on KNX 1070 and KFWB 980 (Los Angeles) -- hopefully permanently. Regards, (Gary Kinsman, 1930 UT Feb 21, ABDX via DXLD) Once more, with feeling --- You can pretty much tell what a station will do with AM IBOC by who owns it. KNX and KFWB are CBS Radio stations, and their IBOC will almost certainly be back on as soon as whatever's broken is repaired. (Not only that, they'll probably make it a priority to fix it.) This would be equally true of stations owned by Disney and, at least for now, Salem. Were it owned by Clear Channel or Citadel, the odds are 50/50 that the AM IBOC would ever be fixed. (Especially in the latter case.) s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ UNUSUAL CONDITIONS TO THE SOUTH The Okies have been hearing unusual conditions to Latin America for the last 24 hours or so. Mostly its been better than usual reception of deep Mexico, ... Chiapas, XEZZZ on 590, for instance and both XEW and XEWB on 900 (unusual for us), but we have also had some at least tentative catches from the North Coast of South America and the Caribbean. I don't know if this is auroral or not (don't really think so) but if you are interested in conditions to the South, you might take a look (John Bryant, Stillwater OK, early UT Feb 20, IRCA via DXLD) Guess what? Another Okie was getting Mexico [q.v.] this evening on TV and FM up to 100 MHz. Maybe sporadic E influencing MW too. 73, (Glenn Hauser, Enid, ibid.) WIDE GROUNDWAVE COVERAGE ON MW I've been curious - with a large loop 4-5 feet and a good radio - can you get any trace of WBAP daytime? You are well within 1000 miles, I would think it would be possible unless your ground conductivity is poor. WBAP makes it to about Roswell, NM on a good car radio. But I refuse to believe that is all - I've done 1000 mile reception on similar stations. Even KOA occasionally made it into Dallas during the day on an ordinary car radio. And WWL makes it in whenever the local Spanish language station is off the air. Both less than 1000 miles, but a lot more than you would expect. With a large loop concentrating signal, I did several Chicago stations, WCCO, WLW, WSM, and WSB during the day in Lubbock, TX (Bruce Carter, Feb 16, ABDX via DXLD) Actually, it's more than 1200 miles from Dallas to my QTH here in Rochester NY, and there are several closer 820s in the way, including 50 kW CHAM in Hamilton ON and 5 kW WWLZ in Horseheads NY, both about 100 miles distant. About the best I can consistently do here daytime is Detroit; the ground conductivity here doesn't hold a candle to Dallas (or even Chicago). s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) What time of year was this? I`ll bet skywave was involved if it was Nov- Feb, especially the other four you mention. My long experience in NW OK is that lowband Chicago clears can barely make it by groundwave under optimum conditions, but hard to imagine they`d go another 300 miles to Lubbock. Or for that matter, Denver to Dallas. KMKI, WWL and WBAP coverage, however, I have no quibble with (Glenn Hauser, Enid, ibid.) It amazed me as well. And yes, one measurement was in November. But three others were at different times of the year, May, July, and September. Each time it was repeatable with the same results. A ground conductivity map of Lubbock reveals part of the answer - it is pretty high in spite of the dry conditions. The same with KOA - it was amazingly repeatable. But when I think of it - the listening location was Calvary Chapel of Plano parking lot. They got the land cheap - nobody else wanted to be under a major power line running North to South. A remarkably quiet power line - by power line standards. I bet I had inductive coupling from a gigantic longwire antenna! I do not recall KOA daytime in other listening locations, but it was often enough there may have been locations all over town. That car radio is really hot on AM, a vestige of the era when car radios were good. I do remember reliable WNOE 1060 daytime reception from New Orleans to Abilene in the late 1960's on one of those legendary Delcos with a 60 inch whip. That one was definitely reliable and repeatable. I listened to it a lot while waiting for my mother to shop in interminable dress shops. I went along in the car for the remarkable DXing. As for WWL daytime, I have yet to null the local 870. But during the time ownership was being transferred on that station, they were dark for a couple of weeks, and WWL was easily receivable with even a two foot loop and GE. Ground conductivity here isn't especially good, but WWL is a monster. Another particularly good long haul was KCTA 1030 Corpus Christi - car reception was good to almost Baton Rouge, LA. I remember as a boy pulling it in easily in Midland, TX. I haven't checked on their tower location, but I imagine they get a boost from being near salt water. When you are in Houston, they peel paint like a local. If they had a more palatable format they might show up in the ratings, because seek buttons will lock on them all over town. Just observations - I never was that great with QSL cards. Too bad there wasn't Youtube (or I wasn't a member yet for the more recent catches). But I can only report on what I've done. I have no doubt some was atmospherics, other was ground conductivity, maybe some dumb blind luck. But a few anomalies exist, like that pocket of 97.1 Gainesville GA in a Texaco station in Lake City, FL. Or that node of KLTY in front of an auto parts store in Houston. Maybe similar curiosities exist for AM and I stumbled on them (Bruce Carter, ibid.) ###