DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-092, June 4, 2005 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 2005 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1276: Sun 0230 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0330 WOR WRMI 7385 Sun 0630 WOR WWCR 3210 Sun 0730 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Sun 0830 WOR WRN to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP (including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 115) Sun 0830 WOR KSFC Spokane WA 91.9 Sun 0830 WOR WXPR Rhinelander WI 91.7 91.9 100.9 Sun 0830 WOR WDWN Auburn NY 89.1 [unconfirmed] Sun 0830 WOR KTRU Houston TX 91.7 [occasional] Sun 1200 WOR WRMI 7385 Sun 1300 WOR KRFP-LP Moscow ID 92.5 Sun 1730 WOR WRMI 7385 [from WRN] Sun 1730 WOR WRN1 to North America (including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 115) Sun 1900 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sun 2000 WOR RNI Mon 0230 WOR WRMI 7385 Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0330 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [1275] Mon 0415 WOR WBCQ 7415 [ex-0430] Mon 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 0600 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 [also WPKM Montauk LINY 88.7] Tue 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: WORLD OF RADIO 1276 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1276h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1276h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1276 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1276.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1276.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1276.html WORLD OF RADIO 1276 in true shortwave sound of Alex`s mp3 (stream) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_06-01-05.m3u (download) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_06-01-05.mp3 CONTINENT OF MEDIA 05-05 from May 30: (stream) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0505.ram (download) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0505.rm (summary) http://worldofradio.com/com0505.html [not yet available] MUNDO RADIAL ON WWCR: June schedule shows it still Fridays 2115-2130 on 15825, and new on Mondays at same time, but no longer on Tuesdays or Wednesdays (John Norfolk, DXLD) DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS: the above is among updates made as of June 3: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Re 5-091: ``Salaam Watandar... Should that be May 26?" No, was in BC-DX 711 which Wolfgang sent me May 3rd after I had prepared last month`s column (Mike Barraclough, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARMENIA. 1377: According to Voice of Russia (VOR) information distributed in VOR's "Klub DX" programme, the VOR's Russian service "Sodruzhestvo" is carried for listeners in the Caucasus region 1600- 1900 via a 600 kW transmitter in Armenia on 1377 kHz since the middle of May. This would be from the high power site in Gavar. The frequency 1377 was formerly used for Armenian Radio by a 25 kW transmitter in Sisian (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, mwdx June 3 via BCDX via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. UK: VT COMMUNICATIONS TRIALS DRM FOR UK COMMERCIAL BROADCASTERS | Excerpt from press release by London based VT Communications on 31 May VT Communications (VTC), part of VT Group plc is providing a ground- breaking AM broadcast pilot service using the Digital Radio MondialeTM (DRMTM) system. Several UK commercial broadcasters are participating, including Virgin Radio, Asian Sound Radio, Classic Gold Digital, Premier Christian Radio and CVC. The commercial trial, which runs for two months, is the first of its kind targeting the UK. It allows commercial broadcasters to assess the benefits of the exciting new digital AM technology, including real time text and data based information services, in addition to demonstrating the superb quality of reception that is now available on the AM bands. The programming is being broadcast from transmission facilities in Western Europe reaching the whole of the UK as well as Northwest Continental Europe, demonstrating the exceptional coverage offered by the AM (SW, MW and LW) DRM technology platform which enables broadcasters to reach mass audiences cost effectively from one single transmitter. VT Communications owns and operates three DRM capable transmitters in the UK. Following successful service trials in 2004, these transmitters already carry programming for several international broadcasters into Europe. VT Communications will be demonstrating these UK trials at the Digital Radio Show in London from 1-2 June 2005, providing conference delegates with the opportunity to listen to the broadcasts and expose them to the future of AM digital radio. DRM Chairman and Chief Operating Officer at Deutsche Welle, Peter Senger will address the conference in a session titled "An overview of global DRM implementations", at 1030 a.m. [BST] on 1 June. Bryan Coombes, general manager for broadcast at VT Communications commented: "VT Communications is delighted at being able to offer our customers the opportunity to evaluate the benefits of DRM technology on their home territory. This really is an exciting taste of the future of radio, today." Virgin Radio's development director Jason Bryant said: "Virgin Radio is committed to making its programme services available on a wide variety of platforms. We believe that DRM is an exciting, and potentially wide appeal new platform and have been impressed with the technology on this trial." John Baish, managing director at Classic Gold Digital commented: "We're all excited by the opportunities that DRM will create, and this trial has given us a lot of encouragement about the potential of the platform. This is a groundbreaking initiative, and VT Communications have worked with great professionalism on the trial." DRM Pilot Transmission Schedule Broadcaster Times [UT +1] Day Virgin Radio 06:00-10:00 BST 7 days a week Asian Sound Radio 10:00-12:00 BST 7 days a week Classic Gold Digital 12:00-14:00 BST 7 days a week Premier Radio 14:00-15:00 BST 7 days a week CVC 17:00-18:00 BST Sunday Source: VT Communications press release. London, in English 31 May 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK?!?!?!?!?!?!?! VT, a great SW transmission provider, neglects to mention this minor fact in its press release promoting these new broadcasts! It never occurs to them that someone might actually want to tune in the broadcasts as a result of this publicity! They also neglect to mention that UK sites are not suitable for SW coverage of the UK itself! -- Something which anyone who knows the first thing about SW would point out. There was no mention of AUSTRIA in the above, just Western Europe, tho it obviously goes with the following item (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. 11815d Three logs of DRM transmissions from Moosbrunn, Austria, by three local/regional domestic UK broadcasters. I assume that they see DRM as a possible route to reach audiences they aren't reaching with their local analog and DAB transmissions. I suspect that this kind of one hop semi-local broadcasting may in fact be where DRM can succeed (unlike worldwide international broadcasts, where I believe its chances of success are far less likely). There's also some effort to make the 26 MHz band a de facto local ground wave broadcast band for DRM, according to a presentation at the US DRM consortium meeting in Washington a few weeks ago. It'll be interesting to see if that catches on. 11815 replaces 9815: 0900-1100 Daily NF 11815 MOS 050 kW / 295 deg to WeEu Asian Sound 1100-1300 Daily NF 11815 MOS 050 kW / 295 deg to WeEu Classic Gold 1300-1400 Daily NF 11815 MOS 050 kW / 295 deg to WeEu Premier Radio 11815D Asian Sound 5/28 0905 ID in English, Indian dance music, time check for 10 after 10, "Thanks for joining us on the Asian Sound Network", local frequencies given for Manchester, DAB, no mention of DRM; then repeating the same information in Urdu, seemingly aimed at Pakistani community; web site http://www.asiansoundradio.co.uk taking calls in a few minutes at phone number 0161 288 2000 to sell items over radio station, more music, swap shop phone calls with listeners, canned ID by American voice "Asian Sound Radio, the best in Asian music, time after time", greeting to phone callers is "Asalaam alaikum". Overmodulated audio during actualities (DJ needs to turn down the mic volume); very few dropouts, 17.54 kbps, some of the best reception I've had from a European DRM station, tag lines include "This is Asian Sound broadcasting on DRM across the UK" and "Asian Sound Radio - No 1 Asian Radio Station in the North West". 11815D Classic Gold 5/28 1208 oldies pop music, Van Morrison "Brown Eyed Girl", "Love Train"; unlistenable, only about 20% audio, constantly breaking up, S/N ratio about 10 dB; much worse than same frequency and site only 3 hours earlier; much better to listen online at http://www.northamptonshire.co.uk/1557/ 11815D Premier 5/28 1301 ID plate coming through, S/N ratio 6-8 dB, but very little audio http://www.brandi.org/ (Ralph Brandi-NJ-USA, DXplorer May 29 via BCDX via DXLD) see also DRM section below ~~~~~ ** BELGIUM [non]. Hans Weber states that the VB 6015 transmissions were cancelled by the management of the Jülich station after they were told about the possible contents of these broadcasts. No idea what if anything it has to say that he sold his report to the Swiss Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper rather than publishing it here in Germany: http://www.nzz.ch/2005/06/03/em/articleCV4HD.html All the best, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maeva FM indeed quit using 6015; no transmissions took place today. Apparently there is no TDP Radio broadcast (1400-1600) as well, at least 6015 remained empty until now (1450). So probably the whole TDP usage of T-Systems facilities has come to an end (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 1458 UT June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] Now see today`s posting from Ludo Maes re 6015 ... http://www.drmrx.org/forum/showthread.php?s=0177d426cd57bb33edae92f7ded3162b&threadid=1030&pagenumber=4 Certainly no transmission took place. I made sure that propagation is not to blame; the other German sites as well as Flevo-5955 came in with strong, unobstructed signals (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. R. Cultura, São Paulo, 17814.96, May 30 0120-0135+ romantic ballads, lite jazz, Portuguese announcements. Very weak, barely audible. Better on \\ 9614.98 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. June 3 at 1342, a roaring noise on 15700, some traces of talk modulation underneath it. I strongly suspect this is a malfunxioning R. Bulgaria transmitter, scheduled in Bulgarian during this hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non]. Re new 15480 for DVOB: The transmission time is 1430- 1530 UT, 15480 heard on June 3rd, started 1425:30 with short 'did- click' pips, different to the usual RUS/CIS pips; these lasted till 1427:30 UT. DVB programm started midst on odd time of 1428 UT! Thiny S=1-2 strength, and very heavy adjacent QRM of BBC Skelton 15485 kHz powerhouse. Nothing heard on \\ 5910 Almaty, and RNW site 17625 MDG, due to high summer season prop condition (wb, wwdxc BC-DX June 3 via DXLD) TECHNICAL PROBLEMS REDUCE VIEWERS OF DEMOCRATIC VOICE OF BURMA TV | Text of report by Clive Parker, carried by Burmese opposition radio Democratic Voice of Burma web site on 3 June A growing number of people in Rangoon are expected to try to tune in to the Democratic Voice of Burma's [DVB's] new television service this weekend as they attempt to overcome technical difficulties in receiving the new channel. Despite making its debut on Saturday, 28 May, many of Burma's residents are unable to receive its service. The Oslo-based DVB, operated by Burmese exiles, claims that the signal is as strong as that of BBC World, and that anyone can access it in Burma. Sources in Rangoon say the biggest obstacle for viewers trying to watch this channel is lack of technical know-how. A satellite television service provider in Rangoon said a small number of people had asked the channel to be tuned in. The owner of the business said he is now pre-setting all new satellite dishes to receive DVB's programmes as part of the service he provides to his customers. "I can't find the satellite PAS 10 (setting) that transmits DVB television. Other people may be in a similar situation," said one Rangoon-based journalist. The military government has not tried to block this station and does not have the capability to do so, he added. Another journalist said he has not watched the programme but two friends had watched it. Although he is not able to give his opinion on the programme, the journalist has warned that Burmese media groups in exile, such as the DVB, should be careful and avoid biased reporting. "But we welcome new media in Burma," he said. Rangoon's foreign community is increasingly talking about this new channel. An expatriate living in Burma confirmed that word was beginning to spread about this service and more people are trying to access it. "I think it will be seen very soon," he said. DVB claims that two-four million viewers will watch to start with, before more find out how to tune in, though evidence suggests that far fewer have been able to watch this channel so far. The service, which is broadcast on Saturdays between 0800-0900 p.m. [1330-1430 gmt] and on Sunday's from 1200-[0100] p.m. [0530-0630 gmt], made its debut last weekend with a news programme on the mid-May Rangoon bombings, a piece on Burmese migrants in Thailand, and the first part of a documentary titled "A force more powerful", which features information on the Burmese opposition movement. This weekend's programming will feature part two of the documentary. The channel said it had received positive feedback about its service this week, with many viewers asking to see more about the famous exiled Burmese rocker Mun Awng. Living in Oslo since 1988, the pop star has since released two albums featuring overtly political content, which were subsequently banned by the Burmese authorities. The exiled group is confident that the channel's popularity will eventually spread to the Burmese government. "If the (ruling) State Peace and Development Council are willing to watch our news, they will become part of the DVB's audience," said deputy director Khin Maung Win. DVB's service can be received via PAS 10, 68.5 degrees east on 3940H, symbol rate 3000. Source: Democratic Voice of Burma web site, Oslo, in Burmese 3 Jun 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** CHINA. 3900, Hulun Buir PBS, Hailar, what sounded like a U.S. or U.K. pop music concert 1219-1226 May 21, then into more traditional programming with various M&W announcers in Chinese to 1259 when an ARO tuning up on frequency took out signal for about 3 minutes. After this, signals disappeared into mud. The pop music concert caught my attention, as this is somewhat unusual for PBS stations. SINPO 35533 with fade to S2 after 1245 (Bruce Churchill-CA-USA, DXplorer May 29 via BCDX via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. USA(non): UNIDentified station in Chinese heard in Bulgaria: 1400-1500 on 11555 not via WHR 100 kW / 285 deg (Observer, Bulgaria, June 3 via DXLD) Believe that`s Falun Dafa (gh) ** CUBA. Once again this morning, Fri June 3, RHC has special morning English broadcasts, live coverage in translation by YL of the International Meeting Against Terrorism, For Truth & Justice, as identified at 1350 UT. Tuned in at 1330 on 9550, 12000 and 13680 in English when someone from Paraguay was speaking. The English channels allowed the original Spanish to cut on and off abruptly during English pauses, very annoying; otherwise the Spanish track was inaudible, rather than barely audible underneath as it had been the day before. I meant to mention yesterday that of the usual Spanish frequencies, 15230 was inaudible but it was on today, tho weaker than the others, presumably aimed at SAm. Spanish also on 11760, 11800, 6000 (barely audible by 1354 check), and 11875, which I had not noted on Thursday, but the latter was gone when rechecked at 1420. Fidel is presiding over this event, which guarantees it full coverage on RHC, and VP Rangel of Venezuela is also there. At 1420, audio on 13680 was almost gone, another bad patch cord, I guess, but OK on 9550, as the mother of a Disappeared from Argentina finished speaking. It appears that just about every unfortunate event in Latin America over the past 50 years can be classified as terrorism now, with the CIA and USA somehow behind them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:]. I couldn`t keep listening but made sporadic checks when possible, sometimes on the car radio, which suffers from insensitivity and local FM image overload on some frequencies. At 1619, there was music on the Spanish frequencies, and could not hear any of the English frequencies. At 1649, Spanish on 11760, English on 9550, and too much noise on 12 and 13 MHz. 1830 recheck, 9550 still with English. Live events at the meeting were apparently in recess much of this time, accounting for music breaks, and discussion from the studio, interviews from the floor with Ed Newman. At 1840 all three English frequencies reconfirmed, and at 1842, 11760 paused for an ID in Spanish mentioning the same set of frequencies as earlier in the morning, and all confirmed except for 6000, and yes, 11875 was back on. At 1930, English still going from the studio with music breaks, discussing Operation Condor, which Fidel thinks is still in operation thruout Latin America. The conference started Thursday, but I`m not sure whether it lasts two or three days. Will RHC blow away its scheduled language programming this afternoon or reserve a few transmitters for that, and Venezuela relay which is supposed to be on 3 or 4 frequencies including 13680 at 2000? We should read all about it and listen to webcast at http://www.radiohc.cu --- yeah, sure, down as frequently the case (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] Yes, continued on 13680 at least, in English past 2000, too bad for RNV, and the webcast also came up intermittently when I linked to RHC2 via http://www.publicradiofan.com (Glenn, June 4, dxldyg via DXLD) Once again on Saturday June 4 from before 1400 UT; not sure when it starts. And still going at 2251 check June 4, on same three English frequencies as much earlier in the day; and after 2300 when 13680 collided with CRI via Canada --- instead of RNVAI via Cuba. Is this the final day? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. British Army Cyprus OHR [over horizon radar], chirping 15/50 Hz system, on 10115 at 0530; 14000 at 1330; 18075 at 1200; 18100 at 1610; 18105 at 0650 spreading 18095-18150 kHz; 18160 at 1320 UT 50 Hz; 21000 at 0520 25 Hz; 21065 at 1500; 21115/21120 at 1030 pulses up to 21145; 21270/21290/21300/21395/21400, and 28080 at 1300 (Ham Radio Bandwatch, May 9 via BCDX via DXLD) Are these only on hambands, or do the hams only care if it intrudes onto hambands? (gh, DXLD) See also RUSSIA ** DJIBOUTI. RTD Djibouti, 4780, May 28 *0300-0330+, sign-on with local instrumental music followed by announcements in vernacular. 0302 Kor`an, 0324 Horn of Africa music. Good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Djibouti, 4780 kHz, bestaetigte meinen Empfangsbericht innerhalb von 62 Tagen mit einem det. Brief und Aufkleber. QTH: Rue St. Laurent du Var, B.P. 97, Djibouti. E-mail rtdtech @ intnet.dj Web: http://www.rtd.dj Folgender Sendeplan wird fuer die Chaine Internationale auf 1539 kHz und 4780 kHz (jeweils 50 kW) angegeben: unter der Woche 0300-2000 UT bzw. Freitag & Feiertag 0500-2000 UT. Nachrichten in Somali gibt's um 0330 / 1200 / 1700 UT, Nx in Afar um 0430 / 1000 / 1830 UT und Nx in Arabisch um 0600 / 1400 UT (Patrick Robic-AUT, A-DX May 30 via BCDX via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. Frequency change for HCJB in Spanish to SoAm effective from May 23: 1100-1500 NF 11690 QUI 100 kW / 150 deg, ex 11760 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 3 via DXLD) Like I said (gh) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Dejen R. in Tigre??? Hi all, In the same manner as last week, broadcast on 12120 kHz lasts beyond 1800 today. I cannot decide whether it is still Dejen R. which is scheduled at 1700-1800 Sats in Tigrigna. Announcer repeats the word "Tigrai" too often. A week ago, similar broadcast ended at 1900 (Dmitry Mezin, Russia, June 4, HCDX via DXLD) They identified clearly as Dejen Radio at 1859 UT. Comparing to the ID's on their web site I'd say that this ID was in Tigrinya, but they also list Amharic programs on http://www.ethiopiancommentator.com/dejenradio/ I wonder if Ludo Maes is on this list; he should know the actual schedule. Nothing mentioned yet about possible regular extension on http://www.airtime.be/schedule.html 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) ** EUROPE. Pirate, Mystery Radio, 6220.03, May 29 0325-0400+ canned ID announcements, otherwise just continuous pop music, Euro-pop techno dance music. Way too much reverb in the IDs making it difficult to understand; fair-good. Also heard next night, May 30 at 0032-0045+ on same frequency with surprisingly strong signal (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. SWR's 3-4th June transmission --- Dear Listeners, Scandinavian Weekend Radio's next transmission starts today 3rd June 21 hours UT. Actions are on 25 mb (11690/11720 kHz), 48 mb (5980/5990/6170 kHz). and MW 187 meters 1602 kHz. more info: http://www.swradio.net Postal address of SWR is: P. O. Box 99, FI-34801 VIRRAT, Finland Program schedule (time local UT+3 hours): 00-02 Party Time with TrickyTrev. A selection of party hits to set the weekend jumping and the party swinging. 02-04 JarióJiriBand-illanvietto. Vetäjinä dj J4 & Wsi M -0,5 04-08 Yökyöpeli - NightOwl by Häkä 08-09 Science corner by Esa. Science news from NASA. 09-10 Progressive rock and other strange things by Esa 10-11 Lauantailuotain: Ohjelmassa sairaalapastor Pentti Takala Seinäjoen keskussairaalasta. 11-12 Studiossa dj Janne 12-13 SWR Crew 13-14 Kesä-Esan iskelmätunti 14-15 Virrat tänään - Virrat Today by Häkä 15-17 The 60s & 70s show with TrickyTrev. A selection of music from these times with Special featured artistes.- Suzi Quatro, Canned Heat and The Swinging Blue Jeans including the latest up date on them all. 17-18 SWR Crew 18-19 Studiossa dj Janne 19-20 Progressive rock and other strange things by Esa 20-21 Levyraato by Peeveli 21-22 Saunan lämmitys - Warming up The Sauna by Häkä 22-23 Levyraato by Peeveli 23-24 Lopetusseremoniat - Closing seremony by Häkä Scandinavian Weekend Radio is arranging together with Finnish DX Assosiation a Summer meeting held in Virrat Finland 12-14th August 2005. During this meeting it is good chance to meet other dx-ers etc. During this happening there is a Summer Meeting Radio working on SWR's frequencies and we also have a visit to the station as well. Please visit: http://www.swradio.net/eng/kesis.htm Best Greetings, (Alpo Heinonen, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [was posted well in advance on the dxldyg] ** FRANCE. DRM RFI 6175 kHz. Thank you for your reports; specially the very first one from Greece [sic]. Today May 19 we have started transmitting RFI in DRM on 6175 kHz using different languages and azimuths according to the following time schedule: - 0500 to 0700 UTC: French + German 50 degr (Germany), - 0700 to 0800 UTC: French 180 degr (South of France, East of Spain, West of Italy, North Africa...), - 0800 to 0900 UTC: French 330 degr (UK), - 1000 to 1100 UTC: French + German 50 degr (Germany), - 1600 to 1700 UTC: German 50 degr (Germany), - 2230 to 2330 UTC: French + Spanish 225 degr (Spain, Portugal, Canary Islands?). The new antenna in use is a 2/2/0.4 (rotatable Alliss antenna), the transmitter power is about 30 kW. All reports will be appreciated, specially in new target zones and comparisons with the previous ND coverage in Germany. Regards (Jacques Gruson-F, drmrx.org May 15 via BC-DX via DXLD) Sorry for my lack of activity but thanks all for keeping sending reports and special thanks to Daniel for his comments in French! I was last Friday May 13 in our DRM transmitting site located in la Madone near Nice (MCR S7HP THALES tx with about 70 kW RMS in DRM) [must be referring to MW 702 kHz --- gh] which is currently transmitting RFI in DRM between 0600 and 1600 UT and after that I was in Cannes Film Festival with no Internet facilities so I am now just discovering your messages. I see that conditions were not too good today except the 1600 to 1700 UT time slot which is nearly always pretty good in Germany. 0500 to 0900 UT is not easy at the beginning of the time slot, 1000 to 1100 UT is usually better. Starting from Thursday May 18 (I hope...), we will transmit with a 2/2 Alliss rotatable antenna and different languages so please watch your S-Meters and SNR indicators.!!! Best regards (Jacques F6AJW, drmrx.org May 16 via BCDX via DXLD) ** GERMANY. MV Baltic Radio ist am 5. Juni 2005, [1200 UT] 1400 Uhr MESZ im 49m - Europa- Band, 6045 kHz auf Sendung. 6045 MV Baltic Radio on air again, 05th June 2005 at 1200 UT in the 49m European- SW band In unserer Sendung am 5. Juni stellen wir den in England geborenen Saenger Eric Clapton vor, der waehrend seiner rund 45jaehrigen Musikerlaufbahn unter anderem mit den Yardbirds, Cream und Blind Faith beruehmt wurde. Waehrend seiner anschliessenden Solokarriere nahm er einige Dutzend Platten auf. Der heute 60-Jaehrige gilt als der beste weisse Bluesinterpret. Nach 30 Jahren ist der zum Islam uebergetretene Saenger Cat Stevens erstmals wieder in Deutschland aufgetreten. Bei einem Benefizkonzert in Neuss praesentierte Stevens neben neuen Kompositionen auch bekannte Hits wie "Peace Train" und "Where do the children play". Zusammen mit Sir Paul McCartney spielte er den Beatles-Klassiker "Let it be". R&R Medienservice, Roland Rohde, Seestrasse 17, D-19089 Goehren, Germany. eMail: info @ mvbalticradio.de http://www.mvbalticradio.de (via Joachim Thiel-D, A-DX June 3 via BCDX via DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. Additional frequency for Deutsche Welle in Chinese: 1300-1350 on 5945 K/A 250 kW / 213 deg \\ 15355 TRM, 15425 SNG, 17660 TRM (Observer, Bulgaria, June 3 via DXLD) Komsomol`sk na Amure, DVR ** HAWAII. KWHR, 11555, 20 over 9 in Japanese at 1350 Fri June 3; that`s the same half hour as the Vietnamese clandestine mentioned in 5-091 on Saturdays and Sundays. Direxional antenna efficiency at Naalehu leaves something to be desired, putting so much signal back this way (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. 810 and 1341 kHz --- Magyar Katolikus Rádió, the new Catholic station launched by the Hungarian Bishops Conference last spring, goes nationwide on April 1st by turning on two new transmitters. For the past year, the station has been operation from a single transmitter in Szolnok on 1341 AM. On April lst, it will be joined by a transmitter in Lakihegy on 810 AM, which will cover the middle part of Hungary, and Lakihegy on 1341 AM, in the western part of Hungary. According to Mr. Ferenc Zlinszky, the deputy editor at the FM network in northern Hungary, MKR, which is a separate institution from Magyar Katolikus Rádió on AM radio, "Until now, only one of the three planned transmitters has been operating: the one in Szolnok, in the eastern half of the country, 1341 AM. So, the "country-wide" broadcasting will become a reality on the first of April." Further, Mr. Zlinszky reports that, in regard to the Szolnok transmitter, "this one will be replaced with a new equipment, too." (Catholic Radio Update # 325 20.3.2005 via Olle Alm, ARC Info Desk April 25 via Olle Alm, June 4, DXLD) There is a bad echo on 1341 now -oa/ (Olle Alm, Sweden, ibid.) Second 1341 site is Siófok near the eastern tip of the Balaton lake. Now I note no echo on 1341 anymore, but some distortion and especially on speech the hollow sound typical for skywave reception of SFN networks, as it can be heard on the UK synchro frequencies. Meanwhile they also added a compressor (Optimod or a competitor's product), so they are now considerably louder than when they started back in last year. Makes quite a difference especially because they play many classical music with faint parts. Here are nice aerial views of the Lakihegy station south of Budapest (original Blaw Knox antenna?), the Solt 2000 kW plant (540 kHz) and some other sites: http://www.ahrt.hu/en/aboutus/press_photos.php All the best, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. AL-SHARQIYAH TV LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE, OFFERS LIVE VIDEO STREAM Checks at 1550 gmt on the 3 June on the websites of Iraq's first privately-owned and independent TV station, Al-Sharqiyah (the Eastern One), at http://www.alsharqiyatv.com and also http://www.alsharqiya.com revealed numerous new features. Previous checks on these websites had noted no significant content, except for the station logo in Arabic and English, with "under construction" half-way down the page. This seems to imply that the new content has been added very recently. Both websites currently appear to be mirrors of each other, and are well populated with items, pictures and links, one of which offers access to a live video stream of the station. This was noted to be in parallel with the satellite TV signal of the station broadcasting from the 13 degrees east Hotbird satellite. The video quality of the live stream was quite poor, with low resolution, but streaming was smooth, with no noticeable dropouts. The website is attractively laid-out, and is in Arabic. A link to the UK Weather Channel features at the bottom of the home page. Al-Sharqiyah's owner and chairman is the Dubai-based Iraqi media tycoon Saad Bazzaz, who also owns the London-based Arabic-language daily Azzaman. Source: BBC Monitoring research 1550 gmt 3 Jun 05 (via DXLD) ** JAPAN. Being the 70th anniversary, are they going to broadcast original programmes --- like ``The Bombing of Pearl Harbour", ``The fall of Singapore" and the other stuff they did in WWII (Dallas ``Furrything``, By the Tasmean Sea, New Zealand, HCDX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Quito 3/6 2005 *** Friday edition: *** Recording of 6009.996, Radio Mil, México City. Has anyone noted that Radio Mil on 6010 kHz is coming in with good signal and without interference? I have never heard Radio Mil that strong before. The singer on the clip is one of México´s super-mega stars: Luis Miguel. Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You have to go to BM`s page to find out the time of this report/recording: 1045 UT. Yes, I have, but not at that hour (gh, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Transmitter reliability, etc.: See RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM below ** NETHERLANDS [and non] Frequency changes for Radio Netherlands: 0200-0257 NF 9890 FLE 500 kW / 275 deg CeAm in Spanish, ex 6165 1200-1257 NF 15640 MDC 250 kW / 085 deg SoEaAs in Indonesian, ex 15645 2100-2157 NF 9480 FLE 040 kW / 123 deg WeEu in Dutch in DRM, ex 12015 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 3 via DXLD) ** PERU. R. Altura, 5014.53, May 28 0210-0340+, continuous Spanish talk to 0230 ads; after 0233 a variety of Spanish pops, ballads and OA folk music, IDs; weak. R. San Andrés, Cutervo, 5544.66, May 28 0245-0340+ Spanish talk, OA folk music, 0305 & 0308 IDs. Fair; on later than usual. Sign-off noted lately around 0315. La Voz del Campesino, Huarmaca, 6956.94, May 30 0130-0307* OA folk music, Spanish pops, talk, abrupt sign-off. Presumed; no ID heard. Poor-weak (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. Frequency change for RDP Int / Radio Portugal in Portuguese Mon-Fri: 1600-1900 NF 15555 LIS 300 kW / 045 deg to WeEu, ex 11905 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 3 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. OHR Russian OH-Radar, system "ABM-2" chirping pulses 50 kHz spread, noted on 14190 at 0620 and 0800; 14340 at 0650; 14350 kHz 0850, 0930, and 1130 UT; last month (Ham Radio Bandwatch, May 9 via BCDX via DXLD) Are these only on hambands, or do the hams only care if it intrudes onto hambands? (gh, DXLD) See also CYPRUS ** RUSSIA. Frequency change for Voice of Russia effective from May 20 and May 25: 0100-0500 English WS NF 15555 VLD 500 kW / 050 deg NoAmEa, ex 17660 1300-1400 Russian WS NF 9355 K/A 250 kW / 180 deg SoEaAs, ex 9480 1500-1600 Russian WS NF 6070 NVS 100 kW / 180 deg CeSoAs, ex 5945 1700-1800 Russian WS on 15125 SAM 250 kW / 240 deg CeWeEu additional (Observer, Bulgaria, June 3 via DXLD) ** SERBIA & MONTENEGRO [non]. A-05 schedule of International Radio of Serbia & Montenegro 1300-1428 Daily 7200 BEO 250 kW / non-dir Serbian EaEu (HS-1) 1430-1458 Daily 11800 BEO 250 kW / 130 deg Arabic ME 1500-1528 Daily 11870 BEO 250 kW / 040 deg Russian RUS 1530-1543 Daily 6100 BEO 250 kW / non-dir Hungarian CeEu 1545-1558 Daily 6100 BEO 250 kW / 130 deg Greek SoEaEu 1600-1628 Daily 9620 BEO 250 kW / 310 deg French WeEu 1630-1658 Daily 9620 BEO 250 kW / 310 deg German WeEu 1700-1713 Daily 6100 BEO 250 kW / 180 deg Albanian SoEaEu 1715-1728 Daily 6100 BEO 250 kW / 130 deg Bulgarian SoEaEu 1730-1758 Daily 9620 BEO 250 kW / 310 deg Italian WeEu 1800-1828 Daily 6100 BEO 250 kW / 040 deg Russian RUS 1830-1858 Daily 6100 BEO 250 kW / 310 deg English WeEu 1900-1928 Daily 7200 BEO 250 kW / 250 deg Spanish SoEu 1930-1958 Sun-Fri 6100 BEO 250 kW / 310 deg Serbian WeEu 1930-2028 Sat 6100 BEO 250 kW / 310 deg Serbian WeEu 2000-2028 Sun-Fri 6100 BEO 250 kW / 310 deg German WeEu 2030-2058 Daily 6100 BEO 250 kW / 310 deg French WeEu 2100-2128 Daily 6100 BEO 250 kW / 310 deg Englidh WeEu 2130-2158 Sun-Fri 7230 BEO 250 kW / 100 deg Serbian AUS 2130-2228 Sat 7230 BEO 250 kW / 100 deg Serbian AUS 2200-2228 Sun-Fri 7230 BEO 250 kW / 100 deg English AUS 2230-2258 Daily 9580 BEO 250 kW / 055 deg Chinese SoEaAs 2300-2328 Daily 9680 BEO 250 kW / 265 deg Spanish SoAmWe 2330-2358 Mon-Sat 9580 BEO 250 kW / 310 deg Serbian NoAmEa 2330-0028 Sun 9580 BEO 250 kW / 310 deg Serbian NoAmEa 0000-0028 Mon-Sat 9580 BEO 250 kW / 310 deg English NoAmEa 0030-0058 Daily 9580 BEO 250 kW / 310 deg Serbian NoAmEa (HS-1) 0430-0458 Daily 9580 BEO 250 kW / 325 deg English NoAmWe (Observer, Bulgaria, June 3 via DXLD) Anything hew here?? (gh) ** SOMALIA [non]. Hi Glenn, Checked 15650, 1730-1800 heard nothing. 15660 had a station broadcasting with the same signal strength and fades as the earlier tests, with Arabic programming. Mostly announcements (David Pringle-Wood, Zimbabwe, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As previously reported here, 15660 is Libya via France (gh) Radio Horyaal in Somali via DTK T-Systems from June 4: 1730-1800 Sat- Thu on 15650 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg to EaAf \\ 12130 via SAM (Observer, Bulgaria, June 3 via DXLD) So it is NOT a new clandestine, just an old one with an additional broadcast/site (gh) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Frequency change for South African Radio League in English from May 29: 0800-0900 Sun NF 17565 MEY 250 kW / 019 deg, ex 17810 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 3 via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Deleted transmissions of Brother Stair in English via DTK T-Systems: 0000-0300 on 9430 JUL 100 kW / 305 deg to NoAm 0800-0900 on 13810 JUL 100 kW / 250 deg to AUS/NZ 2000-2100 on 9430 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg to SoAf (Observer, Bulgaria, June 3 via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. SLBC, 15748, May 28 0125-0200+, tune-in to English religious music, 0130 ID, wide variety of US religious music, EZ listening US oldies, pop music of the 50s and 60s and even some BeeGees music from the 70s. 0200 time pips, ID, English news. Fair- good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWAZILAND. Frequency change for TWR Africa in Swahili: 0300-0345 NF 6110 MAN 100 kW / 005 deg, ex 6040 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 3 via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Radio Ukraine International announced that they would be using new 7490 ex 7420 from June 3rd for the 2100-2200 English broadcast to Europe. (Edwin Southwell, Basingstoke, UK, World DX Club) I checked their website and 7490 is used 2100-2400 from Kharkiv to Western Europe, English 2100, Ukrainian 2200, German 2300 (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth Garden City, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. Today`s BBC WS problem, June 3: 15190 via Guiana French at 1340 was very weakly modulated; no comparison to Cariari on 15170 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. Re 5-091: ``Radio London ... is aimed at the over-30s with music from the 1950s" That should have read from the 1950s onwards (Mike Barraclough, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and sorta non]. Mechanical female voice giving Caribbean marine weather in English, 0508 UT June 3 on 17362 SSB; imagine my surprise when I megahertzed the FRG-7 downward to 13362, not touching the kHz, and heard SSB music already tuned in! This of course was AFN via Guam, USA, Where America`s Day Begins --- isn`t it about time for statehood? Not \\ 12133 with talk. At 0526 13362 mentioned AFN. Klingenfuss 2002 does not list a USCG station on 17362, but I would have guessed NMN (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWCR has updated its specialty programs listing as of June 1: http://www.wwcr.com/wwcr_program/wwcr_specialty_pgm_text.html (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. WYFR in new language - Pashto or Dari to WeAs from May 15: 1400-1500 NF 11510 ARM 300 kW / 110 deg. ARM = Armavir, Russia Freq change for WYFR in Swahili to CeSoAf from May 20: 1800-1857 NF 7245 MDC 050 kW / 295 deg, ex 11920 MDC 050 kW / 320 deg (Observer, Bulgaria, June 3 via DXLD) MDC = Madagascar ** U S A. Commemorative FM broadcast April 11, 2005 - In commemoration of the 70th anniversary of Major E.H. Armstrong's first public demonstration of wide band frequency modulation, Steve Hemphill, owner of Solid Electronics Laboratories, a Pennsylvania broadcast equipment manufacturer, and Charles Sackermann, Jr., the CEO of CSC Management, Inc., who is the owner of the Alpine Tower in Alpine, N.J., would like to announce that they will be doing a commemorative FM broadcast from the Alpine tower site on June 11th and 12th of 2005. They have secured Special Temporary Authority from the FCC to conduct the broadcast on Major Armstrong's original FM frequency of 42.8 MHz under experimental callsign WA2XMN. The broadcast program material will consist of David Ossman's dramatic production of Empire of the Air, which was based on the book by author Tom Lewis. They also plan to air excerpts from a 1941 test broadcast between member stations of the original New England Yankee Network, featuring actual voice recordings of Major Armstrong himself, Paul DeMars, Yankee Network Chief Engineer, and others. There will also be a rebroadcast of the final sign off of Major Armstrong's pioneer FM station W2XMN/KE2XCC, which went dark on February the 25th, 1954, after Major Armstrong's death. A streaming web cast of the commemorative broadcast is also planned, the details of which will be forthcoming. Additional information about the commemorative broadcast and about the Alpine tower site can be obtained on their website: http://www.cscmgt.com (via Patrick Griffith, DXLD) ** U S A. FOX RADIO DEBUTS 5-MIN. NEWS By Ken Tucker, Billboard Radio Monitor MediaWeek.com It was a busy morning at Fox News Radio's New York headquarters as Fox News chairman/CEO Roger Ailes cut the ribbon on newly constructed studios, the network debuted a five minute newscast and then officially signed on 60 new affiliates. Though stations will be free to choose their news provider, the number of Clear Channel affiliates is expected to grow in August when a deal with ABC News Radio expires. ABC has faced some difficulties in pro- Republican parts of the country where N/T affiliates have delivered right wing offerings such as Rush Limbaugh against ABC news content considered by some listeners in these regions to carry a liberal bias. The deal with Clear Channel was first reported by Billboard Radio Monitor in December of last year. Fox's five-minute newscast service consists of five minutes at the top of the hour and one minute at the bottom of the hour. It also includes Fox News Alerts up to six times per hour if needed, as well as live anchored coverage of breaking news events and unanchored feeds of news events as warranted. The company previously provided a one-minute newscast, but added the five-minute cast to better serve N/T stations. "It's important if we're in this business that we're in it in the visible ways that the old-line guys are in it," Fox News Radio senior vp Kevin Magee told the Associated Press. The moves are the latest by the network, a leader in the TV news game, to broaden its reach into radio. Fox News Radio, which is under the Fox News umbrella, will utilize some of the same personalities TV viewers are accustomed to. Though the radio staff has grown from six employees to roughly 40, Magee tells Billboard Radio Monitor that company lines will be crossed. "It's a mistake to say that we've got 40 people working at Fox Radio," Magee says, "because we've made it perfectly clear to everyone [within the organization] -- and the good news is, that everyone has made it perfectly clear to us -- that everyone that works at the Fox News Channel wants to work for Fox Radio and, in fact, is working for Fox Radio." With today's addition, the number of affiliates rose to over 300, according to the company. The network expects to add 200 more by the end of the summer (via Brock Whaley, June 3, DXLD) News business???? Fox is in the propaganda business (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Blitzer announced on his program that they'll be running a program from CNN International: "Your World Today" on weekdays at noon Eastern. High time (Clara Listensprechen, June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, on the TV Guide online sked for domestic CNN as of June 6, at 1600-1700 UT --- and one hour less of Blitzer, yeah! (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** VENEZUELA. HOY VI POR PRIMERA VEZ LA SEÑAL DE TELESUR Saludos cordiales queridos colegas diexistas. Espero que se encuentren todos muy bien. Hoy he visto por primera vez, imágenes del canal Telesur, y para ser sincero quiero decirles que lo que he visto me ha deprimido. He visto a los presidentes latinoamericanos de Argentina y Venezuela firmando papeles en hoteles llenos de lujo junto al dictador cubano Fidel Castro en el mismo hotel, rodeados de todas las comodidades posibles y muy elegantemente vestidos. Pero y porqué cuando colocan las imágenes del pueblo, tienen que salir un grupo de venezolanos humildes marchando por las calles sudados con franelas rojas. Porqué tiene que salir una mujer latinoamericana sin dientes, hablando de lo bueno del canal Tele Sur, aunque lo que dijo fue muy bueno y se expresó muy bien. Pude ver igualmente una venezolana bañándose en una regadera cantando una canción, pero lo que cantaba no lo entendía. Ví la imagen de un río súper contaminado ¿pero quien lo contaminó de tal manera? Pués la misma gente humilde que vive cerca del río. Pude oir a un personaje que no se quien es, porque ni siquiera en el cintillo de la pantalla colocaron su nombre, diciendo que había que dejar en el pasado todos los vicios de la televisión. Observé a cubanos cortando caña, todos ellos bañados en sudor y niños saliendo de una casa de zinc, mujeres cocinando en cocinas inmundas llenas de palo y leña, ollas negras de tanto hollín, otros tomando café de ollitas igualmente negras de tanto hollín, un campesino en su tractor con unas ruedas que estaban a punto de romperse, venezolanos humildes en una plaza sentados, uno parecía un limpiabotas y ya era una persona mayor, otro comía algo, pero tenía su franela roja con la cara del guerrillero Che Guevara, otro estaba vendiendo banderitas de Bolivia, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela etc, ví personas protestando y gritando ``Poder Popular``, personas llevando a otras en unos carritos, donde seguramente el turista es el pasajero y el que lo empuja un humilde cubano, vi televisores antiguos en blanco y negro, banderas de EEUU rayadas y todo en contra del imperialismo, fotos de Salvador Allende, Escuelas en el último estado de la miseria, un grupo de personas protestando y gritando ``América Latina Libre y Soberana`` --- aaahhhh y lo que nunca puede dejar de ponerse, indígenas de nuestros paises bailando y danzando con sus trajes típicos. Esto es mi criterio; no sé porque se empeñan en presentar a nuestra América Latina en tan semejante situación de pobreza, es que acaso no hay nada bonito que mostrar? De repente cuando la televisión comience con su programación regular cambien las cosas y nos muestren algo más reconfortante de nuestra querida América Latina. ¡Ahh! Se me olvidaba, claro que vi algo bonito hoy en Telesur, unos lindos niños latinoamericanos gritando ``Telesur``, esa imagen me gustó mucho, como también me gustó la imagen de un ``Charango`` boliviano y la música que le pusieron de fondo, ¡ me fascina la música boliviana! Ojalá que todo lo que ví el dia de hoy en la programación de Telesur, hubiese sido algo bonito de nuestros paises latinoamericanos que salieron en programación. Yo quiero ver los progresos de nuestra América, la inteligencia de nuestras mujeres y hombres, lo felíz de nuestros niños en escuelas decentes, nuestros jóvenes en universidades bien dotadas, nuestras bellezas naturales, nuestros paisajes, nuestros artistas, nuestros avances tecnológicos, nuestras industrias, nuestras carreteras y autopistas, nuestros centros comerciales, nuestra radio y televisión como debe ser, centros de computación y todos los adelantos posibles que me hagan sentir orgulloso de ser latinoamericano. No quiero ver ese retroceso que programaron el dia de hoy. En pocas palabras no vi nada que me indicara que nuestra América Latina está progresando, a excepción de lo comentado anteriormente sobre los niños y el charango boliviano. Espero que Telesur me muestre todo lo bello de nuestra América Latina. Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, May 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hola: Perdona José, no podía callarme --- por lo que yo conozco de la situación en América Latina,(algunos hemos viajado por allá y no precisamente a tomar el sol), junto a algunos logros y esfuerzos en el desarrollo también hay una inmensa pobreza. No me parece mal que se muestren ambas facetas en ese Telesur. El problema es sin duda la enorme desigualdad social, la riqueza en manos de unos pocos, la miseria en manos de una mayoría.... y pocos avances para cambiar eso.A modo de ejemplo, Ecuador con inmensas riquezas naturales y sin embargo un millón de ecuatorianos salieron del país para huir de la pobreza, de la falta de esperanza, y sin confianza en el futuro de su patria. (Esto hoy tampoco era diexismo) Un abrazo (Tomás Méndez, Spain, Noticias DX via DXLD) Quiero creer que las palabras de nuestro amigo José Elías han sido generadas por la fuerte impresión que le causaron las imágenes de Telesur. Quiero también interpretar que las apreciaciones del colega sobre esas imágenes denotan profundos deseos que van más allá de la concreta realidad --- esa que nos duele, que nos sensibiliza. Pero los deseos suelen entrar en el terreno de la utopía. Yo quisiera una sociedad mundial justa, una absoluta igualdad de posibilidades en todos los aspectos de la vida humana --- que no haya guerras, que no exista la pobreza, que se termine el hambre y millones de anhelos más --- que dejarían de ser deseos utópicos sino viviéramos en un mundo de dominadores y dominados (frase esta última igualmente utópica). También yo quisiera prender mi televisor para no ver triunfar siempre a la noticia negativa, la secuencia dolorosa, el hecho desagradable... lo que más rating logra en una teleaudiencia cada vez más fagocitada y autodestructiva. El tema es saber que es lo que una pantalla ``le quiere vender a tus ojos`` y que es lo que ``tus ojos quieren ver``. Como a mi me gusta mucho más la radio que la TV, quisiera terminar con un bello pensamiento del esteta alemán Rudolf Arnheim cuando define a la radiofonicidad: ``La Radio no ha de considerarse como un simple aparato transmisor, sino como un medio para crear, según sus propias leyes, un mundo acústico de la realidad``. Este pensamiento (publicado en la pág. 13 del libro ``Radiofonías, palabras y sonidos de largo alcance`` de Oscar E. Bosetti - Editorial Colihue) es obviamente aplicable a la televisión. Saludos José, Tomás y demás amigos! (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, ibid.) ** VIETNAM [non]. Frequency change for Radio Free Vietnam in Vietnamese: 1230-1300 Mon-Fri NF 11555 WHR 100 kW / 285 deg, ex 9930 (Observer, Bulgaria, June 3 via DXLD) See also HAWAII ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. / ALGERIA 7466 kHz, Polisario Front (Rabuni site?), observed on 03 JUN 0928 (typical s/off time on Friday was 0900, as monitored on previous Friday, 27 May), in Arabic, 35433; the rest had to be an unattended, recorded monitoring, which ran till approximately 1010 when they sign off almost abruptly without the usual national anthem. Details: at ±1045~1050, "R. for Peace" ID in Italian, English, Spanish & Arabic, announcing this broadcast is on Friday 0700-1100 Algerian/Italian local Winter time via HotBird sat. 11199.66 MHz, Y Vertical polarization, to Eur+N Africa & to W. Sahara via local transmitter (presumably VHF-FM only c/o the so-called RASD). At approximately 1004, more announcements in Arabic, then a 1'12'' silence followed by some talks and an abrupt closure. The carrier with some noise remained on for some 4 minutes. During the very brief program in Spanish from R.fP, they announced it's a project for help & solidarity aimed at W. Sahara people also sponsored by the Emilia Romagna region in Bologna, Italy. E-mail address RadioforPeace @ libero.it or possibly radioforpeace@libero.it (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Case makes no difference in e-mail addresses. First I had heard of Radio for Peace show, previously? Still? On IRRS actually being broadcast by the Polisario transmitter (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also UNIDENTIFIED below ** ZIMBABWE [non]. Actually, I hear that SWRA got a last-minute reprieve, staying on SW for one hour at 1700-1800 on 15145. Check it out Wednesday (Glenn, dxldyg May 31, WORLD OF RADIO 1276 via DXLD) Try it at 1700-1800 UT on powerful Woofferton-UK signal, undoubtedly 300 kW powerhouse! (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, wwdxc BC-DX June 1) [also noted on June 2nd, wb.](BCDX via DXLD) Hi Glenn, 15145, 1700-1800 SW Radio Africa has been heard in Zimbabwe without jamming, from UK facilities. The station reports on air that it will only be active for one week in June. Other frequencies of SW Radio Africa are inactive --- 4880, 12145, 11770 and so too are the local jammers. The local Chinese jammers seemed to have given up. Andy Sennitt published a decent article in support of SWRA. 73, (David Pringle-Wood, Zimbabwe, June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15145 SW Radio Africa 1700-1800, in the clear! (David Pringle-Wood, Zimbabwe, June 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Got any idea who that is on 7465 just prior to 2200 when WWCR signs on (weekdays) Its just above noise level here but when WWCR comes up I can hear about 700 Hz beat between the two. From the snippets of audio I could make out, it sounds like Africa. But I think I am at the end of the ground signal for WWCR so that beat is fairly annoying (Lou Johnson, KF4EON, Doraville GA, June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Lou, That would be La Voz de la República Árabe Saharahui Democrática, probably transmitted from Algeria, for Western Sahara. They recently moved up from 7460 to 7466 (apparently 7565.7 really on this occasion). (Glenn to Lou, via DXLD) As above Thanks Glenn. Well, it may be 1 kHz difference. I may need to have my ears recalibrated. Perhaps we can get George or Adam to go over there and put their transmitter on frequency so that the beat note is not so objectionable. I know they like to take field trips. Otherwise I'll have to find another way to listen to Steve Quayle's ramblings (Lou Johnson, KF4EON, Atlanta, ibid.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DRM [see also AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, FRANCE above] +++ USA DRM group meeting report --- A comprehensive report on the May 5th meeting is at http://www.usdrm.com/05USAMTG.html (Mike Barraclough, UK, dxldyg via DXLD) Viz.: REPORT ON 2005 USA DRM GROUP MEETING May 5, 2005, Radio Free Asia-Washington, DC After conducting a tour of Radio Free Asia for those who had never been there before, Hal Creech welcomed everyone to RFA, and explained that the fact that this meeting is being held at RFA in no way implies that RFA or the U.S. Government endorse DRM. Jeff White, USA DRM Chairman, explained that he had laryngitis, so others -- including Don Messer -- would be helping him conduct the meeting today. Don Messer noted that some journalists may attend this meeting, and he asked for their cooperation in not printing confidential information, so as to promote the freest possible discussion and interchange among participants. There were a total of about 25 persons in attendance. Recent DRM Developments Don Messer, currently with the IBB and Chairman of DRM’s Technical Committee, talked about some very recent developments at DRM. He talked about the plan to conduct tests of DRM in Mexico and Brazil. In Mexico, 26 MHz DRM transmissions will be tested by public broadcasters with about 200 watts, stereo and mono, in both 10 and 20 kHz channels, plus single frequency networks. On mediumwave, the private broadcasters will be testing DRM, both simulcasts and independent broadcasts. Brazil is not as far ahead with the testing as Mexico, but in Brazil there will also be tests of traditional shortwave to cover the entire country, either from transmitters inside Brazil or from DRM transmissions from Ecuador, Chile and/or French Guiana. Don explained that medium wave DRM simulcast tests are being conducted in New Zealand, and that in Germany Deutsche Welle has just completed a single frequency network into Germany from two stations in Portugal and Germany, transmitting to Germany on the same frequency. Success with DRM in Mexico and Brazil could lead to success with DRM in the United States, Don said. He talked about the possibility of using 26 MHz frequencies in the U.S. in DRM mode for local broadcasting (and maybe even sky wave broadcasting) with low power (10 watts to 1 kilowatt) to cover small areas such as universities and towns. This could open up some new possibilities for local radio services where there are presently no frequencies available in the AM and FM bands. Don explained the FCC’s recent rules changes which now permit DRM modulation by shortwave stations in the United States that are transmitting abroad. Don said that DRM receivers will be available by the end of 2005. Don explained that the 26 MHz area is basically the 11-meter WARC allocations for international broadcasting, and that this band is not used by the traditional HF broadcasters. There would still be a need to coordinate through the HFCC -- but it would be a formality, and the idea is that a local broadcaster would always use the same frequency assignment, much like in the FM band. The FCC would need to approve this concept, but would not be involved with the HFCC coordination. It was noted that Continental Electronics obtained FCC permission to operate a 26 MHz DRM transmission during a DRM meeting for one week last August, and this was very successful. A similar test was run by RIZ Transmitters in Mexico City during the 2005 HFCC Conference in February. International Broadcasters Committee Report Mike Adams, chairman of US DRM’s International Broadcasters Committee, was unable to attend this meeting, but he sent the following written report, which was read by Don Messer. Report for DRM-USA Group International Broadcasters International broadcasters need to keep a close eye on the roll-out of DRM now as we enter the true commercial launch phase of DRM. Even if we are concerned about North America, South America, Asia or other markets in the world we need to keep an eye on Europe as this is where it will all start. In September, 2005 we will see the Commercial launch of DRM in Europe and the first truly consumer DRM radio should be out by the end of the year. One thing that has pushed the receiver development forward has been the number of radio stations on the air. We need to plan seriously and realistically now to get stations on the air in the Americas and Asia as the next continents that have the potential to introduce DRM. Broadcasts on air in the USA have been from foreign broadcasters up until now. We’d like to thank both Radio Netherlands and Radio Canada INTL for their broadcasts to North America. RNW is taking a short break to reorganize their DRM infrastructure, so RCI is the only station on the air to the Americas. We were pleased to have HCJB- Ecuador and CVI-Chile as well as TDF from Guyana [sic --- means Guiana French, a different country! --- gh] all on the air for the first time for the DRM symposium in Dallas. We need to get more stations on the air in the US and to the US! What can your station do? Rent air time to get started in DRM. There are many stations that can be hired to broadcast DRM into the USA and Canada. Besides RCI, you can also talk to TDF, VT Merlin and RNW when they get back on the air. If you are unsure of your participation in DRM and don’t want to invest in equipment, then it makes sense to join together with others in a bouquet like RCI operates. Arrange an equipment demonstration at your station. Many of the DRM equipment makers are happy to arrange a demonstration at your station to help you get on the air. This is how CVI in Chile got on the air – they borrowed an exciter with an understanding to buy it if they were satisfied. They were one of the new stations that got on the air and were received in Dallas at the symposium. The test was a great success and they have gone on to purchase the equipment. It is also worth thinking about when DRM will really start in other continents. After Europe we will probably see DRM launch in Asia as well as the Americas. Based on a survey of Broadcasters in Asia there are several who will be prepared to launch in 2006, so I hope we see a start in Asia in 2006. It is up to us if we see a strong push in the Americas in 2005/2006 or not. Let’s put our best effort into it and see what happens! Mike Adams, Far East Broadcasting Co. May 5, 2005 Gary McAvin of WMLK Radio expressed his opinion that there should be some kind of overall DRM guide which explains to analog shortwave broadcasters the costs and benefits of DRM, and exactly how to go about implementing DRM transmissions. Don Messer and Adil Mina (the latter of Continental Electronics) explained that most of this information can be found in the DRM Broadcasters User Manual (BUM). Adil said that all NASB members should have a copy of the BUM. It is available for downloading from the DRM Consortium website http://www.drm.org and the DRM office in Germany also has copies available in hard copy or on CD-ROM. Don asked Jeff White to coordinate with Anne Fechner at the DRM office in Germany to make sure that all NASB members who do not currently have copies of the BUM get one. DRM Demo at Winter SWL Fest 2005 After a pizza and pasta lunch sponsored by Continental Electronics, TCI and Thales, Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott, an audience research analyst at the Voice of America, gave a presentation about his experiences demonstrating DRM reception at the Winter Shortwave Listeners Festival in Kulpsville, Pennsylvania. He said that different receivers have been used over the last three years at the Fest. This year they bought a Ten Tec RX-320D for the demonstration, then raffled it off at the end of the event. The Ten Tec must be used in conjunction with a PC, and Kim noted candidly that it can be quite complicated to get all of the equipment to work properly at these demonstrations. Perhaps because of propagation conditions, the only DRM signal that they were able to receive was from Sackville, Canada, where they did hear the TDP Radio program on Saturday, followed by the Voice of the NASB with a broadcast of HCJB’s DX Party Line which contained special greetings to the Winterfest participants. Next year Kim hopes to be able to demonstrate the new self-contained DRM receivers (i.e. those which don’t need to be connected to a PC), and they hope that more DRM broadcasters will be willing to do special transmissions for the Fest during daylight hours. Kim said that complete details about the 2006 Winter SWL Fest will be available at the website http://www.swlfest.com He said that Mark Fine’s website http://www.fineware-swl.com has lots of good tips for listening to DRM, and his own website http://www.kimandrewelliott.com includes general news and developments related to DRM. Some general discussion, questions and answers followed. Don Messer said that the target price for the two to four new models of DRM receivers that should be available by December of this year is 100-150 euros. He said that some large companies are currently interested in developing DRM receivers, but he said that small manufacturers may indeed get DRM off the ground. Adil Mina of Continental Electronics said that Texas Instruments is developing a DRM chipset, but they are reluctant to give out any information about it at the moment due to competition. There are indications from the mobile telephone industry that they are looking into DRM radio in cell phones. Adil said that DRM has not been promoted much in the United States until now; the main promotion has been in other parts of the world. "We know that receivers are a key issue," he said. He said that the United States will be using another digital system, IBOC, on FM for sure. Adil said that "Shortwave will die without DRM. Analog shortwave transmitter sales are way down. DRM is a savior for shortwave." He went on to say that DRM will give current U.S. shortwave stations tremendous benefits. "There are groups interested in broadcasting on shortwave to the U.S.," he pointed out. He mentioned a plan by Ron Wilensky of TCI antennas that would permit a station to cover all of the United States in DRM with just five shortwave transmitters. On the other hand, Graham Mytton of VT Merlin Communications voiced the opinion that we will have to continue with analog shortwave broadcasting for a long time to come. Ralph Brandi was one of three well-known shortwave listeners and leaders of the NASWA (North American Shortwave Association) club who attended the meeting. He explained that at his location in New Jersey, he has not been able to get good DRM shortwave reception from overseas stations -- just from Radio Canada’s site in Sackville. Adil Mina said he would organize some DRM tests especially for NASWA from overseas sites such as Kuwait. Walt Ireland of the American Radio Relay League mentioned that his group is conducting DRM tests for digital amateur radio transmissions at its laboratory in California. Charlie Jacobson of HCJB said that low-power DRM could work with the amateur community on further tests. 26 MHz DRM Tests in Croatia Darko Cvjetko of RIZ Transmitters in Croatia gave a very interesting PowerPoint presentation about his company’s DRM equipment and especially about a series of tests they are doing on 26 MHz in Zagreb, the Croatian capital. The exact frequency is 25.8 MHz, using a maximum of 200 watts of DRM power. The antenna is located on a mountain 610 meters above sea level and about 410 meters above the city of Zagreb. The transmitter is all in one 19-inch rack, which is 1.8 meters high. The antenna is a three-element yagi with vertical polarization. The preliminary conclusions of the tests are that the entire city of Zagreb can be covered with 45 dB or more of field strength -- most of it with 50-60 dB -- using 100 watts of power and a 10 or 20 kHz bandwidth with this high antenna position. Adil Mina of Continental said that it was very easy to get the 26 MHz permit for the short-term DRM transmissions from Dallas last November, but we need to be careful about the way of going about asking for permanent licenses for such transmissions from the FCC. Graham Mytton pointed out that DRM removes the distinction between domestic and international broadcasting. "So," he asked, "won’t shortwave become commercially attractive, and couldn’t there be a lot of competition for frequencies?" Adil Mina answered Graham Mytton’s question by saying that "Yes, commercial concerns are interested in shortwave. They read Radio World magazine. When receivers become available, then it will be really serious." Don Messer said that Ron Wilensky’s idea of covering the U.S. on shortwave below 26 MHz could cause a need for changes in shortwave regulations, refering to current U.S. restrictions on domestic shortwave broadcasting. Gary McAvin asked if power consumption will be less with DRM than with current analog shortwave transmissions. Don Messer said that the ITU recommends using 7 dB less power than for an equivalent analog broadcast, which means roughly one-fifth the amount of power. He said that a DRM transmission using one-fifth the power of a current analog transmission should have a signal that is at least as good as the analog coverage. Don said it was his understanding that existing U.S. shortwave stations could now use DRM modulation for international broadcasting simply by notifying the FCC that these transmissions will be in DRM mode, with no need for new licensing requirements. Roger Stubbe of HCJB asked what the official nomenclature is for DRM modulation type. No one present knew for sure. Tracy Wood, another of the NASWA representatives, asked if there has been any consideration given to establishing separate parts of the band spectrum for DRM transmissions. Don Messer said that there is no such separation contemplated in the ITU regulations, and he fought hard against it, since it will be to our detriment in the long run. Adil Mina mentioned that BPL (Broadband over Power Lines) was approved last week by the Texas legislature, and he expressed a concern that this could cause serious interference to shortwave transmissions in general, and DRM transmissions in particular. Tracy Wood says that his study of the system has led him to the conclusion that BPL will not be economically viable in the long run. It has caused a lot of fear among shortwave listeners and broadcasters, but he doesn’t think it will be used much. In response to a question about the cost of DRM exciters, Adil Mina said that for small private shortwave broadcasters, the best thing may be to "Let the rich boys [including governments] buy the exciters now. The price will come down shortly." Mike Adams had proposed a DX contest for DRM listeners in North America, to try to hear as many DRM transmission sites as possible. Rich D’Angelo of NASWA said that he thought there would be interest in such a contest, and Jeff White promised to put him in contact with Mike Adams to arrange the details. Rich also said that they would be willing to include a regular or irregular DRM Report in the NASWA club bulletin, which Ralph Brandi coordinates. Someone pointed out that in the statistics on sales of the Merlin DRM software, the number one country for sales was Germany, and the United States was number 2, with a few hundred or so sold. So there should be a fair number of DRM listeners in the United States. It was pointed out that a free version of the Dream DRM software is available at http://drm.sourceforge.net Tracy Wood indicated that he would be willing to work as a point person for coordination between the US DRM Group and the US shortwave listening community. Jeff White suggested that the NASB Newsletter, which contains a lot of material from US DRM, could be sent by e-mail to interested Dxers in North America. Please note: Darko Cvjetko’s complete PowerPoint presentation about RIZ Transmitters and their 26 MHz DRM tests in Zagreb can be found at the NASB website http://www.shortwave.org (via DXLD) Don Messer`s response to Tracy Wood about separate DRM sub-bands matches what I got from him in Dallas. He succeeds in making scads of enemies for DRM amongst the analog SWLing community, but can`t see this. DRM is a `new`, if flawed technology, and ought to be on `new` frequency bands where it can do no damage to its neighbors. Let us only hope that by the time, if ever, his own employer, IBB, gets around to DRM itself, it will not be at the expense of other analog stations (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) If they don't start building receivers, the whole DRM experiment is a waste of time and money. There are probably less than 1% of the listeners using computers and modified radios to hear the tests. If anyone thinks that will grow, I have my doubts. Obviously the manufacturers are having design problems, or cost factors. Anyone that has tried to get a DRM setup going, knows what its like. Prime example was at the winterfest. After a bit of work they finally got it to work using a computer and a modified RX320. Reception was touch and go. I have tried several times and finally managed about 30 minutes reception of DW in DRM format. I never tried again. Not for me. This report must be a little old as Ralph did not make it to last years Fest but he did the year before. Being distributing editor for NASWA, I can tell you that Ralph once sent in DRM logs and I think Mark Fine did once. None so far this year (Bob Montgomery, PA, swprograms via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ TRANSMITTER STABILITY AND RELIABILITY I don't know if this is really the best forum to ask this, but it is a topic that's been bouncing around in my mind for some months now, and I know that people reading this have knowledge of the subject. Feel free to forward this on to other fora that might be more appropriate. Why are major international broadcasters having such difficulty simply keeping their transmissions up and running and consistently on the air without interruptions or even simply being missing during scheduled broadcast times? And, especially, why do the domestic US broadcasters, including those operating on a shoestring like WBCQ, appear to be doing a better job at this than Merlin/VT, RCI, and even RN's Bonaire relay site (an organization I'd always thought of as being superior to just about any other SWBC)? Over the past months we've heard audio dropouts from BBC SW transmissions, BBC relays just dropping the signal in the midst of programs and never coming back on-air, RCI being missing from a scheduled Sackville transmission, missing RN signals during the US morning relay, etc. And these are just things that *I* have personally encountered, which is a very limited subset of all the many transmitter hours when these services are on the air, and also I'm only referring to English-language transmissions that I deliberately tuned in, which ignores the thousands of hours of non-English programming out there. If I have run into so many problems, surely there are huge numbers of other instances that other people have encountered. Yet I can hardly remember when I couldn't hear a scheduled WWCR or WBCQ program, if propagation allowed reception here, due to the transmitter being off-air, or dropping out in the midst of a program. There are a lot of other domestic US SWBCs that seem to be always there (many of them TOO-MUCH there if you'd rather hear something else they're covering up! :-), aside from the well-known scheduled-but- never-on or traditionally-unhearable "phantom" broadcasters. How can one explain this in the light of the multi-million-$ budgets of the transmission arms of the major SWBCs vs. the "wing-and-a- prayer" operations of a WBCQ or the frugal budget of WWCR's operations side? One thing that MIGHT explain some of it is that the government- operated or quasi-governmental-corporations-run operations are staffed by unionized or civil-service personnel who have protected jobs and really don't give a hoot if things work or not. How likely is this? Allan Weiner and his merry band of piratical scroungers and jury- riggers do it more for love and pride instead of for money, so they devote more effort and sweat into keeping antique equipment operating than do the staff at XYZ International with the latest multi-megabuck SW transmitters? Just the nature of private enterprise at WWCR vs. the work-to-rule government employees at wherever? Or am I wrong? What is your experience with listening to SW? Who is more reliably on the air with a consistently-listenable signal? Anybody a shining example of best performance? And the reverse; who's the worst? (I'm beginning to class the BBC in that latter category, which is a sad come-down after all its decades of stellar performance.) (Will Martin, June 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, it's a good question, Will. But I certainly don't think it has anything to do with unions, etc. First of all, because most transmitter operations and other distribution (satellite, e.g.) methods have been separated from the program suppliers, the left hand no longer knows what the right hand is doing. At one time, for example, the BBC owned all of its transmission tools. Today it is all contracted out, in some cases to private concerns and in others to newly formed public corporations held at arms length (DW, e.g.). If the program times don't match the tight windows used by the transmission people, there could be (and often is) a clipped program. Secondly, in almost all cases now these operations (program distribution and transmission) are computerized with no warm body minding the store. In the BBC's case, it has so many different program streams that they've all but given up monitoring them. But they all actually rely on their listeners to provide notice that something has gone awry. And they are by no means apologetic about it. Annoying, to say the least. And it should be considered unprofessional. But when one is running things on a shoestring relative to what these budgets once were and when one must stretch that limited budget to cover multiple delivery platforms, that is bound to happen. In the case of the U.S. "mom and pop" operations you mention, these are usually very personally operated stations. They don't have the resources for automated operations that the big guys have. So, they do it the old fashioned way -- with an engineer minding the store. Hence, when something goes wrong, someone knows about it right away and is on hand to make repairs. My take, FWIW (John Figliozzi, ibid.) Re Will`s comments about RN: Budget cuts, Will. We have been forced to automate procedures that were previously manually performed. For example, the late night English to Europe via Sweden on mediumwave uses totally automated playout, satellite feed, downlinking and rebroadcast. There are several stages where a technical problem or human error setting the computer can cause the wrong programme or no programme to be aired. In addition, many of the transmitter sites are nearing the end of their useful life, and budget cuts plus uncertainty about how quickly DRM will become a significant distribution medium means that people are keeping transmitters on the air that would otherwise have been replaced, and MTBF (mean time between failures) is decreasing. The small US broadcasters have far simpler technical operating procedures, no feeds to relay stations, and no need for a complicated switching matrix. The one in our Network Operations Centre has, I believe, in the region of 1000 entries in the database. A single error in any one of those entries can screw up an entire transmission. Yes, it's unsatisfactory, but we have to work with very limited resources (Andy Sennitt, Radio Netherlands (expressing my personal views), June 3, ibid.) AM STEREO RADIOS Knowing nothing about AM-Stereo, but wanting a rig capable of picking up AM-Stereo, which one would you get and how much would you pay? (Ira Elbert New, III, ABDX via DXLD) Without question I would get the SRF-A1. It`s far superior to the TM- 152. The SRF-A1 is more sensitive and selective but that`s not the reason you want to buy it. *IF* you have someone running CAM-D in your area and you have a Sony SRF-A1, you will be able to hear analog AM stereo using the Kahn- Hazletine "B" setting since it will receive Kahn ISB stereo. You see, CAM-D supports Kahn stereo and digital transmission simultaneously. The TM-152 will only receive Motorola C-QuAM stereo. The SRF-A1 will receive Kahn ISB and Motorola C-QuAM stereo. Also when you listen to stations in Kahn stereo position, whether or not the station is mono or stereo, the Kahn position widens and brightens AM signals and makes them sound much better than straight mono. I would pay up to $75 for one. I have one though. I got mine missing parts and repaired it. I paid about $30 for mine. The one listed seems to be in superior shape. If I could get a portable AM stereo radio, it would be the SRF-A100 which is very rare. This radio sells from $150 to $350. It is essentially a SRF-A1 with speakers attached. The SRF-A1 is underpriced or the SRF-A100 is overpriced but the A1 is a good value. Another good portable, I hear is the Sony SRF-A300 sold at audiocubes.com. I don't have one but there are some on this list that have them and they seem to like them. I have 4 AM stereo radios, but I primarily use a MCS-3050 and the SRF-A1 (Kevin Redding, Gilbert AZ, ibid.) I highly recommend the Sony A300 from Audiocubes as a nice portable MW DX rig and for its AM Stereo. Not the widest audio bandwidth, but selective and sensitive with pleasant "mid-fi" tone. Shipping from Japan at least to Canada is quick and cheap - 1 week, $18. It is analogue tuning though, keep that in mind. I LOVE my Sony tuner - got it on eBay for $15 CDN because the seller did not know it was AM Stereo. I researched it on Google, then pounced. It sounds fantastic. Check out the AM stereo website's radio listing to help you research. SRF-42 is a good little rig too, but hard to tune with the little thumbwheel - guess my fingers are getting too used to boatanchors! I have a Realistic TM-152 - mint with box and I love it. Apparently they varied a lot. Mine has better top end than the A300 and is moderately sensitive with its tiny built in antenna - but park a select-a-tenna on top and it is a little screamer. A little hard to tune though - knob is a bit small and slippery. Mine has the best ability to lock into AM Stereo of any rig I own. It is the only rig that my Alfredo Lite can consistently be heard in stereo. I think my Alfredo is having pilot issues and the TM-152 is not picky. While the SRF-42 and A300 don't need a pilot, I find that tuning is tricky to get stereo separation - I think that is my Alfredo's fault. Because they vary so much, from bad to good, don't pay much for a TM-152 unless you can try it out for sound and performance before paying the $! Let's see - I believe the closest AM Stereo station here is 1680 WTTM 10 KW day, 1 KW night. Oh yes, and 1520 WWKB runs a pilot. If you want a sure thing, and don't have a problem with "mid fi" as opposed to hi-fi, go for the A300 (Phil Rafuse, PEI Canada, ABDX via DXLD) I have 10 different models of AM stereo radios (12 units total). Just like DX, you use them like a tool- the one that's right for the job. SRF42 - I have two of these, and are the best "all-around" model. I used to have three, but alas, the ex-wife dogged off with one of them. SRF-A100 - best for wideband, and in narrow mode is also very sensitive - good for DXing because of that. These will be great radios if Cam-D becomes widespread so the analog ISB stereo can be heard while in B mode. MetroSound - I have two of these. One of them I kept "virgin", and the other I put an EQ in so the line level has better bass and highs and less mids. I can also use it with a cassette adapter and then employ the NR mode on teh tape deck for Dolby AM Stereo. It DX's great on a longwire or with a tunable coupling transformer. Sangean SR-66 - Yeah, my dial cord broke, too, but all I needed to do was to heat the tip of a pin up and "drill" a new hole further in toward the middle of the wheel, and reinsert the spring hook. Good as new. It has AFC on the AM, too, so it "locks" onto a station- great for weak stations, but annoying if you have a strong adjacent - if the weaker signal you are tuned to fades, the stronger one pops over into tuned mode. RadioShack Realistic 12-1933 (1988 model) AMS-FMS car radio with cassette - great selectivity and separation, as well as good locking on weak stations. However, it "falses" easily on heterodynes that are near 25 Hz. Has some problems with images in strong-signal areas, too, but overall a good radio with a hefty 50 watts audio power. Toyota RAV4 stock radio with Chris Cuff AMS decoder - my best DXer - very sensitive and very selective with no image problems even in strong signal areas (better than unmodified with IF signal amplified by chip). Superb stereo locking and platform motion stabilization (it has the MC13028AD chip). DX-440 with MC13028AD chip added - best portable DXer with AMS, can tune with C-QuAM detection from 150 kHz to 29999 kHz, 2.2 kHz or 7 kHz bandwidths. STA110 Realistic home tuner/amp system - has MC13038AD chip, and has super wideband reception from the analog tuner that was designed for use during the early 80's (before NRSC curve). 75 watts MOSFET audio per channel, 4 speakers, aux in/out/phono, too. Chrysler 1988 radio-only stock radio with vintage MC13020P chip circuit. Good selectivity and excellent separation - somewhat narrowband, though. Locks on pilot tone for extremely weak carriers where the station is nearly inaudible. Hand-built AM stereo/ FM stereo portable radio (2000 model) by Chris Cuff. Seems about midway between the SRF-42 and SR-66 in sound- quality, but without the flaky tuning of those radios. all on single 5x5 PC. I have a couple more decoders and two vintage MC13020P chips, too, so could potentially upgrade other radios. If you have a Chrysler AMS radio, it will not have a 3.6 MHz crystal with the MC13020P chip. Instead, it will use a tank circuit to oscillate at 3.6 MHz. I remember being able to tune that oscillator coil (brown-colored ferrite slug) lower, so it would accept a 15-Hz Kahn pilot instead. The audio would be somewhat stereo (left channel in the right and vice -versa) on a Kahn station. I don't think Cam-D will have a 15-Hz pilot tone, but shouldn't be too hard for stations to add it (Darwin, Thousand Oaks, CA, ibid.) I have the TM 152 and SRF 42. The SRF 42 really rocks; but as my chief working radio to capture AM stereo on the road, this Walkman is battered, but fully functional. I have WSOS 1170 AM Oldies Stereo in St. Augustine, FL as my (fringe, actually) local AM stereo torchbearer, thanks to the diligent efforts of a great fellow, Alan Alsobrook, their Chief Engineer! A couple of days ago I an engineer took me to 1440 outside Orlando, FL's stick/studio bldg and their remote van still touts AM stereo. They are no longer in AM Stereo. The Delta equipment is still in the racks I hear. Once I lived in Bremerton, WA ('86-89) and in 1988 I had a Sony Car stereo XRA37R and during my many road trips between S.F., CA and Seattle and NV,OR, ID and MT, there were plenty of AM stereo stations to listen to. Not to mention the Canadian stations that rocked in from Vancouver and Victoria, BC (Ron Gitschier, Gimme that analog left and right in Amplitude Modulation, please, Palm Coast, FL, ibid.) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ NRC BOOK FOR THE BLIND ON RADIO - 20TH ANNIVERSARY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 1, 2005 NEWS MEDIA CONTACT: Kenneth Chatterton 315-387-3583 14563 Sand Road - Mannsville NY 13661 E-Mail: kec @ nrcdxas.org Photos and text: http://www.nrcdxas.org/press/042005 It was April of 1985 when Fred Vobbe had an idea. He created the National Radio Club's "DX Audio Service", a magazine on cassette tapes that talks about listening to the radio. The National Radio Club traces its roots back to 1933 when one of the popular activities was listening to the radio at night and then, the following morning, comparing notes with friends about what distant stations had been heard on their home radios. The club has continued without interruption and is now in its 72nd year. A weekly magazine reports on what is being heard as reported by club members all across the country. But in 1985, Fred was talking with several blind radio enthusiasts when the thought struck him that the weekly printed magazine was of little or no use to them. So, along with a friend and some quality sound equipment, he produced an audio cassette tape covering much of the information in that printed magazine. In fact, on one side of that first tape, they were able to provide listeners with a comprehensive history of a famous Chicago music station, WLS, complete with many of the early broadcast highlights from that station. The results were an immediate smash hit. Fred was able to find a way to produce a program fully as professional as on any metropolitan radio station and then found a way to reproduce cassette tapes at high speed. Orders came in at a surprising rate as word spread and soon reached 200 subscribers. To keep the magazine fresh and with a variety of voices and perspectives, Fred put out a call for more broadcasters, present and past, to volunteer their time and knowledge to Fred's project. His call was successful. Each month, the first 10-15 minutes is produced by a fellow in Fort Worth, Texas, columnist Bill Hale. Bill scans federal releases on the Internet and other broadcasting websites daily. He then reads all the changes that stations are making and sends his voice to Fred via the Internet, much the way music is now distributed using this new technology. In the course of a single year, there are over 500 changes in broadcast stations from call letters to formats and power levels. Capitalizing on being able to provide real sounds of radio broadcasts, the next columnist on each month's DX Audio Service program is John Bowker of Sun City Center, Florida. John and his wife retired 15 years ago and set out in their motorhome to make recordings of every AM broadcast station in the country. Over an 8-year span they were able to capture the "station breaks" from over 5,000 of those stations and subscribers to this sound magazine now hear selected cuts from that collection each month. Mark Durenberger from Edina Minnesota produces a quarter hour of sounds and interviews with people responsible for operating stations that broadcast on "clear channels". In 1941 all the governments in North America agreed to a plan that would minimize interference between their key broadcast stations. Some of the dial positions are restricted to just a very few stations, most with very high operating powers. Mark focuses his attention on those dial positions and talks with many of the personnel about their operations and early days of radio. When radio enthusiasts get together, one of the first questions asked is "what is radio like in your town?" Phil Wayne, of Marion Ohio, solicits short samples of stations in the home town of the club's subscribers and, for 15 minutes, the listeners can imagine sitting in one city or another each month, tuning from station to station to get an idea of what the radio dial holds for their residents. Phil has also produced reviews of radio that looks at radio's rich past. Phil's recordings will take the listener back to Los Angeles in 1966, or to Chicago in 1972. On a recent issue, Phil profiled a D.J. by the name of Dr. Don Rose. Don was a famous D.J. that most radio listeners knew about. After his death last month, Phil thought it would be appropriate to profile him on the May 2005 issue. Many people listen to radio for sports, usually for a specific team. Columnist Ken Onyschuk of Joliet, Illinois, hosts the Sports Corner. The listener hears a list of stations carrying teams, and also information Ken is able to acquire about the play-by-play announcers. When available, Ken will read the ratings of stations in a city just to keep track of which stations are making a major contribution to the city's life style. One of the popular segments of the monthly sound magazine is the portion devoted to phone calls from the subscribers themselves. Their calls to a special telephone number are recorded and played back the following month as part of the audio magazine so their questions, observations and news about broadcasters in their area are shared with all the listeners. Fred is the Senior Editor and has the responsibility of keeping the overall timing in line plus providing an editorial view of how radio broadcasting is developing. The changes in program content and new technical protocols don't escape Fred's comments. He is in a unique position through his responsibilities at NBC Lima to keep up with the latest in technology. Through his contacts, Fred has been able to sit with leading names in radio over the years. Just before Wolfman Jack passed away, he chatted with Fred for the better part of an hour about his career and background. Dave Graupner was another interview Fred found fascinating. Dave's company, TM/Century, produces many of those musical jingles that stations use to identify themselves, and others that put tunes in the heads of listeners for their advertising clients. The idea of building a company with a business plan of singing the call letters of radio stations made for a memorable program segment. Another of Fred's favorite interviews was with Leonard Kahn. "Leonard has probably done more to advance the quality and dependability of AM radio than any other person", Vobbe said. "Leonard Kahn is one of those people with an understanding of how radio works, end to end. The stations that employ his equipment designs are often some of the best technically sounding stations in the nation." Along with the DX Audio Service, Vobbe also produces and edits "All Radio Magazine". This is a supplement to the DX Audio Service which contains long articles, as well as multiple cassettes to deal with the large amount of news and information. Coming up in future editions of All Radio is a comprehensive look at what makes quality in AM Radio. Also, a detailed technical discussion about the impact of digital hybrid transmissions in the AM broadcast band. "What is remarkable about our organization is that we're all volunteers. Nobody is paid for their services, and nobody gets anything other than a pat on the back for a job well done", said Vobbe. "Every editor contributes a column each month. It's a wonderful organization of dedicated people whose only desire is to inform, educate, and entertain radio listeners." Membership in the club costs $28.00 per year. The membership fee pays for the First Class postage, tapes, and labels. Samples of the tapes are available for $3.00. Samples of the printed magazine, DX News, are available for $1.00. Fred, who has worked at NBC Lima since 1985, edits and produces the DX Audio Service in his home studio. Fred built his home studio in 1977, and has made radio and TV commercials, DJ liners, announcements for telephone systems, and corporate presentations. Locally in Lima listeners hear Vobbe's voice on the commercials heard on radio and television such as Kewpee Hamburgers, the sponsor mentions before the weather on the news. "It's interesting when I take a trip across the state or the nation. I will often be listening to the radio when I hear myself", Vobbe said. "My kids often point out that I'm on the radio quicker than I realize it. My son will often smile, point to the radio, and say 'who is that guy'." Vobbe produces commercials and announcements on a digital desktop audio workstation in his home. "The digital audio editing revolution has been a blessing for someone like myself that does audio production. It's allowed me to be more creative, more precise. We've made a lot of advances since the old days of tape", Vobbe says. Using the Internet, columns are delivered to Vobbe electronically, in CD audio quality. "We use a technology called MP3. It allows the individual editors to do their columns at their homes, and E-mail the final production to me. I place them in my desktop audio workstation, and tie them together with the jingles and other production. When done, we have over an hour and a half audio production that goes to duplication and mailing. Each issue is unique, and a snapshot of what is happening in radio during the past thirty days", Vobbe says. The National Radio Club is the world's oldest and largest medium wave DX listener's club, and a non-profit 501c. The club has over 700 members, including members in the United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden, Canada, and South America. The club also has a web site at http://www.nrcdxas.org The club can be contacted at kec @ nrcdxas.org or by mail at P.O. Box 164, Mannsville, New York 13661. ________________________ National Radio Club, Inc P.O. Box 164, Dept W Mannsville NY 13661-0164 315-387-3583 (Prepaid / 9A to 9P Eastern Time) CUSTOM AZIMUTHAL EQUIDISTANT MAPS Been using an online site for a number of years to build Azimuthal- Equidistant Maps (Great Circle), that can be customized to any location. These types of maps show true beam headings from the lat/long of your QTH. You'll want to book-mark this: http://www.wm7d.net/az_proj/az_html/azproj.shtml#top%20of%20page In the first paragraph at the top of the page, there are 2 hyperlinks in sentence labled: "Fast Option." The "Short Form" makes a quick map but the "Long Form" can include a wide variety of information and formatting options. The maps can be generated to several scales. A compass rose will be centered on your lat/long. The headings will display true bearings. The Long Form is very powerful. Depending on the options selected, it will generate your Great Circle map with special features. F'instance you can make a map with all the TV channel 2 transmitter locations/ call signs displayed. You can even choose to include 6M E-skip distances to generate range circles on your map. Want to print your map? No problem. I usually choose .gif output. Right click the generated map and "copy" it to your clipboard. Open the Windows Paint program and simply do a paste. The graphic will appear. It can be printed from within Paint (suggest color printer). Enjoy --- (Chuck Rippel, S. Chesapeake, VA, Onkyo T-4711,T- 9090II,Pioneer TX-9800, N 36' 41" 07, W 076' 41" 11, wa4hhg(at)r390a.com WTFDA via DXLD) Thanks for the web site! I printed out some nice, simple maps which will be handy for targeting specific stations. I noticed the channel 2 plotting didn't work correctly; it put KUSD-2 in Iowa, KGAN-2 in northwest Illinois, and moved KJRH-2 to near Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Matt Sittel, NE, ibid.) I guess it depends on what is in the database and how old it is (Chuck, ibid.) If anyone can figure how to get that website to generate maps for specific FM frequencies, let me know. It will return a map with the entire 88-108 spectrum (call letters) on the map. Its just a sea of light green, as you can imagine thousands of call letters on top of each other on a North American map. I've tried different 'selective' things for generating a map for 88.1, 92.1, and a few others and the maps come up empty, although it appears there is a 'search' field available to search by frequency. ???? (Jim Thomas, wdx0fbu Milliken, Colorado, ibid.) ###