DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-003, January 3, 2006 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 2006 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html For restrixions and searchable 2005 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid5.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 For latest updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html NEXT AIRING OF WORLD OF RADIO 1299: Days and times here strictly UT Wed 1030 WOR WWCR 9985 FIRST AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1300: Wed 2300 on WBCQ 7415 Thu 0000 on WBCQ 18910-CLSB Thu 2130 on WWCR 7465 Full schedule, with hotlinks to station sites and audio: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ON DEMAND [from Fri]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] [from late UT Wednesday]: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org WOR 1300 summary: http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1300.html [later] WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our yg. When applying, please identify yourself with your real name and location. Here`s where to sign up http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ ** BAHAMAS. See DX-PEDITIONS below ** BENIN. Here is planned coverage map of the new Benin transmitter. Looks like it is beaming north with 100 kW so should be heard here I guess (Steve Whitt, UK, 16 Dec 05, Jan MW News via DXLD) The new TWR 100 kW 1566 kHz coverage map, source? uncalibrated, shows it emanating from central Benin in a figure-8 pattern, minor lobe to the south, but covering the relatively close coastal areas from beyond Accra, Ghana to beyond Lagos, Nigeria, and a major lobe due north in an horizontal oval pretty much in the centre of West Africa, covering most of Niger, NW Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Mali (but not as far as Bamako), eastern Mauritania, and the southern third of Algeria; with nulls to the east and west. I guess this is for night. Don`t suppose ground conductivity is very good in the Sahara or Sahel (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. BHUTAN BROADCASTING SERVICE INVITING BIDS TO SUPPLY SHORTWAVE TRANSMITTER The Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation is currently inviting sealed bids from eligible manufacturers of shortwave transmitters for the supply, installation, and commissioning of the new 100kW shortwave transmitter in Thimpu. The deadline for bids is 12.00 noon Bhutan time (0600 UT) on 10 January 2006. # posted by Andy @ 16:44 UT Jan 3 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** CANADA. Re 6-002, The Canadian view of TV: --- Another thing. The report said you can't receive a digital signal using an ordinary antenna. This is contrary to everything I have read. Otherwise there would be know need for any transmitters, just put all digital channels on cable only (Morris Sorensen, Winnipeg MB, ABDX via DXLD) ** CANADA. 1230, CFFB Iqaluit NU (presumed); mixing with another CBC "synchro", which was a fraction of a second later - CHFC?; "CBC Radio Overnight" at 0928 Fair peaks 0919 15/12 mah 1230, CFFB Iqaluit NU (presumed); Vernacular talk at 1123, noted through to English news at 1200; at 1210 "And that's it for this edition of World report. For CBC National Radio News I'm ...", then Christmas music and back to Inuit at 1215, faded by 1220; slight echo noted on the channel throughout, probably due to other co-channel CBC relays not in sync Weak peaks, 1123 24/12 mah (Martin A. Hall, Clashmore, Scotland, Medium Wave News via DXLD) Of which there are several, NL, QC, NW, MB (gh, DXLD) ** CHILE. Huge DRM signal on 21495-21505, Jan 3 at 2137; have not noticed this before. And was the only signal on 13m at the time, no NHK, nothing at all in analog audible. Likely Voz Cristiana, Chile, which has run DRM on this channel before, and their 17680 analog in Spanish was quite strong too, altho as usual overshadowed by Martí- Delano behemoth on 17670. Yes, checking http://www.hfcc.org/data/B05drm.html we do find 21500 listed for a 4-day-only DRM transmission, just started: 21500 1800 0100 10 Christian Vision Communications CVI Spanish Santiago 33S27 070W41 340 15 1234567 2006-01-03 2006-01-06 10 is the CIRAF target = Mexico, 15 the kW power. So how many Mexicans are enjoying the fine evangelical programming from VC in DRM? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. New Beijing transmitter on 13580 heard 0000-0105 Jan 2 with CRI Chinese service. Very good signal, with some short-path/long-path echo. // 11845 was weaker and had a slight delay, so assume Sackville. English CRI ID at 0100, then back into Chinese. CRI heard on both frequencies again 0000 UT 1/3. I was checking out the HFCC filings of the new Beijing transmitters that Wolfgang Buschel posted in DXLD last week. 11845 wasn't on that list, but I ran across it. Also heard 17495 this afternoon (0014 UT 1/4) in Chinese, but it was not // 13580 and 11845 (Chuck Albertson, Seattle, Wash., DX LISTENING DIGEST) Some listings show 11845 before & after 01 as Xi`an. More: (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. New additional frequencies and transmissions for China Radio International, with degrees of azimuth: 0000-0057 Japanese 11780 BEI 500 kW / 095; 13655 XIA 500 kW / 073 0100-0457 Japanese 13655 XIA 500 kW / 073; 15160 BEI 500 kW / 095 0300-0357 Tamil 13600 KUN 150 kW / 234; 13735 KAS 100 kW / 174 0400-0557 Russian 15445 KAS 500 kW / 308; 15665 KAS 500 kW / 308 0500-0657 Japanese 13655 XIA 500 kW / 073; 15170 BEI 500 kW / 095 0600-0657 Italian 15220 KAS 500 kW / 294 0600-0657 Spanish 17680 KAS 500 kW / 294 0700-0757 French 15220 KAS 500 kW / 308 0700-0757 Spanish 15135 KAS 500 kW / 294 0700-0857 Japanese 11640 BEI 500 kW / 095; 13610 XIA 500 kW / 073 0800-0957 Chinese 15565 XIA 500 kW / 292; 17560 XIA 500 kW / 292 0800-0957 Russian 15360 KAS 500 kW / 308; 15665 KAS 500 kW / 308 0900-0957 Romanian 7130 CER 150 kW / n-d; 9460 CER 150 kW / non-dir 0900-1057 Japanese 9440 XIA 500 kW / 073\\ 7190 BEI 500 kW / 095 1000-1057 Chinese 7255 XIA 500 kW / 354 1000-1057 English 7135 BEI 500 kW / 318; 7215 XIA 500 kW / 354 1000-1057 Hungarian 15220 KAS 500 kW / 298; 17570 KAS 500 kW / 298 1000-1057 Russian 6020 XIA 500 kW / 292 1100-1157 Bulgarian 7130 CER 150 kW / non-dir 1100-1157 Czech 15225 KAS 500 kW / 298; 17570 KAS 500 kW / 298 1100-1157 Japanese 7200 XIA 500 kW / 073\\ 7190 BEI 500 kW / 095 1100-1157 Mongolian 7170 XIA 500 kW / 354 1100-1157 Russian 6080 XIA 500 kW / 354 1200-1257 Japanese 7150 XIA 500 kW / 073\\ 7190 BEI 500 kW / 095 1200-1257 Russian 7215 XIA 500 kW / 292 1200-1257 Serbian 7130 CER 150 kW / non-dir 1300-1457 Japanese 7130 XIA 500 kW / 073\\ 7190 BEI 500 kW / 095 1300-1357 Mongolian 6100 BEI 500 kW / 318; 7285 BEI 500 kW / 318 1300-1357 Russian 7180 XIA 500 kW / 292 1400-1457 Russian 7330 XIA 500 kW / 292 1500-1557 Chinese 9740 KAS 500 kW / 308 1500-1557 Japanese 5980 BEI 500 kW / 095; 7190 XIA 500 kW / 073 1500-1557 Russian 6025 XIA 500 kW / 292 1700-1757 Russian 6070 XIA 500 kW / 292 1900-1957 Russian 6110 XIA 500 kW / 292 2000-2057 Russian 6040 XIA 500 kW / 292 2200-2257 Japanese 5985 XIA 500 kW / 073; 7115 BEI 500 kW / 095 2300-2357 Japanese 9435 XIA 500 kW / 073; 9695 BEI 500 kW / 095 (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 3 via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI`s new January-March webcast program grid is up at http://www.rfpi.org/RFPIsked.html --- no changes in WOR (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. On 3 January at 0120 UT, I heard Radio República from USA, "clandestine", supported by Washington, to Cuba. Many IDs. "Ésta es Radio República, voz del Directorio Democrático Cubano, transmitiendo para Cuba con fé en la victoria". Announces frequencies on MW and on SW: 6135, 5975(?) and 7110, but nothing about 6010 kHz. Good signal, with some fading. Rx: CiaoRadio H101 (SDR receiver)- ant. T2FD 15 m (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italy, HCDX via DXLD) What do you mean, ``supported by Washington``? While it`s possible, I have not seen any evidence that the US government is involved in this. DDC is one of many seemingly private Cuban exile organizations. Surely they are announcing the ex-frequency 5965, not 5975. That helps to keep the Cuban jammers jamming RHC rather than 6010. O, in Italian you say it`s *financed* by Washington: (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6010 03/01 0120 Radio Republica USA, "clandestina" finanziata da Washington to Cuba... (Bernardini, playdx yg via DXLD) Ciao again Glenn, I add some documents I found. If you have time look at them. In this kind of affairs it is not so easy to move. But you can find links among: US AID, NED, Washington, International Republican Institute, Directorio Democrático Cubano (owner of Radio República). Let me know your opinion. Here the web documents: from http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4332.htm : NED's web site is conveniently out of date, showing only its Cuba program for 2001. But it is instructive. Its funds for Cuban activities in 2001 totalled only $765,000 - if one is to believe what they say. The money they gave to eight NGOs in 2001 averaged about $52,000, while a 9th NGO, the International Republican Institute received $350,000 for the Directorio Revolucionario Democrático Cubano for "strengthening civil society and human rights" in Cuba. In contrast, this NGO is to receive $2,174,462 in 2003 from AID through the same IRI. My comment: So the Directorio (owner of Radio República) got in 2001 $350,000 from NED and $2,174,462 from AID (USAID). So it is or it was supported by Washington because AID is an official agency. Also IRI, linked for funds to the Directorio, was funded by US AID (see below) About NED I read: "Recall the fiction that the NED is a "private" foundation, an NGO. It has no restrictions on its funds going for cash payments abroad, and it just happens to fund some of the same NGOs as AID. Be assured that this is not the result of rivalry or lack of coordination in Washington. The reason probably is that NED funds can go for salaries and other personal compensation to people on the ground in Cuba". NED is well placed in Washington with strong links to Republicans, read its site: http://www.ned.org/about/about.html ----------------------------- see this official site: http://search.info.usaid.gov/query.html?col=ads&col=afr&col=cbd&col=speeches&col=xweb&qt=International+Republican+Institute+Cuba&charset=iso-8859-1&qp=url%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.usaid.gov%2F USAID Cuba Program Goal: To hasten the peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba. Strategic Objective: To help build civil society by increasing the flow of accurate information on democracy, human rights, and free enterprise to, from, and within Cuba. Major Mission Elements: 1. Building Solidarity with Cuba's Human Rights Activist: ... International Republican Institute - Helps develop international solidarity committees in Latin America and Europe -- providing material, moral, and ideological support for Cuban democratic activists. ----------------------- The international Republican Institute was founded by The US Government, as you can read in the site of US embassy in UK - see http://www.usembassy.org.uk/forpo857.html - : 01 December 2005 U.S. Builds Democracy with Foreign Help, Election Monitor Says By Jim Fisher-Thompson, Washington File Staff Writer Washington - Even though promotion of freedom and liberty underlies much of U.S. foreign policy, America does not have a monopoly on the proper way to build democracy abroad, says Jeff Krilla, Africa regional director for the International Republican Institute (IRI), one of several democracy-building nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) funded by the U.S. government... --------------------------------------- Before the end: International Republican Insitute is linked to US Government, IRI got money from US AID and NED (both linked to Washington) and passed it to Directorio Democrático Cubano, owner of Radio República. see: http://www.directorio.org/latestnews.php About IRI and its link to US AID you can read: http://www.usaid.gov/locations/latin_america_caribbean/country/pubs/program_report/appendix_a.html 11. International Republican Institute (IRI) The International Republican Institute (IRI), a not-for-profit and nonpartisan organization advancing principles inspired by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, conducts programs outside the United States to promote democracy and strengthen free markets and the rule of law. USAID originally funded IRI's Cuba project at $335,462 in November 1997, later gave the grantee two no-cost extensions, and then gave IRI a funded extension for an additional year for $389,000 through June 10, 2000. IRI, working though its subgrantee the Directorio Revolucionario Democrático Cubano (Directorio), operates in three of the Program's intermediate result areas: building solidarity with Cuba's human rights activists, promoting independent NGOs, and direct outreach to the Cuban people. It also undertakes secondary activity in the area of giving voice to independent journalists. The grantee and its sub-grantee promote solidarity links that support human rights and political freedom in Cuba by encouraging the formation of third party groups, stimulating direct political and diplomatic pressure on the Cuban government on human rights and political freedom, supporting independent Cuban NGOs and creating linkages between Cuban and third country NGOs with similar goals. Specific accomplishments by IRI and its sub-grantee, the Directorio, the Directorio's associated Solidarity Committees, and the Boitel international solidarity network include: [. . .] Ciao (Giampiero Bernardini, Avvenire, Milano, Italy, Jan 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very good researching! As usual, there are several layers between the USG and the organization, so it`s hard to be certain of any direct connexion. OTOH, it would be surprising if there were NOT financial connexions between any Cuban exile group and the Republican party controlling the US Government. However note that IRI claims to be non- partisan despite its middle name: does that mean ``Republican`` not in the sense of the US political party, or just being cute? Note also that the word ``Revolucionario`` is referred to in the name of the Directorate concerned above, but not in the one doing R. República --- or have they just omitted that inflammatory word to appear friendlier? But they could be two separate entities. I finally got around to checking on the globe the approximate 60 degree bearing from Edmonton to R. República transmitter site. Actually, this misses Europe, crossing Morocco, and Tindouf, Algeria (hmmm), but as Don made clear, it is only approximate. So add to the list of suspects IBB Briech, Morocco, altho they should not have any antennas suitable for Cuba, unless something is conveniently reversible, or rotatable? At least, likely a southwesterly location in Europe. By comparison, some other approx. bearings: Lisbon 55, Madrid 50, London and Paris 40, Lopik and Wertachtal slightly less. Can someone approach Issoudun or Noblejas at 11 pm local and report whether 6135 is a super-strength local signal? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. TV AND RADIO MARTÍ TO USE NEW BROADCASTING AIRCRAFT The Miami Herald reports that TV and Radio Martí will this spring start using a new broadcasting airplane that they hope will improve their ability to break through the jamming and the Cuban government monopoly on the island's mass media. The aircraft will replace a Pennsylvania National Guard Commando Solo C-130 that has been transmitting to Cuba for four hours on weekends. The new broadcast aircraft will allow Radio Martí to transmit more effectively on the FM band, officials say, and TV Martí to spread its signal well outside Havana, so that Cubans in the provinces will be able to videotape its programs and pass them on. But officials have not yet determined the kind of aircraft or whether it will be leased or purchased, according to Joseph O'Connell, spokesman for the International Broadcasting Bureau in Washington. Read the full story http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/13536704.htm # posted by Andy @ 09:47 UT Jan 3 (Media Network blog via DXLD) Congress spending money again to pick up the votes in South Florida. Doesn't make sense because it's still going to be jammed by Cuba. Just how many people can watch at 3 am? (loujosephs, 01.03.06 - 4:41 pm, ibid.) How vague ** CZECH REPUBLIC. 04.12.2005 - Letter from Prague - David Vaughan: FROM MUTTER-BOX TO MEGABYTE - HOW RADIO HAS CHANGED IN 15 YEARS Nearly fifteen years have gone by since I made my first programme for Radio Prague. It was about Czech Cubist architecture, and I interviewed the rector of Prague's architecture faculty, lugging my huge, heavy recording equipment to the fourteenth floor. If you'd asked me about digital recording at the time, in my mind I would probably have conjured up a pianola reel. Such have been the huge changes in radio technology in the last few years, and so much more so in a country trapped for decades in a technology time-warp. In the course of my first years at Radio Prague in the early 90s, I never recall seeing a computer. In time a few trickled into the offices of our bigger bosses. Then suddenly, a Czech-American colleague called Nora, started badgering us with her new-fangled Californian ideas about this thing called the Internet. We were all very sceptical, until one day she turned up with a big box with lights and wires, and told us it was called a server. An ambitious small Czech company had leant it to us, and no-one from the radio's management even knew about it. That was how Radio Prague online was born. We used to write our stories on heavy, no-nonsense Soviet typewriters. Because we had to have three copies - all signed by the big boss, just as in the old days - we would get through huge quantities of carbon paper that made everything grubby and smudged, and all our edits were scribbled in using a pencil or biro. Our news stories would come from the "dalnopis", a rattling Heath Robinson contraption at the end of the corridor, that would spit out an average of about two five-line stories an hour. This was our only information source, so being on news duty was a pretty easy shift, and "breaking news" was an alien concept. Today it could hardly be more different. As we sit compiling news at our PCs we are bombarded with thousands of different sources. Headlines hit our screens as events happen, and we have to work fast. The craft of radio has changed even more. No longer does everything have to be transferred onto bulky quarter-inch tape. Working with a razor-blade and sticky-tape, by the time you had edited an interview you would be surrounded by a veritable spaghetti of discarded fragments of sound. As we got more experienced, we learned to hang on to a breath or a bit of background sound - usually just a couple of inches of tape - to insert somewhere to hide an awkward edit. The real radio veterans would work through a tape with the deftness of a weaver. Today the same process takes just a few minutes on the computer. If you get an edit wrong, you just press the "undo" button, and if you want you can mix half a dozen different sounds together effortlessly, a process that used to require a studio, a whole battalion of tape recorders and a mixing desk that looked like a prop from a 1960s sci- fi film. The other extraordinary change is how we get sound from place to place. When I was filing from Prague for the BBC in London in the mid- 1990s, I used to send my reports on reels of quarter-inch tape that I would stick into a large padded envelope, and send off on a wing and a prayer by courier to London. I would also use that most wonderful machine known as the "mutter box". It was like something from a Cold War spy kit, and made it possible to attach your recording equipment to a phone line - by carefully unscrewing the receiver and fixing crocodile clips to the wires inside. Now you can send sounds and pictures and probably even the kitchen sink - broken down into bytes and pixels - anywhere in the world at the click of a mouse, and wait as it flies through cyberspace. If our colleagues in Warsaw or Bratislava want to send us an interview, all they have to do is upload it as a sound file for us to pick up. It is this kind of technology that has made international co-productions like our weekly magazine Insight Central Europe possible, and it's easy to forget that only five years or so the technology wasn't even available. So have we lost anything on the way? Well, maybe one thing has gone forever - that sense of experience and adventure, as you go into the old green baize studio, shut the heavy door behind you and wait for the red light to come on. Cyberspace and megabytes can't really compete with that ultimate radio experience. Source: Czech Radio 7, Radio Prague, URL: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/73270 (via Jonathan Murphy, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** DIEGO GARCIA. Just received a letter from Diego García (direct) stating "I can verify that it was our broadcast that you were hearing.". This is for 12579 kHz on 9th December 2005 at 1214 UT. It came from ICC(SW) Donald Dolney, Chief Engineer, Naval Media Center Broadcasting Detachment, Diego García and was signed by Don Dolney. I sent a letter direct with $US2 for return postage. (Also sent an email to the AFN email address which probably went to trash like every other email I've sent to them) First AFRTS QSL since 2002 - my previous QSL was when I was listening in the early 70's. Very happy about this one. Regards, (Wayne Bastow, Wyoming, NSW, Australia 33.41 degrees S, 151.35 degrees E, Jan 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA ECUATORIAL. 5005, R. Bata, 2245-2258, escuchada el 2 de Enero en español a locutora con ID "Ésta es Radio Bata, una emisora de la radiodifusión de Guinea Ecuatorial", emitiendo desde las 1700 a las 2400 hora local, UTC +1, los 365 días del año, música folkórica y el himno nacional al cierre de la emisión, SINPO 44343 (José Miguel Romero, EA5-1022 Burjasot (Valencia), España, SANGEAN ATS 909, Antena RADIO MASTER A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Was the schedule also supposed to be inside quotation marks? (gh, DXLD) ** GABON. 4777, RTVG or RNTVG (?), Jan 3, 0530-0545, French programming, African pop music and singing, 0538 woman with ID that sounded to me like: ``Radio Nationale la Télévision Gabonaise.`` Reception was fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340 + T2FD antenna, dxldyg via DXLD) ** GERMANY. GERMANY MAY NOT SWITCH OFF ANALOGUE UNTIL 2020 - SWR RADIO DIRECTOR A senior figure in German public broadcasting believes that the switch-off of analogue radio transmitters may proceed a lot more slowly than previously thought. Bernhard Hermann, Director of Radio at Südwestrundfunk (SWR) says that analogue FM transmitters could remain on the air until 2020, rather than 2012. A major reason is uncertainty about the best digital option. DAB technology is falling out of favour in more and more countries in Europe, including Germany. Digital Video Broadcasting, both terrestrial and via satellite, can also be used as a platform for delivering very high quality audio, and in the Berlin area tests are being carried out with the terrestrial version (DVB-T) to deliver radio as well as TV. Digital radio is already being carried on satellite, but as yet the satellite transmissions (DVB-S) cannot be received in cars. (Source: Radio.nl) # posted by Andy @ 12:53 UT Jan 3 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** GRENADA. See DX-PEDITIONS below ** HAWAII. 1500, KUMU, Honolulu noted from 1217 with ads, talk; faded at 1230, but caught a weak ID/promo at 1232 "... on Kumu AM 1500, the Talk of Honolulu", and "You've found it - KUMU AM 1500, The New Talk of Honolulu"; only traces left by 1300. Fair peaks 1232 26/12 mah (Martin A Hall, Clashmore, Scotland, Medium Wave News via DXLD) Martin had a nice recording of this again (Steve Whitt, ed., ibid.) ** HONDURAS. 3340, HRMI, La Voz de Misiones Internacionales, Comayagüela, recibida tarjeta QSL con datos completos en 16 días, firmada por, V/S, J. K. Planeck. En la tarjeta se hace constar que transmiten con 1.000 watts de potencia en 3340 kHz. El informe de recepción, con el que se acompañó 1 US $ para ayuda del sello de retorno, se envió a la dirección que tienen en USA: Radio Misiones Internacionales, P. O. Box 6321, San Bernardino CA 92412, U. S. A. Phone 909-466-5793 Fax: 909-370-4862 email: JKPIMF @ mns.com (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Jan 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Subject: Re: AIR QSL Receipt --- UADX issues a nice award for QSLing various numbers of Indian states. If you like you may check with our awards manager Gerhard Werdin to whom I am CC this. Though UADX is inactive right now, we can issue awards I am sure. No problem. Congrats for persevering, John. All the best for 2006. I hope to be back in the QSL business soon! By the way 2006 WRTVH has a nice photo and write up of Jose Jacob as one of the collaborators. Keep up your great work, Jose for S. Asian DXing. 73 (G. Victor A. Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, to John Sgrulletta, dx_india via DXLD) So how to contact Gerhard? Gerhard.Werdin @ t- online.de (gh) ** INDIA [non]. RUSSIA(non): Frequency changes for TWR India to SoAs in various SoAs languages: 0015-0200 NF 9825 IRK 100 kW / 110 deg, ex 9445 1230-1530 NF 7530 IRK 100 kW / 110 deg, ex 7535 (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 3 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. RRI en español --- Acabo de ganarme un tapabocas de parte del servicio en castellano a las 1700 de RRI La Voz de Indonesia, según reporté como una agradable casualidad por su magnífica señal el pasado 30 de Dic. Pues bien, esta última hora de la primera mañana del nuevo año, estaba pegándome una mejor señal todavía y me llamó la atención que dentro de este esquema en español pasan un promo en inglés como para ubicar al despistado y ocasional oyente internacional que ignora la existencia de sitios como DXLD para estar mejor informado. Esto fue a las 1714, para pasar a un segmento de música pop local tras su respectivo ID. Llama la atención el flojo manejo del idioma castellano en lo que respecta al acento de las palabras, aunque la pronunciación si es adecuada, por parte del locutor habitual. Encuentro que en general, no terminan de superar la psicosis que dejó el tsunami de un año antes, pues constantemente hacen referencia del tema a lo largo de su programa. Yo he estado sindicando el cambio de orientación que di a mi antena T2FD, cambiando el ángulo de inclinación de Esta a Oeste, como el responsable de esta mejoría de recepción desde Indonesia. Alguien que conozca sus características, avalaría esto (Raul Saavedra, Costa Rica, Jan 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. Re 6-002, FAVOURITE VOICES: Hi Glenn: I set this thread up to be mainly who your favourite voices are for whatever reason. In my case, the first two women on the list have a voice that makes me sit up and want to listen to what they are saying or presenting - especially Ms. Szafraniec. Roger Broadbent's voice puts me at ease (Mark Coady, ON, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That makes it much more interesting to know reasons for the choices (gh) Hoyo Mark, Roger Broadband [sic] is the only announcer that I know from RA, he used to be on 'Feedback' that was on RA for many years, than i think it was 2-3 years ago it stopped. Now Roger just announces frequencies if I'm right. I always like the Voice of Russia male announcer that always says "You're tuned to the World Service of the Voice of Russia" every hour before the news, no ideas of his name. My 3 would be as follows. 1. Rob Wise - Hobart Radio International 2. Ian Jones - Maple Leaf Mailbag - RCI 3. Male announcer of VOR Tuned theme (Rob Wise, HRI, ODXA via DXLD) Great thread idea! I'll preface my response by saying that I rarely know the announcers names, so my knowledge base is pretty limited. 1. Dr. Arnie Coro, Radio Habana. He gives a dignified voice to a misunderstood (in the USA anyway) country. 2. Sheila [sic] Rogers, CBC. She may be a regular broadcast announcer to ya'll up north, but a treat to me. If I'm listening it means we got a snow day (I work with special ed. in the public schools) and I'm laying in bed sipping hot tea. 3. Alex Jones, WWCR. He's a favorite, not a likable announcer. He gives venom a voice. I live in a very liberal city and it suits me well. Alex tests the right to freedom of speech and freedom of the airwaves 5 nights a week. Besides, I hear and see dark helicopters flying overhead almost every day. I live on the university hospital`s life-flight flight path. HALL OF FAME Dr. Gene Scott Peace Ya'll (Banjo Jim N8RPI, ibid.) CURRENT Stuart McLean (CBC) --- It's harder to think of current Favourite Voices than ones from the past. HALL OF FAME Jonathan Marks (R. Netherlands) Keith Glover (R. Australia) Bob Cadman (RCI) Frans Vossen (R. Vlaanderen Int'l) (Harold Sellers, ON, ibid.) Current: 1. Slawek Szefs - Radio Polonia 2. There is a reporter for Channel Africa who I believe is based in Kenya. I have no idea who he is, but he has the deepest voice I have EVER heard. 3. Jim Lee (BBC World Service and Radio 7 news and continuity) Past: Coincidentally, I posted this to another group (the happy station yahoo group) last night --- it fits my 3 "Hall of Famers" "Reflecting back, we lost Joe Adamov of Radio Moscow/Voice of Russia last year. I remember a time when people like Joe, and Larry Wayne and Tom (Meijer) helped to give stations like Radio Moscow, DW and Radio Netherlands a sense of character --- something that seems lost now as they all resemble BBC Lite. "And I hasten to add, I can't remember the last time I listened to any of them." 3b. Elizabeth Francis, BBC Newsreader And Harold is right, it`s much harder to think of current favourites (Fred Waterer, suddenly feeling old --- thanks, Mark :-), ibid.) I like this, Current (These guys sound like they really enjoy radio) Wayne Mowat, although his airtime has been reduced - RNZI Ms. Indranee Senanayke - Wednesday Morning Show Sri Lanka BC Luanda Fisher - RHC Hall of Fame Robin Alexander - Radio Orion South Africa 4810 Larry Wayne - DW Bob Zanotti - SRI 73 (Mick Delmage, Sherwood Park, AB, ibid.) My 3 favorite voices from shortwave. 1 - Jack Boggan from WLIS. Jack had a calming effect on his listeners, yet at the same time you knew he was in charge. His voice helped me to love interval signals too. 2 - Bram Stoker from Radio Azteca. Bram's voice would make you laugh before he said anything funny. Bram had the best delivery on short wave. I think he is a writer for Jay Leno now. 3 - Bucky Beaver from Radio Beaver - Bucky's voice was unmistakable although at times it got confused with one of the chipmunks. His broadcasts from the Big Nickel in Sudbury were the best thing on 7415 khz back in the early 90s. Mark, you said " favorite voices on shortwave." (Jerry Coatsworth, ON, ibid.) All those being pirates, natch What fun it was tuning the shortwave bands back in the 60's & 70's Larry Wayne - DW Bob Zanotti - SRI Ian MacFarland - RCI Basil ``Pip`` Duke - RCI old Mailbag Program Bob Cadman (RCI) Jonathan Marks (R. Netherlands) Joe Adamov of Radio Moscow Alistair Cooke - BBC - Letter from America Tom Meijer happy station (Tim McGraw, W8BTM, ibid.) Bob Zanotti-SRI The guy that did a show on RCI, you would submit a question, they would call you, you would record your question over the air and the program would air a week later. It was on around 1973-74, ran for a short while. I have the tape of my question on a cassette stored away. Can't think of the name of the show or presenter --- help! The news announcer on Radio Tirana who elicited a plea from a listener in a radio magazine to "please buy that woman a cup of coffee!" Tom Meijer (Radio Netherlands) Andrea St. John on RHC (not 1970s but early 1990s, one of my favorites) Plus too many more to list, these are just the ones I can think of now! (Maryanne Kehoe, GA, ibid.) gh fixed some spellings ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. AL-MANAR OFF THE AIR IN US, SOUTH AMERICA The Coalition Against Terrorist Media (CATM) has praised satellite company Hispamar for removing Hezbollah's al-Manar television station from broadcast into North and South America. This marks the second time that CATM has taken al-Manar off the airwaves in the United States and throughout the Americas. "Al-Manar runs graphic videos encouraging viewers, even children, to become suicide bombers and calls for acts of terrorism against civilians," said Mark Dubowitz, COO of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, which organized CATM. "Al-Manar is an operational weapon in the hands of one of the world’s most dangerous terrorist organizations." "We applaud Hispamar for quickly ending al-Manar broadcasts over its Amazonas satellite after we alerted them to its incitement to violence and support for terrorism" Dubowitz continued. "By removing al-Manar, Hispamar is ending a very real threat. Hezbollah is known to have terror cells in more than 14 major American cities. It conducts illegal operations, including drug smuggling, throughout the Americas. And it demonstrated its ability and willingness to strike on this side of the Atlantic when its terrorists killed more than 100 innocent civilians in two bombings in Argentina." With Hispamar`s decision, CATM and its allies have now been instrumental in removing al-Manar from eight satellites around the world, including two other satellites broadcasting into the United States and Latin America. In December 2004, at CATM’s urging, the US State Department designated al-Manar as a terrorist organization. The same day, the Intelsat satellite company dropped al-Manar from broadcast in the United States and Canada. On June 23, 2005, following intensive consultations with CATM and its allies, the government of Spain issued a press release denouncing al- Manar’s terrorist messages and removed al-Manar from broadcast over Hispasat, which reached all of Latin America. Hispamar is a Brazilian company and branch of Hispasat. Its Amazonas satellite had broadcast al-Manar until being alerted by CATM about the station's support for terrorism. Al-Manar is still broadcast to the Middle East, Europe and North Africa by Nilesat, whose major shareholder is the government of Egypt, and Arabsat, which is owned in part by the government of Saudi Arabia. According to CATM, Al-Manar's broadcasts include commercials glorifying suicide bombers and encouraging others to join their ranks; viciously anti-American and anti-Semitic material, and music videos calling for suicide bombers to attack coalition soldiers in Iraq. CATM is a project of the non-partisan Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a policy institute that focuses on defeating terrorism and promoting democracy. http://www.defenddemocracy.org/ Coalition Against Terrorist Media http://www.stopterroristmedia.org/ # posted by Andy @ 13:22 UT Jan 3 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** ISLE OF MAN. Long Wave Radio --- I have checked the web site for the Isle of Man station scheduled to broadcast on 279 kHz. It states ``Construction of the antenna is almost complete; it has now passed the 'testing' stage and its phasing sections are being assembled. Final installation and commissioning will take place as soon as possible after that, with a period of test transmissions to thoroughly prove the system prior to the launch of official programmes. The above indications are our aspirations and the Company regrets any delays due to factors beyond its control.`` I received no reply from my email to them over a month ago. http://www.longwaveradio.com/index.html (John Williams, The Home Front, Jan Mediumwave News via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. IBA / 88 FM Network --- I haven't heard anything lately regarding the proposed IBA budget cuts. This included possibly cutting 88 FM, which brought a lot of protest, from local listeners and musical artists as well. An interesting thing to note, is that the IBA just started a live web feed of 88 FM! It's available on http://media.iba.org.il under "Radio Broadcasts" --- select "88FM" (Doni Rosenzweig, Jan 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. SOUTH KOREA: OPEN RADIO PROVIDES "MENTAL FOOD" FOR NORTH - STATION DIRECTOR | Text of report in English by An Kyoung Hee published by South Korean newspaper The Daily NK website on 2 January entitled "Anyone Can Participate in the Broadcasting Beamed at North Korea"; subheadings added editorially Recently the reporter met Young Howard, executive director of Open Radio for North Korea, which had sent its first programme on the air on the 7 December 2005. He said that one could provide mental nutrition with North Korean people by participating in broadcasting to the North, which could be a new movement of helping North Korean people. To know what Open Radio for North Korea is like, and how it will be operating, the reporter asked him several questions. The following is the full text of the reporter's interview with him. "How are you doing?" "Great. Thank you." "First of all, would you tell our Northern brethren why Open Radio for North Korea has been founded?" "There are three reasons. First of all, it is intended to reconcile brethren in South Korea and abroad. Enough communication is necessary for the Northern and Southern people to be reconciled by clearing out misunderstanding and distrust. The problem is that we do not have any medium through which we communicate our words to North Korean people. Thus, Open Radio for North Korea has been founded to open up a way of communicating with the North. "Secondly, we want to let North Korean people recognize how good freedom is. North Koreans do not know what freedom means. Open Radio for North Korea will transfer various different thoughts and opinions. Anyone, either leftist or rightist, who participates in our broadcasting can send her words to North Korean people. That's what freedom and pluralism guarantee. Open Radio for North Korea intends to be a school that teaches North Koreans the meaning of freedom. "Lastly, we want to urge the free world to pay more attention to North Korean people. We expect more brethren in the South and abroad, and more individuals around the world to have interests in North Korea due to our broadcasting. This in turn makes us anticipate that more people will be willing to send their words to North Korean people." "Now, tell me how it will be operating?" "OK. Our major activity will be to inform a number of people including South Koreans, Americans, and Japanese about Open Radio for North Korea, and induce them to participate in its broadcasting. That's because a lot of people must know about Open Radio for North Korea since its programmes are intended to be produced by various people. Therefore, we will focus on publicity and advertisement." Open Radio, open programming "Umm. What is then the difference between your broadcasting and those old broadcastings beamed at North Korea?" "Open Radio for North Korea is different from the old broadcasters in several aspects. First of all, Open Radio for North Korea is a broadcasting system by which a variety of people participate in producing programmes. What I am saying is that we will transmit anyone's words to North Korean people by recording his voice in an audio file if he just wants to send his message to the North. That's our fundamental difference from the old broadcasters, and that's why we refer to our broadcasting system as the broadcasting of participation and cooperation. The programmes will be created by many different people, and thus our contents will express many different kinds of opinions, and hence we also call our broadcasting a broadcasting of pluralism. "Put in another way, one can speak ether well or ill of the North Korean regime through our broadcasting. The free world allows the freedom of speech, and the pluralism. Nearly no issue is completely unanimously resolved. Since Open Radio for North Korea is a broadcasting of pluralism, it will contain both pros and cons, and both support and criticism." "I see. Now, would you have a chance to convey a message to North Korean people?" "Two things. First, I wish North Korean people to realize and enjoy the meaning of freedom through our broadcasting. In North Korea, only such voice as admiration and support is existent for the administration. We can find both pros and cons in virtually every country except North Korea. In the free world, one can admire and support his country's President or Chieftain, or she can criticize and oppose him. That's what we call freedom. You will hear not only such voice as admiration and support but also voice of criticism and opposition through Open Radio for North Korea. "Second, I am afraid North Korean people do not recognize how concerned and enthusiastic many South Koreans, brethren abroad, and individuals around world are about their situation. However, once a North Korean hears our broadcasting, he will know that North Koreans are not alone, and there are many people in the world sincerely willing to help them. Hence, I dare to say that Open Radio for North Korea will be a hope in making North Korean people dream of a more prosperous, happy, and beautiful society, and in turn build such a society in North Korea." "Mental food" for North Korea "In conclusion, would you speak to South Koreans and brethren abroad?" "I wish to propose the second movement for helping North Korean people. I assume that the first movement was sending rice to the North for famine relief, and the second can be sending mental food. In other words, let's send information, knowledge, hope, and courage to North Korean people. "As a part of the movement, I propose to send 5 minute messages to North Korea. The receiver can be anyone in the North, for example, family members, relatives, Kim Jong Il [Kim Cho'ng-il], Kin Jong Cheol, Kim Jong Il [Kim Cho'ng-il]'s son, Gye Soon Hee, and Cho Myeong Ae, Let's send our own message to North Korea. Open Radio for North Korea is always ready to transmit any kind of message to the North." Open Radio for North Korea can be listened to by a short wave radio through 5880 kHz for 1 hour from the midnight everyday. Source: The Daily NK website, Seoul, in English 2 Jan 06 (via BBCM via DXLD) 1500 ** MALDIVE ISLANDS. MALDIVES/SRI LANKA: MINIVAN RADIO SHORTWAVE CLOSES, REAL AUDIO AVAILABLE Minivan Radio, an independent and non-partisan radio programme that has broadcast to the Maldives for the past 16 months has ceased broadcasting via shortwave radio frequencies. This follows a visit by the Sri Lankan police to the Minivan office in Sri Lanka, according to Dave Hardingham, founder of the Friends of Maldives in the United Kingdom and whose group sponsored the broadcasts and web site, reports Clandestineradio.com. In an interview on the ClandestineRadio.com podcast, Global Crisis Watch, he said that the visit stemmed from accusations by the Maldivian regime of sedition. ClandestineRadio.com has reported Minivan Radio programmes were broadcast from high-powered transmitters in Germany --- not from Sri Lanka. BBC Monitoring research has confirmed the daily programmes are still available at: http://radio.minivannews.com Source: BBC Monitoring research 3 Jan 06 (via DXLD) ** MEXICO. ZAPATIST STATION RADIO INSURGENTE BACK ON AIR [sic] Radio Insurgente, voice of the EZLN, Zapatist National Liberation Army, has resumed broadcasting on shortwave, FM and the internet, according to a 16 December 2005 communiqué from subcommander Marcos, the public spokesman for the Clandestine Indian Revolutionary Committee-General Command of the EZLN, Mexico City Canal 11 TV reported on 21 December. The radio station was previously closed on 20 June 2005 under the orders of the Zapatist leader but the 21 December news bulletin on Canal 11 TV confirmed that the broadcaster had returned to the airwaves. The communiqué stated that FM radio stations will broadcast to the indigenous communities in the various Zapatist zones in Mexico's southeastern Chiapas state. Further, those indigenous peoples in the area will receive training in radio production techniques. The local population will decide on the content of local FM programmes, according to Marcos. The EZLN will be responsible for the other main shortwave programme. The website said "After 30 December we will return to weekly transmissions on Fridays at 3 pm in the afternoon [local time] on 6 MHz, 49 metreband." The Zapatist website is at http://www.enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/category/ezln An archive of the shortwave broadcasts is available at http://www.radioinsurgente.org/index.php?name=archive within the main website at http://www.radioinsurgente.org The station website, accessed on 21 December 2005, gives more detail: Background from Radio Insurgente website "Radio Insurgente is a FM project which transmits from various places in Chiapas directed to the Zapatist bases, the insurgents and militias, the commanders and local people in general. This programme is broadcast not only in Spanish, but also in the indigenous languages Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Chol and Tojolabal. The programme mixes local, national and international news with music, educational and political messages, short stories and drama. Radio Insurgente is the media through which the Zapatist communities spread their own music, words and thoughts. "Radio Insurgente is the only independent radio station in Chiapas transmitting in the various indigenous languages, and for this reason can be understood by women, men and children. In Chiapas, due to the catastrophic educational politics of the official Mexican government, approximately a third of the men and half of the women cannot read and write. Most women do not speak or understand Spanish. "The Radio Insurgente signal reaches isolated regions that have no electricity, where no newspaper goes and where entertainment mainly consists of playing basketball or soccer. For these communities, Radio Insurgente opens a window to the world, and brings information about the struggles of other peoples in other countries. The dozens of letters which reach the studios every day demonstrate how important its programme is for the indigenous people of Chiapas. "Radio Insurgente broadcasts daily on various frequencies in FM (according to the region). For the Zona Altos de Chiapas (Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Chol) [local languages] on the frequency 97.9 MHz on FM For the Zona Selva Fronteriza (Tzeltal, Tojolabal) on the frequency 97.9 MHz FM For the Zona Selva Tzeltal on the frequencies 100.1 MHz and 89.3 MHz For the Zona norte (Tzotzil, Tzeltal, Chol) on the frequency 102.1 MHz For the Zona zotz choj (Tzeltal, Tojolabal) on the frequency 92.9 MHz Shortwave radio "Its weekly shortwave programme in Spanish is particularly directed to the people of Mexico and the Americas, but also to all interested parties from civil society in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It has regular reports on actual events in Chiapas, on the progress of constructing a Zapatist autonomy through the Juntas de Buen Gobierno and the autonomous rebel municipalities, on the history of the National Zapatist Liberation Army, indigenous women's rights and many other subjects. "It also entertains with a variety of music and short stories from Chiapas. On shortwave, Radio Insurgente transmits one hour per week on Fridays from 3 pm (Mexico official time, gmt -6) on the frequency 6.0 MHz, 49 metreband. The web site "On this web page http://www.radioinsurgente.org you can listen to or download the weekly shortwave Radio Insurgente programmes, as well as some special programmes and samples of the FM programme. You also can send an email to the Radio Insurgente team with your comments. The audio archives are in mp3 format (mono), compressed to 64 kbps for download and retransmission, and 32 kbps for listening. [Passage omitted] "The National Zapatist Liberation Army invites all free and community radio stations to rebroadcast Radio Insurgente's programme on their local frequency. Retransmission is free as long as the contents aren't changed." Programme summary of Zapatist National Liberation Army, EZLN, Radio Insurgente The recording, monitored from the audio archive on the website on 22 December 2005, but labelled as the 19 December 2005 programme, lasted just over one hour. 1. Introduction with music: "You are listening to Radio Insurgente, the voice of the Zapatist National Liberation Army". 2. "Once again we are broadcasting Radio Insurgente, the voice of those with no voice, the voice of the Zapatist National Liberation Army, broadcast from the mountains of southeast Mexico". 3. The date of 19 December [2005] was chosen for the relaunch because it marks the 12th anniversary of the Zapatist uprising in Chiapas and the declaration of the autonomous Zapatist rebel municipalities. 4. Zapatist groups will now be trained so they can have control over the FM radio broadcasts in their area. Main broadcasts will still be broadcast on shortwave and will be available from the webpage http://www.radioinsurgente.org 5. Will discuss the new campaign laid down in the 6th Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle. But first "some nice music so you can dance in your house". 6. Have to join all the civil groups in Mexico and abroad to fight against the advance of neo-liberalism which is destroying humanity. 7. The Other Campaign is a campaign to create a grassroots movement in Mexico "from those below". 8. In June 2005 the EZLN released the 6th Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle, in which the Clandestine Indian Revolutionary Committee- General Command (CCRI-CG) of the Zapatist National Liberation Army announced a new phase in the struggle. The new phase includes joining up with other groups in Mexico and abroad to create a fairer more dignified world. 9. As part of "The Other Campaign", a Zapatist committee has been meeting other civil, social and political groups to build consensus. 10. Trail for Radio Insurgente with music. 11. Revolutionary singer describes his lyrics. 12. Woman speaks of discrimination against women and calls for reduction in family size to free women from the home. 13. Different speakers give short speeches on revolutionary politics and against capitalism, neo-liberalism and the international credit agencies such as the IMF, World Bank, interspersed by clips of music by Spanish rock musicians such as Manu Chao and Amparanoia and Mexican cumbia songs. 14. Speaker decries deaths of Mexicans in "Uncle Sam's war in Iraq". Calls on Mexicans to protest outside the "Yanqui embassy" in Mexico City and say a loud no to the war. 15. Woman speaks out against "lesbophobia", calls for more open society. Gay man calls for freedom for people of non-heterosexual orientation. 16. Member of Zapatist punk collective discusses new ideas for workshops on cultural issues, praises new direction in 6th Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle. 17. Leader of collective groups calls for recognition of slain comrade. 18. Speaker calls for education for poor. 19. Presenter says speakers featured in programme spoke at a meeting in August in La Garrucha, Chiapas, where the "Other Campaign" was launched. 20. Music. 21. Presenter says the "Other Campaign" does not only include the Zapatists but "many other voices". 22. Interview with members of "Radio Sabotaje" http://www.radiosabotaje.tk http://sabotaje.blogsome.com a pro- Zapatist community radio station based in the Literature and Philososphy Faculty of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City. José Arteaga and Romeo López of Radio Sabotaje explain why they joined the "Other Campaign". Presenter thanks listeners for tuning in and plays a lively Afro-Cuban song to end of broadcast. Source: BBC Monitoring research 3 Jan 06 (via DXLD) ON FM MAYBE, BUT IT HAS NEVER BEEN CONFIRMED ON SHORTWAVE. This says Fridays at 2100 UT, but we recently had something else from them claiming it was Fridays at 2400 UT; more likely, neither (gh, DXLD) ** MOROCCO. Morocco visible but not audible on 2nd harmonic 1637.914 kHz, identified on the fundamental of 818.957 kHz at 2340. Thanks to Carlos Gonçalves for sending his December loggings to me. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Jan 3, harmonics yg via DXLD) See also CUBA [non] ** OKLAHOMA. 1170, KFAQ, Tulsa; news and reports from Oklahoma; "From Tulsa, this is KFAQ Radio", SINPO 33543, 0805 24/12 (DX183 = Wilhelm Herbst, Fjerritslev, Denmark. 24 beverages. Logs for the period 15-25 December were made in co-operation with guest Hans Pammer from Loosdorf, Austria, Medium Wave News via DXLD) When of course it should have been on directional pattern with null toward WWVA Wheeling, which they also heard 10 minutes later (gh, DXLD) 1520, KOKC, Oklahoma City OK; talk, "This is KOKC"; + 24532 0945 24/12; 32542 0640 19/12 (DX183, ibid.) When of course it should have been on direxional pattern with null toward Buffalo (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Additional frequency for Voice of Russia in DRM mode: 2000-2200 on 5820 MSK 035 kW / 240 deg to WeEu in English (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 3 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. A couple of old Russian test pattern screen savers: http://www.inethouse.net/user/spacegoat/2006/01/02/old_russian_tv_test_patterns_screensavers/ (Paul [Ormandy?], NZ, HCDX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. WATCH RUSSIA TODAY TV ONLINE --- The English-language Russia Today TV is streaming online at mms://polar.rttv.ru/rttv A worthy world news alternative for those with broadband (Sergei Sosedkin, Jan 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Shall try it, but what is the details of their satellite transmission? 73, (Erik in Copenhagen Køie, ibid.) For Europe: Hotbird 6 (13 E) frequency 10.971 MHz FEC - 3/4; symbol rate: 27.500 Ms/sec. polarization - H (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) Fine reception in Copenhagen, both via the web and via the Hotbird satellite. Thank you & 73, (Erik Køie, Denmark, ibid.) ** SAINT KITTS. See DX-PEDIITONS below ** SPAIN. Don`t you believe a report from Down Under that REE has moved from 9630 to 9610 in the 2100 UT hour. Jan 3 at 2145 check it was on 9630 as usual, and nothing on 9610. Tho who knows, it might have been on 9610 by mistake on one occasion. 9630 is direct from Spain to North America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Movimientos en RNE --- Saludos amigos radioescuchas, como ya nos avisó Maurio Molano en la Lista HCDX (06-10-2005), creo que ya han comenzado las primeras medidas sobre el Plan de Limpieza Económica y Futuro de RNE. Un futuro incierto para las estaciones locales. En mi ciudad, Córdoba, España, al pasar por el edificio de la emisora he visto con asombro una pancarta en la que se pide mantener los puestos de trabajo de RNE en Córdoba. La primera de las medidas que nos anunciaba Mauricio es: Adecuación de la estructura organizativa central y territorial. Circulaban fuertes rumores sobre RNE diciendo que esta adecuación significaba cierre. Hay varios posible escenarios: 1- CIERRE TOTAL DE RADIO 5 TODO NOTICIAS Y SUS TRANSMISORES. Los estudios regionales mantendrían la programación regional de Radio 1. 2- CIERRE TOTAL DE LAS ESTACIONES LOCALES DE RADIO 5 TN. Radio 5 constaría de una emisión a nivel nacional sin conexiones regionales o locales. Los estudios regionales mantendrían la programación regional para Radio 1. 3- CIERRE TOTAL DE LAS ESTACIONES LOCALES DE RADIO 5 TN. Radio 5 solo constaría de transmisiones regionales. Los estudios regionales mantendrían la programación para Radio 5 y Radio 1(solo una pequeña parte 2/3 de la población se mantendría informada en cada provincia. 4- CIERRE PARCIAL DE LAS ESTACIONES LOCALES. Solo estaciones de ciudades importantes sobrevivirían. 5- NINGÚN CIERRE, pero programación solo de lunes a jueves de 0800 a 1500. Se cumple la predicción de Mauricio que nos decía que comenzarían las medidas a principio del año 2006.También nos decía que los escenarios más probables serían el 2º y 3º, si bien el personal de RNE estaría mejor si el resultado fuese el 4. Estaremos atentos. Esta noticia fue publicada en el boletín EL DIAL de la AER del mes de Noviembre, sección OL-OM ----------------------------------- (José Bueno EA7-0641, Córdoba - España, Jan 3, HCDX via DXLD) ** SVALBARD. 1731 kHz, LGS Svalbard Coast Radio Station, Norway; maritime info in English & Norwegian very Weak, 2303 15/12 SW (Steve Whitt, High Catton near York, England. AOR7030+ and HF225 Europa with dual loop K9AY. Also some time with a 370m NW Beverage from 15/10, Medium Wave News via DXLD) USB, I believe. A detailed article was also in this issue about all the Norwegian coastal stations in the 1.7 MHz band and how they can be used as propagation indicators (gh) ** TURKEY. New time and frequency for TRT Voice of Turkey in Tatar from Dec. 10: 1600-1655(not 1530-1625) NF 6140, strong co-channel DW English in DRM, ex 5980 (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 3 via DXLD) ** U K. BBC OPENS ITS NEWS ARCHIVE FOR THE FIRST TIME | Text of BBC press release on 3 January BBC News Interactive has this month [January 2006] released nearly 80 online news reports from the archives. The bulletins cover some iconic events of the past 50 years including the fall of the Berlin Wall, crowds ejecting soldiers from Beijing's Tiananmen Square and behind-the-scenes footage of the England team prior to their World Cup victory in 1966. They are offered as The Open News Archive, part of a new kind of BBC service - in pilot stage - which is not just about enjoying BBC output but allowing the UK public to use it to create content of their own. The clips have been made freely available under the terms of the recently-launched Creative Archive Licence. The Creative Archive Licence allows people within the UK to watch, download and edit the clips and programming for non-commercial purposes. People interested in being creative with BBC material will be free to download and mix that footage and use it as the fuel for their own creative endeavours. The footage is now at http://bbc.co.uk/opennewsarchive To ensure that the material is available to as wide an audience, it will be made available in QuickTime, Windows Media, MPEG1 and MP3 formats. In releasing these reports, the BBC has now doubled the number of programme extracts it originally made available through an initial trial with Radio 1 Interactive. Helen Boaden, Director, BBC News, says: "This trial is an important step in allowing us to share with our audiences the extraordinary news archive which the BBC has recorded over the years. We look forward to getting their reaction." Paul Gerhardt, Project Director of the Creative Archive Licence Group, says: "The big news stories of the last three decades are the punctuation marks in the stories of our lives. "The BBC's telling of those stories is part of our heritage, and now that the UK public have the chance to share and keep them we're keen to know how they will be used. "Whatever you do, let us know - and help to shape the future of the Creative Archive." The BBC will be releasing further content across other areas of http://bbc.co.uk over the coming months. Source: BBC press release, London, in English 3 Jan 06 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. UZBEKISTAN/USA: Additional transmissions for WYFR: 1300-1400 Burmese 9310 TAC 200 kW / 131 SEAs from Nov. 21, new on SW 1800-1900 Polish 5820 TAC 100 kW / 311 WeEu from Dec. 18, new on SW (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 3 via DXLD) New languages for them, not in WRTH 2006 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Frequency changes of Radio Free Asia; Radio Liberty; Voice of America: 1400-1500 RFA Cantonese NF 6050, NF 7280, ex 9825 and 15255 1600-1615 VOA Bosnian NF 11820, ex 11965 Mon-Fri |||| again on SW 1600-1700 VOA Bangla NF 11970, ex 15185 1730-1800 VOA Afan/Oromo NF 9415, ex 7245 Mon-Fri 1730-1800 VOA Afan/Oromo NF 11955, ex 11690 Mon-Fri 1730-1800 VOA Afan/Oromo NF 13755, ex 13790 Mon-Fri 1800-1900 VOA Amharic NF 9415, ex 7245 1800-1900 VOA Amharic NF 11955, ex 11690 1800-1900 VOA Amharic NF 13755, ex 13790 1900-1930 VOA Tigrigna NF 9415, ex 7245 Mon-Fri 1900-1930 VOA Tigrigna NF 11955, ex 11690 Mon-Fri 1900-1930 VOA Tigrigna NF 13755, ex 13790 Mon-Fri (Observer, Bulgaria, Jan 3 via DXLD) ** U S A. No thanks to WHYY, which had that Crazy College special UT Tue at 0200, I had to Google to find a website for the program: http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/3056/ It seems it is a regular weekly hour on two webcasting stations: WDIY Friday at 2300-2400 UT, and WVUD Sunday at 2300-2400 UT, which I have added to Monitoring Reminders Calendar. They also offer shows on CD free of charge to public radio stations for any use during 2006y (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WHYY is launching its HD Radio second channel 15 minutes from now, see http://www.whyy.org/91FM/hdradio.html , with Terry Gross "leading the countdown." It's supposed to be streamed but there isn't an audio link yet (Kevin A. Kelly, 0046 UT Jan 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: WHYY ARTS AND INFORMATION HD RADIO CHANNEL Experience: The WHYY Arts & Information Service features classical music and news from around the world in CD-quality sound... WHYY has launched a second radio channel called Experience: The WHYY Arts & Information Service, the region's first HD Radio channel devoted to arts, news and information programming. The non-fee, commercial-free channel can be heard on HD Radio receivers available now. The service can also be heard on the Internet at www.whyy.org. WHYY's HD signal carries 91FM’s existing program schedule, with enhanced digital sound quality. . . http://www.whyy.org/91FM/hdradio.html (via Kevin A. Kelly, MA, DXLD) [Slightly later:] Terry Gross and some much-taller guy are doing a pre-launch Q&A at rtsp://realserver2.whyy.org/encoder/live.rm (Real Video) -(Kevin A. Kelly, 0051 UT Jan 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Terry is pretty short, anyway, I think. Unfound, or is that rtsp messing things up on my real player? (Glenn, about 0110 UT, to Kevin, via DXLD) Real Player has no trouble with rtsp; that's RP's own format. However, the stream went dead about 0053. You didn't miss much. Terry Gross and some WHYY official were answering questions for a live audience. Terry was quite patient in explaining the difference between HD Radio and satellite radio to one questioner. She fielded a couple of questions about the internal workings of Fresh Air, quite modestly, giving much of the credit to her staff. Terry was about to go live on WHYY-TV at 0055-0100 for some symbolic button-pushing. I didn't see that, but the audio link for the HD2 service went up just moments before launch, and I got in just in time to hear a pre-recorded inaugural announcement, then into Performance Today. Now I wonder how many people in Philly actually have a radio that can hear the new HD2... Nonetheless, we're probably going to see a lot of these launches from various stations this year (Kevin Kelly, Arlington, MA, PublicRadioFan.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) Article seems self-contradictory: is the HD service simply duplicating the main channel or does it differ? It differs. HD sked is here: http://www.whyy.org/91FM/hd_schedule.html And main channel is here: http://www.whyy.org/91FM/schedule.html (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WE WANT THE AIRWAVES -- THE WDET CHANGES HAVE MANY LISTENERS PISSED. WHAT TO DO? --- by Brian Smith 12/21/2005 About 120 people brave the frigid afternoon on the last Sunday before Christmas to publicly air beefs about WSU-owned WDET 101.9-FM, and its recent decision to kill weekday music programming. They want the airwaves back. They want the WDET of old, its mix of eclectic, heard- nowhere-else mix of national and local sides, where on weekdays you could hear anything from Los Lobos, Fela Kuti and Calexico, to Nomo, Blanche and the Sights. A hand-scrawled placard reads: ``Fire Coleman.`` The crowd — a mix of youthful and gray-haired musicians, writers, artists and workaday fans of WDET programming — gathers at the Magic Stick music venue. To these people, there’s a battle brewing. These people are pissed. There’s a show of unity, of good old-fashioned community, of a deep-seated passion for music. All values, they say, that WDET upheld. . . http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=8658 (via George Thurman, TX, Jan 3, DXLD) ** U S A. Atlanta --- A most unusual broadcast from local NPR affiliate WABE 90.1 on the evening of January 2. I was in my car at 7 PM local and heard them broadcasting time signals from the "Navy Observatory Master Clock." Time ticks like WWV, and the familiar male time check voice alternating between Eastern time checks and UTC time checks. This was still going on when I left my car at 7:20 PM. So yes, I listened to a full 20 minutes of time checks in the car. A recheck at 9 PM found them back to normal programming. They usually run an interview program from San Francisco at 7 PM on Monday following "Marketplace." The time broadcast had a high quality phone line sound. And here's the best part, their IBOC was of course on. [NPR network channels used this as a filler during my WUOT career ending over 20 years ago, apparently still the case, and automation brought this up by mistake --- gh] Grayson, GA --- Spanish WPLO 610 never came on the air on January 2 and are still off as of January 3. We had some storms in the area, but I don't know if they have weather related problems, or have pulled the plug due to no ratings and tough sales now that we have a Spanish FM in the Atlanta market. Birmingham and Charlotte now heard on the frequency daytime here (Brock Whaley for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NRG Media's KOIL-AM/Omaha drops its Classic Country format as KYDZ/Omaha shifts from 1180 kHz to KOIL's 1020 AM facility. Radio Disney will simulcast on 1180 AM until Feb. 28, at which time a new format will be placed on the signal, which is being sold by NRG in order to retain expanded-band AM KOZN (ESPN Radio 1620). KOIL-AM had been Classic Country since March 2003 (From radioandrecords.com via Brock Whaley, Lilburn, GA, DXLD) Please forgive me if this is old news. I don't live there (Brock) ** U S A. Retired CBS News Correspondent Neil Strawser, who in 1962 reported to an anxious nation from Guantánamo Bay that the Cuban missile crisis was over, died on New Year's Eve. Over most of his career he was based in Washington, appearing regularly on "The CBS Evening News with Douglas Edwards." Later he concentrated on CBS News radio broadcasts, and anchored Saturday editions of The CBS World News Roundup (radiodailynews.com via Brock Whaley, DXLD) FORMER CBS NEWS RADIO ANCHOR STRAWSER DIES By ELISABETH GOODRIDGE Associated Press Writer Jan 3, 5:25 PM EST WASHINGTON (AP) -- Neil Strawser, who anchored CBS News radio coverage of President Kennedy's assassination, died Saturday. He was 78. Strawser suffered a heart attack at his Washington home and was later pronounced dead at George Washington University Hospital, CBS spokesman Kevin Tedesco said Tuesday. For 34 years, Strawser worked in Washington as a CBS News radio and television reporter. He anchored CBS Radio for four straight days after Kennedy's assassination in 1963. Strawser was also the only television journalist admitted into the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base during the 1962 Cuban Missile crisis. He left journalism in 1986 to serve as a Democratic spokesman for the House Budget Committee. (c) 2006 The Associated Press (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. IT'S IMUS VS. THE MEDIA WORLD http://www.nypost.com/gossip/pagesix/pagesix.htm RADIO superstar Don Imus doles out some wicked disses to his MSNBC colleagues in a profile in the next Vanity Fair. Annoyed that the cable channel, which simulcasts "Imus in the Morning," cut away from his show to provide live coverage of Hurricane Wilma, Imus trashes conservative pundit Tucker Carlson as a "twit," refers to "Hardball" host Chris Matthews as "that idiot" and says MSNBC makes "idiotic decisions" like hiring Carlson and commentator Ron Reagan. Imus - a political pied piper whose regular guests include Tim Russert, Tom Brokaw, Andrea Mitchell and Senators John McCain, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd - also seemed to rub VF writer Buzz Bissinger the wrong way during the week that Bissinger shadowed him for the profile and also appeared on Imus' show several times. Bissinger writes that during his last appearance on the program, Imus accused him "on the air of misrepresenting who is going to photograph him for the magazine, then [hung] up on me. When I later speak to him on the phone off the air and explain that I did not misrepresent anything, he abruptly hangs up on me again. "As the phone goes click, the word 'p - - - k' will form in my mind, a reaction to his mean-spiritedness, which he brandishes at the expense of others for a moment's amusement," Bissinger writes. He detects "a malevolence in Imus' voice more potent than anything I have ever heard as a journalist." He goes on to describe his subject as "a prima donna puppeteer with an eight-figure salary, a penthouse apartment on Central Park West with a 1,400-square- foot terrace, a $30 million home in Westport, Conn., with an unblemished view of Long Island Sound, and millions of listeners at his fingertips." Bissinger also lingers on Imus' deteriorating appearance, noting that he "appears pale and frail and sucked dry. At 65, he looks 10 years older." Later, Bissinger writes, "He looks tired, perhaps from getting up in the morning for nearly 40 years and doing the morning drive time on the radio with energy and focus. The voice, once a manic rat-a-tat as sharp and syncopated as an extended Buddy Rich drum roll, is softer now and sometimes garbled. His eyes seem squeezed, compressed." We can't wait to hear Imus' reaction this morning to Bissinger's musings (NY Post via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. WAPI-WJOX Test Results The "inventory insert" concept, created by former NRC test coordinator, Fred Vobbe has certainly proven its worth. Our most recent test conducted by Birmingham radio stations WJOX 690 and WAPI 1070 were heard widely throughout the US, despite being limited to night time power levels. Our thanks again to Fred Giardina and the staff of both stations for this holiday treat. ======================================= The test began promptly on December 27th, with the first report coming in from Steve Francis of Alcoa, TN who reported WAPI codes and sweeps. Rick Shaftan in New Jersey reported the sweep tones on WAPI to be "booming in", followed by a successful reception of WJOX just eight minutes later. Les Rayburn of Birmingham logged both local stations, mainly to insure that things worked without a hitch. DX'ers John Hunter in Rossville, GA pulled in the test, along with the first Canadian reception reported by Barry McLarnon of Ottawa, Ontario. Barry reported WAPI "in like gangbusters". WAPI put an "excellent signal" into the home of Tom Jasinski in Shorewood, IL, and both stations were logged in Central PA by Brett Saylor on his Drake R8. Dave Hochfelder in Highland Park, NJ logged WAPI using an unattended radio and his computer to do the recording. Bruce Winkelman logged the test in Tulsa, OK the old fashioned way using his ears and a Drake R8 with a Quantum Phaser to null the locals. R.C. Watts pulled in "weak CW and sweeptones" from WAPI in Louisville, KY, adding Kentucky to the list of stations hearing the test. Texas wasn't going to be left out of the fun, with James Niven of Moody, TX logging WAPI despite a strong signal from nearby KFTI. Peter Jernakoff logged WAPI from his home in Northern Delaware, adding a "new one" to the log. And Russ Johnson reported WJOX "very easy copy" from his home in Lexington, North Carolina. Eric Breon caught "pieces of code and sweep tones" from WJOX in his Middletown, PA shack, and James Wallace pulled in the sports talk station from his home in West Virginia using only a Radio Shack AM loop. The furthest catch for the test was that of Curtis McMenamin of Vacaville, California! This is a distance of nearly 2000 miles! His cassette recording revealed successful reception of both WAPI and WJOX, proving once and for all that the "inventory insert" concept has real merit. Great catch Curtis! Also logging both stations during the test was Gerry Bishop of Niceville, FL. John Sgrulletta of Mahopac, NY copied WAPI despite lots of competition from WINA and CBA. And as would be fitting, Fred Vobbe of Lima, Ohio benefited from his own idea by logging the test successfully using a Yaesu FT-857D and a low band folded dipole. By my count, that means that at least one of the two stations was logged in at least 15 states and one Canadian providence! Not bad for one minute worth of audio and night time power!! Of course, there were DX'ers around the world who tried for the test without success --- among those were Wade Smith of New Brunswick, who couldn't pull out WAPI over the dominant signal of CBA. Martin Foltz in Southern California did combat with two powerful stations KNX and XETRA, but lost the war. While Martin Hall, editor of the UK publication, "The Medium Wave News" couldn't hear anything over dominant CBA from his shack in Clashmore, Scotland. Pete Taylor used an Sony 2010 and a Kiwa Air Loop but couldn't find anything in the null of his locals on 1070. Tacoma, Washington would have been nice DX for this test. Better luck next time, Pete. Also disappointed were Curt Deegan of South Eastern Florida, Scott Fybush of Rochester, NY, and Shawn Axelrod of Winnipeg. It was a rare miss indeed for Patrick Martin of Seaside, Oregon who usually can pull in a milliwatt signal on that beverage antenna of his. Also no "joy in Mudville" for Phil Bytheway, Bruce Portzer, or Saul Chernos. Likewise disappointed with our holiday treat was Glen[n] Hauser of Enid, OK, who heard the Marine Corps March (Unid) on 690 khz, but no codes and sweep tones. SOAPBOX ================================ WAPI signal sounded like full day power! -Tom Jasinski, Shorewood, IL Might have easily heard them [on the first night] if I hadn't fallen asleep! The last time I can remember looking at the clock it was 0043. -John Hunter, Rossville, GA In like gangbusters here too. CW ID, sweeps, then one more CW ID. -Barry McLarnon, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada This was a great idea for a test, probably not very "invasive" from the station`s perspective. -Eric Breon No sign of the 1070 test in Seattle last night. Just the usual mix of KNX, CFAX, and electrical noise. -Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA Alabama is not particularly well heard in the UK - the only MW stations I've logged are 1590 WVNA (rare!), 1620 WPHG (not easy, now silent), and 1700 WEUV, which is the most common, being heard on several occasions each season. -Martin Hall, Clashmore, Scotland To those who doubted 60-second tests, "see, told you so!" -Fred Vobbe, Lima, Ohio The sweeps and tones really get out. The tests have also made me a believer in overnight recording. -Dave Hochfelder Pounding in here in NW New Jersey with ESPN Radio, Sweep tones, code, etc. -Rick Shaftan, New Jersey Again, our sincere thanks to Frank Giardina for running this test. Don't forget our upcoming test with KAVT 1680 in Fresno, CA on January 21st! 73 and Good DX! (Les Rayburn, N1LF, NRC/IRCA Broadcast Test Coordinator, Please call anytime 24/7 if your transmitter, will be off the air for maintenance. (205) 253-4867, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. PARK SERVICE UNVEILS MALL RADIO STATION WASHINGTON (AP) - There's a new radio station in Washington, but only people in the area of the National Mall can get it. The National Park Service's station at 1670-AM is dedicated to the parks, monuments and memorials of the nation's capital. Its ten-watt signal can be heard within three miles of the Mall. Park Rangers will provide pre-recorded updates on visiting hours and other information for the Capitol, the White House Visitors Center, the National Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, the Smithsonian museums, the Washington Monument and Pershing Park. There are also details about volunteer and junior ranger programs and rotating features about lesser-known memorials in a segment called "Off the Beaten Path." (via Kevin Redding, Jan 3, ABDX via DXLD) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS. See DX-PEDITIONS below ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ There is so much in the world of shortwave, and radio to learn and you just have to take it at your own pace. I have found that many of the people involved in the hobby are also great teachers of this and they are always here to help a new person get involved in the hobby but also ones who can also add advice if needed. Those Jammers can be just about anyone if it`s a commercial station. The problem is, it takes a lot of money to do jamming like this as pointed out to me by the folks at FEBC on Saipan. One person I know who does a lot of listening in the states is Stewart MacKenzie who is part of the ASWLC group and you should check out his logs and group; they`re in yahoo groups. Also check out Glenn Hauser`s World of Radio. He provides one huge newsletter. I tried to print it once and it took up 50 pages. So there are a lot of people here who can provide info for you to try out. Have fun with the hobby and enjoy; it`s great fun and for me better than TV. 73's and will send a card soon (Larry Fields, n6hpx/mm http://www.qrz.com/n6hpx Jan 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF TELEPHONY ++++++++++++++++++ TOLL FREE PREFICES IN NORTH AMERICA I noticed there was a report of a telephone prefix 866 as a clue in an unID logging. If this was an area code (followed by 7 numbers) rather than an exchange (followed by 4 numbers), it is a toll-free number which could be anywhere in North America. I found this useful site for looking up location of prefixes in each area code: http://www.thedirectory.org/pref/ which also has this FAQ item: Q: Why don't you have area codes 800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844, 833 or 822 listed? A: The above area codes are "Toll-Free" area codes. The 855, 844, 833 and 822 area codes are planned but are not yet in use. These can be used for any location in the USA or Canada, therefore it is impossible to list the locations of the prefixes used in these area codes. 73, (Glenn Hauser, mwdx yg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ TRAVELOGUE FROM THE CARIBBEAN I hope that this is not being too far out of line, fellas, but I thought that I might share a little bit of my travels the past couple of weeks. We left Victoria on the 19th, and returned last night 1/1/2006. We spent a week aboard the Costa Mediterranea, a 980 foot, 85,000 tonne behemoth. Luckily our cabin had a small deck where I was able to do a modest amount of DXing. In tow with me was my most recent receiver, the Kaito 1103 portable. 99% of my listening was on the AM and FM bands using the built-in ferrite rod and telescopic whip. Despite this drawback, I was most impressed with the performance of this receiver. I brought along my i-River 795T MP3 player/recorder and taped some 10 to 15 hours of programming. Guy Atkins clued me into this receiver. I did find that it produced some noise in certain modes (when paused for instance) within a meter or so of the receiver, but while recording, this didn't seem to be much of an issue. I loved the fact that it would record up to some 80 hours or so at a bit rate of 16 kbps at 16 kHz Mono. What an advance over cassette tapes (what I used to use, the Sony 1000T), or MD recorders. The Costa Mediterranea set sail from Ft. Lauderdale heading south/south-east to Puerto Rico, and then to the US Virgin Islands, the British Virgin Islands before returning to Nassau and back to Ft. Lauderdale. Not at all as extensive a cruise as my last between Tahiti and the Marquesas a couple of years back, but nonetheless still fascinating from a radio perspective. I was unaware of the ship causing any significant RF [interference] to my reception. I focused especially with the split frequencies on the MW band, and was pleased with the reception, but rather peeved at the paucity of IDs. I found myself leaving the receiver and MP3 recorder on the balcony while going to dinner, shows, etc., in hopes of snagging an ID. I'm still having to review the recordings to see whether I was successful or not in this regard. Regarding the three MW Bahamian transmitters, 810 ZNS3 was by far the easiest to hear, and was usually heard day or night wherever we were on the cruise. It ID'd as "810, the Service in the North" heard at 0450 on Dec 24th. ZNS1 on 1540 was next easiest to hear with the following ID at 0259 on Dec 25th: "Covering the entire Bahamas, this is ZNS, Nassau". The final outlet, ZNS2 on 1240 was the most difficult to hear, except when in Nassau. This is a religious outlet, IDing as "Inspiration 1240", and "Excellence in Christian Broadcasting". I was not able to monitor this one very well outside of Nassau. I believe that all 3 of these stations are government owned and operated. I also heard many FM (mostly private) Bahamian stations. As we sailed south the first 36 hours, I attempted to monitor AFN from Guantánamo. A few years ago, I recall picking them up quite well in the middle of the night as our Holland American ship sailed westward to the south of Cuba on our way to Jamaica. This time, the best I could hope for was sailing to the north of the waters separating Cuba and Haiti. Neither AM 1340, nor FM 102.1 or 103.1 yielded anything definite this time. Interestingly, as we sailed by Haiti, I did pick up an English language FM station from Port au Prince called Signal FM on 90.5. I wasn't expecting to hear any English, of course. I then aimed my sites on the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on the X-Band. 1660 from San Juan IDs only in Spanish as "Gigante 16-60". The legal call is WGIT, and the IDs were usually heard a couple of minutes after the top of the hour. WDHP on 1620 was quite a powerhouse in the Caribbean. They never ID'd at the top of the hour, but usually after cutting away from network news at 6 minutes past the hour, with a local ID, but not always. The news feed was always USA network news. The IDs were usually full legal IDs "1620 WDHP St. Croix, US Virgin Islands", but at least once instead I heard only "non stop jamming on your hometown radio station". I didn't bother with any other Puerto Rican stations, and instead concentrated on the US Virgin Islands which were all heard. 970 WSTX ID'd frequently, as did WSTA 1340 (one of the reasons that the tiny AFN Guantánamo transmitter was not heard, I think). WVWI 1000 was well heard but didn't seem to ID much (It was one of the stations I left my recorder running in hopes of an ID). I did hear ID's as "Radio 1 AM 1000". CBS news on the hour. 1090 WGOD was obviously also religious and well heard only in the immediate vicinity of the Virgin Islands. They were in parallel to a much stronger FM transmitter on 97.9 (50 kW vs 250 watts), and would ID as "98 FM, 1090 AM WGOD". 1290 WRRA rarely ID'd, and ran southern Baptist style religious programming. Christmas carols continued as well even 4 days after the 25th. There were times of open carriers up to 2 minutes, but no IDs. Gonna have to listen to the MP3 to find an ID there. The British Virgin Islands, I believe, only have a single MW transmitter on 780, ZBVI. They were widely heard with totally local programming and Christmas greetings and mostly mentions of the "BVI". Ads for "Cable and Wireless", the "BVI Social Security Branch" and the like. The closest thing to a real ID is usually at the bottom of the hour when they present the "weather for ZBVI". As we sailed towards the Virgin Islands, I also checked the various split frequencies and heard all of them to a greater or lesser degree. 895 from St. Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla was heard with a local ID at 0030 on Dec 27th with "895, 10000 watts, The Voice of Nevis, covering the whole Caribbean". Well not quite, as they were quite weak at that point, but did improve later in the evening with local holiday greetings, carols, and Auld Lang Syne at 0157, but no ID at the top of the hour (seeing a pattern yet?). 555, ZIZ Radio St. Kitts had rather weak voice modulation compared to music, and somewhat muddy audio. Despite listening for over an hour, not a single ID was heard. Mostly stronger than 895, and very good by 0055 on the 27th. They would mention St. Kitts and Nevis, though. Splatter from 550 was a problem. Despite my 2005 WRTH saying they signed off at 0200, they were still going strong after 0305 on the 27th. 535, Grenada GBN ID's as Klassic (or Classic) Radio and was heard with the "Twelve Days of Christmas" at 0143 on the 27th at mostly fair, but occasionally good levels. As we sailed north to the Bahamas on our return leg, I switched over to check for Bermuda (our cabin was on the starboard side of the ship, and faced north on the cruise northward). I was able to hear the BBCWS cochannel and weakly on 1160, and possibly 1280 with "FRN news" at 0303 on the 29th. No luck on ZFB 1230, ZBM 1340, or 1450 AM Gold. So, as you can see, I didn't do a whole lot of DXing (too much happening on the ship and on shore for that), but still some fun in listening to something virtually impossible to monitor back home in Victoria. If you care to see the ship, here's a link: [correct] http://www.kreuzfahrt-reisen.de/costa-kreuzfahrten/images/00007464.jpg.jpg Our cabin was on the side facing you, and was about midship, and just above the life boats. Hopefully I'll be able to get something useful from the MP3 recordings, and possibly post them somewhere. Hope this brief travelogue was of some interest to you. Happy New Year, (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, Jan 3, IRCA via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ QUADRAPHONIC FM STATIONS Hi Glenn: My sister bought a quadraphonic stereo receiver in the 70's from Radio Shack. I'm not sure if any of the Toronto FM stations dabbled in it but I seem to recall CHFI 98.1 being involved. At the time, Radio Shack also sold albums that were supposedly remixes that were touted as being quadraphonic. I only noticed a little enhancement of the stereo separation but then again, I was a dweeb back then. I wonder if the technology played any part in developing surround sound, etc.? By the way, the receiver was a little to complicated for my sister so the Radio Shack manager gave her a little plaque to put on top of it. It read, "If all else fails, follow the directions." (Mark Coady, DX LISTENING DIGEST) We played "quad" records at WQSR 102.5 in Sarasota in the mid 70's. Two different quad systems as I recall. One on Columbia recordings and another on RCA. It reminded me of a smaller version of their 33 1/3 vs. 45 rpm battles. We tried to avoid those using the RCA system, as it used an "ultrasonic" matrix just out of audible hearing range. Everytime you "slipped cued" or ramped up one of the RCA records, it would "whoosh" up in frequency on the air, as it gained speed until the tone became inaudible. Both systems required their own decoders. They were not compatible. We had a Sansui receiver as well. It decoded the Columbia discs, but not the RCA ones. Besides the limited amount of RCA discs resulted in way too much Tomita being aired (Brock Whaley, GA, for DX LISTENING DIGEST) CHASING BEACONS Andy Robins KB8QGF; Kalamazoo, Michigan USA wrote on the NDB reflector on the internet; ``Hi All, I recently got a nice e-mail message from Steve Dove W3EEE in response to one I sent about his very interesting LF radio page --- the one Joe in Chicago mentioned recently; see http://www.w3eee.com/ The NDB section is well worth checking out, as is the rest of the site. Steve and I share an interest in the odd practice of actually trying to visit NDB transmitter sites. As they say, ``Everyone needs a hobby...`` In his message, Steve related an experience he had while on a recent business trip. Among other things, it goes a long way toward explaining why beacons at smaller airports sometimes disappear for periods of time, or forever. That part of his message is copied below. ``A couple of weeks ago I hit up a few new beacons on the way down to (and back from) a client`s in North Carolina. (I`ll put them up on the site when I get around to it.) One, in rural Virginia, was in the back yard of what from all appearances was a puppy mill - legged it away from there ``really`` fast with the `Deliverance` banjo-tune playing in my head. Another was on the other side of an airfield; far side of the runway. Got a long shot, shrugged, and was about to leave when a rather fierce looking woman snapped ``Is there anything I can help you with?``. Went into an oh-so-polite English-accented (easy when you are - don`t even try it at home if you`re not) arm-waving soliloquy on beacons in general, and, ahem, that one over there in particular. Head on side, quizzically, she said ``Well, you`re weird, but don`t seem like too much of a threat to civilisation to me. Hello, I`m Terry, airport manager``. And so we spent the best part of an afternoon chatting about this and that, she telling me all about the local dramatic society of which she was director, how actors were such PIGS to work with et directorial cetera; she waved me across the runway to have a look and take pictures, and had coffee brewed up when I got back. Asking me if I knew anything about transmitters and such, she showed me the beacon`s remote monitor in the office, which was floundering in and out of `Fault`. ``Been like that a few months, funny though, it`s OK for awhile after it`s been raining``. I pointed out that the keying is a bit irregular, as well. ``Oh, yeah. It sticks on sometimes, too. Al goes over and belts it with his elbow and it goes again.`` So, when I go down again in a few weeks, I`m taking some test-gear and tools with me (and some WD-40), being that she invited me to fix it for her. Apparently - and this is partially the point of this saga - service rates for nav-aids, including NDBs, are egregiously high; frankly her response if it stopped working altogether would be to shrug, and let it rot. And so the market economy is whittling away at NDBs, and we`re steadily losing them to indifference. `Collecting` them seems almost a bit noble now; posterity and all that. (Oh, by the way, it`s RZZ 407 kHz.) [Thanks to Tracey Gardner for this one.] (via Jan Medium Wave News via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ The geomagnetic field ranged from quiet to minor storm levels during the period. Solar wind speed ranged from a low of near 310 km/s early on 27 December to a high of about 750 km/s early on 29 December. The period began with wind speed at about 380 km/s, the IMF Bz weak, not varying much beyond +/-5 nT, and geomagnetic conditions at quiet to unsettled levels. By midday on 27 December, wind speed began to gradually increase, while the IMF Bz fluctuated between +/-15 nT. These conditions persisted through late on 27 December, and were consistent with a recurrent high speed, coronal hole stream. During this period, the geomagnetic field was at active to minor storm conditions at high latitudes while quiet to active conditions occurred at middle latitudes. By early on 29 December, the IMF Bz relaxed, and did not vary much beyond +/- 5 nT. Wind speed remained elevated at above 600 km/s through 30 December. Thereafter, wind velocity began a slow decrease until midday on 01 January. A sudden increase in speed to 550 km/s along with a spike in the total magnetic field of near 20 nT indicated the arrival of the CME from 29 December. The geomagnetic field at high latitudes responded with an isolated active period. The IMF Bz remained mostly positive while the wind speed gradually declined and ended the summary period at about 450 km/s. During the remainder of the summary period, the geomagnetic field was at quiet levels. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 04 - 30 JANUARY 2006 Solar activity is expected to be at very low to low levels. No greater than 10 MeV proton events are expected. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels on 04 January, and again on 24 – 30 January. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to minor storm levels. Unsettled to active periods are expected on 07 January, while unsettled to minor storm periods are possible on 16 and 23 – 24 January due to effects from recurrent coronal hole wind streams. Otherwise, quiet to unsettled conditions are expected. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2006 Jan 03 2324 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2006 Jan 03 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2006 Jan 04 85 3 1 2006 Jan 05 90 3 1 2006 Jan 06 90 5 2 2006 Jan 07 90 8 3 2006 Jan 08 90 8 3 2006 Jan 09 90 5 2 2006 Jan 10 90 3 1 2006 Jan 11 90 3 1 2006 Jan 12 90 5 2 2006 Jan 13 90 5 2 2006 Jan 14 90 3 1 2006 Jan 15 95 8 3 2006 Jan 16 95 15 3 2006 Jan 17 90 8 3 2006 Jan 18 85 5 2 2006 Jan 19 85 3 1 2006 Jan 20 85 3 1 2006 Jan 21 80 5 2 2006 Jan 22 80 5 2 2006 Jan 23 80 15 3 2006 Jan 24 80 15 3 2006 Jan 25 80 8 3 2006 Jan 26 80 8 3 2006 Jan 27 80 10 3 2006 Jan 28 75 5 2 2006 Jan 29 75 5 2 2006 Jan 30 75 10 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1300, DXLD) ###