DX LISTENING DIGEST 9-039, May 10, 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 2009 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1459, May 6-12 Wed 0500 WRMI 9955 Wed 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1900 WBCQ 7415 Thu 0530 WRMI 9955 Thu 1900 WBCQ 7415 Fri 0000 WBCQ 5110-CUSB Area 51 Fri 0100 WRMI 9955 Fri 1130 WRMI 9955 Fri 1900 WBCQ 7415 Fri 2030 WWCR1 15825 [or 2029] Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 0800 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 9510 [except first Sat] Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1515 WRMI 9955 Mon 0500 WRMI 9955 Mon 2200 WBCQ 7415 Tue 1100 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Tue 1900 WBCQ 7415 Wed 0500 WRMI 9955 [or new 1460 starting here?] Wed 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1900 WBCQ 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 ** ANGOLA. Full Data Logo QSL card and letter in 16 months for reception during the ONE solar flare the last week of January 2008. This ONE flare actually made 60 meters sound like the old days (Stephen J. Price, Johnstown, Pennsylvania, May 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nice, and grats! Maybe that means I have a QSL on the way from one of my many reports! Time for another follow-up nevertheless. Can you please provide the mailing address on the letter and the name of the contact? Thanks! 73, (Brandon Jordan, TN, NASWA yg via DXLD) Sure and nope: C.P. 1329 Luanda, Angola There is no veri signer. Good luck (Steve, ibid.) WTFK? Presumably 4950 (gh, DXLD) My advice to anyone wanting to get a follow-up report in the mail to Angola: Do It Now! Obviously there is someone there answering reports and they may not be there or interested for any great length of time (Steve Lare, MI, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. ANTARTIDA, 15476, LRA36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Base Esperanza, 1846-1908, 07-05, canciones latinoamericanas, tangos, a las 1900 identificación, locutor: "Música y cultura desde Base Esperanza", locutora: "Transmite LRA36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, en 15476 kHz, desde Base Esperanza, Antártida Argentina", canciones y comentarios. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600G, Antena de cable, 8 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARABIA [and non]. Alhurra... "Today" --- By Kalash It's been a while since our last post on Alhurra, the US-funded television station seeking aimlessly to make an impact on Arab hearts and minds. More than five years after its launch, this media outlet has proven itself to be little more than an expensive joke. Regardless of how many talented journalists work there, less than 5% of television viewers in the Middle East ever tune in. Viewership in Iraq is better, but that's not enough to justify all the money being spent. Since its launch in 2004, US taxpayers have poured close to $500 million dollars into Alhurra. Instead of spending that money wisely, the Broadcasting Board of Governors [BBG] and company executives continue to come up with different gimmicks in their desperate attempts to trick voters into watching. Their most recent venture has been an expensive three hour extravaganza that airs daily and is molded after the Today Show and other similar programs . . . http://www.kabobfest.com/2009/05/alhurra-today.html (via DXLD) "ARE YOU PAYING FOR TV NO ONE IS WATCHING?" "Arabs are watching news and entertainment programmes from Arabic satellite channels like Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, MBC, and LBC. But they are not watching the news stations Western governments are funding to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars a year: BBC Arabic, the American Al Hurra, France 24 Arabic, and Deutsche Welle Arabia. ... They either need to undergo dramatic reform, or the governments promoting them should stop wasting taxpayers' money. ... Why would one expect Arab viewers to tune in to Al Hurra when, for example, it never broadcasts speeches by Hassan Nasrallah? After all, the Hezbollah leader's public appearances are shown live on all other Arabic news channels. The result is that Al Hurra's current viewership represents less than 3% of the potential market and drops below 2% in times of crisis. ... Much like Al Hurra, BBC Arabic has failed to establish itself with Arab viewers. International news channels such as Al Arabiya gained fame thanks to exclusive coverage of the Iraq conflict in 2003 and Jazeera was made notorious during its exclusive coverage from Kabul in 2001. But BBC Arabic missed the opportunity of the Gaza conflict of end of 2008 early 2009 to distinguish itself." Nadim Hasbani, Huffington Post, 5 May 2009 (via kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) International broadcasters have rarely been able to match the audience size of domestic stations, even in countries with deficient or controlled media. The international stations do provide a supplement, e.g. as a fact checker, to domestic media. The audiences for international broadcasting, if relatively small, are elite and influential. Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya are essentially domestic channels in the Arab world. It would be unrealistic to expect Alhurra or BBC Arabic to match or overtake their audience sizes. But if Alhurra and BBC Arabic TV can reach at least ten percent, weekly, of better educated Arabs, they will have an impact in the region. The audience numbers for Alhurra mentioned by Mr. Hasbani seem to come from a 2008 survey (see previous post) and measure the percent who watch Alhurra "most often." Well, "most often" is an unreasonable measure for an international station. That same survey shows that nine percent of the general population watches Alhurra at least five days a week. That greatly exceeds my yardstick of ten percent of the better educated viewing at least once a week. As for BBC Arabic TV, it has been on the air for little over a year, and has been 24 hours only since January. It is probably just beginning to establish itself among Arab audiences. And the entire BBC news organization has no doubt had discussions about how not to be caught without on-the-ground coverage in future conflicts. Now that BBC Arabic TV is over a year old, we should be seeing some audience numbers. And a new round of audience figures for Alhurra is due. The taxpayers of the UK and the United States, armed with realistic expectations, deserve to see these results. Furthermore, hard data from surveys would reduce the flow of incompletely informed opinion pieces about international broadcasting. Posted: 07 May 2009 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** ARGENTINA. 6214.47, Radio Baluarte, Puerto Iguazú, 1035-1043, May 09, "Portuñol" (Portuguese/Spanish mix), religious programme conduced by male, talk, 24432 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 11710.77v, RAE, 0210-0310, May 6. In English; news; special coverage from the International Buenos Aires Book Fair; interviews with English-speaking expatriate writers living in BA (Sharon Haywood, Maryann Ullmann and Donigan Merritt); songs “Kiss Of Fire” and “Route 66”. Very enjoyable program with remarkably solid reception; 0255 IS & IDs; National Anthem; program in French (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 9580, Radio Australia; 1259-1303+, 6-May; ID & RA news in English. SIO=534- with grinder QRM. // 9590, SIO=343- with same QRM and seems limited to these two frequencies (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Grinder implies Cuban; never notice any such here on those RA channels. Hmmm; possibly could be a leapfrog of jammer on 9545 over jammer against nothing on 9565 to land on 9585? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also INDONESIA [and non] ** AUSTRALIA. Launceston's Way FM on 103.5 and 98.1 is now 24/7. Also a new narrowcast station is also operational 24/7 on 1611 with 400w. It is // 1593 and IDs as Rei Italia. The sender is only a mile away from here and the antenna is easily visible. It is not RAI as it has commercials for the Australian mainland. Presumably they are using the same sender that Radio Two had for Launceston before they went broke (Robin VK7RH Harwood, Norwood, Tasmania 7250, 0638 UT May 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. CRI on the air in Canberra: see CHINA [non] ** BAHAMAS. BAHAMAS BROADCASTING MINISTER SAYS ZNS NEEDS RESTRUCTURING The current structure and staffing levels at the Bahamas national broadcaster ZNS will have to be critically reviewed, to ensure that its transition to public service broadcasting is smooth and effective, said Tommy Turnquest, the minister responsible for broadcasting in the Bahamas. “As it now stands, ZNS has 253 employees. Eighty of these staff members are in management and 173 are line staff. Of that total, 205 work in Nassau and 48 persons work in Freeport, Grand Bahama,” Mr Turnquest told parliamentarians in the House of Assembly. “The upshot of the current staffing tables of 80 managers and 173 line staff at the BCB [Broadcasting Corporation of the Bahamas] is that the average ratio of staff to one manager is less than 3:1. “In some cases, management staff has no one to manage. This is a situation that developed as a result of promotions over the years, which were intended to give employees improved wages, but which did not take sufficiently into account the job that actually needed to be done.” Mr Turnquest said the issue of funding from advertisements will also have to be considered when ZNS transitions to public broadcasting. “It would not be expected that ZNS, as it moves to public service broadcasting, would be soliciting advertisements,” he said. “Currently, the Government provides an $8 million contribution to ZNS for its operations and $3 million towards its capital improvement programme (digital upgrade).” Mr Turnquest said a decision will also have to be made in respect to the number of stations that the BCB operates once it transitions to public broadcasting. Currently, the BCB operates a national radio service (ZNS-1) on both the AM band and the FM band (where applicable). It will have to determine whether to retain or divest its other two branded stations, Power 104.5FM and Inspiration Station (1240 AM/107.9FM), he said. (Source: Bahama Journal) (May 7th, 2009 - 16:37 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** BHUTAN. 6035, BBS (presumed), 1402-1418, May 5. Heard in English with usual BBS musical bridges, but lost to PBS Yunnan when they started playing traditional Chinese music (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BIAFRA [non]. V. of Biafra International, via WHRI 17520, May 8 at 1941, another Friday on the same frequency. The Orator was talking about the differences between Islamic and Christian regions of Nigeria --- emirs had divine rights, but during the period of military rule, a land use decree left eastern people landless, unlike the Yoruba and Hausa. Sufficient reception (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4716.74, Radio Yura, Yura 1038 to 1042 with Bolivian music, best station with CP music. 10 May; early sign on at 0915 on 9 May. 5580.2, Radio San José, San José de Chiquitos, 0040 to 0056 Bolivian music, deep fades. 9 May; this one is on about 50% of the time. 73s (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Southeast Florida, NRD 535D ~ Drake R8, HCDX via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6155.26, Radio Fides, La Paz, 0040-0203*, May 9, Andean music. ID at 0105. Spanish announcements. Ads. ID at 0201 and Spanish talk over lite instrumental music to 0203 sign off. Poor signal with adjacent channel splatter (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 3375.12, R Municipal, São Gabriel da Cachoeira, 0915 to 1000 OM in Portuguese. 9 May (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Southeast Florida, NRD 535D ~ Drake R8, HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4754.90, R. Imaculada Conceição (presumed), 0217-0235, May 4. In Portuguese with religious songs (distinctive Handel's “Hallelujah” and other songs); rare that I hear this above threshold level (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Re 9-038, 5050: Hello Glenn, About 5050, something interesting is happening; I heard on May 7, 8 ,9 a very defined sign on around, all days, 0946. If it's the fifth harmonic, originated of 1010 kHz, this frequency (1010) is signing on in the same time, of course. But that's very strange because this station certainly runs 24 hours a day (I don't checked it but if it's not this time, 0947 is not usual to a station sign on in Brazil). Checked the potential fourth harmonic 4040 and was nothing there around 0946. I made a mistake in my log about 5050, that's not R. Cidade but R. Solar. What do you think? 73 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, SP, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Harmonix tend to be either odd or even, so you might not hear 4040, but 3030, if propagation were working on the lower frequency too. Maybe it really signs on at that odd time for some reason, or maybe you have some other station entirely; are you sure of the Radio Solar ID now on 5050? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 5045, R. Guarujá Paulista, Guarujá-SP. May 08, Portuguese, 1001-1025 relaying news program Jornal da Manhã of R. Jovem Pan 620 kHz of São Paulo-SP as “Jovem Pan Sat” with some canned ID “Guarujá Paulista” on relaying. Bad audio when relaying but good when originated from their studio (checked later at 1045 when relaying was over). From 1024 splatter of 5035 R. Aparecida, until 1024, 43444. 73's (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Re 9-038: Hola Don Glenn, Acerca de la escucha de Radio Senado [5990] me parece que el idicativo que dan corresponde a la frecuencia de FM; igualmente la transmisión en experiemental que mencionan es en FM. Mi conocimiento del portugués es muy regular llegando a malo por lo que pude entender solo dos digitos de la frecuencia ?6.9 MHz. Incluyo un audio de la identificacion por si Don Glenn puede entender algo mas. Un cordial saludo y buen DX (Rafael Rodríguez R., Bogotá D.C. - COLOMBIA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saludos Don Rafael, Gracias por la grabación. Creo que dicen 106.9 MHz en Natal. Al comienzo las siglas FM en Brasília me parecen ser ZYZ4?7. 73, (Glenn to Rafael, via DXLD) Hey, Glenn! Just reading the DXLD 9-038, and noticed that Rafael Rodríguez R. In Colombia heard a mention on R. Senado, Brazil, of 6.9 MHz. in Natal, RN. I googled R. Senado, and found that there is an FM relay on 106.9 MHz. in Natal, so that was what he probably heard. Hope this helps (Alex Vranes, Jr., Harpers Ferry, WV, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 11765.02, Super Radio Deus é Amor, 0255-0310, May 9, usual Portuguese preacher. Several IDs at 0259 and religious music. Back to preacher at 0303. Fair. Weak on // 9565.03 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Google Earth imagery. Some high resolution place. Radio Bandeirantes, Sao Paulo, SW 11925 kHz MW 840 kHz Perhaps SW dipole here: 23 38 46.66 S 46 35 59.23 W Directional 4 mast MW antenna very noticeable; 840 kHz I presume. Also see: Not sure what suburb you would call this. [later] Yes clearer image with GE on that date now having another look. Or possibly one shower antenna & a dipole at those coordinates - just guessing? If you mention any of these Brazilian site entries/contributions please also give a mention (part credit) to DX Clube do Brazil. For some SW stations I have been provided with some realistic coordinates within 400m of some tx sites as a result of special research requests. I'm very grateful for their assistance on this occasion. It still requires me to do some searching, but specific (precise) coordinates, observations & Panaramio link references are my own for the initial contribution. I hope to be able to report further finds over the coming days/weeks - all takes time, but it's great to be able to make some further headway into South American SW TX sites (Brazil in this case). Often I find nothing (DX Clube do Brazil, via Ian Baxter, Australia, shortwavesites yg May 2 via BC-DX May 9 via DXLD) ** CANADA. 6069.975, CFRX, 0847, commentary by woman in English, several local references, weak but clear. 29 Apr (David Sharp, FT-950, NSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 950, CFAM, Altona MB, May 4 0133 ELT/0533 UTC, Poor signal (not quite inbooming) without any ChiCom or DentroCuban jamming on messy frequency where the Radio Reloj time pips spanx the others on 950 (including WWJ-Detroit) with "Classics Till Dawn" program hosted Kby male announcer. Weather read by woman and also spot for Burron Lumber in Winnipeg at break at 0142, when signal peaked for a few sex but not quite a sesquiminute. No chance of clearhearing much-needed KKFN (Denver CO) with their silly sports talk format. Last heard CFAM at Januaryend. Would also like to hear CFAM's sister station 1250- CHSM, but the frequency in Toronto is dominated by local CJYE with their gospel huxter religious programming not intended for Catholix (Niel Wolfish, Ontario via Ken Zichi, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) sic ** CANADA. The CRTC has issued a correction to its decision allowing CKDH-900 Amherst NS to move to FM - It seems that the correct frequency is 101.7 MHz, not 107.1 MHz: CKDH Amherst – Conversion to FM band – Correction 1. In CKDH Amherst – Conversion to FM band, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2009-224, 24 April 2009, the frequency for the new FM radio station approved in that decision was incorrectly identified as 107.1 MHz. The Commission hereby corrects that decision by amending paragraph 2 to read as follows: 2. The applicant proposed to operate the new FM station at 101.7 MHz (channel 269B) with an average effective radiated power of 18,700 watts. Further, the Commission corrects the relevant paragraph set out in the "Terms" section of the appendix to that decision to read as follows: The station will operate at 101.7 MHz (channel 269B) with an average effective radiated power of 18,700 watts. 73, (via Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, AB, May 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also NEWFOUNDLAND; QUEBEC ** CANADA. 6175 at tune-in 0528 May 8, VTC fill-music loop, non- `cello, until 0529* RCI IS and ID once and off, following Vietnam relay which I think always runs short (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 9560, China Radio International; 1303-1306*, 6-May; A09 sked says 9650 and found them there at 1330, // 15260 also via Sackville, so assume the 9560 was punch-up error. English CRI News. SIO=544 on 9560 & 4+54- on 9650 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE. Re 9-038: My reception of CVC Santiago was at a time of day when the whole spectrum is usually empty. My search was prompted by my "discovery", a little while ago, of the potential to receive signals where these originated from a directional antenna (not directed to Australia) and with a path passing over our antipodal out in the Atlantic. I was first alerted to this by the consistent reception of DW from Kigali in its service to West Africa, and checking the bearing found that the path took it close to our antipodal. Another such case is R. Poland from Montsinery to W. Europe which produced a consistent good level signal here. I am not knowing about transmission antennas but always believed that very little energy slid off the "rear end" and that the vast majority was successfully directed towards the target area. If your idea is that I was receiving from the rear end of the antenna, well, OK, but I am surprised particularly as the time of day made it unlikely for a S. America station unless I had the benefit of the "full" output of the antenna (Charles Jones, Australia, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. SHANGDONG SHIDAO MARITIME METEOROLOGICAL STATION According to the Chinese DX’er Zhang ShiFeng, Shangdong Shidao Maritime Meteorological Station started regular transmission in Chinese at 0020 on April 3 on 6750 kHz USB. Their daily schedules are at 0020 and 0920, the broadcast includes maritime meteorological information on Bo Hai, Bo Hai Strait, and Yellow Sea (Huang Hai), produced by Shandong Meteorological Agency and seven regional maritime meteorological agencies. The broadcast is aimed to propagate as far as 1500km. When the warnings are issued, the station transmits at any time. I confirmed the broadcast at 0920, continuing about 3 minutes. Their address is: Shidao town, Rongcheng city, Shangdong 264309, China (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, May 7-8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Frequency changes of China National Radio 41 mb from May 6: Chinese PBS Xinjiang 0300-1200 NF 7260 URU 100 kW / non-dir, ex 7155 Chinese CNR-2 2200-1700 on 7150 HUH 050 kW / 052 deg, deleted Chinese PBS Nei Menggu 2200-1700 NF 7420 HUH 050 kW / 263 deg, ex 7165 Chinese PBS Xizang 0900-1800 NF 7450 LHA 100 kW / 085 deg, ex 7170 2000-0300 NF 7450 LHA 100 kW / 085 deg, ex 7170 Kyrgyz PBS Xinjiang 0330-0530 NF 7295 URU 050 kW / 247 deg, ex 7120 1030-1230 NF 7295 URU 050 kW / 247 deg, ex 7120 Mongolian PBS Nei Menggu 2200-1700 NF 6040 HUH 050 kW / 263 deg, ex 7210 Tibetan PBS Xizang 1000-1800 NF 7255 LHA 100 kW / 085 deg, ex 7125 2100-0200 NF 7255 LHA 100 kW / 085 deg, ex 7125 Uyghur PBS Xinjiang 1230-1800 NF 7205 URU 050 kW / 230 deg, ex 7195 2330-0300 NF 7205 URU 050 kW / 230 deg, ex 7195 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, May 6 via DXLD) Re above: Chinese PBS Nei Menggu 2200-1700 NF 7420 HUH 050 kW / 263 deg, ex 7165 ---- It is still there on 7165 Chinese PBS Xizang 0900-1800 NF 7450 LHA 100 kW / 085 deg, ex 7170 2000-0300 NF 7450 LHA 100 kW / 085 deg, ex 7170 --- Also still there on 7170 but well down Tibetan PBS Xizang 1000-1800 NF 7255 LHA 100 kW / 085 deg, ex 7125 2100-0200 NF 7255 LHA 100 kW / 085 deg, ex 7125 --- Still there on 7125 (Robin Harwood, Tasmania, UT May 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) But see also TIBET Yes, the Chinese seems to have departed and left 7100 to 7200 to hams. But there is a holdout on 7105 at 1200. Most of the time there is a carrier and the modulation is normally well down but last night I was hearing some programming in Chinese, which I initially thought was in parallel with 6125. It isn't and was unable to find a parallel feed. Even the CNR jammer on 7185 has gone but the original station [TAIWAN] is there plus a SAH (Robin VK7RH Harwood, Norwood, Tasmania 7250, 0638 UT May 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Robin, Sorry to say the CNR-1 echo jamming was still very much present today on both 7130 and 7185: 7185, CNR-1 echo jamming, 1415-1425, May 10. Heard with fair signal; // 5030; mixing with another station in Chinese and playing classical western music; both about equal strength. Jamming against Taiwan, but clearly not // to the underlying programming on 7130, so RTI must have different programming on these two frequencies. 7130, CNR-1 echo jamming, 1415-1425, May 10. Strong signal; // 5030; much stronger than 7185; weak station heard under them with opera singing, which was not // to underlying 7185 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. JAMMERS: 9000 Crash & Bang Chinese Music Jammer; 1307, 6- May; also on 8400 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CANADA; TAIWAN ** CHINA [and non]. 15795, 1223 April 4, SIO 433, Chinese music jammer. All India Radio in Chinese underneath; stopped at 1225 leaving AIR as 343 (Ian Evans, Ebbw Vale, UK, BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** CHINA. 11935, CRI Russian with Chinese lesson, fair May 9 at 1253- 1257*. This is intended for DVR, 37 degrees from SZG site, so also USward (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also CANADA 9560 ** CHINA [non]. CHINA RADIO INTERNATIONAL ON THE AIR IN CANBERRA http://www.cctv.com/program/cultureexpress/20090510/101071.shtml 05-10-2009 09:07 --- China Radio International is now on the air in the Australian capital of Canberra. Now let's take a look CRI's ribbon cutting ceremony down under. The launch ceremony was held on Friday evening at the Australian National Museum. It was attended by senior officials from CRI, China's ambassador to Australia, and members of Canberra City Council. Carried on the frequency of FM 88, CRI Canberra will provide twelve hours of English-language content each day. Its signals will reach some 300 thousand people in the city and surrounding areas. In addition to news and current affairs, it also offers entertainment such as music and celebrity interviews. A portion of the programing will be dedicated to China's social and economic development and cultural heritage. Wang Gengnian, CRI President said "Just as I said in the speech, the operation will build a bridge of communication between Chinese and Australian peoples. It will serve the general public around the city as well as Chinese Australians. It will send a message of friendship, greetings from China. Through its introduction of China, it will help promote the exchanges between the two countries in both the economic and cultural fields." China Radio International now boasts nearly 30 bureaus across the globe and broadcasts in 38 foreign languages. Through its partnerships with major websites and print media across China, CRI aims to build a world-class news service (via Zacharias Liangas, DXLD; and Arnaldo Slaen, dxldyg via DXLD) WTFK? 88.00? (gh) I'm not sure if I should feel happy or sad for you. I will bet anything it's the same feed they send to Africa in FM (Keith Perron, Taiwan, ibid.) ** COLOMBIA. 950, HJUJ, Armonías Boyacenses, Tunja, 8 kW. Address: Calle 20 No 10-64, Ofc 307, Tunja. Tel +5787441562. Email: armoniasboyacenses @ hotmail.com Owner & Mgr: Simón Ortiz Medina. 990, HJHI, LV de Garagoa, address: Cra. 9 No 8-65, Garagoa. Owner & Mgr: Simón Ortiz Medina. 1120, HJKQ, La Voz de Boyacá, address: Edif. Camol Piso 11, Cra 10 No 21-15, Tunja. 1310, HJAK, LV de la Patria Celestial, address: Cra. 45 No 76-125, Barranquilla. 7 kW. Tel +5753692208. Email: vozdelapatriacelestial1310 @ gmail.com Gte: Iván D. Giraldo Ortegón. Henrik Klemetz, ARC (ARC SOUTH AMERICAN NEWS DESK May 2009, Tore B. Vik, ed., via DXLD) ** CONGO DR [non]. via Meyerton, 11690, Radio Okapi, 0530-0559*, May 8, French/vernacular talk. Some Afro-pop music. “Okapi” jingles. Weak but readable (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Martin Foltz, NRC, visited Costa Rica from 10.1 to 17.1.2009. Below are some of his observations: 570, TILR 5-70 Libertad, San José, ex R. La Manuda 700, TIJC FCN Internacional, San José, correct name 910, TIUM 9-10 AM, San José, ex BBN (ARC CENTRAL AMERICAN NEWS DESK May 2009, Tore Larsson, ed., via DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. Someone sent me a link a while back about Radio Havana Cuba found on YOUTUBE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwTny4AeNY Man, I can tell you after seeing it all, my memories came flooding back. Some of you may remember the name Langston Wright (real name Mike Finney). He was someone who I had nothing but respect for. I remember all the times we would hanging out in studio 2 when no one was around to have a smoke. The stories he told me about how he ended up in Cuba were amazing. I can proudly say that I knew someone who was on the FBI's most wanted list. Yes the FBI was after him for his involvement of the shooting of a US State Trooper. I found this link about his story for al of you who are interested. http://www.miaminewtimes.com/1991-05-08/news/michael-finney-s-last-flight/ (Keith Perron, Taiwan, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) We had the Youtube link long ago in DXLD. That`s a lengthy article, everything you might want to know about Finney as of 18 years ago. Where is he now? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Great vid, thanks! RHC studios look very much like R. Moscow circa 1980s. But there were no computers on 25 Pyatnitskaya St. back then. Note a comment from sidecarcn whose name is Keith. He is a freelance broadcaster who lives in Taipei, Taiwan. Here's what he wrote: ``I worked at RHC in the 1990s and hosted the program to North America and the weekly jazz show A Jazz Place. The form of censorship at RHC is "SELF CENSORSHIP". There was never any director orders, but you knew what to do and what not to do.`` Sure enough, it's Mr. Perron. On his podcast page at http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/contributor/3101 he writes: "From 1993 to 1996 I was at Radio Havana Cuba as host and producer of the two hour broadcast to North America, and the one hour to Europe as well as hosting a weekly jazz show on Sundays called A Jazz Place." It's a good thing that he is a Canadian. A US citizen might have been in trouble for broadcasting from Cuba in 1993 (Sergei S., Moscow, May 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. Yet another mixing product from RHC transmitters, this time on 11520 fading in and out, at 1348 May 7. This computes as 12000 leapfrogging over 11760 another 240 kHz lower; however, did not find a match on 12240. The fundamentals were extremely strong, S9+22. 11520 RHC spur was colliding with WEWN spur of a different kind, distorted blob as recently reported, 10 kHz below their 11530 transmitter. May 8 at 1305 on 12000, RHC promoted the day`s Mesa Redonda broadcast on 9640, 6000, which would start at the odd time of 2215, a replay of something from TeleSur about the usefulness of the OAS. RHC also had a report on Cuba`s growing good relations with Qatar. Hmm, isn`t there a US base there? O yeah, Cuba has one too. Dentro-Cuban Jamming Command pulsing against nothing on 9545, May 8 at 1318, roughly a semi-day out of synch with when R. República is really using it. Forget about getting Solomons today (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Yahoo maps, MS Virtual Earth, Google Earth imagery. Some high resolution place. VE Update - Quivicán-CUBA. I see nothing new of Cuba in V.E., but Chinese installations at Quivicán seen already on historical image of July 26, 2002 in G.E. V.5., at 22 49 37.76 N 82 17 29.45 W show also two non-dir steep angle antennas - of 4 masts each - of Radio Rebelde 5050 and 6000 kHz. [sic – it is not on either frequency --- gh] Nothing at all SW Bejucal in 2002 ! 22 55 46.70 N 82 22 47.71 W Not much visible at RHC Bauta on Aug 30, 2001, very low small masts and a single big MW mast on southwesterly fence? 22 57 01 N 82 32 44 W 108 ! single masts, in groups ? CUB La Julia MW and diplomatic target ? 23 00 17.35 N 82 13 47.20 W (Wolfgang Büschel, Ian Baxter, Australia, shortwavsites yg May 1 via BC-DX May 9 via DXLD) ** CUBA. RADIO HABANA CUBA. HORARIOS, BANDAS Y FRECUENCIAS Marzo/Octubre 2009 [slightly updated version to previous one here] TRANSMISIONES EN ESPAÑOL (en la mañana) ZONAS GEOGRAFICAS FRECUENCIA UTC HORARIOS Buenos Aires 15120 11 – 15 Norte, Centro y Suramérica 11760 11 – 15 Nueva York 6180 11 - 13 San Francisco 13780 13 - 15 Nueva York 12000 11 - 15 Rio de Janeiro 15360 11 - 15 Chicago 9600 11 – 13 Chicago 13680 13 – 15 Norte, Centro y Suramérica 6000 11 – 14 Buenos Aires 13760 11 – 15 ALÓ PRESIDENTE [Sundays only, they forgot to specify!] Chicago 13750 14 - 18 Centro América 13680 14 - 18 Antillas 11690 14 - 18 Chile 12010 14 - 18 Río de Janeiro 17750 14 - 18 MESA REDONDA [irregular, M-F they forgot to specify, and time varies] Chicago 9640 2230 – 24 Washington 6000 2230 – 24 REVISTA IBEROAMERICANA (en la tarde) Río de Janeiro 13790 21 - 23 ACentral 11800 21 - 23 Buenos Aires 13760 21 - 23 Europa 11770 21 - 23 REVISTA ESPAÑOL NOCHE Río de Janeiro 137900 [sic] 02 – 05 Norte, Centro y Suramérica 11760 24 - 05 Nueva York 6060 24 - 05 Buenos Aires 9600 24 - 05 Caribe 5965 24 - 05 América Central 6120 24 - 05 Buenos Aires 13760 24 - 05 Chile 11690 24 - 05 Chicago (solo en verano) 6140 24 - 01 Washington (solo en verano) 6000 24 - 01 FRECUENCIA EN INGLES Norte, Centro y Suramérica 11760 2030 - 2130 Antillas 17660 2030 - 2130 [sic; above two targets must be reversed] Rió de Janeiro 13790 23 – 24 San Francisco 6010 05 – 07 Chicago 6140 01 - 07 Washington 6000 01 – 07 New York 6060 05 – 07 FRECUENCIA EN FRANCES Norte, Centro y Suramérica 11760 20 – 2030 y 2130–22 Caribe 5965 22-2230 y 23-2330 Antillas 17660 22 - 2230 Río de Janeiro 13790 24 - 01 y 0130- 02 FRECUENCIAS EN PORTUGUEZ [sic] Río de Janeiro 17705 22 - 2230 y 23-2330 Antillas 11800 20 – 2030 Buenos Aires 13760 23 – 24 Europa 11770 20 - 2030 FRECUENCIA EN ARABE ACentral 11800 2030 – 21 Europa 11770 2030 - 21 FRECUENCIA EN ESPERANTO Norte, Centro y Suramérica 11760 15 –1530 y 1930 –20 Buenos Aires 9600 2330 – 24 América Central 6120 2330 – 24 San Francisco 6000 07 - 0730 Caribe 5965 2330 – 2400 FRECUENCIA EN CREOL Río Janeiro 13790 01 – 0130 Norte, Centro y Suramérica 5965 2130 – 22 2230 – 23 2330 – 24 Antillas 17660 2130 – 22 y 2230 – 23 FRECUENCIA EN GUARANI Rio Janeiro 17705 2230 – 23 [in late Feb/early Mar the above reported axually in French; see 9- 021; and still by Bernie in version below!] Buenos Aires 17705 2330 – 24 FRECUENCIA EN QUECHUA (No se está transmitiendo este idioma; se pone Portugués hasta nuevo aviso) Buenos Aires 17705 24 – 2430 (Enrique Romero, RHC, via Manolo de la Rosa, RHC, May 9, tidied up by Glenn Hauser for DX LISTENING DIGEST; also via Juan Franco Crespo) RHC Schedules by language, time and frequency As of May 6 from RHC website, DXLD tips and personal monitoring === Radio Habana Cuba Schedule by language A-09 Arabic 2030-2100 11770 11800 Creole 0100-0130 13790 2130-2200 5965 17660 2230-2300 5965 17660 2330-2400 5965 (not Sun) English 0100-0700 6000 6140 0500-0700 6010 6060 11760 2030-2130 11760 17660 2300-2400 13790 Esperanto 0700-0730 (Sun) 6000 (not monitored yet) 1500-1530 (Sun) 11760 1930-2000 (Sun) 11760 2330-2400 (Sun) 5965 6120 9600 French 0000-0100 13790 0130-0200 13790 2000-2030 11760 2130-2200 11760 2200-2230 5965 17660 2300-2330 5965 Guarani (French only whenever I check) 2230-2300 17705 2330-2400 17705 Portuguese 2000-2030 11770 11800 2200-2230 17705 2300-2330 13760 17705 2330-2400 13760 Quechua 0000-0030 17705 [Really Portuguese? see above] Spanish 0000-0100 6000 6140 0000-0500 5965 6060 6120 9600 11690 11760 13760 0200-0500 13790 1100-1300 6180 9600 1100-1400 6000 1100-1500 11760 12000 13760 15120 15360 1300-1500 13680 13780 2100-2300 11770 11800 13760 13790 2230-2400 (Mon-Fri) Mesa Redonda 6000 9640 Aló Presidente 1400-1830? (Sun) 11690 12010 13680 13750 17750 RHC Schedule by time A-09 0000-0030 Quechua 17705 0000-0100 French 13790 0000-0100 Spanish 6000 6140 0000-0500 Spanish 5965 6060 6120 9600 11690 11760 13760 0100-0130 Creole 13790 0100-0700 English 6000 6140 0130-0200 French 13790 0200-0500 Spanish 13790 0500-0700 English 6010 6060 11760 0700-0730 (Sun) Esperanto 6000 1100-1300 Spanish 6180 9600 1100-1400 Spanish 6000 1100-1500 Spanish 11760 12000 13760 15120 15360 1300-1500 Spanish 13680 13780 1400-1830? (Sun) (Aló Presidente) Spanish 11690 12010 13680 13750 17750 1500-1530 (Sun) Esperanto 11760 1930-2000 (Sun) Esperanto 11760 2000-2030 French 11760 Portuguese 11770 11800 2030-2100 Arabic 11770 11800 2030-2130 English 11760 17660 2100-2300 Spanish 11770 11800 13760 13790 2130-2200 Creole 5965 17660 French 11760 2200-2230 French 5965 17660 Portuguese 17705 2230-2300 Creole 5965 17660 Guarani 17705 2230-2400 (Mon-Fri) (Mesa Redonda) Spanish 6000 9640 2300-2330 French 5965 Portuguese 13760 17705 2300-2400 English 13790 2330-2400 Creole 5965 (not Sun) Esperanto (Sun) 5965 6120 9600 Guarani 17705 Portuguese 13760 RHC Schedule by frequency A-09 5965 0000-0005 Spanish 2130-2200 Creole 2200-2230 French 2230-2300 Creole 2300-2330 French 2330-2400 (Sun) Esperanto 2330-2400 Creole (not Sun) 6000 0000-0100 Spanish 0100-0700 English 0700-0730 (Sun) Esperanto 1100-1400 Spanish 2230-2400 (M-F) (Mesa Redonda) Spanish 6010 0500-0700 English 6060 0000-0500 Spanish 0500-0700 English 6120 0000-0500 Spanish 2330-2400 (Sun) Esperanto 6140 0000 0100 Spanish 0100-0700 English 6180 1100-1300 Spanish 9600 0000-0500 Spanish 1100-1300 Spanish 2330-2400 (Sun) Esperanto 9640 2230-2400 (M-F) (Mesa Redonda) Spanish 11690 0000-0500 Spanish 1400-1830? (Aló Presidente) Spanish 11760 0000-0500 Spanish 0500-0700 English 1100-1500 Spanish 1500-1530 (Sun) Esperanto 1930-2000 (Sun) Esperanto 2000-2030 French 2030-2130 English 2130-2200 French 11770 2000-2030 Portuguese 2030-2100 Arabic 2100-2300 Spanish 11800 2000-2030 Portuguese 2030-2100 Arabic 2100-2300 Spanish 12000 1100-1500 Spanish 12010 1400-1830? (Sun) (Aló Presidente) Spanish 13680 1300-1500 Spanish 1400?-1830? (Sun) (Aló Presidente) Spanish 13750 1400-1830? (Sun) (Aló Presidente) Spanish 13760 0000-0500 Spanish 1100-1500 Spanish 2100-2300 Spanish 2300-2330 Portuguese 2330-2400 Portuguese 13780 1300-1500 Spanish 13790 0000-0100 French 0100-0130 Creole 0130-0200 French 0200-0500 Spanish 2100-2300 Spanish 2300-2400 English 15120 1100-1500 Spanish 15360 1100-1500 Spanish 17660 2030-2130 English 2130-2200 Creole 2200-2230 French 2230-2300 Creole 17705 0000-0030 Quechua 2200-2230 Portuguese 2230-2300 Guarani 2300-2330 Portuguese 2330-2400 Guarani 17750 1400-1830? (Sun) (Aló Presidente) Spanish (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, May 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 1050, CMLL, R. Victoria, Las Tunas, 10 kW 1090, CMLL, R. Victoria, 1 kW (repeater in Southern part of region) 1350, CMLL, R. Victoria programming is also relayed to the northern part of Las Tunas province between 0300 and 1200 UT via the reactivated transmitter of CMLM R. Libertad, Puerto Padre, 1 kW. Between 1200 and 0300 this frequency carries R. Libertad local programming. R. Victoria and R. Libertad are also using a couple of FM frequencies. Info edited from letter received by Jan Edh, ARC, after research by Henrik Klemetz, ARC Some other Cuban call signs according to Directorio de Radio Cubana: CMBA R. Rebelde CMBC R. Progreso CMBD R. Reloj CMBF R. Musical Nacional CMBQ R. Enciclopedia CMBV R. Taíno CMCH R. Cadena Habana CMBL R. Metropolitana CMBE R. Ciudad de La Habana COCO R. COCO (ARC CENTRAL AMERICAN NEWS DESK May 2009, Tore Larsson, ed., via DXLD) ** CUBA. Any DXers living in south Florida, can you tell me which FM Cuban stations come in the strongest, which would be good DX targets? (Fred Nordquist, Moncks Corner, SC, 33.21756N 79.95798W, KJ4BUG, Grid FM03AF, May 7, WTFDA via DXLD) Fred, One to try for Cuba is 96.7. Usually a good tropo target in S Florida. Another is 90.3, and also try either 104.5 and 104.7 (Juan Gualda, Fort Pierce, FL, ibid.) see below ** CUBA. DISCLAIMER FOR ALL LW/MW ITEMS: No portion of the below may be read (so stop reading now), reproduced or redistributed by the National Radio Club, their editors or current members without my expressed written permission, which will then be swiftly -- and we do mean swiftly -- denied. Editors receiving this directly from me are excluded, provided this entire disclaimer is included once, where any of the below LW/MW items are first reproduced. Mobile logs made on the stock 2004 Cheverolet Impala radio, approximate location of logs noted within copy. All other logs made from Clearwater. 790, Radio Reloj, Pinar del Río, Pinar del Río 1645+ May 9, 2009. Good under unidentified semi-local talker while at the beach in Citrus County at the end of SR-44. The usual tick-ticks and Morse RR's. 1550, Radio Rebelde, Nuevitas, Camagüey 0238-0245 May 10, 2009. Baseball play-by-play as with all the other audible channels, 60 Hz hum (across the entire network, even 5025 SW). Very good and way above the Tampa Hispanic WAMA. 1620, Radio Rebelde, Pilón, Granma; 0110-0125 May 10, 2009. Fair, mixing with WNRP, Gulf Breeze, FL (sports talk) with baseball coverage, parallel 1180, 96.7 MHz. 87.75 MHz, CubaVisión (TV), Habana area, 2225+ May 9, 2009. Channel 6 TV audio at very good level. Promos for upcoming programs, political debate between some guy and the female host regarding Colombian-US relations after 2230. Boring! Can you say, nobody was watching? I can! Nice tropo ducting to Cuba this afternoon. 96.7 MHz, Radio Rebelde, Habana area, 2150+ May 9, 2009. Thanks to a call while I was in the Crystal river area from Rodger Baker, who lives near me and thought this may be a new pirate in the neighborhood. While I was not specifically looking for anything on 96.7 on the drive home, sporadic checks did not reveal this one until I was a few miles from the home. Fair to good signal with standard Rebelde audio (parallel 1180 on the car radio) with Cuban pop vocals, ID's and Rebelde chimes, educational/cultural-themed news segment by man and woman after 2230 until 2300 then ID, chimes, music. [96.7 is the primary FM channel of this network, 5316 watts from Cd. Habana, per Emisoras de FM 2009; BTW, there are four other 96.7 outlets around the island, different networks --- gh] 99.1 MHz, Radio Musical Nacional, unknown city, Ciudad de la Habana 2232+ May 9, 2009. Classical piano tracks, female announcer, parallel 590 kHz. Generally very good (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Emisoras de FM, 2009, says this is the primary channel of that network, 8000 watts from Cd. Habana; the only Cuban on 99.1 (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. Re 9-038: Reitera Cuba denuncias por transmisiones ilegales desde EEUU If it is ``illegal`` for the USA to broadcast to Cuba, how is it legal for Cuba to broadcast to the USA?? Radio Habana does that quite overtly. Every so often Cuba issues such a denunciation leaving out a few significant facts, such as that Cuba jams US broadcasts, not only R. Martí but also Voice of America, in Spanish which is for all of Latin America, not just Cuba. Is that `legal`, polluting the SW and MW bands, also beyond the times and frequencies which `need` to be jammed? Eventually the USA may come to its senses and quit wasting government money on Marti, but not because Cuba maintains it is illegal. What about the predictions several months ago that TV Martí would be closed down later in May, but Radio Martí would continue? Private clandestine broadcasts such as Radio República, Radio Cuba Libre, etc., will surely go on as long as exiles want to have their say to their fraternal comrades trapped inside Cuba, as they have every right to do. 73, (Glenn Hauser, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. LA TREMENDA CORTE EN EL MAÑANA RADIO Jueves, 07 de Mayo de 2009 (Últimas Noticias) A petición generalizada de nuestros ciber escuchas, desde este lunes estará en la programación la serie cubana. El Mañana Radio trae para ti este legendario programa de comedia cubano titulado La Tremenda Corte. Luego de realizar una consulta en la web con los lectores y ciber escuchas, se llegó a la determinación de integrar el programa La Tremenda Corte a la programación de El Mañana Radio a parrtir del próximo lunes 11 de mayo. Debido a que se propusieron diferentes horarios para el programa, decidimos darle gusto a todos; así, de lunes a viernes La Tremenda Corte se transmitirá a las 10:30 AM, a la 1:30 PM y a las 9:30 PM, con la finalidad que todos tengan la oportunidad de escucharlo. Cada día será un capítulo distinto que se repetirá en los horarios antes mencionados. Apóyanos dejando tus comentarios para enriquecer nuestra programación con tus sugerencias. CONÓCELA: La Tremenda Corte era un programa de radio que tenía un formato muy sencillo, todo giraba en torno a un juzgado y plantea situaciones en que José Candelario Tres Patines ha hecho víctima a Rudecindo o a Nananina de alguno de sus robos, engaños o pillerías, y éstos lo llevan acusado ante un juez en la corte correccional y durante veinte minutos se iba desarrollando la acusación y la exposición de hechos. Los temas cotidianos versan sobre malentendidos que el mismo Tres Patines provoca haciendo juegos de palabras, tergiversando siempre para su provecho el doble significado que algunas frases pudieran tener. Al final Tres Patines siempre era culpable e importaba poco los argumentos que el mismo pronunciaba para defenderse. El veredicto siempre ocurría de modo inequívoco por el cual el sinvergüenza de Tres Patines purgaba una condena en días o pagaba una indemnización monetaria. Gracias a este argumento el oyente de este programa radiofónico se queda enganchado hasta escuchar la explicación que da Tres Patines para justificar su falta. Fuente: El Mañana.com.mx URL: http://www.elmanana.com.mx/notas.asp?id=119963 Escuchar El Mañana Radio http://www.elmanana.com.mx/radio/ elmananaradio (arroba) hotmail.com (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia http://yimber-gaviria.blogspot.com May 7, DXLD) Evidently it`s a `radio` station without a transmitter other than on the web, so WTFK is n/a. In case you are thinking Mañana should be feminine, I think there is an understood ``periódico``. It`s evidently somewhere in Mexico, but where? You have to hunt around on the website to locate it, Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas; ergo, the times are CDT, equivalent to M-F 1530, 1830, Tue-Sat 0230 UT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHOSLOVAKIA. The Voice of Peace. Prague --- Hi from Dublin! I came across your site while trying to find an answer to an old question. In the 1950s, I used listen to the call sign and introductory music of Radio Prague. Great, pity about the speech But what was it? Dvorak? Smetana? Thanks (Denis Fahey, Ireland, 5 Dec 2008, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This inquiry was lost for 5 months amid all the spam in my hotmail account which I no longer use, but occasionally sift thru. DO NOT SEND ANYTHING TO ME AT A HOTMAIL ADDRESS. I`m not sure what IS R. Prague was using in the 1950s, and it`s news to me if it was ever called Voice of Peace (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 1700 kHz, HI--, Radio Eternidad, Santo Domingo; music then “Radio Eternidad, impactando el presente con un mensaje eterno”; personal first W 2357 8/4 AB (Andrew Brade, UK, May-June MW News via DXLD) ** EAST TURKISTAN. Hi Glenn, just had to say how fantastically pleased I am to see East Turkistan mentioned as such in WOR. Good on ya! Awareness is definitely improving. DXing ET definitely made me start investigating and reading about the area and coming to care about it. I remember when there used to be a Uighur station of 5440 and I couldn't believe that something that sounded like that could be in any way "Chinese". Hearing 558 kHz from Hutubi, during a DXpedition to the Derbyshire Peak district with John Faulkner is still one of my favourite DX memories. Sorry for not contributing much lately; the interference here is awful. I've had one complaint resolved and OFCOM are due to start investigating a second, then after that I have another two! And now something from next door is radiating on 558 of all possible channels! All the very best (Tim Bucknall, England, May 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Urumqi 41m frequency changes: see CHINA [and non] ** ECUADOR. 4814.95, Radio El Buen Pastor, Saraguro, Loma Loja 1035 "el cinco en el año de... cuatro" OM and YL in discussion, good signal 10 May (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Southeast Florida, NRD 535D ~ Drake R8, HCDX via DXLD) ** EGYPT. Radio Cairo em 9360 kHz às 2230 UT --- Nesse momento a programação da Rádio Cairo chega com um sinal 45444 e o incrível: com modulação regular na voz da locutora. O problema da qualidade das transmissões da Rádio Cairo começa na gravação dos programas em estúdio; ouvindo os programas no link http://www.ertu.org/br/brasileiro_pro.html verifiquei que o som às vezes sai baixo e com excesso de grave, portanto o problema não cai somente sobre os transmissores. Nova gravação de uma parte da transmissão em 9360 khz do dia 09/05/2009 no link http://www.ipernity.com/doc/75006/4809389/ O e-mail deles é brazilian_prog @ ertu.org e o site em português http://www.ertu.org/br/# (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana Bahia - Brasil, May 9, dxclube pr yg via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, Radio Nacional, Bata, 2250-2303*, May 8, Spanish talk. Afro-pop music. Sign off with National Anthem. Very poor in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5005, R. Nacional, Bata. May 07, Spanish, 0554-0604. High-life music, YL talks with lower audio level than when it was music, can’t copy the talks content 24232. 6250, R. Nacional, Malabo. May 07, Spanish, 0606 OM and YL news “el ministro del la seguridad nacional.. la estabilidad política asegurada..”, Cuban technicians visit radio and TV of GNE, 0620 short music, time announcements and outside talks by male. 34333. 73's (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DentroCubans, I assume! That explains why EqG broadcasts are so unreliable (gh, DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA, 15190.000, Radio Africa, 0610, weak but clear with screaming pentecostal preacher. Muffled modulation (transmitter problem or poor quality of taped program or maybe both). 7 May (David Sharp, FT-950, NSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. Dear Friends, Within 24 hours two nice and surprising replies arrived at my QTH [see also KOREA NORTH [non]]: 2. An E-mail reply from Amhara Regional State Radio, Bahirdar, Ethiopia [sic with some spaces inserted by gh; 6090]: "heloo bjorn fransson. i am dereje moges radio director from amhara radio, bahirdar, ethiopia. thankyou for your feedback!!!!!!!!" He also wrote: "dear our radio station is establish 12 years ago, for the first time it transmit for one hour a day. but now the transmittion time is 9 hours a day. our agency also have news paper and tv transmittion. the tv transmittion is by using etv transmiter one hour a day." Email address: dereradio2000 @ yahoo.com His name is Dereje Moges. Best wishes and 73 from (Björn Fransson, DX-ing on the island of Gotland, Sweden, May 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 5980, Voice of Tigray Rev, *0255-0315, May 10, sign on with IS on local flute. Talk in vernacular at 0259. Horn of Africa music at 0301. Weak. Poor with QRM from possible pulse noise jammer. // 5950 - weak under Okeechobee. 7110, Radio Ethiopia, *0259-0320, May 10, sign on with keyboard IS & opening announcements in listed Amharic. Gongs/chimes at 0300 and talk. Some Horn of Africa music. Echo announcements. Fair to good. Fair on // 9704.20 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. Pirates in the 41 meter band? I was listening to a recording of the EMR DX programme from 30 years ago. They mention using the 41 m band as well as 48m. Lots of Sunday only stations back then as of now and usually two broadcasts per month. We all know many clandestines use 48m and the tropical 75 and 76m bands today but I wondered if there are any pirates using 41m these days (Gary Drew, England, May 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Gary, I guess you mean in Europe. I just grabbed the March issue of Communication, from the British DX Club, which you might be interested in joining, where they have a lot of pirate logs by frequency. The highest one is on 6880 (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Gary & Glenn, I tune through 41 metres quite often, but I haven't heard any pirate broadcasts in that band for a long time. Of course, that doesn't mean to say that I didn't miss something, but no broadcasts of long duration, shall we say. There used to be a regular operator on 7160 that broadcast recordings of not only pirate ships but also of the early days of BBC Radio 1. And I believe it was this same transmitter that I once heard re-broadcasting a commercial FM station from the Derby/Nottingham area, and which might have given a clue to the approximate location of the transmitter. Transmission was of high quality, and it could have been mistaken for a legitimate broadcaster. I never heard any identification given though, but the operator knew that TWR via Monte Carlo also used this frequency in the (local) morning, and would close down at the appropriate time. At a guess, this would be about ten years ago. 73 (Noel R. Green (NW England), ibid.) The 48 meter band has been most popular for years. The only pirate I have ever known to use the 41m band is European Music Radio in 1979. They were on 7325 kHz. I will try to upload the DX programme from 30 years ago to the group and look forward to the feedback. (Gary Drew, May 8, ibid.) ** EUROPE. Pointed out by the enclosed message: At present a Dutch pirate is on air on 1512, noted around 2050 with announcements in English (about drinking beer, blablabla). Remarkably strong signal, I suspect a power in the one-digit kilowatts range. How brave, one can hardly hide away in the forest with such transmission equipment. I seem to recall that this is not the first such instance and an earlier pirate operation on 1512 had even been mistaken for a test of the Wolvertem transmitter? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Hallo, ich höre gerade auf der 1512 kHz einen holländischen Piraten ?? !! - SIO 444. Gruß an Manfred aus Thürigen (in Deutsch) - Musik in niederländisch, deutsch und englisch. Wer weiß welche Station das sein könnte. Lied der Piratensender (dt.). 73, (Friedhelm Wittlieb, QTH: Lünen / NRW (near Dortmund), Grundig Satellit 700 with regenerative loop antenna http://www.wittlieb-online.de A-DX via Ludwig, ibid.) ** FINLAND. Re CRI relays on 963 kHz: Tarmo May 7th, 2009 - 4:11 UTC In response to Kai, it does not appear that all language versions are carried on the Hotbird feed. For example when Estonian broadcast began on 963 khz, the Hotbird feed went silent after announcement that Estonian is next and the time signal. Kai Ludwig May 7th, 2009 - 1239 UT --- Thank you for this observation! So the Hotbird channel is silent altogether in the 2200-0200 and 0400- 1600 periods? It seems that the 963 kHz program audio originates from Tampere, where the feed from Beijing (via Hotbird for the above discussed reasons) is combined with play-outs of the locally produced programmes in Estonian and Lithuanian. Or Digita gets these programmes by way of FTP and plays them out locally at Pori, after an audio source switch at 0400 sharp (Media Network blog comments via DXLD) ** FRANCE. RFI UNIONS CALL FOR "INDEFINITE" STRIKE STARTING 12 MAY "Four of Radio France International’s five trade unions are calling on all employees to walk-off the job next Tuesday, demanding the scrapping of a management plan which would see the international radio network lose nearly a quarter of its workforce. The 'plan to save employment', announced by the new management at RFI in January, proposes laying off 206 out of just under 1,000 employees, in an effort to 'modernise' the station. ... Six of RFI's foreign-language services, German, Polish, Romanian, Albanian, Laotian and Serbo-Croatian, will be shut down by the plan. Four others, Persian, Chinese, Russian and Vietnamese will have their broadcasts moved entirely online, a move unions object to, citing internet censorship in the destination countries. RFI currently broadcasts in 20 languages, with only one, Turkish, exclusively on the web. ... Tuesday’s strike is planned to be indefinite." RFI, 7 May 2009. See also AFP, 7 May 2009. Posted: 08 May 2009 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) HWGA 2 comments so far 1 Jonathan Marks May 8th, 2009 - 15:59 UTC Oh dear, looks like RFI is in analogue denial, failing to see the bigger picture. Compare RFI’s offering to France 24 and I’m afraid there is absolutely no contest. I think you’ll find that RFI’s French language service is also going to be untouched, and that makes a lot of sense - it complements France 24 and TV5, because it has a much closer network of partner stations and coverage of African affairs. I doubt if the intellectuals and politicians regard the language services under threat as first source news services, if they really listen at all. There are too many reasons why, in this case, the RFI management is making a long overdue move. RFI strikes are interesting. I suspect that in some areas their ratings will rise because they tend to switch to a music and news format - and the music selection is actually pretty good. 2 Ben Sailor May 8th, 2009 - 17:00 UTC Sorry, I only listen to Radio Netherlands. What is this “music” of which you speak? (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** GEORGIA. 9494.710, Abkhaz Radio, 0545, presumed with talk by a man and local music, just above threshold so no ID. Usually not much more than carrier. 29 Apr (David Sharp, FT-950, NSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY EAST [and non]. Re: RUSSIA below: On Radio Day VOR Greets Its Vets; ``Wilhelm Pik, Walther Ulbricht`` Aaawh, make that Wilhelm Pieck and Walter Ulbricht. Their explicit mention here is related to their roles after 1945. Wilhelm Pieck was then president of the German Democratic Republic. After his death in 1960 this position had been replaced by the so- called state council, with its chairman being the head of state. Walter Ulbricht became in 1953 the first secretary of Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands and after the demise of Wilhelm Pieck also chairman of the state council. In 1971 he was forced off the influential positions and replaced by Erich Honecker (spelling trap: not "Honnecker"). Ulbricht was a true hardliner and became especially famous for his statement that "nobody intends to erect a wall", made on a press conference in June 1961 when asked by a foreign journalist about rumours that the GDR has plans to block the borders to West Berlin. And while I'm in the GDR history: The English newspaper article dug out at http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=6449 mentions "their spluttering Trabant two-strokes — they were the most prosperous people in the East". Nonsense. Trabant was poor man's car. The prosperous people were driving other vehicles. If they were a bit more prosperous, it was often the Wartburg, another GDR-made car. Even more prosperous: Often the Soviet Lada (domestically known as Zhiguli if I'm correct). Excuse my harsh wording, but our family could not afford a colour TV set until summer 1989 when we were no longer able to keep our garden and had to sell it. Nothing in the TV engineering field comes close to the blow when you are used to a 15-year-old B&W set with worn out picture tube, then unpack the just delivered new set, tune it up and the test card appears in brilliant colours. Then a bit later the sign on slides: Not light grey on dark grey but now white on a bright blue background. Then the studio scene with the continuity announcer in vivid colours, and I had even the nerve to tweak the saturation (you know, a well-lit studio scene is the right reference to do it). And so on. All this in a shabby building, technically in a state of disrepair, from which we could see out of the north-facing windows the pretty houses on the hill, known as "the millionaire's quarter". And you could tell that you are not alone from the circumstance that it was a true issue for GDR radio how older sets did not cover the extended FM range above 100 MHz. Stereo? HiFi? Yes, if you could afford it. But don't get me wrong: GDR people were just shocked when coming to Romania, realizing that in comparison with this they lived in a prosperous country. Even Poland made already a difference, and from what I heard the Soviet Union in the era known as stagnation could not really impress, too (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks, Kai! These days, VoR's English translators are known for their sloppy work --- From what I gather Wilhelm Pieck was stationed in the USSR from 1935 to 1945. He was one of the founders of National Committee for a Free Germany (NKFD) and was closely involved with Senders Freies Deutschland. Walter Ulbricht lived in the Soviet Union from 1937 to 1945. I understand he was doing a lot of German-language broadcasting during the war. Obviously both of them were devoted Stalinists. Moreover, Ulbricht was personally involved with purges of German communists in Spain and USSR. Back in 1990s I read a fascinating account of a man who grew up in the USSR in the family of German communists. During the WWII he worked at various German services of Soviet radio. In the beginning of 1960s he escaped to Belgrade and started working at German Service of R. Yugoslavia. If I remember correctly, he eventually moved to FRG and wrote his memoir there. I wish I could find that book, again. But I can't remember the name of the author or the book's title. It was a soft-cover book in English printed in the US sometime in the end of 1960s or beginning of 1970s. It contained many fascinating details of the Soviet broadcasts in German during the WWII. After the creation of GDR the Soviet propaganda consistently stressed the positive role of German dissenters (know as "anti-fascists") in fighting Hitler. That is very different from the popular US views of the WWII promoted by History Channel and such. GDR, Czechoslovakia and Hungary were formally know in the USSR as the "showcases for socialism." Meaning that they enjoyed the highest standards of living in the "socialist camp" that could be used to show off the achievements of "socialism." I guess in popular Soviet beliefs the East Germans indeed were the most prosperous people "in the East." (Sergei S., Moscow, ibid.) [Later:] I conducted a bit of research. The author's name is Wolfgang Leonhard. The book in question came out in English under the title Child of the Revolution. It run a few editions in the US that are easily available on Amazon (Hardcover - 1958, Paperback - 1958, 1967, 1979). The original title Die Revolution entläßt ihre Kinder (1955). The book contains detailed accounts of Soviet broadcasting to Germany during WWII (organization, structure, programming, etc.). More on Wolfgang Leonhard here (in German): http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Leonhard (Sergei S., Moscow, May 8, ibid.) ** GUINEA. 7125.000, Rdiff Nationale, per Gonçalves, 2025, tentative with French man, local music but very low modulation. 2 May (David Sharp, FT-950, NSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yahoo maps, MS Virtual earth, Google Earth imagery. Some high resolution place. VE Update - Google Earth V.5 historical image GUI Conakry MW Virtual Earth visibility increased. 09 36 29.24 N 13 38 59.99 W tentative GUI Conakry Sonfonia? 7125 kHz 50 kW visible Jan 2008 and 2009 image 09 36 18.23 N 13 39 10.87 W RTG broadcast house 2.2 kilometers southeast of the TX center at 09 35 47.41 N 13 38 04.96 W Former Foreign service site which started in 1963, best in Yahoo maps. 9 masts on northeastern-southwestern, east-west direction. 8 curtains. Re Conakry - Guinea (part of colonial Mali/Senegal). Ian excuse, but sorry I had only stored the name of the dictator Sekou Touré in my brain... My guess about present Conakry service: According to reports of Anker Petersen dswci, who visited WeAF recently, Chris Greenway in Kenya, Carlos in Portugal, some Brazilian DXers across the Atlantic: the 7125 kHz signal is sooooooo weak now. So I guess the BIG transmission site is out of all 100 kW TX function now. And remaining French type 18/4 kW units are put together for SW domestic service at the MW site next the capital downtown and broadcasting house. Conakry had Mali and Portuguese colony background, was French colony since 1891. Socialist utopia from 1958. The Key character is dictator Sekou Touré I searched for the Guinea History between 1958 and 1984, when Touré died on hospital in USA. German Radiohandbook 1958 shows only 4 txs during French colonial era [former French Guinea] 1 kW on 1403 3376 6155 kHz, and 4 kW on 4910 kHz. 1959 additional 7125 kHz 4 kW. So, the Soviet ambassador kicked out 1961, the Chinese aid era started in 1962/1963? these 9 masts are of Chinese construction type ? 1963 first 100 kW tx on 11965 kHz. 1964 more new units 50 kW on 3376 3385 9650 11965 kHz 18 kW on 4910 6155 7125 kHz WRTH 1962 2 x 18 kW units 4910 7125 kHz 1963 100 kW 11965 [starts propaganda to all Africa? in 1963 to 1982] 1964 2 x 100 9650 11965 kHz 1965 3 x 100 3376 9650 11965 kHz 1966 3 x 100 3376 3385 9650 11965 kHz 1968 5 x 100 3376 3385 9650 11965 15310 kHz 1969 4 x 100 3376 3385 9650 15310 kHz - declining service to [sic] 1970 4 kW on 4910, 50 kW at 7125 15310 kHz 1973 4 kW 4910, 18 kW 7125, 100 kW on 9650 and 15310 Winter (11965 Summer) kHz 1977 18 kW 4910 6155 7125, 100 kW 9650 11965/15308 kHz 1980 18 kW 4910 6155, 100 kW 7125 9650 11965 15310 kHz 1983 100 kW decreased to 80 kW. from 1985 onwards up to 12 kHz OFF FREQUENCY. Last appearance of international service like 11965/15310 kHz in 1988, that's 4 years later after death of dictator Sekou Touré. Only 4910/4900 from 1991 1998 4900 kHz 18 kW, 6155irr kHz 50 kW, 7125.5v kHz 18 kW But I guess the only remaining poor 7125 kHz unit uses an older 18 kW unit at MW site 09 36 18.23 N, 13 39 10.87 W (Wolfgang Büschel, Ian Baxter, Australia, shortwavesites yg May 1, all via BCDX May 9 via DXLD) I don`t think Guinea was ever part of Sénégal or Mali per se; but they were all part of colonial French West Africa (AOF) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4800.00, *0020-0055 03.05, AIR Hyderabad Telegu/English. Opening procedure and news in Telegu, 0035-0040 news in English from Delhi // 4920, then nice folksongs, 45434. Such an exclusively good reception was only possible because all Beijing and Lhasa domestic frequencies were off the air that night for technical reasons! I have sent a reception report to AIR Hyderabad! 4965, *0023-0040 06.05, AIR Shimla, Hindi/English. AIR IS, National song, Sitar music, Hindi ann and news, 0035 English news from Delhi 33343 QRM CVC Lusaka. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, heard on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** INDIA. 9425, AIR Bengaluru - National Channel, 1430-1501, May 6 (Wed.). In English; news bulletin and sports news; “This is the National Channel of A.I.R. broadcasting on MW 191.6m. corresponding to 1,566 kHz. in Nagpur and MW 246.9m, that is 1,215 kHz. in Delhi, and also broadcasting on shortwave frequencies of 9,425 kHz. and 9,470 kHz., on 31m band”; regular program of “Vividh”(?) with conversation with Mrs. Kumar, Principal of Hans Raj Model School, Punjabi Bagh, Delhi, about “Understanding Ragging”; PSA about sunstroke and ways to prevent it; after 1501 into Hindi. This English program seems to be regularly heard on Mon., Wed. and Fri. (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA [non?]. Re 9-038: Regarding RRI Makassar on 4750, I checked this morning at 2000 UT (6 am local) and, amid the noise, heard a TS, then speech at very low strength. I could not identify the language except to say that it did not sound at all like Chinese as would have come from CNR1. This station is a relative rarity and is only ever accessible to me in early mornings with an "all in darkness" path. However, you may be quite correct in feeling that it is not presently on the air and that I have mis-identified (Charles Jones, Australia, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9525, 1913, VOICE OF INDONESIA, Station ID, Broadcasting from Jakarta day in history program, S3/4, 4/4. Greetings From Rogerradio Dunedin New Zealand. DX reception is slowly improving down under, due winter darkness hours temp, down to 0 degs at times and below (Roger Pryde, May 5, Cumbre DX via DXLD) So log was apparently on April 4. You mean they were in English at 1900, unscheduled time?? (gh, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. [Re 9-038]: 11784.92, Voice of Indonesia, 1351-1435, May 4. Under a strong VOA in Chinese till 1400; under a strong BBC in Hindi after ToH; 1435 finally a clear VOI ID. Frequency assumed from my May 3 reception in the clear at 1614, QRM too strong today to accurately measure (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA [and non]. Looking for VOI on reactivated 11785, May 6 at 1300 in English, but could not unearth it below the barrage of at least two ChiCom echoing jammers starting with a 5+1 timesignal, and VOA Chinese. Tried for a few more minutes and again later in the hour but no trace of VOI, so either totally buried, not propagating or off the air today. Meanwhile 9525 remained empty as VOI foolishly abandoned what had been a good clear frequency for them during the 1300 hour only. Tried 11785 again at 1400 when the radio war stopped, but now could hear nothing but weak Hindi from BBC Singapore, which is no doubt a big obstacle for Indonesia`s 1400 Malay broadcast when it is on 11785. Altho could not detect VOI on reactivated 11785 May 6, recheck May 7 at 1345 found its kind of music mixing with the USA/China radio war; 1356 VOI`s recognizable YL host in English, and after war truce at 1400, new slogan ``VOI helps to make the world green`` punxuated by birdtweets. After the hour in Malay, another check at 1501 found ID in English, still on at 1504, weakening signal, but apparently off by 1514 recheck; typically on ex-9525 they would re-open English at 1500 for a few minutes, then chop it off, and appear after 1600 in other languages on 11785. Next day May 8, VOI axually atop the mess on 11785, but still plenty of QRM, at 1302 in English, and at 1354 Indonesian music further atop. So far VOI has ignored my advice to go back to 9525. Anyhow, for what`s really going on in Indonesia, better to listen to R. Australia, e.g. May 8 at 1320 in Asia-Pacific, a report on how freedom of speech is threatened by three laws being applied against the Internet, such as an anti-Megawati Facebook site being closed down repeatedly and uppopping again. Another RA item was on how some Melanesian countries are looking at how Fiji is controlling the media, and thinking, we could do that too. In these countries where wantok prevails, there is no tradition of criticising the leadership. Sat on 11785 before 1300 Saturday May 9 to see what would happen. At 1258 could not really make out anything from VOI, just voanews.com spelled out, mixed with CNR1 ChiCom echoing jamming; at 1259 on pops WHRI with OCS in progress, sign-on, and 1300 into Hmong Lao Radio overriding everything, so strong that it overloads the FRG-7 and audio can be heard elsewhere on 25m unless attenuated. Meanwhile open 9525 goes begging for VOI to return (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11784.96..97v Voice of Indonesia ID at 1356 UT. Music song program well AHEAD of China mainland jammer talk echo (ex Firedrake music network) on even 11785.00. Nothing noted of VOA Mandarin program, which is UdornThani 30 degrees, unfortunately far away of real path to Europe. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, May 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) And no WHRI for you? 11784.96v, Voice of Indonesia, 1410, May 10. Fair, with a hum and well above the QRM. In assume Malay. Same frequency on May 8 from 1410 to 1503*. Almost fair, in Malay with IDs in English, usual English segment at 1501 with their program schedule (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. For $.99 US you can convert your Iphone/ Ipod Touch into a Web Radio. This software 'Radio for Iphone' includes links to over 3000 MP3/ACC radio stations, scanner downlinks. I guess if you downloaded the free 'F Stream' you could do the same thing, but who would want to? (Larry Nebron, CA, May 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. IN A FIRST, SIRIUS XM POSTS SUBSCRIBER DROP By SARAH MCBRIDE For the first time since the service started in 2001, Sirius XM Radio Inc. saw its number of subscribers decline during a quarter, indicating a rocky road ahead as consumers slash spending and car sales skid. A record 1.7 million satellite-radio subscribers cancelled their service in the first quarter, more than offsetting the 1.3 million new customers that Sirius XM added in the period. The company ended March with 18.6 million customers, down 404,000 from December... (Wall Street Journal via Ted Randall, DXLD) Sorry for the rant but can someone in the radio business take the blame for their glaring ignorance? It’s not the lack of new car sales; it is not the economy. 1.7 million subscribers CANCELED! Hello satellite radio industry. They don’t want your service because it sucks! Even in this economy, IPOD sales are through the roof, Internet radio devices are through the roof! People are just not interested in paying for Howard Stern, Oprah, and all the BULLCRAP the radio consultants perceive as proper programming for the American public. The audio quality on XM is below that of a badly recorded MP3 downloaded from BearShare! It gurgles and any voice is accompanied with at metallic lisp and gurgle. Plug it into some decent speakers and you have a sonic horror show! That falls in line with Ibiquity who wants to divide your local FM channel into 4 gurgling, lisping sonic wonders! Digital radio folks with dialup quality and we call it HD! Don’t you remember Real Audio 1.0? That is coming to an FM radio near you soon. You think the main channel FM stations are mundane? Wait till you hear the additional three channels they are so anxious to fill with garbage. For the last 10 years radio has survived bilking advertisers out of money when the listener was paying no attention to the radio. Why do you suppose Coke and Pepsi have fled the radio scene? It has come down to: the people voted and said, I am not paying for this crap. This has nothing to do with the automotive industry or the depression. This has to do with 1.7 million people saying NO, I AM NOT WILLING TO PAY FOR XM BULLCRAP! I hate XM and Sirius and I canceled my subscription months ago. There is no more America Channel, no Matt the cat, no Country Dan, no live DJ’s. Just segués of a fair to poor mix of average music with shortened play lists? Classical music channels with short playlists? Straight from a consultant`s brain! Do I smell a queer channel consultant somewhere? I can get that from my local queer channel outlet! Queer channel will be gone shortly and I hope they take XM, Sirius with them along with Howard Stern! All it took was a bean counter of Clear Channel, Cumulus, or Saga mentality to take our subscription money and give it to Howard Stern and Oprah! Well, there goes the neighborhood! It all attracts trash and trash will not pay for satellite radio evidently. I know intelligent people will not, at least 1.7 million of them this quarter! I am taking my XM budget and purchasing a new digital device of some kind! Possibly a new IPOD modified with a 200 gig drive? A new mobile broadband streaming receiver where I can find the average Joe putting up his own Internet station on the web. The average factory worker has more knowledge today as to how to program a broadcast facility for the masses than any programming person (consultant) of XM, Sirius, Clear Channel, Cumulus, and or Saga Communications. I worked for a Saga station once, where the entire music library was flat line distorted and clipped. I still have the pictures of the wave forms. The consultant wanted to replace the $13,000 Omnia 6 processor and insisted the library did not need to be re-recorded. These are a variety of people who can’t understand flat line distortion and clipping and they are programming radio. Why do you suppose those same companies along with the NAB are scared to the point of being apoplectic over LP FM. It does not take much to bury a large 100,000 watt FM in a community. You can do these days with a 100 watt transmitter at 50 feet. The monkeys have been running the zoo. It’s simple: the zoo is a filthy shambles and no one wants to go there. Bill Drake died, someone left the cake out in the rain and no one can find the recipe again! (Ted Randall, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Audio quality: Here are hard numbers: http://www.xm411.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=33127 One should add that XM uses exactly the same audio codec as DRM, for which 11, 14, 17 and 20 kbps are typical bitrates, depending on the transmission mode. Saga: Was it a library for an AC or CHR format? If so the description could apply to the stuff as ripped from the CD, without any further fumbling. German audio engineering circles already talk about "the briquettes" the record companies use to deliver nowadays. The currently hyped "Lady Gaga" stuff is particularly bad, I was told (Kai Ludwig, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I love my XM Radio. Especially during baseball season. I am a Braves fan but there are others in the house that may want to watch something else and that is where XM comes in. I sometimes will hear other away play by play where my team is playing. I may be a Braves fan but now and then I might want to listen to the Phillies Broadcast since I lived in Philly's suburbs for a little while. This is where My XM satellite radio comes in since they do all the out of market games. Also I love it where occasionally I can get away from the TV and listen to the news on Fox News Channel seven minute delay and all. And then there is WRN on XM which gives me an opportunity to get away from the shortwave from time to time. Unfortunately, my favorite station for music is not on XM. But if K-Love leaves Jackson, MS, I have The Message on XM to listen to. I have had XM for a number of years. We don't have CBC radio on XM but BBC Radio 4 is on XM and the BBC World Service is on XM. And I don't know when XM Canada and Sirius Canada will merge But I can hear CBC streams over the Internet or at 9625. I am betting that both services in Canada will merge sometime soon though since both streams depend upon what each service in Canada will require (Richard Lewis, Forest, MS, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wow, I did not know that BBC Radio 4 was on XM. I wonder if there is a way for a Sirius subscriber to get it? Also, is the BBC WS on XM, still the REAL WS or is the scaled down news-only version that Sirius uses? Since my other favourite Sirius channels are now on XM, I may have to consider changing to XM just to get Radio 4 and the real World Service (Andy O`Brien, NY, ibid.) I love my XM Radios! I listen to the BBC WS in the car (20 years ago I have a Philips car radio with SW for this purpose) as well as the RadioClassics old-time radio channel. At home, I listen to BBC WS and RadioClassics at my bedside, but have an Internet radio that I use more often. BBC WS is my primary source for news and XM makes it available in my car, so until there is another option, I'll keep XM (David Coursey, N5FDL, Tracy, CA USA, 2-inch square XM satellite antenna, Pioneer car stereo with XM adapter, etc., ibid.) Radio 4 is not on Sirius or XM. BBC Radio 1 is. The WS on XM is the full service Americas stream; on Sirius, it's the PRI stream which has a few features, but is mostly news. Sirius also has up to 4 Barclay Premier League matches with BBC Radio Five Live's Radio 606 sportstalk show on weekends. The same channel (125) also carried European Champions League matches. As for the debate as to whether Sirius/XM is worth its subscription price --- I do a lot of work-related driving and if I had to rely only on AM and FM radio, I would probably kill someone from behind the wheel. There is significant diversity on offer via satellite radio, putting aside debates over less than optimal audio quality. What's on offer from terrestrial commercial radio is atrocious, even if it may sound better; and while NPR is a veritable oasis by comparison, having only one option is not the end all and be all either (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, ibid.) Yep, I think that sums up my feelings now that I experienced a few weeks of 'regular" radio when I unsubscribed. The iPod helped, though (Andy O`Brien, ibid.) ** IRAN. Re 9-038: Sue Hickey indicated IRIB phoned her as she had not sent a report in a while. I have emailed reports to IRIB numerous over the past several months with no reply. I even recently emailed asking if the reports were received. Once again, no reply. I was using an email address that I'd used to successfully correspond with IRIB in the past. See QSLs, stamps and magazine cover scans at my site, http://www.kg4lac.com They probably got pissed when, in one of my reports, I noted the broadcast contained typical propaganda in use since Nazi broadcasts. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, Manassas, Virginia, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) No! You suppose they do not want true candid listener reaxion?? (gh, DXLD) ** IRAN [and non]. Updated summer A-09 schedule of VOIROI/IRIB: ALBANIAN 0630-0727 on 13810 15235 1830-1927 on 9545 9570 2030-2127 on 9535 11830 ARABIC 0230-0327 on 6025 11665(ex 11655) 0230-0527 on 7350 "Al-Quds TV" 0330-0427 on 9610 11875 "Voice of Palestine" 0330-0527 on 6025 6175 11665(ex 11655) 0530-0827 on 13790 13800 15150 0830-1027 on 9885 13800 15150 1030-1427 on 13790 13800 15150 1430-1627 on 15150 1630-2027 on 7350 "Al-Quds TV" 1630-0227 on 6025 ARMENIAN 0300-0327 on 7255 12025 0930-0957 on 9695 15260 1630-1727 on 7230 9780 AZERI 0330-0527 on 13710 1430-1657 on 6000 6035 BENGALI 0030-0127 on 5950 7325 0830-0927 on 11705 1430-1527 on 6130 9520 12085 BOSNIAN 0530-0627 on 13750 15235 1730-1827 on 7295 9860 2130-2227 on 7305 9810 CHINESE 1200-1257 on 13735 15190 17635 17670 2330-0027 on 11740 11970 13715 DARI 0300-0627 on 11910 13740 0830-1157 on 9940 11975 13720 1200-1427 on 9940 13720 ENGLISH 0130-0227 on 7235 9495 "Voice of Justice" 1030-1127 on 15600 17660 1530-1627 on 7305 9600 1930-2027 on *5945 6205 7205 9800 9925 GERMAN 0730-0827 on 15085 15430 1730-1827 on *6180 9940 15085 FRENCH 0630-0727 on 13750 15430 1830-1927 on *5945 9940 13755 15085 HAUSA 0600-0657 on 17810 17870 1830-1927 on 7370 9925 HEBREW 0430-0457 on 9610 11875 1200-1227 on 13685 15240 HINDI 0230-0257 on 15165 17635 1430-1527 on 11955 13700 INDONESIAN 1230-1327 on 15200 17560 2230-2327 on 5945 7310 ITALIAN 0630-0727 on *9770 13620 15085 1930-1957 on 5910 7380 JAPANESE 1330-1427 on 13755 15555 2100-2157 on 9670 11765 KAZAKH 0130-0227 on 7360 9790 1300-1357 on 11665 13765 KURDISH 0330-0427 on 7255 9905 Sorrani dialect 1330-1627 on 5990 Kirmanji dialect PASHTO 0230-0327 on 7360 9605 0730-0827 on 11990 15440 1230-1327 on 6175 9790 11730 1430-1527 on 5890 1630-1727 on 6010 7200 RUSSIAN 0300-0327 on 9650 11925 0500-0527 on 9855 13750 17595 17655 1430-1527 on *6145 7360 9580 9900 1700-1757 on 3985 7210 1800-1857 on 6205 7235 1930-2027 on 3985 7370 SPANISH 0030-0227 on 9655 9905 0230-0327 on 9905 0530-0627 on 15530 17785 2030-2127 on *6055 7300 9800 SWAHILI 0400-0457 on 15265 15340 0830-0927 on 15240 17660 1730-1827 on 7360 9655 TAJIK 0100-0227 on 6175 7285 1600-1727 on 5945 5955 6180 TURKISH 0430-0557 on 11685 13640 1600-1727 on 7370 9870 URDU 0130-0227 on 7325 9480 9845 1300-1427 on 6000 9665 11695 1530-1727 on 5890 UZBEK 0230-0257 on 9740 11945 1500-1557 on 5945 9680 *via Sitkunai, Lithuania (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, May 6 via DXLD) ** ITALY. Our friend Nino from Treviso, reports: RAI SPECIAL 2009 POLITICAL EUROPEAN ITALIAN ELECTIONS ARE YET RUNNING ON MW RAI STATIONS FOR DIFFERENTS REGIONAL AREAS AT AROUND 1910 UTC. FOR FREQUENCY DETAILS PLS LOOK AT: http://www.playdx.com/wrth/italia.htm Ciao da Nino! Confermo che la trasmissioni elettorale di RAI Friuli Venezia Giulia è andata in onda mercoledì 6 maggio alle 19:10 UTC e non alle 19:10 ora locale. 73 da Treviso (via Dario Monferini, Milano, May 10, DXLD) IRRS/IPAR: see SLOVAKIA ** KOREA NORTH. 48250.034, 5th harmonic of 9650.007, Voice of Korea, 08-May-09 07:22 JE7IDA (Taken From VK Logger DX cluster) (via Tim Bucknall, UK, harmonics yg via DXLD) How inconvenient, SWBC harmonic landing right on channel E-2 video frequency, which is probably why it was noticed (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Dear Friends, Within 24 hours two nice and surprising replies arrived at my QTH [see also ETHIOPIA]: 1. A nicely stamped envelope from South Korea, with a personal letter in English from Kim, Seong Min, the Representative of the FNK Network. Also some information about FNK and a business card. Email: mini6915 @ hanmail.net Address on the envelope: FNK, Yang Cheon, P O Box 92, Mok-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, 158-600, South Korea. Best wishes and 73 from (Björn Fransson, DX-ing on the island of Gotland, Sweden, May 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WTFK? Site? ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5910, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze via Yamata, *1400- 1405, May 6 (Wed.). In English with specific personal data about abductees. Second consecutive Wed. in English (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN. 3930, 0201 19 April, R. V. of Kurdistan, clandestine, Hymn of Kurdistan, ID ``Eira Radio Dengi Kurdistana``; Iranian bubble jammer began at 0209 on 4932 kHz [sic --- means 3932?] 4870, 0158 19 April, R. V. of Kurdistan, clandestine, long sermon, ID at 0208 ``Eira Dengi Kurdistana``. Iranian bubble jammer on 4870 from 0203 (Rumen Pankov, Tropical [sic] Bands Logbook, May BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Cf his report on these via 9-038. Evidently the same logs but not identical report about them, a hallmark of Rumen`s (gh, DXLD) ** LAOS. 6130, LNR. 1419, May 4 (Mon.). Running a little late: "Hello. I am Elizabeth Moore. Welcome to Functioning in Business"; poor with Tibet QRM (// 6200) (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA. 6070.000, ELWA, 1950, English, talk by a woman, into religious instrumental (piano) music, ID by man at 2000 and into sermon. Tough copy. 1 May (David Sharp, FT-950, NSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. 6055.000, Big L, 2130 sign-on and right into "Summer Holiday" by Cliff Richard, followed by more 60's era songs. Talk by a man at 2146, rapidly declining signal from sign-on and tough copy. 2 May (David Sharp, FT-950, NSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also IRAN ** MALAYSIA. 6049.60, Suara Islam program via RTM; 1529-1545, May 4; in vernacular; ID “Radio Suara Islam, Kuala Lumpur”; Monday educational segment starts and ends with singing "Malaysia" jingle; gives information about a university professor; EZL songs; 1545 into talk about Islam (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. 5995, RTV du Mali, May 6, 0730-0800*. Tuned in as OM was talking in French. Piano bridge at 0733 leading into another program, perhaps commentary, at 0735 with an OM in FF. Piano music returned at 0738 to close the show. Padded with the piano until 0740. YL in FF opened and closed the program. OM back at 0740 with long talk until 0758 when sign-off announcement was heard, telling listeners to tune to 9635 kHz for more Radio Mali. At 0759 Waltzing Matilda came on as Radio Australia launched its Pacific service. Could still hear Radio Mali under Matilda until 0800* (Bruce Barker, Broomall, PA. Equipment: NRD 535D and an Alpha Delta DX Sloper antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [and non]. Acabo de recibir este correo de parte del Ing. Orlando Balam, encargado técnico de RASA Mérida en Yucatán en el cual me informa de la reanudación de emisiones en los 6185 kHz; a esta hora 2025 UT (15:25 hora del Centro de México) no capté señal alguna. Ojalá que, de escuchar a XEQM se lo reportemos al Ing. Balam. 73`s (Julián Santiago D. de B., DF, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`m sure he meant the usual 6105v kHz, not 6185; viz.: (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) From: tecnico @ rasayucatan.com Subject: RE: XEQM Date: Fri, 8 May 2009 14:54:04 -0500 Dr. Santiago: Por medio del presente le informo que ya estamos al aire nuevamente; espero pueda escucharnos y agradeceré nos reporte su calidad de recepción de la señal. Por la mañana enviamos la señal de Radio Yool Iik (estación en lengua maya) y por la noche enviamos la señal de candela 970 AM y 95.3 FM. Le pedimos disculpas por la tardanza a atender esta contingencia y esperamos no tener más interrupciones y ser mas constantes. De antemano gracias y quedamos al pendiente. Ing. Orlando Balam (via Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Notice he says they are back to relaying Candela at night, instead of 620 México DF. I suppose it is not 24 hours altho Aoki hypothesizes it could be. Looking at A-09 occupancies of 6100, 6105, and 6110: 6100, 2205-0205 RCI, Spanish/English/Portuguese/Chinese. There are others but this is the big one in NAm. 6105, 0300-0500 RFE/RL Germany, 0645/0850 TWR Germany English, but M-F only 0700-0750. Two Brazilians, one Bolivian probably inactive [see below]. 6110, +2300-2400 VOA Greenville Spanish plus DentroCuban jamming; 0200-0300 KBC Lithuania UT Sunday only; 0500-0530 NHK via Sackville English; 1100-1500 VOA Chinese via Philippines + ChiCom jamming Here`s what the new DSWCI DBS has on 6105 and vicinity, now needing update. Month at end of each entry represents last known log as of 27 April: B 6104.5 0.25 MEX XEQM RASA, Mérida, Yucatán 24 h S/Mayan languages, ID: "La Radio Mérida", "FM AM Mérida". Relays different tx, e.g. XEMH 95.3, Mérida "Candela FM"; 1100-0100 XEMQ 810 MW, Mérida, "Yoól Iik" (Voice through the Wind) in a Mayan language; 0100-0500 XENK 620 MW, México DF, in S FEB09 C 6105 10 B R Canção Nova, Cachoeira Paulista, SP [¤Oct-Feb DST differs] 24 h P // 4825 9675, DX-Mailbag "Além Fronteiras" Sa 2200- 2300 with E ID’s AUG08 B 6105 8 B R Cultura Filadélfia, Foz do Iguaçu, PR [¤Oct-Feb DST differs] 0900-0230v P/S, ID: "Rádio Filadélfia", px from Igreja (Church) Filadélfia, also relays Rede Transamérica FM and R Primeiro de Março NOV08 D 6105.5 10 BOL R Panamericana, La Paz 1000v-0400 (Su-2400) S, transmitter problems JUL08 So except on UT Sundays, it looks like the clearest window is at 0205- 0300, plus various overnight hours if it`s really on between 0500 and 1100 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Corrijo la información que envié ayer: la frecuencia en la que transmite XEQM RASA Mérida es: 6105 kHz. Hasta el momento Sábado 1450 UT (09:50 tiempo del centro de México) no he escuchado señal alguna correspondiente a XEQM. Saludos, (Julián Santiago D. de B., DF, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The Perseus recording caught likely XEQM begin transmitting at 0953 UT, initially on 6104.77 kHz but drifting rapidly down to 6104.7 kHz by 1010 where it remained stable. Threshold audio around 1010 but fading rapidly, not enough to make out any details. Surely this is re- activated XEQM; 5/9 (Brandon Jordan, Germantown TN, 1659 UT May 9, dxldyg via DXLD) Or surely NOT. After analyzing this signal again, I believe it was more likely to have been one of the Brazilian stations. The carrier faded into the noise floor well before 1124 UT sunrise in Mérida. 73, (Brandon Jordan, 2038 UT May 9, ibid.) When XEQM Mérida is ON THE AIR it usually puts out a decent DAYTIME signal hear in Brownsville, TEXAS. A DAYTIME check yesterday showed NO SIGN of either MEXICAN on 6105 or 6045 [XEXQ SLP]! Only 6010 Radio MIL BLASTING as usual! (Steven Wiseblood/AB5GP, 1353 UT May 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONACO [non]. Hello Glenn, Here are some news from MONACO. Since May 4th news bulletins produced by Radio Monaco are broadcast on short wave by Monaco Radio (Naya). The frequencies are: 4363, 8728, 13146, 17260 kHz USB. It’s a live relay at 0700 and 1100 UT for around 3 minutes. Radio Monaco is a local station from Monaco on FM 95.4 MHz for all Côte d’Azur, 98.2 MHz for Monaco and 103.2 MHz for Grasse area (France) where 95.4 MHz is not received. QTH: Gildo Pastor Center, 7 rue du Gabian, MC-98000 Monaco There are still Weather Reports made by Monaco Radio and Météo France. Same frequencies, times are: 0730, 0800, 0930, 1030, 1203 [sic], 1730 UT. QTH: Monaco Radio – Naya Sarl 1 chemin du Fort Antoine MC- 98000 Monaco info @ naya.mc The short wave transmitters are in FONTBONNE (near TWR’s one). Regards from France, (Christian Ghibaudo, Nice, France, May 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ou, meilleur dit: Ce matin, j'ai écouté le bulletin de nouvelles de Radio Monaco, c'est le relais direct de la fréquence 95.4 MHz. Ça dure 3 minutes environ. Donc horaires: INFORMATIONS: 0700 et 1100 TU Fréquences: 4363 8728 13146 17260 USB, pas entendu sur 22768. Meilleure fréquence à Nice 17260 puis 8728 kHz. C'est RADIO MONACO METEO MARINE: Mêmes fréquences sauf 22768 kHz. (semble pas être utilisée, en tous cas pas annoncée). Météo "Large" 0730 1203 1730 TU pour la Méditerranée, 0930 TU pour Atlantique. Météo "Grand Large" 0800, 0930, 1030 TU pour Atlantique. C'est MONACO RADIO (ne pas confondre) Adresses: Radio Monaco (95.4, 98.2, 103.2 MHz) Gildo Pastor Center 7 rue du Gabian, MC- 98000 Monaco http://www.radio-monaco.com/fr/player.asp Monaco Radio - Naya Sarl 1 chemin du Fort Antoine, MC- 98000 Monaco info @ naya.mc Les émetteurs ondes courtes de Monaco Radio sont à Fontbonne [FRANCE]. L'émetteur 95.4 MHz est au Col de la Madonne. L'émetteur 98.2 MHz est au Jardin Exotique de Monaco. L'émetteur 103.2 MHz est à Grasse (France). Voilà pour cette fois, A bientôt, 73's (Christian Ghibaudo, via Dario Monferini, dxldyg via DXLD) RE: DXLD 8-007 [q.v. for much more info] - Monaco Radio. Believe this station must serve a similar purpose as the Chinese maritime USB stations. From the NAYA website, I cannot see where the exact location of their transmitter is (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, May 8, dxldydg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Is this from a site in Monaco or is it from Fontbonne? (Jerry Lenamon, Waco, ibid.) On one website I read "Centre Radio Maritime - Monaco Radio" location as 43.43.54N, 7.25.38E (Jari Savolainen, Finland, ibid.) Thanks Jari. We've got a new target. On Google Earth the detail is excellent, just remove the periods to find the right place. These coordinates point to a site inside Monaco, between the yacht harbor and the Oceanographic Museum (Jerry Lenamon, TX, ibid.) See http://www.predavatel.com/mc/index.htm And now the big BUT: http://pagesperso-orange.fr/tvignaud/galerie/am/06fontbonne.htm At the bottom of this page. I fear at least some, perhaps even all of the mentioned four shortwave frequencies originate from Fontbonne and not the headquarters, which obviously has besides VHF only very limited HF capabilities (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) ** MONGOLIA. 12085, 05/02 0930, Voice of Mongolia, in Mongolian, from Ulaanbaatar, with 250 kW, beginning of the transmission, ID, OM and YL if they alternate, very good signal, 45444 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana BA-Brasil, HCDX via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Hi Everyone, Legendary 60’s UK pop icon Helen Shapiro will be my guest on next week`s Happy Station. For listeners outside Europe who may not know that name, she was one of the youngest stars to impact the change in pop music in the early 60s with people like Cliff Richard, Adam Faith and others. At the age of 14 she had her first hit called Don’t Treat Me Like A Child. Air date: May 14, 2009 First transmission: directed to North & South America 0100 UT/GMT Frequency: 9955 kHz. Live web stream: http://www.wrmi.net Keep listening and 73, (Keith Perron, Taiwan, May 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Everyone, Just a reminder this week on Happy Station my guest will be British singer Helen Shapiro. The first single she recorded was Don’t Treat Me Like A Child in 1961. And at the ago of 14 she still holds the title of being the youngest British singer to have a hit in the #1 spot. Infact when her first record came out she had to borrow a record player from the neighbors to play it. She appeared on the UK pop scene at a time music was changing. Other hits she had in the early 60s were: I Don’t Care Look Who It Is Queen For Tonight Walkin’ Back To Happiness In the late 60s through until the end of 2002 she was mostly doing jazz. She retired from entertaining to focus on her Gospel Outreach evenings. She was also surprised by the TV show This Is Your Life in 1995 (Keith Perron, Taiwan, May 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`ve noticed him pronouncing his name à la française, in addition to PAIR-unn, so take your pick (gh, DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. The application of CJYQ-930 St. John's NF to reduce the daytime power from 50 kW to 25 kW along with a change in the transmitter location has been approved by the CRTC. The night power remains 25 kW. CJYQ St. John’s – Technical change 1. The Commission approves the application by Newcap Inc. (Newcap) relating to the broadcasting licence for the English-language commercial AM radio programming undertaking CJYQ St. John’s to amend the technical parameters of its transmitter CJYQ St. John’s by relocating the antenna site and reducing the daytime transmitter power from 50,000 watts to 25,000 watts. The station’s night-time transmitter power will remain unchanged at 25,000 watts. There were no interventions to this application. 2. Newcap explained that it needs to relocate the antenna because of repeated vandalism of its transmitter facilities. The licensee anticipates that the technical change will result in a reduction in the population served within CJYQ’s 15 mV/m contour from 149,655 to 70,522 people. Coverage within the 5 mV/m contour should not be reduced. 73, (via Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, AB, May 7, DXLD) Hi Glenn, You probably have heard by now that CJYQ 930 St. John's NF has won approval to move their transmitter site. It should also be noted that per their original application [available on the CRTC web site], they will be utilizing the now ex CHVO Carbonear/Spanards Bay site. a (Andy Reid, Ont., ibid.) ** NICARAGUA. 540.12, Radio Corporación, Managua; 0157-0206 May 10, 2009. Using USB, Spanish female, then oddly, three slow and descending chimes repeatedly as though an interval signal from 0158 to 0159:20, female, ID, into what seemed to be news, chipper male chatter (possibly commercials) from 0205. Very poor and under on-frequency WFLF, Pine Hills, FL (news/talk). (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see CUBA for disclaimer ** NIGERIA. Voice of Nigeria excellent at 1700 UT on 15120 5/6 . Audio excellent and well modulated, except when programming from Abuja studio is fed thru, most noticeable at 2000. Best Wishes (Chris Lewis, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. I was just watching ONR [Oklahoma News Report, ``the only statewide HD newscast``] Thursday evening with closed captioning on, and saw a shot of Gov. Henry about federal disaster relief involving I-40 closure, but the caption said ``Gov. Perry`` !!! Is your captioner in Texas, by any chance? And how come CC comes and goes, often missing on OKLA? Don`t you have to CC everything now? (Glenn Hauser, May 7, message to OETA via its website, via DXLD) ** OMAN. 15140, R. Sultanate of Oman, 1400 17 April, DJ in English pop, rap, 1430 news in English, SIO 454 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BDXC- UK Communication via DXLD) 15140, 1435 10 April, OM with ID and news in English, SIO 433 (Scott Caldwell, Cheshire, ibid.) Hmm, both on Fridays, a pattern? (gh, DXLD) 15140, R. Sultanate of Oman, Apr 30 1406-1433, 35433, English, Music and news, ID at 1421, Gongs at 1430. 15140, R. Sultanate of Oman, May 06 1406-1433, 35433, English, Talk and music and news, Gongs and ID at 1430 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) Thursday and Wednesday; never mind (gh, DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. PAKISTAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION HF Broadcast Schedule A-09 Eff from 29th March, to 24th October, 2009 [pre-DST so is now EVERYTHING one UT hour earlier?] Language Frequency Transmission Target Area kHz Hours UTC Hours PST Far East Chinese 9390 1200-1300 1700-1800 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 Chinese 11510 1200-1300 1700-1800 South East Urdu 11580 0045-0215 0545-0715 41,44,45,49,50,51, Asia Urdu 15490 0045-0215 0545-0715 54,55,59 Bangla-1 7470 0115-0200 0615-0700 Bangla-1 9345 0115-0200 0615-0700 Bangla-2 7475 1200-1245 1700-1745 Bangla-2 9345 1200-1245 1700-1745 South Asia Hindi-1 7470 0215-0300 0715-0800 41 Hindi-1 9345 0215-0300 0715-0800 Hindi-2 7475 1030-1130 1530-1630 Hindi-2 9345 1030-1130 1530-1630 Gujrati 7470 0400-0430 0900-0930 Gujrati 9345 0400-0430 0900-0930 Irani 7485 1700-1800 2200-2300 40 Iran,Gulf& Irani 5860 1700-1800 2200-2300 40 Middle East Urdu 15100 0500-0700 1000-1200 40 Urdu 17835 0500-0700 1000-1200 38, 39,46, 47 Urdu 9385 1330-1530 1830-2030 37 - 39 Urdu 11565 1330-1530 1830-2030 38, 39,46, 47 English 11565 1600-1615 2100-2115 37 - 39 English 9385 1600-1615 2100-2115 38, 39, 46, 47 Ea / SoEa English 15100 1600-1615 2100-2115 48s, 52, 53, 57 Africa Urdu 15100 0830-1104 1330-1604 WeEurope Urdu 17835 0830-1104 1330-1604 17,18SE, 27 - 29 Urdu 7530 1700-1900 2200-0000 Urdu 9390 1700-1900 2200-0000 Afghanistan Pushto 5860 1300-1400 1800-1900 39E, 40 & CAIS Dari 5860 1430-1530 1930-2030 39NE, 40 PST = Pakistan Standard Time - PST = UTC + 5 [?? But now it`s PDT = UT + 6 --- gh] English news (formerly at 1100-1104) is now heard at 1000-1004 UT instead. And English news & Commentary listed at 1600-1615 UT has been dropped - this is heard within the Urdu service and at 1500 on 11565 and 9385 only (15100 not used to EaAF). It is possible that the Urdu service at 0045-0215 UT may have time shifted one hour earlier - it did in A-08. And possibly the South Asia services have also shifted one hour earlier, but I cannot confirm any of this as I cannot hear them (Noel Green-UK, Mar 7 [sic; I hope this means May 7 --- gh] wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 9 via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Radio Pakistan Shortwave A09 --- Hi Glenn, May 05, 2009. 1700-1800 UT, 5860 kHz. Radio Pakistan Persian broadcast was monitored today. The signal was clear but transmitter buzz was being heard in the background. The signal was stable and no breakdowns were noted. The broadcast mainly was music based with a short news bulletin and news commentary. May 06, 2009. 1235-1330 UT. 4790 kHz. Azad Kashmir Radio, Trarkhel was monitored. The transmitter was Rawalpindi 10 kW. The signal was average. The broadcast mainly consisted of Kashmiri songs. At 1330 it was announced that the transmission will be back in 15 minutes which is via a 100 kW transmitter but I did not find any on 1345 UT. Scanned all possible frequencies used in the past but found no signal. The 100 kW transmitter may be the buzzy one which is used for Voice of Jammu Kashmir Freedom Movement. Regards (Aslam Javaid, Lahore Pakistan, May 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3325, R. Bougainville, 1311-1401*, May 10. Running past their usual sign-off of about 1312. In English; PSA with information about a meeting in Port Moresby; into mostly non-stop songs in English and Tok Pisin, some were religious; 1359 ID: “National Broadcasting Corporation, the Voice of Papua New Guinea” with long list of frequencies; National Anthem; weak; started out well on top on RRI Palangkaraya, with RRI slowly improving (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. 550, ZP16, R. Parque, Ciudad del Este has returned to the air following nearly a year of absence, owing to difficulties at the transmitter site 570, R. San Roque, Gonzales de Santa Cruz, Ayulas, Misiones - 12 kW 700, ZP12, R. Carlos Antonio López (NE1) - affiliated to R. Nacional (920) 840, ZP6, R. Guairá, Villarica - frequency adjustable 835/840 kHz, in order to avoid interference from Brazil. 890, ZP33, R. 3 de Febrero, Itá - frequency adjustable 885/890 kHz, in order to avoid interference from Brazil. 1000, ZP36, R. Mil, Asunción - The station is presently operating at reduced power, following a fire at the transmitter site. Radio Mil believes that the fire could have been the result of sabotage (Adán Mur, Paraguay, ARC SOUTH AMERICAN NEWS DESK May 2009, Tore B. Vik, ed., via DXLD) ** PERU. 4824.49, La Voz de la Selva, Iquitos consistently the strongest Peru signal on 60 meters. 1048 to 1105, música and OM chatter, exotic vocal with back up band, good signal 10 May. 5059.43v, La Voz de las Huarinjas, Huancabamba, 1025 to 1055 fade with OM mentions de Jaen, Universidad de San Marcos, http://www.unmsm.edu.pe/ 10 May; 0000 to 0058 9 May. 5460.45, Radio Bolívar, Cd. Bolívar noted at 0050 on 9 May, fair signal also on 1000 some days (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Southeast Florida, NRD 535D ~ Drake R8, HCDX via DXLD) ** PERU. 5059.16, La Voz de las Huarinjas, Huancabamba noted from 0030 to 0058. 73 (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, UT May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES [and non]. During a routine check for possible reception of IRRS/IPAR via SLOVAKIA on 7290, Friday May 8 at 2010, not really expecting to hear it in CNAm, I was surprised to find Russian on 7285. The CRI relay via Albania to Europe is scheduled, but supposed to be in English. I figured that must have changed, or got the wrong program feed, but uplooking it later, there is indeed a Russian broadcast during this hour on 7285, from R. Liberty via Tinang, to Siberia except the most easterly part, 21 degrees so also usward --- something I would not be expecting to hear either, over a midday path. Meanwhile, IRRS has cut back to stop 7290 at 2000* and WORLD OF RADIO at 2030 has been canceled, even on their webcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** QUEBEC. "Souvenirs garantis" banner. I've just heard CINF 690 and most sadly CKAC 730 carrying "Souvenirs garantis" programming. I have to confess that I am listening for years at CFOM-FM (102,9 Quebec City "Souvenirs Garantis") with hits from the 60's, 70's and 80's (...yes, at my age near 47!) Lately, Corus Quebec launched "Souvenirs garantis" network which would carry CFOM successful "retro" programming over some stations of the Corus Radio network. However, I didn't expected to be so spread and even reach CKAC AM radio icon! CKAC since its beginning in 1922 (first French speaking radio in NA) has always maintained his own character. Now for me, this is the beginning of the end when a station loses its identity. Moreover, when CINF 690 sounds from the same feed, we have a problem: Two "Clear channel" frequencies and two legends (CINF is the ex-CBF frequency)! One of the two have to die! I find this situation quite disturbing. I would hope for keeping that diversity we used to. This is sad - very sad (Sylvain Naud, Portneuf, QC Canada http://www.quebecdx.com 0300 UT May 9, mwdx yg via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Frequency changes, Radio Romania International from May 3: 0100-0156 6080 TIG 300 kW / 307 deg to NoAm, ex 9560@in French 0530-0556 17760 TIG 300 kW / 097 deg to AUS , ex 17770#in English 0900-0956 15240 GAL 300 kW / 285 deg to WeEu, ex 15250&in Romanian Sun 1000-1056 15240 GAL 300 kW / 285 deg to WeEu, ex 15250&in French 1400-1456 9810 GAL 300 kW / 140 deg to N/ME, ex 9605*in Arabic 1730-1756 6125 TIG 100 kW / 270 deg to SEEu, ex 6105^in Serbian 1930-1956 6125 TIG 100 kW / 270 deg to SEEu, ex 6145!in Serbian 2030-2056 9690 TIG 300 kW / 307 deg to NoAm, ex 15465 in English @ to avoid China Radio international in Chinese # to avoid Radio Liberty in Georgian & to avoid BSKSA in English, VOA in Chinese + Chinese Music Jammer * to avoid BBC in Chinese + Chinese Music Jammer ^ to avoid Radio Liberty in Belarussian ! to avoid KBS World Radio in French (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, May 6 via DXLD) [English changes as already in DXLD] ** RUSSIA. RUSSIA MUZZLES THE MEDIA "The power of the state exerts its most important influence through control of television. This dominance allows the government to shape the news and the perceptions of those who consume it. Most Russians rely on television as their prime source of information, and they don't hear the criticisms of Kremlin opponents because networks, with Kremlin prodding, have placed these opponents on their blacklist. At a time when critical analysis of government policies is sorely needed, it is worrisome that media oriented toward entertainment and propaganda has gained such a foothold. True, the Internet has become an increasingly important alternative outlet for informing and engaging Russian audiences, but as Internet penetration has increased, so have the authorities' measures to interfere with users' rights. ... The authorities have also sought to muzzle foreign media outlets, including the programming of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the BBC and Voice of America. The Kremlin has undertaken a systematic intimidation campaign in which RFE/RL's Russian partners have been subjected to harassment. In a span of eight years, a total of 26 RFE/RL affiliates have been knocked off the air. Today, only seven remain." Christopher Walker of Freedom House, Moscow Times, 7 May 2009. Posted: 09 May 2009 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. ON RADIO DAY VOR GREETS ITS VETS http://ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=44812&cid=59&p=07.05.2009 On Thursday President Dmitry Medvedev congratulated gratulated workers [sic] in the communication and media sector on their professional, professional Radio Day, holiday. Voice of Russia chairman Andrei Bystritsky also sent a message of heartfelt greetings to our veterans. Words can’t express my feelings of admiration and gratitude for our veterans. I congratulate all of you, from the very bottom of my heart on our Radio Day holiday and the upcoming day of our great victory over Nazi Germany, Bystritsky said. The Radio Day holiday was instituted on May 7, 1945 to mark 50 years since the great Russians scientist Alexander Popov invented the wireless in 1895. And also in appreciation of radio’s immeasurable contribution to our allied victory in WW2. During the war years Radio Moscow worked round the clock bringing hourly news updates from the battlefront. Our broadcasts also reached the inmates of Nazi death camps who tuned in using makeshift radios. It wasn’t until Europe was liberated from Nazi oppression that the names of political leaders who appeared in our programs finally became known to all. Maurice Thorez, Palmiro Togliatti, Wilhelm Pik, Walther Ulbricht, Georgi Dimitrov, Clement Gottwald, Dolores Ibarruri, Josip Broz Tito – the list goes on and on… It was Radio Moscow, by the way, that aired a message to Germans by Field Marshal Friedrich von Paulus who was taken prisoner in Stalingrad in 1943. For those who came to work at radio’s foreign service after the war it was a great chance to hone up their knowledge of journalism, diplomacy and politics, says Radio Moscow veteran Yuri Mitkin. Voice of Russia’s deputy chairman Yuri Minayev said, for his part, that the unique traditions of radio journalism established by our veterans are still very much alive today. We are grateful to our veterans for this enduring tradition of friendly care and attention to each other which we preserve today… Thank you for everything you did for this country and, of course, for our younger generations, Yuri Minaev said. The Voice of Russia is a unique radio station that broadcasts its programs in 39 languages to 160 countries keeping millions of people abreast of the main events of this country’s political life, about our history and culture. On this memorable day all of us here at the VoR studios in Moscow wish you all good listening and promise to do our very best to make sure that Russia’s voice is heard everywhere in the world. Lada Korotun (RUVR website via Sergei S., dxldyg via DXLD) see also GERMANY EAST [and non] ** RUSSIA. RADIO DAY. Students Washed Popov's Monument and Marched Through Yekaterinburg's Main Street Yesterday, students of the Ural State Technical University in Yekaterinburg celebrated the Radio Day. The traditional festive procession was unusually crowded and included over one thousand participants, USTU press-service reported to JustMedia. This year the festival marked the 150th anniversary of the inventor of radio Alexander Popov. [In accordance with a tradition,] in the morning the students washed Popov's memorial. At noon the music concert began on the field in front of the statue. During the concert students handed out yellow balloons to all passersby. Many took a picture of the monument. Some even climbed on it. At 10 pm the main event began. A thousand students, alumni and faculty of USTU, with candles in their hands, marched from the University's main building to the monument to Alexander Popov. Unfortunately, right before the march there were new markings painted on the central street pavement. As the result, the night rally participants were forced to inhale the smell of paint. Fortunately, there were no victims. In anticipation of May 9 celebration [V-day in Russia, a national holiday], there were new city lights installed alongside Lenin Prospect. Thanks to improved city lighting, the traditional nighttime procession ended at the monument to Alexander Popov practically in the daylight. Source: JustMedia.ru in Russian, May 8, 2009. English translation is mine. For pictures go to http://www.justmedia.ru/news/society/2009/05/08/52851 The photos right below the article in Russian .(Sergei S., Moscow, May 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also RADIO PHILATELY ** RUSSIA. VOA and NHKWNRJ aren`t the only SW stations with regular jazz shows: Wednesday May 6 at 1356 was hearing jazz drumming on fluttery 12065, which must be VOR as scheduled via Chita. Indeed their grid at http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&w=225&p= confirms the Jazz Show is on at 1330 Wednesdays. Other times are: Wed 1930, 2230; Thu 0630, 1130; Fri 0230, 0830, 2030, 2230; Sun 1630; Mon 1030, 1630; Wed 0630. Has home-grown jazz improved since the Soviet era? Has anyone figured out a pattern to VOR program repeat times, or is it just random? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 7200, Radio Rossii Sakha (tentative) via Yakutsk, 0825- 0900, May 6. In Russian; not parallel to other R. Rossii programming (5920, 5940 and 7320), so assume probably local/regional program; ToH joined the R. Rossii network programming and became // 5920, 5940 and 7320. Checked for // Yakutsk on 7140 during the Voice of Korea gap from 0857* to *0900, but unable to hear Yakutsk, but later clearly did hear 7140 (fair) // 7200 (fair-good) from 1342 to 1350 in Russian, playing Broadway songs (“The King of Broadway”, etc.) (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also UNIDENTIFIED 7140 Also I noted that the sender on 7200 with R. Rossii seems to be pulsating again at a fast rate and sounds similar to some of the pulse systems in the utility bands (Robin VK7RH Harwood, Norwood, Tasmania 7250, 0638 UT May 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7200. On May 10 from 1415 to 1425 was unable to hear any Radio Rossii audio, via Yakutsk, but could hear the same rapid pulsating sound Robin Harwood noted. Last time I heard R. Rossii (May 6) here they had fair to good reception and good audio. The weak station on 7140 today was assume R. Rossii via Yakutsk and would have been // to 7200, if that frequency was being heard (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RWANDA [non]. U.K.(non) Additional BBC in Kinyarwanda/Kirundi from May 1: 1830-1900 on 5905 SLA 250 kW / 230 deg 9590 CYP 250 kW / 185 deg 11865 CYP 250 kW / 187 deg (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, May 6 via DXLD) [already in dxldyg, UK below] ** SAUDI ARABIA. Hi Glenn, Caught the last few minutes of BSKSA Riyadh at 0753 UT on 5/6 on 17785 kHz. The English transmission was followed by a couple of Kenny G Songs and then into French. Reception quality was good, with no QRM only a little fading. Best Wishes (Chris Lewis, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is the `accidental` English broadcast, just turning on the French transmitter before 0800 (gh, DXLD) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. I know I didn't DXed shortwave since the last weekend, but I would like to thank Glenn Hauser for having helped me in identifying the FEBA religious Arabic broadcaster on the 31 meter band [9550]! I would like to know more about FEBA! What is the purpose of this station? Is it a new SW broadcaster? Is it related in a way or another to TWR (Trans World Radio)? Is FEBA considered as shortwave DX catche or as a major international broadcaster, therefore a pest? I'm puzzled on the difference between shortwave DX and SWLing. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle, although closer to a SWLer than to an FM, shortwave and mediumwave or longwave DXer! (Bogdan Chiochiu, QC, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FEBA is an old SW broadcaster on the air for many years. It started out in the Seychelles, and then lost its license there, or it became too expensive to operate, so now it buys time on a number of different transmitter sites. Far East Broadcasting Association it originally meant as an offshoot of FEBC in the Philippines/USA --- even tho it specializes in Africa and parts of Asia closer than ``Far East``. It`s just another gospel huxter. No transmission from the 250 kW units in Rwanda can be considered real DX, if that makes a difference to you. It`s separate from Trans World Radio, tho there is a certain degree of cooperation among them and others in specializing in certain exotic languages. They all have a common goal: changing people`s religions from whatever to Protestant Christianity. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** SLOVAKIA. Logs of WORLD OF RADIO via IRRS, 7290, Fridays: 2030, SIO 444, 3 April (Dave Kenny, Caversham, Berkshire) 2044, SIO 544, 3 April (David Gascoyne, Staplehurst, Kent) 2045, SIO 444, 17 April (Alan Pennington, Caversham, Berkshire) 2050, SIO 333, 10 April (Chrissy Brand, Manchester; all England, UK, May BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) However, as of May 1 WOR has been canceled without notice from this timing, as we discovered May 8 in checking the webcast when The Sower was on instead, and also shown on the online IRRS schedule for Friday 2230 CEST. WOR does still appear on sked, Saturday at 0800 UT on 9510 (except 1 or 2 weeks per month); please confirm by monitoring (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7290, IRRS. I was looking for World of Radio at 2030-2035 on May 8 but noticed IRRS was not even on the air. I did notice them in passing at 1930 with some kind of inspirational programming (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) IRRS-Shortwave schedule update (A09/Summer 2009) Dear listeners, IRRS-Shortwave schedule has been updated effective May 1, 2009. We slightly reduced our Fri, Sat and Sun evening broadcasts by one hour, now ending one hour earlier at 2000 UTC (2200 CET) on 7290 kHz. Please check our current frequency and program schedules at: http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules/IRRS-SW_A09.html http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules/IRRS-SW-program-schedule.html Your help and support is greatly appreciated to keep our station alive. We are 100% member and listener supported station. If you wish to support our initiatives on Shortwave and online please check the following link: http://www.nexus.org/FundRaising/index.html You can also contribute by listening and sending comments to our programs to: reports (at) nexus (dot) org or writing directly to any of our programmer that you can hear on the air via IRRS, IPAR and European Gospel Radio. Your comments, not just bare reception reports, are most valuable to keep us on the air and help us selecting the best programs for you to hear on the airwaves. Thank You and stay tuned, 73, de – (Ron Norton, NEXUS-Int'l Broadcasting Association email: ron @ nexus.org http://www.nexus.org ph: +39-02-266 6971 - Toll free: 1-888-612-0039 fax: +39-02-706 38151 May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So that leaves the Saturday morning broadcast of WORLD OF RADIO, except one or two weeks per month. Listeners should make sure IRRS knows they are out there and appreciate the broadcasts (gh, DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 9541.52 SIBC Apr 23 0702-0720 35343 English, News and talk, ID at 0719. 9541.52, SIBC Apr 24 0800-0813 45444 English, News, ID at 0800, 0809. 9541.53, SIBC Apr 30 0757-0810 45444 English, ID at 0758 and 0807, 0800 IS, News. 9541.54, SIBC May 01 0653-0708 45444 English, Music and news, ID at 0658 and 0700 and 0706. 9541.52, SIBC May 06 0655-0708 45444 English, Talk and news, ID and IS at 0701 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium May 8 via DXLD) These past few weeks have had the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corp'n coming in at rather good levels late in my local evening. For instance tonight, I'm listening to a parliamentary broadcast on 9541.538. Signal is relatively strong, but somewhat distorted. Usually there's island music, so more interesting than what's on tonight, especially since much is in Pidgin English. All this around 0630 UT. Of course, BBCWS relays are also commonly heard (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, Canada, May 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9541.50, SIBC, 0817-0830 May 6, Noted two males discussing current affairs in English language. Seemed that this portion of the program was pre-recorded. At 0900 a local announcer gives the news in Pidgin language. At 0907 a female continues in Pidgin with some English words noted. Signal remained fair during the period. 9541.50, SIBC, 0926-0935 May 7. Noted a male in Pidgin language comments. At 0930 a few more comments then into promo. Signal is beginning to fade into the noise (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SIBC, 9541.5, May 9 at 1240, American-accented YL being interviewed about freedom of speech, Michael Savage being banned from the UK. This time I was able to match it with BBCWS via Singapore 9740, running about one second behind that. R4 readability on 9541.5, not bad; still het from weaker China 9540, and unlike other days, no DentroCuban jamming on 9545 against nothing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA. E-mail reply from R. Hage, 6915 says they have been off the air for 3 days but hoped to be back by Friday April 24. Schedule is 03-04 and 09-11 UT (Don Durham DX report, unknown when he recorded it, RNZI Mailbox May 3, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA [non]. U.K.(non) Some VTCommunications changes: IRIN Radio in Somali: 1730-1800 NF 9840 DHA 250 kW / 215 deg to EaAf Sat-Thu, ex 9865 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, May 6 via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 15255.000, Channel Africa, 0622, English, news-heavy morning show, ID by a woman at 0635 after economic news and currency exchange. 7 May (David Sharp, FT-950, NSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. U.S.A.: 9265, WINB Red Lion PA (presumed); 1309, 6-May; Brother Scare sez he is in his last days spiritually and physically. SIO=454- (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) O, so that`s what he means by ``last days`` (gh) ** SUDAN. 7200, SRTC, *0239-0320+, May 9, abrupt sign on with Qur`an. Arabic talk at 0253. Possible radio-drama. “Huna Omdurman” IDs. Ads, announcements & chirping birds. Fair to good but occasional ham QRM 7200, SRTC, *0320-0432*, [UT Sunday] May 10, abrupt late sign on with Arabic talk. Announcements. Chirping birds. “Huna Omdurman” IDs. Local music. Rustic local folk music. Time pips at 0401:40 and possible news. Abrupt sign off. Good signal. Sign on tonight later than usual. Sign on last night was at 0239 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. Re 9-038: Hello Glenn, I have just read your Digest of May 5 and as some of my loggings appear there I feel I should write to you about a few points. Regarding R. Dabanga, the situation in Dafur is terrible and those who are trying to get accurate information to the people there are to be admired. Therefore my flippant comment ("describing a camel race") was totally inappropriate. As you say frivolity is not to be associated with their sterling efforts. I do not speak Arabic, but usually recognize it and was surprised, on this occasion, by the rapidity of the speech. It reminded me of the broadcasts of horse race meetings in Australia and my comment was intended to be read by my colleagues here (Charles Jones, Australia, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. Trasmissioni di SAQ 17.2 khz *GRIMETON RADIO/SAQ PLANNED TRANSMISSIONS, SUMMER AND AUTUMN 2009* There will hopefully be transmissions with the Alexanderson alternator on 17.2 kHz, CW (A1A) at the following dates and times during 2009: *1)* *Tuesday, May 19 2009** at **07:00** and **07:30 UTC*. There will be a transmission to celebrate the Japanese VLF-station Josami Radio/JND when it will be nominated to Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Milestone and also celebrate its start 80 years ago. The radio station is now a museum. No reports required and no QSL-cards are given. *2)* *Sunday, May 24 2009 at 10:55 UTC*. A transmission will take place to celebrate the First Swedish Coast Radio Station and 100 years of Karlskrona Radio/SAA. The station is still working on military frequencies. No reports required and no QSL-cards are given. *3)* *Sunday, June 28 at 09:00 and 12:00 UTC*. The annual transmission on “Alexander Day”. The station is open to visitors. We are glad to receive reports and will exchange QSL-cards. *4)* *Saturday, October 24 at 09:00 UTC*. As last year we will transmit on United Nations Day. No reports required and no QSL-cards are given. *5)* *Thursday, December 24, Christmas Eve at 08:00 UTC*. The Christmas transmission as before. The stations is open to visitors. We are glad to receive reports and will exchange QSL-cards. We will start tuning up some 30 minutes before message. Also read our web site: http://www.alexander.n.se QSL-reports are, when indicated, kindly received via: - E-mail to: info @ alexander.n.se - or fax to: +46-340-674195 - or via: SM bureau - or direct by mail to: Alexander - Grimeton Veteranradios Vaenner, Radiostationen, Grimeton 72 *S-430 16 ROLFSTORP* S W E D E N Yours, Lars Kalland, SM6NM (via Andrea Borgnino IW0HK - HB9EMK, May 8, bclnews.it via DXLD) ** SWEDEN [non]. U.K.(non) [sic] Some VTCommunications changes: IBRA Radio in Arabic 1800-1930 NF 12070 WOF 300 kW / 140 deg to CeAf, ex 11980 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, May 6 via DXLD) [as already in DXLD] ** SYRIA. 12085, Damascus Radio; 2120-2158:19*, *2200:22-2205+, 7-May; English, Syrian features such as: Syria's relations with Europe, a Sumerian archeological expedition, etc.; lengthy instrumental or Arabic vocals between items, not just bumpers; IDed as DR at BoH instead of RD. English off abruptly in mid-news item. Back on at 2200 with anthem and into Spanish, with sked and ID as Radio Damascus, emisora de la República Siria. SIO=3+53 on peak with waves of QRN. A lot of terrorists have blown themselves up since I heard this one last. 9330 not there (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) Oh, yeah? Report of same date: (gh) El 7 de mayo estaba activa la radiodifusión siria transmitiendo desde Damasco en su clásica frecuencia de los 9330 tal cual aparece en el listado Aoki; difiere sin embargo el horario de la transmisión española que aparece en la lista de la ADXB que inicia su trancha a las 2200. Por lo que hay que deducir que los problemas del transmisor han sido solucionados. La transmisión era recibida en Tarragona con un sinpo general de 3-4. A veces una modulación algo deficiente. Cordiales saludos / good luck / (Juan Franco Crespo, Stamp Journalist (Aipet), Sàlvia 8 (Mas Clariana), E-43800 Valls-Tarragona (España- Spain-Espagne-Spanien), Noticias DX via DXLD) So if it wasn`t at 2200, when did you hear it?? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 8400, Sound of Hope (presumed), 1403-1409, May 4. Surprised to hear a fairly decent signal here during the FD gap at the ToH; talking in Chinese (not the CNR-1 program jamming-echo); Firedrake did not start up again till 1409 (not the normal *1405) Clearly this was not a low powered SOH. Even after 1409 was able to hear some talking in Chinese under FD, but was very poor, as the FD had a strong signal. 9000 had FD at *1405 and was equally strong and did not detect anything under them there. Believe this is the first time I have actually heard SOH in the clear. Article about the early history of Firedrake by Ulrich Bihlmayer at http://www.iarums-r1.org/iarums/prcdragon.pdf (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. 7260, English announcement at exactly 1115, "This is the Radio Thailand live from Bangkok" then going into another language, Burmese? Fair signal, some filtering necessary to pull it out. Icom R-75, Eton E1, loop antenna (Larry Beth, Bryant, AR, May 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Scheduled to be going from Vietnamese to Cambodian at this hour; nice of them to use English as continuity/transition language (gh, DXLD) ** TIBET. This morning Xizang PBS had made the switch from 7125/7170 to 7255/7450. This was noted at 0100. Later in the morning, Xinjiang was noted remaining on 7120/7155/7195. I suppose they will shift any day now when they introduce their summer schedule (leaving 60 and 75 m). (Olle Alm, Sweden, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see CHINA [and non] See the new Photo of Lhasa site, which appeared in G.E. now. CHN Lhasa MW 594 / 1332 kHz 300 kW, 13x50 kW SW Google Earth 29 38 58.20 N 91 14 55.90 E new Foto (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 9 via DXLD ** TURKEY. TRT English at 2200 UT, 9830, 5/5, good in English. Utility QRM was present, but not a problem on this occasion. Co-Channel Chinese language QRM also heard, but only weak as TRT was strong. Best Wishes (Chris Lewis, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY [non]. 7325, VOT, 0302-0327, May 10. In English; "News and Review of the Turkish Press"; “Outlook”; “Turkey’s Pleasant Destinations”; “Turkish Pop Music from Past and Present” (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. 4750, 1828 17 April, R. Dunamis, presumed, songs with African style guitar breaks, more songs until 1900 when YL with announcement, too weak to copy, and off; SIO 141 (Alan Pennington, Caversham, Berkshire, England, UK, AOR 7030+, LW, Beverage , Sony 7600 GR, Tropical Bands Logbook, May BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** U K. Due to Sri Lankan crisis and Indian Election, BBC Tamil Service start the special morning broadcast from 11 May 2009 to 20 May 2009 to South Asian listeners. Details of the broadcast 0130-0145 UT 15285, 17515 (Jaisakthivel, ADXC, Chennai, India, www.dxersguide.blogspot.com May 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. BBCWS Kinyarwanda and Kirundi service added SW frequencies since banned from FM in Rwanda, all M-F only: 1630-1700 9530, 100 kW, 5 degrees from S Africa 1830-1900 5905, 250 kW, 230 degrees from Oman 1830-1900 9590, 250 kW, 185 degrees from Cyprus 1830-1900 11865, 250 kW, 187 degrees from Cyprus (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. BBC WORLD NEWS REINSTATED ON BBC AMERICA (TV) Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding BBC World News. Over the past few weeks, we've noted the response from our dedicated viewers to the removal of the morning news block. We understand that many of you wish to start your day with the BBC's newscast and we appreciate your loyalty. We're happy to report that after careful review, we've reached a solution that will enable us to reinstate a morning feed - though in a slightly different time slot which is more viable from a business perspective. Beginning Monday, May 18th BBC World News will air weekday mornings from 5 to 8 am EST [sic, must mean EDT? = 0900-1200 UT]. We hope you enjoy it. Regards, Viewer Relations (via Andy O`Brien, NY, May 5, dxldyg via DXLD) Well, what do you know? The BBC heard us! (John Figliozzi, ibid.) And they listened (Rich Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) I just about fell out of my chair when this came in yesterday! I wish they hadn't moved the time period back by an hour but this is WAY better than nothing! (Mr Sandy Finlayson, ibid.) ** U S A. VOA HINDI, CROATIAN, AND GREEK WOULD BE ELIMINATED IN 2010 FEDERAL BUDGET "The 2010 Budget proposal would eliminate VOA Hindi, Croatian, and Greek language broadcasts and close a finance office located in Paris. While the overall funding level for VOA is increasing from 2009, the administration says, funding related to these language services within VOA will be reduced from about $3 million to $1 million." Federal Eye, Washington Post, 7 May 2009. (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) RFE/RL dropped Croatian "years ago." Its Serbian and Montenegrin services continue (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) "Cutting some VOA languages and closing a VOA finance office in Paris is a worthy start but not nearly as effective as ceasing the entire VOA operations and merging the many similar organiz[a]tions into a one more effective entity. VOA, Radio Martí, Radio Farda, Radio Free Europe, VOA-TV, and others have served a useful need but now are only competing organizations whose effecti[ve]ness has diminished. Much more effective would be an NPR-like operation world-wide for Americans living overseas, much like BBC world service. And, let the rest of the world listen in if they want to know what America thinks. NPR and PRI could then and should be broadcast via the Internet, Satellite TV, local AM and FM facilities, and short-wave to all of the world. Portions of ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and others could and should also be included. But we do not need the bloated bureaucracy of the VOA or any of its bedfellows to continue." ghp60 comment to ibid. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 08 May 2009 (see http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=6493 for linx, via DXLD) OBAMA PROPOSES CUTTING 3 VOA LANGUAGE SERVICES This is on p. 91 of a budget document called "Terminations, Reductions, and Savings" REDUCTION: VOICE OF AMERICA --- Broadcasting Board of Governors The Administration's 2010 Budget proposal for the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) proposes reductions to base Voice of America (VOA) operations totaling $2 million to help offset new priority needs. Funding Summary (In millions of dollars) 2009 Enacted 3 2010 Request 1 Change from 2009 -2 Justification The 2010 Budget proposal would eliminate VOA Hindi, Croatian, and Greek language broadcasts and close a finance office located in Paris, France. While the overall funding level for VOA is increasing from 2009, funding related to these language services within VOA will be reduced from about $3 million to $1 million. These reductions help to offset the total funds needed in 2010 to support ongoing programming and new priority needs. The BBG broadcast services promote freedom and democracy, and enhance understanding through multimedia communication of accurate, objective, and balanced news, information, and other programming about America and the world. Each year the BBG undertakes an assessment of each language in which the BBG entities broadcast, fulfilling a congressional mandate to "review, evaluate, and determine, at least annually, after consultation with the Secretary of State, the addition or deletion of language services." These reviews are informed in part by independent research from nongovernmental organizations such as Freedom House http://www.FreedomHouse.org which conducts annual surveys assessing the level of freedom and democracy in countries around the world. In the 2009 Freedom in the World survey, India, Greece and Croatia each received an overall rating of "Free," thus making language services to these countries a lower priority than broadcasts to countries that are rated "Partly Free" or "Not Free" with regards to freedom and democracy (via Art Chimes, via DXLD) see also ARABIA [non] ** U S A. VOA Greenville, 17895, May 8 at 1938 in Spe-cial Eng-lish report on pope in Jordan; modulation noticeably distorted. Is anyone paying attention at the site? Or being so close to the transmitters, can they tell when something is amiss? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WTJC, 9370, May 8 at 2007 hymn, extremely distorted modulation with continuous heavy crackle. A station their engineers(?) can be proud of (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hello World of Radio! I am pleased to report reception of your English language broadcast on 9955 kHz thru WRMI from 1530-1600 hours UT last [Tuesday] May 5, 2009. The SINPO rating was 22222. I am using a Grundig G6 with telescopic antenna indoors in my location in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. The broadcast quality was poor with a lot of propagation noise [so] that I have to go to your internet broadcast. Program Details: 1530 - World of Radio by Glen[n] Hauser, SSB transmission from Argentina for Antartica, Radio Bangladesh, Firedrake broadcast from China. I am very happy with your broadcast; I find it very interesting and a great help to my shortwave hobby for the past 25 years. Please confirm reception with your QSL card. I would appreciate a pennant and stickers for my collection. Thank you very much (Joel Baile, Brampton, Ontario L6R 3A1, Canada, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I referred him to WRMI which does QSL this broadcast, altho we do not (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. The DentroCuban Jamming Command continues to interfere with WRMI 9955 even when it is in English and even when it is broadcasting a new WORLD OF RADIO for the first time, Wednesday May 6 at 0500 as I checked the last couple minutes at 0526. WRMI is often inaudible in the nightmiddle, but this time it had a fair signal plus jamming pulses rather than noisewall. WYFR 9680 and 9715 were meanwhile extremely strong. Yet DXers Unlimited doesn`t get jammed; Arnie obviously has no sense of fair play. BTW, if you listen to him in Spanish, he sounds a lot less ``friendly`` than he does in English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WEWN`s dirty transmitters only 20 kHz apart, 11530 English and 11550 Spanish, May 6 at 1403 effectively block anything else from 11510 to 11570, as they produce mixing products on those two frequencies, and 11530 also has the spurs around 11520 and 11540 previously reported. The squealing sound could also be heard on 11510. Add to that the general receiver overload and desensitization. There are a number of IBB broadcasts in this range (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WHAT A WEEKEND --- Friday the first of May, I stayed home suppertime and heard Sir Scratchy`s Behavior Night at 2100 GMT [7415 WBCQ] put out an almost entirely Joseph C Smith`s orchestra tribute that was just excellent. The only thing that was wanting at all was that I was hoping for some vocal records in the mix. "For Every Lonely Boy There`s A Girl Who`s Lonely Too" was one, though. "Marriage À La Carte" was a tune I had heard of and when I heard it for the first time it was a good one. There`s no doubt that Sir Scratchy`s record batch has improved and he`s already going in a popular direction that my good neighbor yelled at me when I asked him. "Baby lullabys!" Rich Conaty`s shows at WFUV 90.7 FM had gone in this direction a ways when for example, Rich`s Christmas show 2005 which I consider his best one ever so far had tunes about bathtubs, teddy bears, April showers, and so on. WFUV had just had a fundraiser last week and fortunately didn`t run across another rash of prank calls on the telephone like the Fall fundraiser like, "Is this WFUV? I`d like to make a pledge. My name, (long twister) my address, (long twister like go there), Oh! just one request. Please put more cheese and pepperoni slices on top HeeHeeHeeHeeHeeHeeHee" - click! Fortunately a telephone contribution taker didn`t hang up on the next call which was a call with a nice contribution from Swami`s Hotel and real. Rich says he only has maybe only a few thousand old records in his basement, not many more as there`s not enough contributions. In the meantime it`s a huge pity that WFUV doesn`t replay Rich`s show maybe in quarter hours, four days a week around breakfast time so, new listeners aren`t waking their families in front of this good stuff. I wonder what Dawn Patrol Radio plays on his station as I haven`t heard him yet. On Saturday night, 0010 GMT Sunday, I tuned into a show on about 6850 Kc of MacShortwave, Dr. Who, and the Ultraman Show. An hour later, a deep fade killed my hearing Ultraman`s closing monologue a couple of minutes after "my favorite music". I listened to Mac Shortwave instead of Radio Timtron Worldwide on WBCQ that night. On Sunday afternoon, I listened to an active roundtable on 3880 Kc area with easy long "confessions" like, "After I got my ham call in 1952, I had to use a TS30 microphone. Since then I`ve been spitting into the same D-104 for many years." All of the above follow my own opinion. If you want to be on the air you have to be over the air. Allan Weiner certainly agrees with this. In the matter of getting Robert Skoglund "TheHumbleFarmer" on the Radio and TV, Any contacts I`ve made over fundraising for it ask me to be the fundraiser leader myself. Apparently Humble`s former employer, Maine Public Broadcasting Network has bombarded the websites and telephone numbers of his outspoken fans. Any arrangements for cable TV unlike over the air TV and Radio, Humble does himself. Allan`s 780 Kc station can air Humble`s Radio shows when the contributions come in together for it (Frederic Jodry, May 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. U.K.(non) Some VTCommunications changes: WYFR Family Radio in English, additional frequencies: 1800-1900 9465 DHA 250 kW / 255 deg & 11875 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg CAf \\ 6180 MEY, 7395 MDC, 9770 DHA, 17845 YFR, 18930 YFR, 18980 YFR (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, May 6 via DXLD) ** U S A. One item on NPR Weekend Edition Saturday, May 9 as heard on KOSU, from Ecuador included people speaking in Spanish with voice-over translations --- except as heard, the English voice-over was UNDER, barely audible. I suspected this was because KOSU insists on broadcasting in mono, this and other NPR `news` programs long produced in stereo, but with mostly mono content. This extends the coverage area slightly and compensates for KOSU`s useless `HD` cutting into the effective coverage area, and we`re all for it when the source audio is truly mono. Just to be sure, I tried to force the signal into stereo on one receiver and it would not do so. So the mixing of the piece might have put the English voice-over on one channel while the mono audio being broadcast came from the other channel instead of improper mixdown of stereo to mono. I was about to complain to KOSU about this, but first wanted to hear what it sounded like on the NPR archive. It is GONE from the `playlist` of items on that broadcast, no doubt because of these comments appended to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103974656 B Rafol (a_space_alien) wrote: What the heck is wrong with the audio in this piece? I had trouble paying attention because of it. Saturday, May 09, 2009 3:40:54 PM Susan Bronk (Leoite) wrote: You should re-run this piece with proper audio. I couldn't hear the Spanish content as it faded to allow for the English voice-over that wasn't there! Disappointing. Saturday, May 09, 2009 3:23:38 PM Oscar von Medwick (BigDick) wrote: I had the same problem that STISAXMAN [sic] had. When the volume faded on the voices of the Ecuadorian speakers to allow for the overlay of the English translation, there was no English translation. This is just sloppy broadcasting. Saturday, May 09, 2009 2:30:11 PM Dominic Schaeffer (stlsaxman) wrote: What happened with the audio in this piece? At least 3 times (with the long, slow fades?) I looked at my radio thinking the station went off the air. Please give your audio engineers a good, strong cuppa BEFORE they finalize the editing! Saturday, May 09, 2009 9:49:17 AM (via DXLD) ** U S A. New Flea power Catch -- 5\7\09 9:00PM Central time. At first I didn't believe it, but I got a solid ID and their playlist matches the web. KHPP 1160 kHz, 'True Oldies ' K-hop the Frog, Class D, Waukon IA, 880 w Day, 26 W night ! 369 miles. Kaito -2100 and homemade loop (Dean Wayman, O'Neill NE, ABDX via DXLD) I am willing to state, that to my best knowledge, KHPP has never switched to night power!! But nice catch anyhow. They can bother WYLL here near Chicago. I've had them quite a few times presunset and there is no sunset power drop. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) ** U S A. In case anyone noticed something strange on 890 Friday night, WKNV Fairlawn, VA ran all night with southern Christian/gospel music with frequent Joy 890 IDs, mention of FM translator, and call letter IDs. Pretty easy through the WCBS-880 IBOC. Radio Locator sez this is a daytime only station. Something changed? (Joe Fela, NJ, May 9, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) No, FCC AM Query shows it daytime only with 10 kW, direxional NE-SW, so no wonder it has a good illegal nighttime signal for you (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 75 for "The Big One`` --- You don't often see a radio tower on the front page of a major daily newspaper, but readers of the Cincinnati Enquirer over the weekend were greeted by a half-page image of the famous Blaw-Knox diamond tower at WLW (700) - along with an article noting that Saturday was the 75th anniversary of WLW's first experimental 500-kw transmissions. See The Radio Journal for more details http://www.theradiojournal.com see more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WLW (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1610, FLORIDA (MIS), WPLY701, City of Tarpon Springs, 1230+ UT May 9, 2009. Cycling nationally distributed PSAs for fire prevention (smoke alarms; stop, drop and roll if you are in flames; don't play with matches; don't put your hands on a hot stove), male "WPLY701" into horrid male vocal version of the already horrid Star Spangled Banner. Hurricane supplies tips for yankee transplant pests, and local road de-construction news. While I can't hear this at the Clearwater home, the signal was quite strong beginning around Nebraska Avenue on US-19 northbound and finally lost just north of Port Richey. But wait! It reappeared, weakly but in the clear, in the parking lot of the Crystal River Archaeological State Park, as well as at the beach at the end of SR-44 a little south, both sites near or on the Gulf of Mexico. First reported as reactivated awhile back by local DXer Gregg Myers (with thanks). 1610, FLORIDA (MIS), Manatee Radio, Crystal River [not] May 9, 2009. Inactive today while passing through Crystal River. Not even an open carrier as others occasionally note. Only the City of Tarpon Springs MIS was weakly present in the vicinity. 1640, FLORIDA (TIS), Suncoast Parkway/Florida Turnpike, second toll booth (southbound, around MM 34) 1930+ UT May 9, 2009. Thanks Gerry Bishop tip for noticing electronic signage on two occasions, and a carrier a few weeks ago. This one is now active and has a big signal, audible to just south of the SR-54 exit. Computer-generated "female" short loop, mentioning the Suncoast Parkway, Florida's Turnpike, "click it or ticket" (seatbelts) and how to report jackass drivers. No call signs mentioned. Peaked at the toll booth, so surely the transmitter is located there, though I did not try to look for a stick while passing through. 96.7 MHz, FLORIDA WEKJ-LP, Chassahowitzka, 1310+ UT May 9, 2009. Modern soft Christian vocals, quick male canned "WEKJ Chassahowitzka" ID. Good signal up to around Homosassa Springs (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see CUBA for disclaimer ** U S A. RUMORS SURROUND SIUE'S POSSIBLE CHANGES AT WSIE-FM RADIO STATION --- BY ELIZABETH DONALD - News-Democrat, Metro-east news Friday, May. 08, 2009| http://www.bnd.com/news/local/story/760600.html EDWARDSVILLE -- -- While changes are in store for WSIE-FM 88.7, officials say the rumors are inaccurate and the station is not being shut down. WSIE is a nonprofit all-jazz station, manned in part by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville students and an affiliate with National Public Radio. Currently, it is the only full-time jazz station in the St. Louis region. University officials confirmed that recently a committee was formed to re-examine the station's format and structure. So far the university has declined to release any details about the committee or its deliberations, and rumors are spreading. A Facebook page briefly appeared titled "Save 88.7!" But SIUE spokeswoman Bethany Forsythe said that "everything on the Facebook page was inaccurate information." The page no longer shows up in regular Facebook searches. "There has been a committee set up to look at the radio station, but at this point there is no plan to pull the plug," Forsythe said. "They're looking at ways to attract more listeners and make it more attractive to people, but there has been no decision made at this point." Rumors have ranged from changing the all-jazz station to an all-sports format or selling it to a private company. Station director Frank Akers declined comment on the station's future until the committee's decision is announced. Forsythe confirmed that the committee had made a recommendation to Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift, but "there will be more discussion before we can say anything." Vandegrift could not be reached for comment. The radio station began operation in 1970 with a combination of students and professionals. It has been a jazz station since the early 1990s (Belleville IL News-Democrat, via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. KSNF-DT 46 (Joplin MO) tower falls in storm --- KSNF lost their tower due to storms this morning. I have a link to the Joplin Globe concerning this. http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/local_story_128103815.html The KSNF website http://fourstateshomepage.com is also down (Fritze H Prentice Jr, KC5KBV, Star City, AR, EM43aw, May 8, WTFDA via DXLD) The KSNF/KODE website is up and has some additional tower photos. http://fourstateshomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=65151 When I finally got KODE-DT logged yesterday, I was hoping to catch KSNF-DT also, but its going to be a long time before anyone logs the Joplin MO NBC station. Hopefully Nexstar Broadcasting will get the NBC programming back on a subchannel of KODE-DT until full service is restored to KSNF. (Fritze H Prentice Jr, KC5KBV, Star City, AR, EM43aw http://tvdxseark.blogspot.com May 9, ibid.) Viz.: KSNF TOWER Friday, May 8, 2009 @10:15am CST http://fourstateshomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=65151 Severe weather has affected operations at KSNF-TV. Strong winds have downed a large portion of the antenna. This also caused significant damage to our building. Our signal is down at the present time and electricity is out at both KSN & KODE. We do not know how long we'll be unable to broadcast but will update this website as more information becomes available. Please tune in to KODE for the latest information. **No one in the building or neighboring area was injured. (via Prentice, ibid.) One of several comments to the Globe story, q.v.: Commtech writes: The tower WAS 1017 feet, now it is only about 250 feet. They have been performing work on this tower for the digital transition. They had replaced the antenna at the top of the tower with a new antenna for the new digital signal the day before the tower collapse. The tower company`s equipment they use was still at the top of the tower when the tower fell. The equipment they use to change out the antenna at the top of the tower is basically another tower but smaller, attached to the side of the tower to be worked on. In the picture of the house, any tower section you see that is yellow is the equipment they use to change the antenna. The tower may not have fallen if it was not for this extra weight, at the top; thank goodness no one was killed. It's funny how the news seems to never tells you the whole story, one Tulsa news group reported only 50 foot fell. LOL. FYI, you can estimate the height of towers you see, by counting orange and white section's because they are roughly 100foot each painted section, this works good for towers over 500 feet under 500 and it is not always correct (via DXLD) ** U S A. DAVID K. REHR, Ph. D., Pres./CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, announced today that he is resigning. His position will be voice tracked (Brock Whaley, HI, May 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. ‘FATHER OPRAH’ CAUGHT IN PHOTO SCANDAL [WACC-AM 830 kHz Hialeah, Florida, "Radio Paz Radio Peace"] (May 6) - Faithful supporters of Father Alberto Cutié have expressed shock and disbelief after photos of the celebrity priest in a Spanish- language magazine showed him kissing and fondling a woman on Miami Beach, CBS Station WFOR-TV reports. On Tuesday the Archdiocese of Miami relieved Father Cutié of his duties at St. Francis de Sales parish on Miami Beach and at the Catholic radio station Radio Peace and Radio Paz. . . http://news.aol.com/article/priest-scandal/468553?icid=main|htmlws-main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fne (Via Brock Whaley, DXLD) Hey girls, it`s Cutié, not Cutie (gh) ** UZBEKISTAN. 11800, UZBEKISTAN, CVC Tashkent, 0135-0152, May 4, English. "CVC Newsroom" at tune-in re Swine Flu, Pakistan & Taliban clashes; contemporary religious pops and listener request via Moscow; CVC promos; poor-fair listening in LSB ECCS (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200'Bevs, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Studio certainly not in Tashkent, and did not think Moscow either; where? (gh, DXLD) ** VATICAN. 15235 in Vietnamese, May 6 at 1351. What does PWBR `2009` say? Vatican Radio in unknown language to SE Asia, but in Winter season only --- here it is Summer. HFCC confirms it is in fact SMG beamed eastward in Vietnamese at 1315-1400. VR`s Vietnamese services reach us well in NAm, making us wonder just how direxional their antennas really are (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ### ** VATICAN. EXTRAORDINARY BROADCASTS ON THE OCCASION OF THE HOLY FATHER'S APOSTOLIC TRIP TO THE HOLY LAND (8-15 MAY 2009) http://www.radiovaticana.org/coorpro/entrasmisspec.htm There are only a few special SW broadcasts in this long listing, all of them in the European morning when we snooze in NAm and probably couldn`t hear the frequencies anyway. But if interested, quickest way to find them is to open the page and then search on SW and OC, some of them mislabeled (Glenn Hauser, May 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It would probably be a treasure hunt to find them, but these will likely be carried on one or more of Radio Vaticana's five audio streams on the web. Also, if you click on "Features in Mp3" in the upper right hand corner of the page below, some reports are archived. http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/diretta.asp (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, ibid.) ** VENEZUELA [non]. 11705, May 9 at 1303, RNV in Spanish with program summary, i.e. opening the transmission hour, and then ``Cortes Informativos`` {which is what they cumbersomely translate as ``Informative Short News`` when they do it in English}. Has this been moved one hour later to start at 1300 instead of 1200? No, chopped off at 1304:50*, frustrating bytuners who must have been just getting into RNV`s program. Evidently the 1200 hour is played back on the program feed line at 1300, and the sloppy Cuban engineers left it on past closing a few minutes earlier. Hint: even if you can`t turn off the transmitter immediately the program is over, you should at least turn off the modulation, which BTW was somewhat low and distorted (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. ALGERIA. LV de la RASD, 0634, thanks Bernardini, comments by a woman in Spanish, into ballad. Strong. Also noted after 2100. 2 May (David Sharp, FT-950, NSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WTFK? Must be 6300, stable there for a longtime now. However, they are not usually in Spanish in the mornings. Fortunately, we are no longer confundible by the RHC mixing product formerly produced on 6300 by 6060 leapfrogging over 6180 (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. UNITED STATES. 1580.000, 0844, at least two stations battling it out here, one that's Spanish religious, which I think may be KBLA in Santa Monica. But there's also someone else, with a country format (seemed to be more contemporary country). Any ideas? (7 May (David Sharp, FT-950, NSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. At about 10:20 pm tonight [0220 UT May 9] I heard the new Emergency Radio Station in Middletown, NJ. Middletown NJ and the town's website clearly audible. That's a new log. And next there's Spanish with Baseball (?) on 1620. Who could this be? There's also music mixed in there. WDHP maybe? (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, R75, using the Quantum phaser tonight with the two longwires, 0335 UT May 9, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) Mike, Spanish béisbol on 1620 points to Radio Rebelde, Cuba. See if it`s // 5025 SW or any other Rebelde MW frequency. Or it could be Radio Martí relayed by WDHP. Martí also carries baseball, tho usually on Saturday nights, I think. See if it`s // 6030, 7405, etc. 73, Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Just to add further, I have heard WDHP Relay anti-Castro clandestine Radio República [as also on] WRMI Miami 9955. While it certainly is reasonable for Rebelde to reach New England on 1620, I have yet to hear it, with WDHP being the usual dominant from the south (Chris Black, Cape Cod, ibid.) no BB on República, AFAIK (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 5898, presumed the Cuban spy numbers transmitter, as usual very strong signal, but at 0549 May 7 with open carrier interrupted by some kind of digital mode with multiple tones on and off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 9-038: ``KOREA NORTH. 7140, just tuned in at 1248 May 5 as national anthem was playing, and off 1249*. Good signal from outlaw nation still broadcasting in the 40m hamband. VOK scheduled 00- 04 and 07-13, rounded off; per Aoki supposed to run until 1257, the final hour in Korean, 200 kW non-direxional from Kujang site (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` Glenn, I also heard this last night as they were signing off and their carrier cut but only to reveal a weaker carrier but with no modulation. Did you also hear this? I wondered if it was still Kujang or is it somebody else? (Robin VK7RH Harwood, Tasmania, Icom R70 to inside antenna running along curtain rail, May 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Robin, No, I did not notice anything on 7140 after VOK went off. Aoki shows a possibility, Yakutsk: 7140 NVK R.Sakha-R.Rossii 1900-1500 1234567 Russian 100 50 Yakutsk RUS 12948E 6214N RR//6150 7200 7345 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) I will check again in seven hours and check 7200 also. R. Rossi there now is good w/o that awful motorboating sender they previously had. Robin VK7RH [Later:] Hi there Glenn and others. Yes I did go and listen on 7140 when the VOK at Kujang did sign off at 1249 and noted another station underneath and when VOK cut carrier, there was music which was new age. Yes it was // 7200 where R. Rossi was and the annmts were in Russian. The signal steadily went down on 7140 but 7200 was very strong. At 1300 after the time pips, they had a news bulletin from a Moscow station. By 1305 7140 was unintelligible. Are 7140 and 7200 at same location of Yakutsk? I recollect that there was reports that one was at Magadan. Also the following CNR stations have not left the deleted frequencies. They are still there especially, 7125 (Robin VK7RH Harwood, Norwood, Tasmania 7250, May 6, ibid.) see CHINA; and RUSSIA 7200 UNIDENTIFIED. 7165-7170-7175, sure sounds like DRM, May 8 at 1219, but cut off and back on a few times next biminute; surely no broadcaster would be DRMing here now, so maybe some ham experimenting with it? Is that allowed? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Although there are a number of weird RTTY modes in use today (many of which are "broadband" in a relative sense, comparable to SSB), none of them -- to the best of my limited knowledge, anyway -- sounds like DRM and I'd like to believe that the FCC would not authorize something 10 kHz wide on the ham bands :-). Guess it needs further investigation. 73 de (Anne Fanelli in Elma NY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. 4 25 09 9615khz 1140 gmt Unidentified.MP3 (829KB) Hi Glenn, Just a follow up, here is an mp3 with one that I haven't yet identified. Radio Bengla Betar? Maybe your ears are better than mine. Thanks (Larry Beth, Bryant AR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9615 is ``Radio Veritas Asia, experiencing technical difficulties``. And they are scheduled there from Philippines in Chinese at that time. Regards, (Glenn to Larry, via DXLD) Thanks Glenn, I referenced the time and frequency in Passport and came up with the same thing, but wasn't sure. I appreciate your response (Larry Beth, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. North Korean number stations. I'm not sure how audible they may be in your part of the world, but since the launch of the so- called "DPRK satellite", which may be or may not have been a satellite, there has been some activity between 10005 to 10025 kHz of a woman sounding very much like an old GDR number station. I've picked it up twice Saturday May 2nd at around 0615 UT and on April 18th around the same time. Has anyone heard anything recently? (Keith Perron, Taiwan, May 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Are you sure it was Korean language? There could also be aeronautical weather in this range consisting of a lot of numbers (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What makes you think it's an NK number station? You didn't mention the language of those mysterious broadcasts. Is it Korean? I wonder if GDR ever recognized running a number station. Or maybe FRG authorities found some evidence and made it public? (Sergei S., Russia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, I said DPRK. I don't think it would have been German. lol (Keith Perron, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. 13568 kHz, Strange x-mission --- I was tuning around on my mobile HF rig and heard a kinda strange x-mission around 1500 hours CST. I was an OM reading an Old Testament passage over and over again. Can this be some kind of encrypted spy message, or something? "In God we trust" (Spencer G. Sholly <>< KB5WQW, 10-10# 43794, Killeen, TX, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Spencer, surely that was 13570, WINB in Pennsylvania in normal broadcasting, ha ha, the scheduled program M-F at 20-21 UT, so I guess you meant CDT, Global Spirit Proclamation, which originates in Fence Lake, a remote part of New Mexico, and which can also be heard even longer daytime hours via WBCQ 15420. It all sounds incredibly repetitious and droning; I call it the anapaestic preacher, but had not noticed it really stuck on a single passage. Maybe the playback had a problem. 73, (Glenn Hauser, OK, nothing fishy here, ibid.) Thanx, Glen[n]. It was certainly "incredibly repetitious and droning". That's what made me think it was some king of encrypted message (Spencer G. Sholly, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Estimado Glenn: Quisiera expresar a usted toda la admiración y agradecimiento sincero que siento hacia usted, ya que gracias a los programas que realiza he logrado conocer y disfrutar más de este maravilloso mundo de la radio de la onda corta. . . Me despido de usted reiterándole mi admiración y agradecimiento. Le abraza con afecto su amigo y escucha, S.S.S. (Luis Vallebueno, Durango, Dgo., México, 5 abril, by p-mail) Glen[n], Here is our small and anonymous (Please) contribution for all your great work (with a donation via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com) I am pleasantly surprised to see that you think some of my reception data is worth including in your Digest; thank you for that. I do read your Digest but have hesitated to submit reception data as I feel my meagre facilities here (under tenancy limitation) do not allow me to move up into the company of more knowing operators with superior equipment. I am impressed by the thoroughness with which some of them pursue their objectives! Keep on with your excellent work! Best wishes, (Charles Jones, Australia, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See CHILE; INDONESIA; SUDAN CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ BOLETIN OFICIAL DESDE EL XV ENCUENTRO NACIONAL DE DIEXISMO Y RADIOESCUCHAS DE LA ONDA CORTA, 31 DE JULIO A 2 DE AGOSTO, MORELOS Saludos Amig@s de la Radioescucha, Radioexperimentación, Radiodifusión y Diexismo: Les deseo que estén pasando de lo mejor en éstos tiempos de crisis y tiempos de situaciones epidémicas delicadas; gracias a Dios ya vamos sobrepasando todo. En este preciso momento la vida ya se ha normalizado en esta Ciudad. Debido a la incertidumbre generada en éstos últimos días, les comparto que nuestro próximo evento del año, tan esperado por muchos de ustedes, sí se llevará a cabo en la fecha ya determinada, y ahora con la sede ya confirmada: 31 de julio al 2 de agosto 2009. En las Instalaciones de CANACINTRA Morelos, ubicadas en Avenida Palmas Norte 215, aquí en la Ciudad de Cuernavaca, Morelos. México. Esperamos poder contar con su grata presencia y les pido de favor, pasen este comunicado a sus amistades y colegas interesados. Para los colegas de México: También en la medida de lo posible, ponerse en contacto con los organismos que nos estan apoyando tanto en la difusión como el apoyo de instalaciones, para que vean que sí hay gente activa en éste evento, que ya ha trascendido nuestras fronteras. A CANACINTRA, contactar a: ana.ibarra @ canacintramorelos.org A CANAL TRES, y UNIVERSAL RADIO 102.9: Lic. Elizabeth Arévalo: eliarevalo @ hotmail.com (Magdiel Cruz Ramírez, Tel. (Celular) (+52) 777 110 94 56, Apartado Postal 22; 62571 CIVAC, Morelos; MÉXICO http://entre-ondas.blogspot.com May 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ ITU RADIO REGULATIONS 2008 BOOK FOR SALE The Radio Regulations, Edition of 2008, contains the complete texts of the Radio Regulations as adopted by the World Radiocommunication Conference (Geneva, 1995) (WRC-95) and subsequently revised and adopted by the World Radiocommunication Conference (Geneva, 1997) (WRC-97), the World Radiocommunication Conference (Istanbul, 2000) (WRC-2000), the World Radiocommunication Conference (Geneva, 2003) (WRC-03), and the World Radiocommunication Conference (Geneva, 2007) (WRC-07), including all Appendices, Resolutions, Recommendations and ITU-R Recommendations incorporated by reference. More details on http://www.itu.int/publ/R-REG-RR-2008 (Jaisakthivel, Chennai, India http://www.dxersguide.blogspot.com May 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO PHILATELY +++++++++++++++ DEFINITIVE INFO ON POPOV ISSUE Dear friends: Link below has full info related to POPOV's 150 birth anniversary issue. Just click Stamp No. 1305. http://www.marka-art.ru/catalogs/StampList.jsp?&year=2009&lang=en There are: 1 souvenir sheet, 1 FDC, 5 cancellations and 2 cards. Have fun (FABIO FLOSI, May 5, radiostamps yg via DXLD) SELLOS DE EMISORAS Saludos a todos, Los invito a mi blog, en la cual he colocado algunos sellos de emisoras. http://yimber-gaviria.blogspot.com 73 de (Yimber Gaviría, Colombia, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Direct link: http://www.bubbleshare.com/album/590951 --- What would be a nice collexion of 81 images, most of them with two stamps at a time; unfortunately, resolution is poor, the edges are cut off tnx to a TV set mask (why??), and stamps are spoiled by an ``overprint`` of the site which scanned them. O well (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ Re DXLD 9038: ``Hmmm, I doubt if Gabriel would have understood remote sensing, let alone the other aspects; a case of projexion. ¿What`s the difference between patrón and patrono? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` They are similar, but their use on certain circumstances marks the difference. Patrón is commonly used as boss, chief, employer, shipmaster, landlord... also as the measurement unit (e.g.: patrón oro); also you can speak to a dog in front of its owner and say "(- dog's name- say "Fido... vaya con su patrón/a"... i.e.: "Fido go with your patron") The use of patrono is as saint protector of communities (San Gabriel, patrono de las Comunicaciones, Santa Cecilia: (protectora o patrona de la Música, etc.) Remember that Ancient Greeks and then Romans had their Gods for certain particularities (Hermes: God of Commerce, Ares or Mars god of War, etc.): Patrono is used also when you talk of a boss, employer, chief in case of labor/legal/union situations... e.g.: "el patrono debe pagar ahora menos impuestos por sus empleados" " (i.e.: "the patrono should pay lower taxes for their employees") 73 (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ RALPH SANSERINO Unpleasant News --- Former IRCA Editor-in-Chief and Publisher Ralph Sanserino has been bedridden with lung cancer since October 2008. Ralph’s address is: Ralph Sanserino, 21855 Eucaliptus [sic] Ave, Perris CA 92570. [Later:] Just heard that Ralph died... details in the next DXM... very sad!!! (Phil Bytheway, WA, ed., May 9 IRCA DX Monitor, 0239 UT May 7, via DXLD) He will also be remembered as the inventor of the Sanserino Loop, MW antenna. And he published the Hollow State Newsletter, dedicated to, well, non-solid-state equipment. Googling on his name leads to things like this, circa 1991y: http://site298.mysite4now.com/barryhauser/archives2/HSN-Issue24-25.pdf (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very sad to read this. Ralph was at many of our conventions in the past, and was a major force in our hobby (Mike Sanburn, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ralph was a pretty good guy (Kevin Redding, TN, ABDX via DXLD) So sorry to hear of his passing. Our paths hadn't crossed in a number of years but I remember him as a nice, helpful guy (Tim Hall, CA, ibid.) I had heard about Ralph due to his loop and the Hollow State newsletter, which I have read quite a bit in attempting to become educated on R-390As. Very sorry to hear of his passing (Phil Rafuse, PEI, ibid.) This is indeed terrible news. Ralph was a truly good guy. I drove up to Perris in late 1987 to visit him and wound up writing him a check and returning to San Diego with one of his two-foot alt-azimuth box loops with a FET amplifier. RIP, old friend (Harry Helms W5HLH, Corpus Christi, TX EL17 http://harryhelmsblog.blogspot.com/ ibid.) Phil [Bytheway], How sad. Ralph was a great friend that I had known for many years. My thoughts and prayers go out to his wife and family. He will really be missed. I still have a Sanserino Box Loop in my DX Shack. 73, (Patrick Martin, IRCA via DXLD) Also very sorry to hear of Ralph's passing. We had a number of interesting discussions via typewriter and post office back in the days when such things were significant, and he certainly assisted in my technical education. A highlight of the Anaheim IRCA convention a few years ago was the opportunity to meet Ralph in person. Rest in peace old friend (Nick Hall-Patch, Victoria, BC, Canada, ibid.) Hi Phil; Thanks for the note about Mr. Sanserino. Please pass along our condolences. While I did not have the pleasure of knowing him, I definitely know the name. If you recall, I bought a "Sanserino Loop" from you 20 or so years ago, that you sold as part of past DX'er's estate. Thanks for all of the help back then with setup and usage instructions. The Sanserino loop is currently needing to be restrung and the amp is in disrepair. This gives me some impetus to get it going again, in honor of Ralph. 73, (Dave in Indy Hascall, ibid.) Very sad indeed to read about Ralph`s passing. He did attend many of our IRCA conventions. Perhaps I have some photographs in my file (Mike Sanburn, ibid.) Please pass on my condolences to Ralph's wife. My unamplified Sanserino loop is my primary antenna and works fabulously with my Superadio II and speaking of my Superadio, Ralph was gracious enough to provide me with a copy of the complete service manual for it and refused my offer of monetary compensation for it (Kenneth Nawalkowski, Sandy Lake, MB Canada, ibid.) I am sorry to learn of Ralph's passing. He certainly has contributed greatly to our hobby. His Sanserino Loop antennas are still being used and sought after today. Ralph RIP (Pete, KZ1Z, Kemp, NRC-AM via DXLD) Services for Ralph Sanserino will be at the Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Blvd, March ARB, CA 92518, (951) 653-8417. Date: May 15th 2009. Time: 10 AM. Place: Staging Area #2. An on-line obituary should be posted at: http://www.evans-brownmortuary.com/ (Phil Bytheway, May 9, IRCA via DXLD) ARB = Air Reserve Base No obit posted there, yet, but possibly closer to the 15th. One of those pillars of the Hobby who, it seemed, would last forever. Condolences to Ralph's widow and family. 73 - (J. D. Stephens, May 9, ibid.) I think the main thing Ralph would want us to do in his memory is to keep the hobby alive. As I remember, he was EXTREMELY opposed to any kind of Ralph Sanserino Award. I was honored to have had some online correspondence with Ralph, as well as a few phone conversations. He was a very knowledgeable man, and he will be deeply missed (donutbandito, ibid.) Folks, I will be dedicating the June and July issues of "DX Monitor" to the memory of Ralph Sanserino. Folks are encouraged to submit their thoughts to IRCA's "DX Forum", Rick Evans Editor, REvans5435@yahoo.com I will be sending copies of these issues to Ralph's widow, so please contribute. Non-IRCA members that knew Ralph are also welcome to contribute (Phil Bytheway, IRCA EiC, ibid.) I would like to propose something, and it is NOT meant to point a finger at anyone, offend anyone, or to make a snide comment. There are so many times that someone we really appreciate goes away, and it prompts us to tell others how much they were appreciated. DON'T WAIT! You might really make their day, and you may be able to avoid the "if only I had..." dilemma that we often have. Mother's Day is here. Mine died when I was 13. I never thought about saying anything when I could, and it`s too late to REALLY tell them once they're gone. Start a new habit. Let people know they've made a difference to you while you can. I'll step off the soapbox and retreat back into the shadows now (Mike Hawkins, ibid.) IMAGES VS SPURS Re 9-038: Glenn Hauser wrote: ``I suggest we keep our terminology straight as there are two entirely different things here: Something produced by a transmitter and really propagated anywhere but on the fundamental frequency is a spur``: Correct. Spurious transmission. ``Something produced only inside a receiver is an image.`` Well, there is intermod(ulation) as defined by an earlier post, the mixing of various harmonics and frequencies. This usually occurs entirely within the receiver although rusty or corroded connections external to the receiver, as stated, can also produce it. To me, an image is hearing a station that is twice the IF frequency from where the receiver is tuned. For a receiver with a 455 kHz IF, a station on 1410 would be heard on 500 if the front end of the receiver does not filter it out. ``It may be difficult to tell which is which in some cases, like this?`` Intermod usually has distorted audio in my experience. Images sound quite clean (Allan Dunn, K1UCY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I would disagree that most mixing products (intermod) originate in the receiver. A great many have been documented in areas where there are multiple higher-powered transmitters located in the same general area. Philadelphia and New York ( actually Northeastern NJ ) are the two of the more prominent I've experienced (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), [15 mi NNW of Philadelphia], NRC-AM via DXLD) I would suggest: - There are two kinds of "spur". A "spurious emission" is when a transmitter radiates a signal on a frequency other than the one it's intended to transmit on. A "spurious response" is when a receiver receives a signal that's being transmitted on a frequency other than the one the receiver is tuned to. - An "image" is a specific example of a "spurious response". As Allan suggests, it has a specific mathematical relationship to the frequency of the station being received and the intermediate frequency of the receiver. If the spurious signal is a true image, it will involve a station on a frequency separated from the frequency you're tuned to by twice the intermediate frequency. (for most AM radios, the image will be from a station 900, 910, or 920 kHz above the frequency the receiver is tuned to. If you're tuned to 650, an "image" will involve reception of stations on 1550, 1560, or 1570.) - Other types of "spurious response" are possible (Doug Smith, TN, ibid.) True enough except that it omits the kind I was speaking of - namely a mixing spur where two signals mix and audio of one or both is caused to appear on a frequency which is related to the sum or or difference between the two primary frequencies. These are often re-radiated by rusted or corroded joints of metals which re-radiate the two signals together as if they were a separate transmitter - particularly in humid conditions or snow cover. When using a directional antenna setup along with triangulation from multiple receive sites, one can determine that these signals do not originate from the same direction as either primary. As a further indication, the signal tunes at the frequency one which it is heard on the antenna or the receiver's antenna tuner, rather than either primary (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), [15 mi NNW of Philadelphia], ibid.) I guess that would be a different variety of "spurious emission" -- where a signal is transmitted by something that isn't intended to be a transmitter. Those "mixing spur"s *can* be generated in one of the transmitters -- but Russ is probably right that they're more often caused by things that aren't supposed to be transmitters... Another example of that would be local oscillator radiation - where a signal, usually "dead air", is transmitted *by a receiver* on a frequency above that to which the receiver is tuned by the intermediate frequency. Can't say I've ever heard that problem on AM but it seems to be pretty common with FM receivers (Doug Smith, ibid.) Now that you mention it, I do know of one FM station that broadcasts a mixture of their FM and AM frequencies, and I have heard it from 20 miles out when the frequency was clear. But I suspect most occur in the front end of receivers from overload. Regards! (Allan Dunn, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM INTERNATIONAL VACUUM; UNIDENTIFIED 7170 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DTV AUDIO Hello Everybody, Does anyone know if they make a radio that can pick up DTV audio now that some TV markets have gone digital? I Have a blind friend that uses her radio to pick up the local TV station audio, and after three Denver stations went digital about two weeks ago and the rest scheduled to go in June, is there anything out there? Thanks (Paul Armani, CO, May 6, ABDX via DXLD) A $129 portable DTV is as close as you can get right now. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3324197 (Kevin Redding, TN, ibid.) I don't see ANY radio manufacturers doing this. You have to have a complete DTV tuner in the radio and would SUBSTANTIALLY increase the cost of the radio which would likely have to run on D cells. Audio is part of the DTV signal unlike analog which it is in most cases a separate transmitter or combined (Powell E Way III, SC, ibid.) Yeah, that's what I was going to say. It was a lot easier with analog TV. I can't see them doing this for DTV. Although maybe a portable DTV like that would do the trick. Honestly that really isn't a bad price. Only a 7" display but still not bad at all. If I had DTV where I live I might consider it (Michael n Wyo Richard, ibid.) The recommendation I've made to the blind people I know is to get the coupon and buy a DTV box ($20 or so cash outlay), and then plug a pair of powered computer speakers into it. The only challenge here is that the box needs to be hooked up to a display at least once so someone sighted can go through the menus to scan in the local channels; after that, it can be controlled with the remote without needing a display. This solution requires AC power, unfortunately - it's not suitable for portable use. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) Yet another reason to revive ANALOG TV AUDIO FM-mode, as in the old days, as part of the 6 MHz bandwidth occupied by a DTV channel, as a backup, alternative to DTV audio which often drops out anyway when the video does not. Surely a few kHz can still be spared for an independently transmitted analog audio channel. So it may be out of synch with the video: better than nothing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Had that been proposed as part of the ATSC standard, it might have made sense. There's far too large an installed base of transmitters and receivers now, though, none of which support analog audio with digital video. And all those transmitters and receivers are brand-new and won't cycle out of service for a decade or more. There's also a power issue. Our channel 16 DTV transmitter at WXXI-DT puts out 180 kW average ERP. Our analog audio on channel 21 is 123 kW ERP. I'm not convinced that the DTV data stream can survive 123 kW of in-band analog audio without suffering destructive interference - and if you turn down the power of the analog audio carrier, it's no longer a robust alternative, is it? s (Scott Fybush, May 8, ABDX via DXLD) FCC RELEASES RULES FOR DIGITAL REPLACEMENT TRANSLATORS http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-09-36A1.pdf They've been accepting applications for a few weeks, and have now released the rules (which seems backwards but they're in a hurry to get these authorized and on the air before we get too far past June 12th --- To my knowledge all the applications already filed are compliant with the new rules). The gist of it is: - Stations whose digital signal does not fully replicate their analog coverage are eligible. Digital-only stations (which never had an analog signal) are not eligible (however, stations which once had an analog and have already silenced it are eligible). - Replacement translators can be applied for immediately, it is not necessary to wait for a filing window (which could take years). (the release does indicate the Commission intends to open a LPTV filing window in the very near future, probably late this summer. However, it may take them months if not years to select from the various mutually-exclusive LPTV applications. They want analog full- power coverage replicated by digital ASAP.) - Only channels 2-51 may be used. (LPTVs are being authorized on channels 52-59, subject to being bumped by whoever wins that spectrum at auction.) - The coverage of a replacement translator may not extend beyond that of the old analog facility. (with VERY minor exceptions, where the only suitable location for the translator would have small unavoidable coverage beyond the analog) These are for maintaining coverage, not extending it. - The replacement translator license is "attached" to the main station license. It cannot be sold separately, and cannot be renewed past the renewal of the main station license. - A single full-power station may have more than one replacement translator. - Separate call letters will not be assigned. (however, FCC staff *has* already assigned call letters to the replacement translator applications which have already been filed.) The replacement translators will share the call letters of the associated full-power station. (on my website the replacement translators are going to keep the call letters of the full-power station. The staff has been assigning separate call letters to replacement translators but they aren't putting them in the CDBS database.) - "White-space" interests -- Dell, Google, Microsoft among others -- objected to the rules. So did LPTV interests. Both groups felt replacement translators would tie up channels they felt could be better used by white-space gear/LPTV stations. Both groups felt stations should use DTS (multiple transmitters on the same channel) instead of translators (on different channels). Obviously the FCC didn't accept their arguments (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, May 9, WTFDA via DXLD) Without reading further than what Doug has posted, I see the FCC has, once again, seemingly fouled everything up! (John Ebeling, MN, ibid.) That's not how I read it. What I take out of it is that "white space" transmissions aren't going to happen, and that, IMO, is a very good thing (Mike Bugaj, CT, ibid.) I'm not sure either interpretation is 100% correct. The "white space" movement continues to press forward, which continues to be bad news for TV DXers (and likely for Joe Average OTA DTV viewer, too) - but because these digital replacement translators are now being authorized, the number of channels available for white-space device use is somewhat smaller than it would otherwise be. OTOH, for cash-strapped TV stations (and right now, EVERY TV station is cash-strapped), the cost of building fill-in translators may be prohibitive in many areas, so I suspect there may be fewer of them than expected. I am sympathetic toward the plight that the FCC faces right now. They're being pulled in multiple directions, all of which are valid: there's a very real concern that Joe Average TV Viewer is losing OTA reception he had in the analog era; there's a huge demand for new spectrum by wireless carriers - and there are only so many megahertz of available RF space to go around. Decisions based on 2009 technology may or may not still make sense in 2019 or 2029, but there's plenty of political pressure to Do. Something. Now. Anyway. It's almost as ugly a situation as the Red Sox game I'm watching right now. (12-3 Tampa in the 6th...) s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) As Scott says, neither statement is correct(grin)! This move will *limit* the availability of channels for white-space devices, but the channels that will be denied will contain DTV translators so they really won't be of any use to DXers... Replacement translators are a good idea but one that's not likely to be well-implemented, for economic reasons. Actually, I think the FCC has handled this in an unusual-in-a-good-way manner. They invited applications, giving a solid and well-defined indication of what they believed they'd be able to grant, and held to their promise. In doing so I think they sliced 6-8 weeks off the time that will be necessary to get the early replacement translators on the air. In several cases that will make the difference between these things being on the air by 6/12 and not being there. (and by actually acting, they didn't pull another FM-translators-of- AM-stations fiasco where they invited applications pursuant to a future rules change and then never bothered to change the rules...) -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DAB ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Why [does] the government intend to spend millions on turning over to digital radio when the UK is wholly and well-served by existing analogue radio outlets. What are the advantages of such a change? Digital radios consume about seven times the power of analogue radios and drop out on lower level signals --- of course, analogue keeps going when the signal strength fades. It has been suggested that digital broadcasts can be coded so that the listener might ultimately have to pay for programmes, or by the hour. The digital system could also limit reception from abroad and permit the censoring of programmes. What do members think? (Tony Edge, Open to Discussion, May BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Your OTD Editor recalls WorldSpace encrypting programmes. How did that work? (David Morris, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ A 50-YEAR LOW IN SOLAR WIND PRESSURE Measurements by the Ulysses spacecfraft reveal a 20% drop in solar wind pressure since the mid-1990s --- the lowest point since such measurements began in the 1960s. The solar wind helps keep galactic cosmic rays out of the intter solar system. With the solar wind flagging, more cosmic rays are permitted to enter, resuloting in increased health hazards for astronauts. Weaker solar wind alos means fewer geomoagnetic sotrms and auroras on Earth, A 12-YEAR LOW IN SOLAR ``IRRADIANCE`` Careful measurements by several NASA spacecraft show that the sun`s brightness has dropped by 0.02% at visible wavelengths and 6% at extreme UV wavelengths since the solar minimum of 1996. The changes so far are not enough to reverse the course of global warming, but there are some other significant side-effects: Earth`s upper atmosphere is heated less by the sun and it is therefore less ``puffed up``. Satellites in low Earth orbit experience less atmospheric drag, extending their operational lifetimes. Unfortunately, space junk also remains longer in Earth orbit, increasing hazards to spacecraft and satellites. A 55-YEAR LOW IN SOLAR RADIO EMISSIONS After World War II, astronomers began keeping records of the sun`s brightness at radio wavelengths. Records of 10.7 cm flux extend back all the way to the early 1950s. Radio telescopes are now recording the dimmest ``radio sun`` since 1955. Some researchers believe that the lessening of radio emissions is an indication of weakness in the sun`s global magnetic field. No one is certain, however, because the source of these long-monitored radio emissions is not fully understood (NASWA Science News 1 April 2009, via Propagation Report, May BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) They're scaling back on the prediction for the peak of the coming solar cycle (now predicted to be May 2013 and the weakest in 80 years): http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/SolarCycle/index.html The predicted solar flux graph on that page is spurious, as SF shouldn't go below 65, but apparently there's some program glitch in their conversion from sunspot number. Note how the smoothed Ap index is still dropping; if it hangs in until next fall, there should be some pretty good DX coming this way. Best wishes (Nick Hall-Patch, Victoria, BC, Canada, May 8, IRCA via DXLD) SPECIAL SOLAR CYCLE REPORT BY ARNIE CORO RADIO AMATEUR CO2KK http://dxersunlimited.blogspot.com/2009/05/dxers-unlimiteds-weekend-program-9-10.html (Dxers Unlimited's weekend edition for May 9 – 10 2009 via DXLD) SHOULD WE WORRY ABOUT THE SUN BEING UNUSUALLY QUIET OR HEADING FOR MAJOR CHAOS? DEPENDS WHO'S ON THE STORY: http://ksjtracker.mit.edu/?p=9256 (via Dan Say, DXLD) REAL TIME PROPAGATION DATA Keen observers of A & K indices and forecasts are able to get real time data direct to their desktop via the internet. Similarly full historical data from 1932 to the present is available on line ftp://ftp.ngdc.noaa.gov/STP/GEOMAGNETIC_DATA/INDICES/KP_AP/ for anyone conducting research. Not only are raw statistics for the preceding 30 days available on line http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/ftpdir/indices/DGD.txt but one can now get a vast array of other analytical data in near real time. For example one can see impressive “images” of the polar auroral absorption zones as viewed by satellites http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/index.html (Steve Whitt, ed., May-June MWN via DXLD) TECHNOLOGY: MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF PROGNOSIS OF TRENDA OF F0? FOR LITTLECHANNEL SW DRRL TO VERY LARGE EXTENT Hi Glenn: Is this a bad translation? Or the Ukrainian version of Professor Irwin Corey? http://www.inauka.ru/blogs/article91975.html 73 (Kim Elliott, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here`s the key:: ``In work it is suggested to equate the ionosphere layer of E with the economic trendom.`` I think we are looking at a breakthru; a free one-sesquimonth DXLD subscription to the first one reader who can translate it into real Anglish (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###