DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-041, March 7, 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 NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT SW AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1306: Days and times here are strictly UT. Wed 0030 WBCQ 7415 Wed 1030 WWCR 9985 FIRST SW AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1307: Wed 2300 WBCQ 7415 Thu 0000 WBCQ 18910-CLSB Thu 2130 WWCR 15825 Full schedule, including AM, FM, satellite and internet, with hotlinks to station sites and audio: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html For latest updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS March 7: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** ALBANIA. Dear Glenn, Checked for Radio Tirana on 7465/7530 kHz on 3/6/06, but none of these were on air. Maybe a tech fault. I also tried for Trans World Radio via Albania this morning, on 11865, their service to the UK in English, but that wasn't there either. Not sure, but there's probably power problems at Shijak? Best Regards (Christopher Lewis, England, 2004 UT March 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ASCENSION ISLAND. The http://www.bbceng.info/ site continues to be developed. Latest updates include: Phil Brooks has recently contributed a fascinating article about life on Ascension Island, starting in the early days soon after the BBC's arrival. David Dunmall has contributed some additional pictures. http://www.bbceng.info/Operations/transmitter_ops/Reminiscences/Ascension/memories_of_ascension.htm http://www.bbceng.info/Operations/transmitter_ops/Reminiscences/Ascension/dunmall/asc_pics2.htm (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth Garden City, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ASIA [non]. U S A [non]. Updated B-05 schedule of Radio Free Asia: BURMESE 0030-0130 11535 13710 13815 15700 1230-1330 9365 11795 12105 15700 CANTONESE 1400-1500 6050 7280 2200-2300 9570 11740 11775 KHMER 1230-1330 13725 15395 2230-2330 7185 15485 KOREAN 1500-1700 7210 11870 13625 2100-2300 7460 9385 11785 13625 LAOTIAN 0000-0100 11830 15545 15590 1100-1200 9355 9775 15565 MANDARIN 0300-0600 11980 13625 13760 15150 17495 17525 17615 17880 21540 0600-0700 11980 13625 13760 15150 17495 17525 17615 17880 1500-1600 7540 9905 11945 13670 13745 15510 17565 1600-1700 6095 7540 9455 9905 11945 13670 13745 15510 17565 1700-1800 7540 9355 9455 9905 11945 13670 13745 15510 17565 1800-1900 6095 7455 7540 9355 9455 11790 11945 13670 13745 15510 17565 1900-2000 1098 5990 6095 7455 7540 9355 9455 9875 11790 11945 11970 15510 2000-2100 1098 5990 6095 7455 7540 9355 9455 9875 9885 11900 11950 11970 15510 2100-2200 1098 6095 7455 7540 9355 9455 9875 9885 9920 11950 11970 13745 15510 2300-2400 7540 11775 13745 13800 15430 15550 TIBETAN 0100-0300 7560 9670 11695 15220 15660 17730 0600-0700 17515 17715 21570 21715 1100-1200 7470 11540 11590 15435 1200-1400 7470 11540 11590 13625 15435 1500-1600 7470 7495 11500 15385 2300-2400 6010 7415 7470 7550 9875 UIGHUR 0100-0200 7480 9365 9645 9690 15270 17570 1600-1700 7515 7530 9625 11720 13725 VIETNAMESE 1400-1500 5855 9365 9455 11605 13725 13865 15470 21625 2330-0030 7515 9930 11580 11605 11965 13720 13865 15565 (Ivo Ivanov, DX-MIX News, Bulgaria, March 7 via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA [and non]. Hoyo Raúl, CRI broadcasts to Australia and NZ and times that are quite silly, also ORF Austria. Not sure what we can do about radio stations broadcasting and wasting money. I've told ORF but they seem to keep to a 16 MB frequency at around 1 AM, when simply the 16 MB is not readable!! Good luck! (Robb Wise, Tasmania, Hri, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Austria 13-14 UT on 17855 direct, also to Asia, where it may work further west. That`s more like 11 pm LST in EAu, but still (gh) ** BANGLADESH. 7185, (tentative), Bangladesh Betar. 2/25/06, 1238-1300 in English. Bangladesh under very strong CNR 1 in Mandarin. Bangladesh Betar with S. Asian music, and talk by a W. Only able to catch periodic English word (but definitely in English). Bangladesh sign-off at 1300. No ID heard under CNR 1, but language and broadcast conforms to reported schedule for B.B. and so is probable (Mark Taylor, WI, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Another victim of Chicom radio imperialism; this is the ONLY active SW frequency from Bangladesh --- which I recently heard referred to as a ``tiny country`` --- only by comparison to China (gh, DXLD) ** BOTSWANA [and non]. Re VOA 4930 double audio feed: Hi Tim, it looks like it must have been another station; please take a listen to the clips from IBB remote monitoring system, for example this: http://africa.ibbmonitor.com/RMSData/Sounds/2006_03_01/ENGL/VOA/JOHA/0603011910@JOHA_4930VOAENGL.RA 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, harmonics yg via DXLD) Thanks, Mauno, apologies for the confusion; I still haven't IDed the other station yet, as well as the unID I also hear TKM [Turkmenistan] and something that sounds like CNR [China National Radio??]. More listening tonight on this messy channel if I can keep my eyes open :-) All the best (Tim Bucknall, UK, March 7, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. A Rádio Guarujá Paulista está irradiando, esporádicamente, a programação de sua emissora de freqüência modulada em 3235 kHz. Portanto, diferente dos demais canais: 3385, 5045 e 5940 kHz, cujos programas vêm do AM 1550 kHz. A emissora está localizada em Guarujá, um município do estado de São Paulo, próximo a Santos. Em breve, a Rádio Guarujá Paulista vai estar transmitindo também em 9715 kHz, em 31 metros. A freqüência de 5980 kHz é da Rádio Guarujá, mas de Florianópolis, estado de Santa Catarina. 73s, (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, Brasil, radioescutas via DXLD) Está na iminência de a Rádio Guarujá Paulista colocar no ar uma frequência na faixa de 31 metros. Isto é muito bom para a rádio, visto que poderá ser ouvida muito mais longe. Mas, se esta frequência for para ter o mesmo áudio das outras ondas curtas que a emissora possui, é melhor não colocar no ar. Acredito que outros colegas radioescutas tenham notado a má qualidade de som que a emissora emite em 49m, 62m e 90m. Com exceção daquela frequência em 90m que esporádicamente retransmite o som da FM. Esta tem um áudio um pouco melhor. Percebo, também em 62m, 5045 kHz, que há um espúrio da emissora atingindo a QRG da Aparecida, 5035 kHz, com assobios. Meu rádio não é digital, é igual a maioria, analógico e com VFO manual. É o Transglobe "antigo" da Philco. Forte 73 a todos (Luiz Chaine Neto, Limeira -sp-, ibid.) Luiz: Com relação ao espúrio da Guarujá, também tenho este problema por aqui, e até não declarei aqui na lista por achar que poderia ser algum problema no meu receptor. Bem, agora que mais um colega falou deste detalhe, peço que outros colegas também prestem atenção a esta questão do espúrio em 62m. Quanto ao audio, não questiono pois é uma característica da emissora que não chega a ser um problema, e sim uma maneira de localizar a emissora no dial, até ajuda muito. Existem muitas outras emissoras que também tem este tipo característico. 73 a todos (Alexandre Deves Sailer, Viamão/RS, ibid.) Prezado Luiz, Percebo que não é a 1ª vez que você comenta sobre o áudio da Rádio Guarujá Paulista. Aliás, motivado pela tua outra mensagem, pesquisei com alguns colegas a respeito do assunto, já que o DX Clube do Brasil mantém uma parceria com a emissora na veiculação de um programa sobre dexismo e é de seu interesse avisar a direção sobre eventuais problemas. O que eu notei, e salvo melhor juízo, posso estar enganado, o sinal da Rádio Guarujá é praticamente igual ao das demais emissoras brasileiras. Não notei nada de anormal, nem aqui onde resido, nem em outros locais onde estive recentemente. Alguns colegas disseram o mesmo. Há algum tempo, a Guarujá havia instalado um sistema de links para enviar o áudio até Marília e Presidente Prudente, municípios contemplados com as freqüências de 3235 e 5045 kHz, uma vez que a Anatel assim exigiu (como se existissem dezenas de emissoras brasileiras querendo emitir em ondas curtas!). Tal situação foi reportada, aqui na lista Radioescutas, pelo colega Sarmento Campos. Talvez daí decorra os possíveis problemas de áudio. O objetivo da emissora é transmitir o áudio diretamente de Guarujá. A planta transmissora de 31 metros está sendo levantada em Guarujá. Portanto, vamos dar um crédito para a Rádio Guarujá Paulista que completou apenas quatro anos de ondas curtas. 73s, (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, Brasil, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL – Mudanças novamente na freqüência de 4975 kHz! Sai a programação da Rádio Mundial e entra a da Rádio Iguatemi. É o que noticia o sítio http://www.soradio.blogspot.com editado por Leandro Renato, de Paulínia (SP). A emissora pertence ao grupo CBS de Rádios. Assim como mudou hoje a programação neste canal, o conglomerado poderá voltar com os antigos programas amanhã. A troca de freqüências feita pelo grupo CBS parece um processo natural, igual a uma troca diária de camisas feita pelo ouvinte de rádio!!! (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX March 5 via DXLD) ** CHINA. Re 6-039 March 3 on China domains. Here is a better explanation from BBC Tech. Expect more from those not using the Western alphabet, and then there are the languages with dozens of diacritics even in the European just-like-English languages. It won't matter, you'll use Teoma, Google to search for contents and then bookmark the resulting address. "...Early reports about China's move suggested that it was setting up an alternative root server in defiance of the ICANN-run system. Mr Subbiah said this was not the case and the Chinese language domain system sat alongside the international system overseen by ICANN. Mr Subbiah said the success of the Chinese language net domains was prompting interest from other nations keen to create a more inclusive internet using similar technologies...." Subject: BBC NEWS | Technology | Big push for Chinese net domains http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4767972.stm BIG PUSH FOR CHINESE NET DOMAINS By Mark Ward Technology Correspondent, BBC News website China is ramping up creation of a parallel system of net domains to tempt more Chinese people to go online. By using Chinese language net domains it aims to reach those people who do not speak English - still the most widely used language online. China also hopes to accelerate its own dotcom boom by encouraging Chinese people to register more net domains. With 110 million people online, China is already the second largest net-using nation on Earth. Root kit When you type the name of a website you want to visit, such as news.bbc.co.uk, into your browser often your computer will ask one of several so-called root servers for information about where that site is. These root servers direct your browser to the master list for the domains with that suffix. In this example the .uk country code suffix is looked after by Nominet which tells your browser the correct net address for the BBC News site. Usually all net domains are written using Roman characters - even if the people using the web are in nations that do not have English as their first language. Most of the people that have come online in China in the last year do not have a clue about English Subramanian Subbiah, I-DNS In a bid to make the net more palatable to its citizens, China has set up a system that makes it possible to use net domains written with Chinese characters. Subramanian Subbiah, co-founder of I-DNS.net that has worked with China on the Chinese language domains, said the system has been brought in because the government got fed up waiting for net address overseer Icann to approve an official way of using non-Roman alphabets in domain names. "The only countries that really care about this are those whose scripts are very different to English," said Mr Subbiah. He said China had created three domains and when the Chinese characters in them were translated into English they were broadly equivalent to .com (gongsi), .net (wangluo) and China (zhongguo). These new domains act as an extension to China's .cn country code, though this suffix will not appear when they are used online. The Chinese government has used its official clout to ensure wide use of the software download for web browsers that is needed to direct people to the right website. This software can spot the difference between standard web addresses and Chinese language domains. Net boom By using native characters the Chinese government hopes to remove some of the barriers that prevent the broad mass of its people using the net, said Mr Subbiah. "Most of the people that have come online in China in the last year do not have a clue about English," he said. China was also conscious that although its net population was growing quickly, relatively few people have registered domain names or run web-based businesses. This week China made changes to who can apply for and gain control of Chinese language net domains. Under this first-come, first-served system there could be little protection for tardy foreign firms keen to snap up the Chinese language equivalent of their name unless they have trademarked it in Chinese. By making Chinese language domains available, China hopes to encourage its own dotcom entrepreneurial activity as was seen in the West when net fever first broke out. In many other nations there is roughly one domain registered for every 10 net users. By contrast, China has one domain for every 100 users. Early reports about China's move suggested that it was setting up an alternative root server in defiance of the Icann-run system. Mr Subbiah said this was not the case and the Chinese language domain system sat alongside the international system overseen by Icann. Mr Subbiah said the success of the Chinese language net domains was prompting interest from other nations keen to create a more inclusive internet using similar technologies. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/4767972.stm Published: 2006/03/03 09:08:00 GMT © BBC MMVI (via Dan Say, BC, DXLD) ** CYPRUS TURKISH NORTHERN. I sent an email out inquiring about the status of Radio Bayrak, Northern Cyprus as there seemed to be a question as to whether they were still on or not. Here is the reply: Dear Steve Lare, We do have transmissions on SW 6150 kHz from Northern Cyprus. This is a 24 h transmission with manual operation from 0430 to 2200 UT and automated broadcast from 2200 to 0430 UT (00:00 to 06:30 local time). Regards, Mustafa TOSUN, Head, Transmissions Dept., BRTK mustafa.tosun @ brtk.net Tel: +90 (392) 225 25 09 Fax: +90 (392) 225 60 61 (via Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Anyone hearing them? (gh, DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Re 6-040, Hi Glenn, little mistake: A-06 schedule of Radio Prague: CZECH 0930-0957 9880 21745 additional ENGLISH 0900-0927 9880 21745 additional Only 9880 NW Europe is an additional new frequency. 21745 to S Asia was a single frequency operation as always in the past. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) There could be some other errors like this, as I was moving the notations around to make the columns line up better. One could attach the notations to the frequency they apply to with an = sign (gh, DXLD) ** DIEGO GARCIA. TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF A AFN/DIEGO GARCIA QSL Greetings from California, It`s mostly been an exercise in frustration attempting to QSL AFN/Diego Garcia. Since the start of the New Year I have been working on this one. Sent reports to the following addresses that I thought might work, but no response so far. AFN Broadcast Center American Forces Radio and Television Service 1363 Z Street Building 2730 March ARB [sic: AFB], CA 92518 And this one was given on-air over AFN: American Forces Network Defense Media Center 23755 Z Street Riverside, CA 92518-2073 Of course I also used the AFN website to drop off a reception report, requesting that it be forwarded to DG. This resulted in the following generic e-mail (so close, yet so far from the QSL I hoped for): -----Original Message----- From: Burks, Darryl CIV NAVMEDIACTR darryl.burks @ navy.mil Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 10:37 AM To: Ron Howard Subject: Diego Garcia Short Wave 4319 Khz USB Mr. Howard, Thank you for your response. We enjoy hearing from our various listeners around the world. We had some problems with the transmitter recently and it sounds like we may still be experiencing some problems. Again, Thank you for your response. Darryl Burks 2713 Mitscher Road SW Anacostia Annex, DC 20373-5819 Email - darryl.burks @ navy.mil DSN: 288-6372 Com: 202-433-6372 Cell: 202-549-9686 Fax 202-433-0864 - - - - - - - - A follow-up e-mail was sent to Darryl, very gently requesting some stronger confirmation language. Also sent a snail mail report to him but, to date, have not heard anything back. Sent off a report via snail mail directly to DG but it was returned as undeliverable (name and/or address must have been wrong). So I was overjoyed to see Scott Barbour providing the correct contact information, which resulted in my receiving a friendly E-QSL letter, so I can now chalk this one up. Naturally I still hope that one of my other attempts will come through, but I have no great expectations. Maybe this information will be of help to others. Good Luck! (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I just received a partial data letter, along with a 8 x 10 aerial photo of the island, directly from the station. The letter is on plain paper (no letterhead) and is unsigned. Here is the address: IC2 (SW) Marshall C. Bennett Naval Media Center PSC 466 Box 14 Diego Garcia FPO AP 96995-0014 Email is: bennettmc @ dg.navy.mil (Brandon Jordan, Memphis, Tennessee, March 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR [non]. In case you missed it in 6-040 since it was filed under USA: DX Partyline times on WRMI: still 0500 UT Sunday, but on 9955; 1500 UT Sunday on 7385; 0530 UT Monday on 9955 (Jeff White, WRMI, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EL SALVADOR. What appears to be a television report in Spanish on the history of Radio Venceremos with shots and recordings of their shortwave broadcasts is now at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfJR-aH9S2M (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth Garden City, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) We even get to see the announcers doing the RV ID, sound badly out of sync; second part also about Radio Farabundo Martí (gh, DXLD) ** FRANCE. FRANCE INFO, RFI PROGRAMMES DISRUPTED BY NATIONWIDE STRIKE Both France Info and RFI radios have had their programmes disrupted since the nationwide strike against the government's new youth employment scheme began in France this morning. The two radio stations are not broadcasting all their news bulletins on the hour and half hour and have replaced most of their usual programmes with music. . . http://medianetwork.blogspot.com/2006_03_05_medianetwork_archive.html#114172596124069196 (Media Network blog March 7 via DXLD) ** GREECE. A report sent to the P O Box address of ERT3 Thessaloniki given in the WRTH-2006 International section came back labelled "unknown address". Now I tried again to the street address given in the National section (Eike Bierwirth, Germany, March 7, HCDX via DXLD) ** GUAM. Updated B-05 schedule for KTWR Guam, 100 kW: 7455 / 320 deg Mandarin 1100-1300 Daily; 1400-1500 Daily 7455 / 320 deg Korean 1500-1630 Daily; 1630-1700 Sat 7550 / 320 deg Mandarin 1300-1400 Daily 9355 / 305 deg Mandarin 1300-1500 Daily 9385 / 285 deg Kokborok 1230-1300 Mon-Fri; 1245-1300 Sat 9465 / 345 deg Japanese 1200-1230 Mon-Fri; 1200-1245 Sat/Sun 9585 / 285 deg Karen 1300-1330 Daily 9585 / 285 deg English 1330-1400 Daily 9635 / 285 deg Vietnamese 1100-1130 Daily 9865 / 315 deg Mandarin 0930-1100 Daily 9910 / 320 deg Mandarin 0930-1100 Daily 9910 / 305 deg Mandarin 1100-1300 Daily 9920 / 278 deg Vietnamese 1400-1445 Daily 9975 / 285 deg Burmese 1200-1300 Daily 9975 / 285 deg Cantonese 1300-1345 Mon-Fri; 1300-1400 Sat/Sun 9975 / 285 deg English 1400-1500 Daily 11690 / 315 deg Mandarin 0945-1030 Sat/Sun; 0945-1100 Mon-Fri 11695 / 278 deg Khmer 1300-1330 Daily 11760 / 345 deg Japanese 2200-2230 Mon-Fri; 2200-2245 Sat/Sun 11840 / 165 deg English 0800-0930 Mon-Fri; 0815-0930 Sat/Sun 11850 / 278 deg Khmer 1245-1300 Daily 12080 / 293 deg Santhali 1330-1345 Daily 12080 / 293 deg Bengali 1345-1400 Mon/Tue 12080 / 293 deg Boro 1345-1400 Wed-Sun 12130 / 305 deg Mandarin 0845-1100 Daily 12130 / 285 deg Bengali 1400-1415 Sun-Fri; 1415-1430 Mon-Fri 12130 / 285 deg Manipuri 1400-1415 Sat; 1415-1430 Sun 12130 / 285 deg Cantonese 2245-2330 Mon-Fri; 2245-2345 Sat/Sun 13690 / 305 deg Mandarin 2245-2330 Daily 13720 / 315 deg Mandarin 2245-2315 Daily 15070 / 305 deg Hakka 0815-0845 Daily 15200 / 248 deg Balinese 0900-0915 Fri/Sat 15200 / 248 deg Torajanese 0900-0915 Wed/Thu 15200 / 248 deg Madurese 0915-1000 Daily 15200 / 248 deg Sundanese 1000-1030 Daily 15200 / 248 deg Indonesian 1030-1200 Daily 15225 / 278 deg English 0730-0900 Sat/Sun; 0740-0900 Mon-Fri 15275 / 255 deg Javanese 1100-1200 Daily (Ivo Ivanov, DX-MIX News, Bulgaria, March 7 via DXLD) ** HAWAII. QSL: WWVH, 15000, full data card with personal letter, station pictures and other literature in 15 days. Address: P O Box 417, Kekaha, HI 96752-0417. V/s D*ean Okayama, Engineer in Charge (Joe Wood, Gray TN, QSL Report, March NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. Re 6-040: Amigos radioescutas: Ante la duda que plantea José Miguel Romero sobre Radio Budapest y sus dudas sobre el esquema de frecuencias y su anuncio de cierre, quizás sea aclaratoria, la carta que recibimos en Federachi, aclarando parte de esta situación y que deseo compartir con Uds. Atte, (Héctor Frías, Chile, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Sr. Héctor Frías, CE3FZL, Jefe, comisión de Radioescuchas Federachi, Chile Hola Héctor; Recibe nuestros cariñosos saludos y agradecimientos por tu disposición a ayudarnos en esta adura batalla. Sin embargo, debo decirte que aun no hay una decisión definitiva sobre el cierre de las emisiones en lenguas extranjeras, entre ellas la de español. Efectivamente estamos en peligro, ya que estamos incluidos en un programa de ahorro de la Radio Nacional Húngara, en el cual figura entre otras cosas nuestra redacción como item de ahorro. Hoy hemos realizado una huelga de advertencia de dos horas, en que participa casi el 80 por ciento de los trabajadores de la Radio Húngara: periodistas, locutores, personal técnico, administrativo y de mantención. En la Asamblea fue unánime el apoyo que recibimos de nuestros colegas húngaros, de las tres emisoras nacionales. Asimismo, fue categórico el rechazo de la asamblea al proyecto de ahorro de la dirección y, en una declaración, se deja de manifiesto una huelga más larga sino se retira el paquete de medidas. A lo cual, la dirección, esta tarde llama a los cinco sindicatos para sentarse nuevamente a la mesa, para negociar otras posibilidades. Por lo tanto, te ruego que hables solamente del peligro que nos amenaza, por el momento. En caso real de peligro te lo comunicaré con antelación. Gracias nuevamente, Sergio Pérez (via Héctor Frías, Chile, CE3FZL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR - Received a friendly letter from S. C. Pachauri (Asstt. Director Engg. [SMS]), from New Delhi. Included copies of both their Home Services and External Services Frequency Schedules. Thanked me for my reception report, wished me a very Happy New Year and ``QSL card will be sent shortly.`` Not sure what report this is in response to. Listed an e-mail address of spectrum-manager @ air.org.in (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [and non]. Useless schedules --- Hello everybody. Sometimes it is hard to understand what purposes are following some broadcasters with their schedules. Watching the A-06 from NHK, altho nothing different for B-05 in Spanish, they keep reaching South America at 0400. What time do you imagine is local then? At least midnight! The same for us in Central America, when they go on the air with Spanish at 0500, it's 1100 p.m. here. So, you got to be a real fan of NHK to keep awake waiting for them and lose your sleep. They should have an earlier schedule to Latin America, and I bet same thing must be happening with other time zones and services. So if anyone have a closer contact with NHK, which I don't have, please let them know this nonsense (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, March 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 6392.82, P`yongyang Pangsong, 5 March, 2109, OM with news, 2115 operas. Nice signal at S9 44534 while 6250 was just S5, 32432 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH [and non]. Useless schedules --- I have reported to KBS World the disappointment for not using 11810 in Spanish --- VIA SACKVILLE --- at 0100. Until they don't decide it, no way Latin Americans are going to have a decent signal from Seoul, as even Rubén Guillermo Margenet commented no so long ago. If they use Sackville 9560 at 0200 for English, why can't they give us the same treat for castellano an hour earlier on 11810? (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, March 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. Hi, received a package of Radio Kuwait / MoI items today: 2006 calendars including SW schedules. Also, there was a really up-to- date frequency schedule for B-2004. It seems they have a pile of those left and don't want to throw them away. Electronic contacts given as http://www.media.gov.kw/ http://eng.media.gov.kw/ (under construction) kwtfreq (at) media.gov.kw But no trace of the requested QSL card. QIP indicate that the same has happened to others. Good;l I have got a Kuwait QSL from VoA (Eike Bierwirth, Germany, March 7, HCDX via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. BBC MONITORING OBSERVATIONS ON LIBYAN OPPOSITION RADIO SAWT AL-AMAL BBC Monitoring observed shortwave radio broadcasts from Libyan opposition station "Sawt al-Amal" on 1 and 2 March. The station identified as "Sawt al-Amal - voice of Libyan opposition abroad". The station has also identified recently as Voice of Hope - Home of Libyan Radio Abroad. The station broadcasts daily from 1200-1300 gmt on frequencies in the 17660-17690 kHz-range, changing channel to avoid interference. Broadcasts on 2 March were repeats of the programmes broadcast on 1 March. Commentary entitled: "The [military] manoeuvres [supervised] by Al- Qadhafi's sons are nothing but a threatening message to the Libyan people." "The satellite television channel of Al-Qadhafi regime showed a video of what it called military exercises in Libya. These exercises were performed in the presence of three of Al-Qadhafi's sons. They were Al- Sa'di, Khamis and Hannibal... "The video of the exercises would have been a normal programme had it either been broadcast earlier or later than the date it was shown, had it not shown the pictures of Al-Qadhafi's sons, and had it not been shown in the wake of the clashes between, on one hand, Libyan protesters, and on the other hand, the security organs and the Revolution Committees... "The timing and the manner in which such a video was shown was nothing but a shameless arrogance that bespeaks of the nature of the message it aimed to give the Libyan people... "In view of the timing and the manner in which the video was shown, the Libyan people can only see it as nothing but a provocation and muscle-flexing exercise, as well as an attempt to humiliate them... "Thus, Al-Qadhafi's sons were sending a message that they are in charge of the army, and that they are prepared to use it against any public unrest against Al-Qadhafi's regime. They were telling the people: Submission or the sword... "The other message the television was conveying: Power is in the hands of Al-Qadhafi clan ... "Anything else, such as the People's Committees and Congresses, are nothing but mere impotent state mechanisms. "Also, the appointment of Al-Sa'di al-Qadhafi as inspector-general of the Libyan armed forces, replacing [Col] Mustafa al-Kharrubi, is aimed at consolidating the domination of Al-Qadhafi clan over the armed forces. "After Khamis and Hannibal, it is now Al-Sa'di's turn to take over military duties that are much bigger than him, which no-one in Libya believes he can handle. "This means that what we have in Libya is nothing but a family and tribal-based political power and not a state per se... "The question is now: How do the officers of the Libyan armed forces feel about this? How can they accept the sons of Al-Qadhafi, who lack military training and background, to be their commanders?... "Al-Qadhafi and his sons are determined to stay in power regardless of the huge price the Libyan people might have to pay [if they try to remove them] and regardless of how many victims might fall in doing so..." [Item ran for seven minutes] Music Interview with a writer, Tariq Bidziri [phonetic], on the recent events which took place in Benghazi following the attack on the Italian consulate on 17 February, and the intervention of the security forces which led to the killing of several protesters. He says what took place in Benghazi was nothing but another revolt by the Libyan people against the corruption of the Libyan regime. He says protests have not only taken place in Benghazi but in other Libyan towns, and that the anger over the cartoons satirizing the Prophet Muhammad were only an opportunity to take to the streets to show dismay at the current political debacle in the country. [Item ran for 10 minutes] Statement by the people who "staged a sit-in opposite the Libyan embassy in The Hague on 23 February 2006". The statement condemned the Libyan authorities' repressive measures against the protesters in Benghazi, saying it was nothing but "a criminal" act by the security forces. The statement voiced support for the victims, called for an international probe into the events and urged the international community to bring pressure to bear upon Al-Qadhafi to introduce democratic reforms. [Item ran for two minutes] Appeal to Libyan women by a female speaker who called herself Rim Libya, asking them to rise against Al-Qadhafi's "tyrannical" regime following its repression of the protesters in Benghazi, urging them to stand by their men folk in the fight against the regime until it is toppled. [Item ran for two minutes] "To our mothers and sisters in Libya. O our mothers, O our sisters, O our daughters, O free women of Libya, O the pillars of the homeland. Have you not witnessed what Al-Qadhafi regime has done to quell the peaceful protests and marches! Have you not witnessed, O our mothers and our sisters, how this tyrannical regime has dealt with your children! And what his repressive organs and machines, which have been created by Al-Qadhafi to oppress the Libyan people rather than to protect them, have done! These organs should have been there to do nothing but to support our people. But dictator Al-Qadhafi created them only to protect him, his children, and his doomed regime. O our mothers and sisters, stand by your children, stand by tomorrow's youth, and tomorrow's men. No-one should keep quiet anymore. Al- Qadhafi has corrupted the country, corrupted the people and spread corruption everywhere! He has plundered and destroyed the country's resources. Do we have to wait for far more worse things to come? O my Libyan sister: It is time now that you should stand by son and your brother, and by all the Libyan children and youth in their confrontation with tyrannical Al-Qadhafi. Time has come for you to stand up and confront [his regime] in support of justice and freedom, as well as of the homeland which has been destroyed by Al-Qadhafi and his children, as well as his corrupt clan. Long live our blessed martyrs! Long live Libya! Long live the struggle of our people. Your sister Rim Libya." (Actual text of the appeal) Patriotic songs. Talk by an unidentified speaker about the protest which took place in Benghazi on 17 February. On that day, Libyan protesters headed, following the Friday prayers, to the Italian consulate in that town to protest against claims that an Italian minister wore a tee-shirt bearing the cartoons which Muslims found offensive to Prophet Muhammad. The speaker says the following: "The protest was planned by some [state] organs of Benghazi. People were urged to take to the streets by mosque preachers. The protest was peaceful enough. However, something happened during this protest. This shows that the repressive organs of Benghazi had other premeditated ideas. They were asked to quell any thing or any deviation [other than a protest over the cartoons]. And this is what actually happened: After 37 years of frustration, repression, and dictatorship, Benghazi people seized the opportunity to express their frustration over lack of freedom. Some of the security forces, specifically Revolutionary [Committees] elements, opened fire and shot dead one of the two youngsters who were removing the Italian flag from the Italian consulate. It was this shooting which led to the protest [against Al-Qadhafi]... I would like to make the following appeal to all the dynamic forces in Libya, in general, and in Benghazi, in particular; to all the people who love freedom, legality and human rights. And I mean here judges, prosecutors and lawyers... I appeal to all my colleagues, all the lawyers, to stand by the people of Benghazi and work tirelessly to revive the freedom committee which we created in 1982 only to be disbanded by [Al- Qadhafi] straightaway... This committee ought to be revived in order to help the people of Benghazi who have been arrested arbitrary... Every one of you ought to work to free these people who are being persecuted for nothing but their opinions..." [Item ran for six minutes] Music; Patriotic poems. Statement by the Follow-up Committee on the "so-called military exercises" by the Libyan military that was "run" by Al-Qadhafi's three sons. The statement, which was issued on 24 February and read by Hajj Abd-al-Wahhab al-Hilali, said the exercises were staged as a show of force by Al-Qadhafi clan, and that they were timed to terrorize the Libyan people following the "blessed intifadah" of Benghazi on 17 February. "The exercises were merely a muscle-flexing exercise in which heavy artillery, tanks, helicopters, warplanes and naval units were used to terrorize Benghazi inhabitants in particular, and the Libyan people general. They were telling us: Look, anyone who dares to show dissent against the ruling clan will have to face up also to our war machine. They were also telling every one that Al-Qadhafi's sons, like their father, are above the law and more important than even military rank. "Therefore, members of the national armed forces are called upon to switch their allegiance to Libya, the homeland, and be prepared to stand up against the tribal-based ruling Al-Qadhafi regime so that Libya will not be forever in the claws of this clan and that its sons and daughters will not suffer more hardship and mayhem," the statement concluded. [Item ran for four minutes] Appeal to "all Libyans inside and outside the country" to cooperate in "an honest and selfless" manner to remove Al-Qadhafi regime and create a democratic state. [Item ran for nine minutes] Poems Talk by an unidentified speaker praising Benghazi "uprising" and urging more concerted efforts by everyone in bid to topple Al-Qadhafi. "We call upon the Libyan students to carry out covert activities and stage a general strike by avoiding classrooms, taking to the streets, printing, distributing pamphlets and other literature, writing graffiti on walls and hosting the Libya flag, the constitutional and legal flag." Source: BBC Monitoring research 1 and 2 Mar 06 (via DXLD) Saludos cordiales, la situación de hoy muy similar a la de ayer; por 17660 de 1214:00 La Voz de África, con su emisión musical. Por otra parte Sawt Al-amal comienza hoy su emisión por 17680 con buena señal y libre de interferencias, sin embargo se aprecia de fondo una transmisión casi inapreciable, posiblemente en árabe; a las 1300 cambia a la frecuencia de 17685 y se mantiene hasta final de emisión a las 1400, hoy cómo ayer sin rastro de la emisión afro-pop ni de la señal de burbuja. En 17670 se escucha señal muy débil de emisora no identificada, SINPO 14321. Sin embargo en 17630 a África Nº 1 en francés fuertemente interferida por DW en alemán, SINPO 32432, En 17660 Voz de África, SINPO 55555. En 17680 Sawt Al-amal, SINPO 43433 En 17685 Sawt Al-amal, SINPO 45544 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, March 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) And by when I checked at 1415 March 7, no activity audible from any of these, including the African music station which used to run to 1530* on whatever frequency Amal had used last (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. Listening to the last couple Mailbox shows archived at http://www.rnzi.com --- I gather from Adrian Sainsbury that RNZI will not be ready to start regular DRM service at the beginning of A-06, but, they hope, sometime in April. He has been visiting various Pacific islands installing DRM reception equipment for stations relaying RNZI, and only has about three to go, later this year. A few weeks ago the servo motors failed at the transmitter site, making it impossible to remote control frequency changes, so for about a week, RNZI was operating on the wrong frequencies at the wrong times, but nothing they could do about it, causing great confusion amongst listeners. ASAP they switched to the brand new transmitter temporarily while working on the old one. The Mailbox also contains DX tip segments from Bryan Clark and John Durham, including a number of audio clips, in the case of Bryan, FM DX from Australia (Glenn Hauser, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI amended its B05 schedule for a brief period of time: 0400-0759 15720 kHz unchanged; 0800-1059 9885 kHz unchanged, but 1100-1259 13840 kHz now 1100-1300; 1300-1750 9870 kHz now 1300-1850; 1751-1850 11980 kHz now 1851-1950; 1851-2235 15720 kHz now 1951-2235 and finally 2236-0359 17675 kHz unchanged. I had found it strange to note them on 9870 kHz s/off at 1850 on 05 MAR, the reason being the above list. However, http://www.rnzi.com visited just two days after that, i.e today lists the following amended schedule valid 26 Mar~29 Oct '06, and one can be sure there will be a few more readjustments later: UTC kHz target azimuth 0500-0705 9615 Pacific 0º 0706-1059 9885 ditto 0º 1059-1259 9870 NW Pac 325º 1300-1650 7145 Pacific 0º 1651-1850 7145 NE Pac, Fiji, Samoa, Cook Is. 35º 1851-1950 9630 Pacific 0º 1951-2050 11725 ditto 0º 2051-0458 15720 ditto 0º ...with the Bougainville/PNGuinea & Timor broadcast falling within the 1059-1259 slot, on 9870 kHz, at which time I believe it can still be audible here on SW Europe for some more time, maybe until mid/late Spring, although the current signal on that frequency is already declining. The use of the 41 m band is, I think, a poor alternative for us here chiefly due to regional QRM. By Spring, maybe 15720 kHz propagates better evenings. Propagation will have the final word on that though. 13840 kHz - which was doing very nicely despite almost co-channel utility. QRM and co-channel QRM from an unID relaying a US religious program - is currently performing poorly mainly due to QRM from that latter station. [Brother Stair via IRRS via Bulgaria] That's it from NZL's antipodian country. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) How's the reception of RNZI at your place now? I seem to remember Noel Green experiences worse signal from them than you do... "richtig oder ist es ganz anders?" We are only too lucky here, for any azimuth leads any NZ signal to the western part of Iberia (and vice-versa), the only trouble being the signal path / propagation conditions on it and offending stations during the observation period. There's another thing I must confess - which is hard for a DXer to do, isn't it? I'm "forced" to "tune" to RNZI via the web audio stream! Being my top favourite, there's, I'm afraid, no other alternative. Well, what if we could play an endless tape recorded with some noise and the stuff alike so that it could "interfere" a little with the web audio, ha? I mean, listening to it that way, with no fuss, is no fun, at least for us, or what? 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal to Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. OPR NAMES RACHELL HUBBARD NEWS DIRECTOR Former State Capitol Correspondent Rachel Hubbard has been promoted to the position of News Director for Oklahoma Public Radio KOSU. Director and General Manager for KOSU, Craig Beeby said, ``Hubbard has been repeatedly recognized nationally as one of the outstanding journalists in the country. She has the talent to work anywhere in the country and she has chosen to keep her talents here in Oklahoma. We are thrilled with her abilities and her willingness to lead the news department to the next level as a statewide resource.`` Hubbard will steer KOSU`s news department, but she will also continue her award-winning coverage of the state capitol. ``I am looking forward to this opportunity. We have a small staff, but I want to give our listeners the most I can with more diverse state news coverage.`` Hubbard graduated from Oklahoma State University with a degree in agricultural communications. She started working for KOSU part time in 1999 and has worked in a variety of positions since that time. ``When someone cares about how they serve the listening audience and has the professional tools and determination to be the best, when placed in a creative environment they will flourish,`` said Beeby. ``Rachel has the potential to be one of the best News Directors the station has seen and with our history of excellence that really says a lot.`` Hubbard has won numerous awards from state and national organizations for her coverage of the state capitol and other Oklahoma news. ``I hope to use my experience at KOSU to help our listeners receive better news coverage each and every day,`` Hubbard said. OKLAHOMA PUBLIC RADIO NOW SERVING OKMULGEE ON 101.9 FM KOSU and Public Radio Capital announced the installation of a new signal ``101.9 FM`` serving the Okmulgee area south of Tulsa. Craig Beeby, Director and General Manager of KOSU said, ``The KOSU expansion initiatives are part of the university`s commitment and leadership toward extending higher education and public service to all Oklahomans.`` Beeby continued. ``The station`s ultimate goal is to improve service in all directions.`` The new 101.9 FM radio frequency in Okmulgee provides the opportunity to improve the signal strength into one of the many rural areas not served before by public radio or KOSU.`` (KOSU Weekly newsletter March 6 via DXLD) Okmulgee 101.9 is a 140-watt translator, per FCC FM Query: Class Frequency Call Channel | Service | Status City State Country File Number Docket FacilityID ERP HAAT Licensee/Permittee K270BK 270 D FX 101.9 MHz CP OKMULGEE OK US BNPFT-20030829AQQ - 157239 0.14 kW 0. m PRC TULSA I-LLC from http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=157239 --- K270BK OK OKMULGEE USA Licensee: PRC TULSA I-LLC Service Designation: FX Translator Station (retransmits signal, different channel than main station) Channel/Class: 270D Frequency: 101.9 MHz Construction Permit File No.: BNPFT-20030829AQQ Facility ID number: 157239 CDBS Application ID No.: 1022012 35 34' 48.00" N Latitude 95 58' 40.00" W Longitude (NAD 27) Polarization: Horizontal Vertical Effective Radiated Power (ERP): 0.14 0.14 kW ERP Antenna Height Above Average Terrain: 0. 0. meters HAAT Antenna Height Above Mean Sea Level: 311. 311. meters AMSL Antenna Height Above Ground Level: 95. 95. meters AGL Non-Directional Antenna ID No.: 67926 Pattern Rotation: 0.00 Additional Individual Tower Information from the Antenna Structure Registration database. (Use the Registration Number link for detailed information.) ASRN Site Elevation (meters) Overall HeightAbove Ground(meters) Overall HeightAbove Mean SeaLevel (meters) NAD 83 Tower Coordinates Convert toNAD 27 Latitude Longitude 1061553 215.8 100.9 316.7 N 35 34' 48.0" W 95 58' 41.0" To NAD27 Service contour map: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=FX1022012.html shows it just SSW of Okmulgee, covering little more than the town (gh) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. Came across a Navy MARS net, lots of NNN0--- calls, with check-ins from TX and some from OK, after 1500 UT Monday March 6 on 7391.5 SSB. They have the routine down pat, with little time wasted. Only one YL was heard, sounded more like an OL. Mostly no traffic, but at 1508 someone sent something in a digital mode (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Re 6-040: Steve, that's pretty good going as API-6 11570 250 kW at 1600-1615 is actually supposed to beam at 233 degrees to East Africa in B-05. 6215 is actually via 282 degrees, the direction that 11570 has previously been used for at this time, but via API-4 of only 100 kW. This is due to antenna problems at Rewat. Parallel to the Gulf & ME is API-5 9375 250 kW at 282 - 30 = 252 degrees as they write it (it still booms in here!) and to E Africa the parallel is API-1 15725 100 kW also at 233 degrees. I've never heard this one. I suppose this shows that wherever a station beams to we only require the "right" conditions and we can still hear it. Frequency managers beware! 73 (Noel R. Green, England, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. FM MULLAHS FILL THE AIRWAVES WITH HATRED By Isambard Wilkinson in Charsadda (Filed: 06/03/2006) Pakistan's North West Frontier Province is always hard to control, but it now poses a new challenge, with scores of illegal radio stations transmitting a message of jihad and sectarian hatred. This has so alarmed the central government in Islamabad that it is has closed 40 stations in the mountainous region along the Afghan-Pakistan border... http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/03/06/wradio06.xml (via Bill Westenhaver, QC, DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 4890 (tentative), NBC-Port Moresby very poor at 1115 with scattered English words and phrases just above the noise level; constant rechecks up to 1200 caught only fragments of music. The anti-PNG shield is still up in Oklahoma (Jim Ronda, Tulsa, March 2, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. Rádio Club Português - which is aired on MW 1035 kHz 100 kW Belmonte [Benavente] & 783 kHz 10 kW Canidelo, the sole two active R. Comercial transmitters - has partly changed its name (and emblem). While retaining "RCP" on its much modified logo, the ID on the air is solely "Rádio Club" (station slogan "o clube de quem sabe"), and the jingles changed a lot too, as if a completely different were heard. While logging onto http://www.rcp.clix.pt still works, the webpage, however, automatically changes "rcp" into "radioclube". Although the station claims the only changes, which took place some time this past week, do regard the image of the product called "RCP, I suspect more are due to come in the near future. At least on this past Sat. & Sun. the 1035 kHz station was inactive, while the Canidelo transmitter is still very hard to receive, almost certainly, as I reported, due to the aging transmitter and the fact that the new one isn't installed yet. If the Tartuskoe Semeinoe R. (=Family Radio), Tartu, Estonia, is to use 200 kW instead of just 50 kW, as announced, then I'm sure there will be some QRM in between. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, March 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SINGAPORE [non]. Not sure why I keep listening to AWR Wavescan, UT Sundays 2230 on 11655 via KSDA Guam. Perhaps, because I can, and this transmission is likely to deteriorate further as summer approaches. It was pretty noisy March 5 and couldn`t copy much detail, but this time it started with a ``special regional feature`` on the Philippines, surprisingly brief --- but that turned out to be because it was split into two parts, the second in the penultimate position. Then Radio EDXP, read by a non-Padulan who thinks the time 1000 should be pronounced ``one thousand`` and was unfamiliar with various geographical names. Then another proselytizing segment by that preacher in Japan, to the tune of ``This is My Father`s World``; then Inside AWR, something about their Silver Spring, Maryland HQ. Then Philippines part II, including national anthem. Then report on National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, DXpedition to Andaman & Nicóbar Islands coming up, which they already ran a few weeks ago; all interspersed with requests for reports to Singapore address (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. SOUTHERN SUDAN INTERACTIVE RADIO INSTRUCTION LAUNCHED ON SHORTWAVE --- The website of the Sudan Radio service carries the following report dated 27 February 2006: An education project called southern Sudan Interactive Radio Instruction, or sSIRI, is today launching its first broadcast of primary grade one programs. The series will be heard throughout southern Sudan on the frequency 17.6 MegaHertz or 17660 {sic} kiloHertz, Monday to Friday between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m [0630-0700 UT]. In a press statement released on Friday, sSIRI chief Leesa Kaplan said that the series was created and produced by a team of Sudanese scriptwriters and actors. Miss Kaplan says that the programmes will be broadcast in 3 phases with the first, which started today, targeting adult literacy classes in accelerated learning centres in southern Sudan. The second round of broadcasting will target primary schools and adult learning centres in Equatoria and Bahr el Ghazal starting on April 10th. The third phase will start on May 8th and will target schools and adult learning centres in Upper Nile, Southern Blue Nile and the Nuba Mountains. The lessons are meant to improve literacy and numeracy levels, as well as English language ability, of the targeted populations and to train teachers in participatory instructional approaches and other techniques for teaching any subject. The broadcasts, while targeting specific areas, can be heard all over southern Sudan. The sSIRI and the Sudan Radio Service are both financed by USAID. # posted by Andy @ 14:50 UT March 6 (Media Network blog via DXLD) U. K. / SOUTH AFRICA I don't understand time slot and given freq!? 17660 kHz used last year 2005 in summer season ... (wb) Viz.: Sudan Radio Service 0500-0600 9525 RMP 500 kW 140 deg EAf En/Ar/Vary Mon-Fri (xWOF 300kW) 1500-1700 15575 SKN 300 kW 110 deg EAf En/Ar/Vary Mon-Fri (xWOF 300kW) (Observer, Ivo Ivanov and Angel Datzinov, via wwdxc BC-DX Feb 27) (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. VOA apologizes for incorrect report: See USA ** TURKEY. TRT Ankara, A-06 schedule Sprache Frequenz TRANSMISSION Sender kW (kHz) Zeit (UTC) EUROPA Albanisch 11875 1130-1230 CAK 250 Bosnisch 5980 1800-1900 CAK 250 Bulgarisch 7210 1330-1430 CAK 250 Croat/Serb. 9605 1600-1630 CAK 250 Englisch 6140 0300-0400 EMR 500 Englisch 15225 1230-1330 EMR 500 Englisch 9785 1830-1930 EMR 500 Englisch 9830 2200-2300 EMR 500 Franzoesisch 11850 1930-2030 EMR 500 Deutsch 13760 1130-1230 EMR 500 Deutsch 13640 1730-1830 EMR 500 Griechisch 7295 1030-1130 CAK 250 Griechisch 9840 1030-1130 EMR 500 Griechisch 7180 1430-1530 EMR 500 new addit Italienisch 9610 1630-1700 EMR 500 (x6185) Ungarisch 13770 1000-1100 EMR 500 Mazedonisch 11690 0800-0900 EMR 250 Rumaenisch 9560 0930-1030 CAK 250 Spanisch 13720 1630-1730ext.EMR 500 Tuerkisch 9460 0400-0700 CAK 500 Tuerkisch 15350 0700-1400 CAK 500 except 0207-0309 Tuerkisch 9460 0700-1400 CAK 500 0207-030906 only Tuerkisch 9460 1400-2200 CAK 500 Tuerkisch 7300 2200-0100 EMR 500 Serbian deleted (x1330-1400) NORD AMERIKA Englisch 6140 0300-0400 EMR 500 Englisch 9830 2200-2300 EMR 500 Tuerkisch 9460 0400-0700 CAK 500 Tuerkisch 7300 2200-0100 EMR 500 AUSTRALIEN Englisch 15535 1230-1330 EMR 500 Englisch 7170 2030-2130 EMR 500 Tuerkisch 15225 0400-0700 EMR 500 Tuerkisch 11750 0400-0900 EMR 500 Tuerkisch 21715 0800-1100 EMR 500 Turk 1100-2200 ceased. (x9560, x13655, x17605) ASIEN Arabisch 11690 0900-1100 EMR 500 Arabisch 15520 0900-1100 EMR 500 Arabisch 11735 1400-1600 EMR 500 Aserbaidsch. 11730 0700-0830 CAK 250 Aserbaidsch. 15140 0700-0830 EMR 500 Aserbaidsch. 9645 1400-1500 EMR 500 Chinesisch 17715 1100-1200 EMR 500 Englisch 7270 0300-0400 EMR 500 Englisch 15535 1230-1330 EMR 500 Englisch 7170 2030-2130 EMR 500 Georgisch 9760 0700-0800 EMR 500 Kasachisch 11860 1500-1600 EMR 500 Kirgisisch 9575 1600-1700 EMR 500 Persisch 11795 0830-0930 EMR 500 Persisch 15220 0830-0930 EMR 500 Persisch 11940 1230-1400 EMR 500 Russisch 13720 1300-1400 EMR 500 Russisch 9675 1700-1800 EMR 500 Tatarisch 9855 1430-1530 CAK 250 (x16-17) Tuerkisch 11750 0400-0900 EMR 500 Tuerkisch 11955 0700-1600 CAK 250 Tuerkisch 15225 0400-0700 EMR 500 Tuerkisch 21715 0800-1100 EMR 500 Tuerkisch 5960 1600-2200 EMR 500 Turkmenisch 11905 1530-1630 EMR 500 Urdu 13710 1200-1300 EMR 500 delete Usbekisch (x0100-0200) Usbekisch 11795 1230-1300 EMR 500 AFRIKA Arabisch 11690 0900-1100 EMR 500 Arabisch 17790 1400-1600 EMR 500 Arabisch 11735 1400-1600 EMR 500 Englisch 7270 0300-0400 EMR 500 Franzoesisch 9535 1930-2030 EMR 500 Tuerkisch 11955 0700-1600 CAK 250 Tuerkisch(*) 17705 1000-1500 CAK 250 Tuerkisch 5960 1600-2200 EMR 500 Tuerkisch 7215 1700-2200 EMR 500 (*) nur Freitags - only Fridays (TRT via ADDX Andreas Volk-D, adapted by wb, wwdxc BC-DX Mar 3 via DXLD) Yes, held over from 6-040 for space ** U K. SPECIAL EVENT. The International Shortwave League (ISWL) continues with their 60th (Diamond) Anniversary celebrations throughout the year. If you missed the "GB6SWL" activity this past weekend, look for it to be active again on March 17-19th and 25-26th. GB6SWL - Will be active for 3 days, March 17-19th, from Portadown, Northern Ireland. John, GI0KUH, will be the main operator. GB6SWL - Will be active March 25-26th from Walton on the Naze, Essex. Herbie, G6XOU, will be the main operator. Special activities will run throughout the year. These will include the callsigns "GB60SWL" and "GB6SWL" being active at various times and venues. For more details, including the QSL information and Awards, please visit: http://www.iswl.org.uk (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** U S A. TAIWAN: Voice of America apologizes for its incorrect report VOA WEBSITE RETRACTS REPORTED STATEMENTS ABOUT NATIONAL UNIFICATION COUNCIL --- Taipei Times Sunday, March 5, 2006 The Voice of America (VOA) yesterday issued a statement apologizing for its recent incorrect report concerning the National Unification Council (NUC), which led to misunderstandings between Taiwan and the US. The VOA, which is partially [??? sic]owned by the US government, posted the statement on its Web site and expressed its regret. . . http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-eastasia.asp?parentid=40292 (via Dan Say, BC, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. [continued from KUWAIT] Btw, several IBB reports from the last years have also not yet been replied to. Just found out that I am still waiting for a QSL for the Munich and Hungary relays (among others). (Eike Bierwirth, Germany, March 7, HCDX via DXLD) ** U S A. Re WRMI on 9955, UT Sunday March 5 at 0530 with WORLD OF RADIO: Glenn: That's somewhat encouraging. 9955 is going south. We can technically go north on 9955 and have done so in the past (a long time ago). But we can't do so at that hour because WMLK has it registered beamed to NAm, even though they've never used it yet (Jeff White, WRMI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But was it off the air Sunday night, UT Mon after 0500? Could not hear any signal on 9955 (or 7385 also checked). WBCQ 7415 did hold up with a fair signal. So if you were on as usual, the MUF must have fallen and we would have been better off on 7385 (Glenn to Jeff, via DXLD) Glenn: Yes, we were definitely on 9955 from 2300 Sun to 1300 this morning. That's interesting. So it was audible in your area at least til 0530 on Saturday night, but not on Sunday night. Well, we're going to keep running 0500-1300 on 9955 every night this week at least, so we'll have a chance to keep checking. Many thanks (Jeff White, via DXLD) Jeff, I associate the deep fades heard the night before, with the frequency being barely below the MUF, so not too surprising it did not take much of a drop to wipe it out (Glenn to Jeff, via DXLD) Solar-terrestrial indices for 05 March follow. Solar flux 74 and mid- latitude A-index 1. The mid-latitude K-index at 0600 UTC on 06 March was 0 (04 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours (SEC via DXLD) Glenn: Yes, I guess we can hope that 9955 will improve at night during the summer months. Then maybe back to 7385 for the winter season (Jeff White, WRMI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KJES, 11715, The Lord`s Ranch, NM 88072, big carrier but low modulation around 1500 UT March 6. After solo mixed with spoken exhortations, kid gave ID twice, usual ``let me know if you can hear me`` plea. He [?] did not sound happy, like maybe would have added ``and please get me out of here!`` With the audio gain cranked up enough to listen to this, ears would be blasted upon retuning e.g. to RHC 11760 or WHRI 11785 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Please keep an ear on 10100 kHz around 0200Z for an American SWBC on that frequency. I didn't get them IDed, but you would have known immediately who it was. Very strong signal in Iowa with slight QSB; off around 0240Z. Thanks (Bill Smith, Jefferson, Iowa, UT March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2 X 5050 WWRB, I suppose, tho a mixing product from 31m band might land there too (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. R. Morania external service, 7415, March 6 at 2250 tune-in with parody routines, culminating with the chocolate mine, rudely interrupted at 2300 for pause and then some gospel huxter. Presumably via WBCQ tho no ID was heard. The Jean Shepherd Show supposedly airs at 2200-2300, but it used to be half a sesquihour and probably still is with stuff like this as fill. So check Mondays at 2245 if not earlier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Parallel pirates --- This weekend at the 19th annual Winter SWL Fest at Kulpsville PA there are 4 FM pirates operating from the 4th floor of the hotel (the Best Western at Towamencin) which is right at the Lansdale exit off the PA Turnpike Northeast extension. These are running on 89.9, 90.5, 91.3 and 91.9, and I believe using the call of WBCQ with a mix of music and talk. All of them were strong within a few miles of the hotel but weakened considerably at greater distances. None were heard from here when I arrived home but others in this general area might have heard them so I thought I'd at least pass the word. These will probably be on thru tomorrow morning (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, Grid FN20id, 15 mi NW Philadelphia, 1:07 AM [EST?] March 5, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. KEVT 1030 kHz DX Test Results [near Tucson, Arizona] With apologies for the delay, here are the results for the KEVT 1030 khz test. This test was conducted on February 6th starting at Midnight and running for a few hours. The test was conducted at full day power of 10 kW during a scheduled maintenance period by Chief Engineer Frank Luna. Unfortunately, the test produced poor results, being heard by only two DX'ers in nearby states. The reasons for this lack of success can be attributed to at several factors: 1. The station operated in Spanish language mode, with no Morse Code, sweep tones, or other unusual programming to make it stand out. 2. 1030 is populated by other powerful Spanish language stations including XESDD BCN Ensenada, which was widely heard during the test period. 3. Monster signal from WBZ in the East making things for folks on this side of the Mississippi to hear anything else. Our sincere thanks go out to Frank Luna for conducting the test, and longtime IRCA member Paul Lotsof for arranging it. Perhaps we can convince Frank to try it again next year with some sweep tones and Morse Code! ======================================= Among the fortunate few who logged the test was Martin Flotz of Mission Viejo, CA. He was joined by Kevin Redding in Gilbert, AZ who notes that the station is a "semi-local" to him. Leading the large pack of Sad Sacks who didn't manage to hear the test despite their best efforts was Tom Jasinski of Shorewood, IL who struggled with an "oddball" signal in the null of WBZ. It turned out to Polish station WNVR. Art Peterson of Richmond, CA fought with "La Tremenda" in Baja, California but couldn't pull out KEVT. Willis Monk, K4APE in Old Fort, TN heard a lot of Spanish on the frequency, but could never make out enough for an ID. Les Rayburn, N1LF in Birmingham, AL also had two SS stations on frequency during the test, but never managed to ID either. Mike Hardester managed to null WBZ with his Quantum Phaser, but never pulled out KEVT from his home in Jackonsville, NC. A Drake R8B and a Kiwa Loop proved no match for the mix of stations heard by Doug Pifer, KE6GMM of Albany, OR. He logged an assortment of stations including XESDD, KDUN, KMAS, and KTWO but no sign of our test station. Pete Taylor in Tacoma, WA gave it the old college try with his Sony 2010 and a Kiwa loop as well, but with the same results. Another disappointed DX'er was Don Kaskey of San Francisco, who could only manage lots of QRM from XESDD. Mike Stonebridge made sure that Canadian DX'ers were also broken hearted. He managed to null KTWO from his shack in Alberta, but that left only KMAS underneath. Other's who went home unhappy included Jim Renfrew of Byron, NY, J. D. Stephens of Hampton Cove, AL, and Eric Berger of Detroit. Again, our sincere thanks to Frank Luna and the staff of KEVT! Even when we don't log them, they are still lots of fun! (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, March 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. AIR AMERICA TUNED OUT? By JOHN MAINELLI AIR America is close to losing its New York flagship station - knocking Al Franken and his liberal colleagues off the air on their second anniversary. The network has a two-year lease with WLIB (AM 1190) that is reportedly set to expire April 1 - and at least one reliable report says it is "extremely likely" the deal will not be renewed. Losing its New York outlet would be a serious blow to the fledgling liberal radio network. "Radio Equalizer" blogger Brian Maloney - who blew the whistle on questionable loans to the lefty network last year - published the first report that WLIB was on the verge of evicting Air America some time soon. Air America's options for a new home are not promising. All of the city's other strong-signal stations are spoken for, leaving only weak- signal "fringe" stations that do not cover the entire city and suburbs. Air America parent Piquant LLC has reportedly been paying Inner City Broadcasting - controlled by former Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton and his son, Pierre - $2.5 million a year to air Franken and others. An Air America spokeswoman told The Post, "It's business as usual," and declined further comment. Air America got unwanted headlines last year when it was learned that previous management had received what investigators called an "inappropriate" $875,000 loan - since repaid - from a Bronx charity. Calls to Inner City execs were not returned. The leading contenders to take over the WLIB lease are former Clear Channel exec Randy Michaels, who syndicates competing lefty talker Ed Schultz, and the new Radio One black-focused talk network that includes Rev. Al Sharpton (NY Post via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [and non]. VENEZUELAN TV SEEKS TO END FORCED CHÁVEZ SPEECH BROADCASTS A Caracas television station has asked justice authorities to annul a law which allows private radio and television stations to be compelled to broadcast several speeches by political leaders. The president of IBC, which owns the Radio Caracas Television station which made the request, told a local newspaper that President Hugo Chávez, known for his lengthy speeches, abuses the rule to "indoctrinate the population in the same way as in Cuba and Zimbabwe." "This system of a chain of speeches does not exist in any democracy. This is something that happens in troubled regimes," said Marcel Granier. Under the current law, private television and radio stations are required to provide free air time upon request by the president, vice president and cabinet ministers. Sometimes this forces them to air consecutive speeches by the politicians. In addition, Chávez hosts a program on state television and radio every Sunday called "Hello President" which lasts six or seven hours. (Source: AFP) # posted by Andy @ 09:20 UT March 6 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [and non]. VENEZUELA PROPOSES NEW LATIN AMERICAN RADIO NETWORK Venezuela has proposed setting up a new Latin American radio network to follow the example of Telesur, set up last year with support from President Hugo Chávez's government. Information Minister Yuri Pimentel proposed the plan for a radio network known as Radiosur during a meeting of state radio representatives from various countries. Representatives of various state radio stations were expected to take up the proposal during their meeting in Caracas. Many of the details remain to be worked out. (Source: Pravda) # posted by Andy @ 16:47 UT March 7 (Media Network blog via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Estoy escuchando una señal musical en 3630.9 kHz; ¿alguien más puede escucharla? Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, 0439 UT March 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Could be 3 x 1210+ harmonic. Is there something on 1210.3? (gh, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ My sincere thanks to you and the great job you do with DXLD. It is without a doubt the most timely and comprehensive source of info regarding our hobby and then some. You often help us escape our DXer's tunnel vision and see the big picture. 73s, (Jim Pogue, TN, March 3) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ SCOTT BARBOUR: NASWA MEMBER OF THE YEAR "Bill Eddings Award for the NASWA Member of the Year Announced at Winter SWL Festival: Congratulations to Scott Barbour of New Hampshire on his selection by the Executive Council of the North American Shortwave Association as the 2006 Bill Eddings Award recipient as our "member of the year." The Bill Eddings award goes to the member that best personifies the club's motto of "Unity and Friendship" through active participation in the shortwave listening hobby. I had the pleasure of making the presentation of the member of the year award Saturday night (March 4th) at the 19th Annual Winter SWL Festival in Kulpsville, PA during the banquet. The Executive Council's selection of you was an excellent choice. Congratulations! Also, congratulations to Rich Cuff, John Figliozzi and an army of volunteers on another successful event. About 165 hobbyists descended upon Kulpsville for a great time. More to come in the pages of The Journal. A certificate commemorating the occasion will be sent to Scott. Congratulations!" (Rich D`Angelo, NASWA Flashsheet March 5 via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ OUR OWN BEN DAWSON HONORED FOR ENGINEERING ACHIEVEMENT Congratulations to our own Ben Dawson who will be receiving an NAB Engineering honor at this year`s NAB in April. Ben and Ron Rackley will receive NAB`s Engineering Achievement Award. The TV recipient is Merrill Weiss (Clay, K7CR, CPBE et al., Clay’s Corner for March 2006, Seattle Chapter of the Society of Broadcast Engineers Newsletter The Waveguide via nwbroadcasters via DXLD) CELLOONS Here`s a – lofty idea. A Bellevue [WA] company is proposing the use of balloons to provide cellular coverage in sparsely populated rural areas, like the Dakotas. Considering that it takes 250K to build a cell-site and they only cover a relatively small area, the idea perhaps has merit. Here’s how it works: Balloons would be launched on a regular basis from the west side of the area, towing upward a small electronics package. When the balloon reached a certain altitude the package would be parachuted back to earth where a bounty would be paid for the return. They’ve raised almost 10 Million to put the system to work (Clay, K7CR, CPBE et al., Clay’s Corner for March 2006, Seattle Chapter of the Society of Broadcast Engineers Newsletter The Waveguide via nwbroadcasters via DXLD) But, but, these would have a very limited lifespan if handled like that. Why not keep them up as long as possible? Or even tether them. Just ask TV Martí how to do it. For these to have anything approaching reliable service, would have to be launching them constantly so at least one (?) always be up (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GROUNDING ADVICE Re: Query on interference --- Like many concerned with energy issues, I have thought about putting in high efficiency fluorescent bulbs. I wonder about the amount of RF interference these might cause and on ways to best eliminate such interference if I do go ahead with this (Roger Chambers, NY, ODXA via DXLD) FIRST, a story... I have a shortwave receiver in my workshop, properly grounded, and connected to a good, outside random wire. One day, the radio was on when I was using the drill press. I turned off the drill press and went to change the drill bit. When my hand-held chuck-key touched the press chuck, I heard a static crackle in the SW radio (drill press was turned off). Experimenting, I found I could rub the keychuck against any metal part of the press and hear static crackle; there was no shock and I saw no sparks, nor felt any tingles. If I laid my free hand on the press table, the static stopped. If I laid my free hand on a grounded powerline armored cable, grounding my body, the static stopped. I checked the drill press plug and someone had snipped off the ground pin. Replacing the plug also stopped the static. So, I learned that any ungrounded chunks of metal can act as an antenna or detector, pickup stray AC or RFI, and add to the noise floor. Now, my shack is an RF noisy place, with multiple receivers with local oscillators, transmitters, RF generators, computers, network, etc. The first thing I did was to read up about lightning and grounding. See: http://members.cox.net/pc-usa/station/ground0.htm http://www.polyphaser.com/ppc_ptd_home.aspx http://www.arraysolutions.com/Products/ice/10.html I wanted to improve reception of my radios by lowering my noise floor in my shack, and also improve lightning protection. You see, whether you are worried about lightning damage or RFI, the problem isn't voltage, it's current flow. For example, a bird can land on a 100,000 volt power transmission line and doesn't notice the voltage. But if the bird's wingspan touches two wires, the current flow between the wires makes an instant barbecue. If lightning hits your tower it flows to ground. If all the grounds in your shack are bonded together and to your ground rod, all ground voltages rise and fall simultaneously; there is no current flow among grounds, so no damage. But, let's say that your phone line is grounded at the phone cable entry point at the other end of the building. Your computer ground (common point) voltage will rise with the lightning strike. But the ground of phone line in the computer modem is referenced at the other end of the building, so a voltage difference causes current flow thru your computer, which is now toast. Lightning hits are quite survivable. The countryside (about every 6 miles) has a cell tower, which are giant lightning rods attracting dozens of hits every storm; yet they survive, simply because they are installed properly. (I'm not saying all lightning hits are survivable; we're talking about tremendous amounts of power here. I'm saying all lightning hits are not necessarily fatal...) Getting back to RFI; let's say your radio is grounded by virtue of the ground pin on its power cord. On the same Hydro circuit is a light- dimmer generating RFI and dumping it back into the lines, including the same ground. Now, your radio has a second ground, at antenna connections. If the two grounds are not bonded together, there will be a current flow thru the radio (a ground loop) dragging the light- dimmer RFI thru the radio. With RFI there are two problems: a) the RFI sources b) ground loops bringing RFI to you (RFI can also arrive thru direct radiation, but other than turning the source off, the solution is still shielding and grounding). *** What I did *** 1) The first thing I did was install a very good ground rod and properly ground my antennas, tower, coax, etc. 2) I took the Single-Point ground into the shack and grounded every chunk of metal. Racks, shelves, computer cases, radios, desks, monitors, every coax shield. Lookup "single-point ground", that is critical. I used heavy braid stripped out of old coax for grounding wire. Cable and phone had surge protectors bonded to "single-point ground". 3) The AC utility ground was also bonded to my shack ground at the "single-Point" to stop ground loops. I was afraid I'd be dumping Utility groundline noise into my ground, but instead I quietened the utility (good thing, because all my stuff was plugged into it). On entry to the shack, my AC goes thru a big Sola regulation/isolation transformer to cleanup line noise. 4) Then I went hunting. I turned off everything in the shack, except a shortwave radio tuned between stations so it only played the RFI static background. (I used a length of wire in the shack for an antenna, AGC off). Then I turned one appliance on in the shack, at a time. If the radio background static increased the noise was coming from the appliance. My DSL modem was very noisy, so got moved to another room. CRT computer monitors were also noisy. Direct grounding helped, but they will be replaced with LCD monitors as soon as I win the lottery. I turn them off when I want real quiet. I had an extremely noisy switch that allowed my to use one monitor with several computers; simply grounding it's metal box cured it. I occasionally hear someone complain that grounding made things worse. All they are really saying is that they did it wrong... Getting back to your original question high efficiency fluorescent bulbs, given that you will only save pennies, I'd not put any RFI producer near my radios. Indeed, if you where truly serious, you'd use candles... ;-) Sincerely /b (``Rasputin Novgorod``, ON? ODXA via DXLD) Rasputin, as always, has raised some really interesting and quite valid points. Another thing to watch out for are some DC powered products that use AC adapters. The adapter could be the culprit rather than the device, itself. My wife picked up some low voltage track lighting that causes RF right across the band but the culprit turned out to be the poorly shielded AC adapter. I have a laptop that does the same thing with its AC adapter but I could solve that one by moving the laptop to another circuit. If moving the product to another room or circuit does not solve the problem, or moving it to another room or circuit or leaving it off when DXing is not an option, then you must find a better AC adapter, buy a proper power supply, or build one yourself (Mark Coady, ibid.) For what it's worth, I'm in the process of replacing incandescents with fluorescents in my house wherever possible to save energy (and money!). The closest bulb is in the lamp on the shack table and I've never noticed any QRM, either while SWLing or hamming (and I'm a dedicated CW traffic-handler :-). I'm lucky enough to have a halfway- decent ground, though (four 8-foot rods tied together, and after 14 years I can still feel the pain banging those suckers into the ground in February), and Rasputin has many valid points. Good luck and 73 de (Anne Fanelli, WI2G, Elma NY, ODXA via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ SOLAR MINIMUM HAS ARRIVED --- March 6, 2006 http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/06mar_solarminimum.htm?list205275 Every year in February, the students of Mrs. Phillips's 5th grade class in Bishop, California, celebrate Galileo's birthday (Feb. 15th) by repeating one of his discoveries. They prove that the sun spins. It's simple. Step 1: Look at the sun. Galileo did this using a primitive telescope; Mrs. Phillips's students use the internet. Step 2: Sketch the sunspots. Step 3: Repeat daily. After only a few days, it's obvious that the sunspots are moving and sun is spinning, performing one complete turn every 27 days. This procedure worked fine in 1610. But in 2006, "we had a problem," says young Jonathan García. "No sunspots," explains his science fair partner Dakota Winkler. For almost the entire month of February 2006 the sun was utterly blank. If Galileo had looked at the sun on his 442nd birthday, he would have been disappointed-no sunspots, no spin, no discovery. What's going on? NASA solar physicist David Hathaway explains: "Solar minimum has arrived." Sunspots come and go with an 11-year rhythm called the sunspot cycle. At the cycle's peak, solar maximum, the sun is continually peppered with spots, some as big as the planet Jupiter. But for every peak there is a valley, and during solar minimum months can go by without a single sunspot. "That's where we are now-at minimum," says Hathaway. Actually, we're at the beginning of the minimum. February 2006 was the first month in almost ten years with mostly no sunspots. For 21 of February's 28 days, the sun was blank. Hathaway expects this situation to continue for the rest of 2006. No sunspots means low solar activity. Sunspots are sources of solar flares and coronal mass ejections that can disrupt radio communications and even cause power outages on Earth during severe magnetic storms. These problems should subside during the year ahead. Auroras, a beautiful side-effect of magnetic storms, should subside, too. "Too bad," says Hathaway, who enjoys Northern Lights. Galileo was lucky. The year 1610 was close to a maximum of the sunspot cycle, so when he projected an image of the sun through his spyglass, he immediately saw enormous spots. The spots themselves did not surprise him. Chinese astronomers looking at the sun naked-eye through clouds and mist had reported seeing sunspots as early as 28 BC. The reality of sunspots was uncontroversial, but the nature of sunspots was a mystery. Were they satellites of the sun? Dark clouds in the sun's atmosphere? Or something else? Galileo's daily sketches showed plainly that the sun was spinning and that sunspots were close to the surface of the spinning orb. Personally, Galileo thought sunspots might be clouds. Now we know what they really are: great islands of magnetism. Sunspots appear when magnetic force-fields generated by the sun's inner dynamo poke through the surface. These fields block the flow of heat from below, cooling the sun in their vicinity. If you stuck a thermometer in a sunspot, it would register "only" a few thousand degrees Celsius. This makes it look dark compared to the surrounding inferno. Sunspots are in a state of non-stop upheaval. Tangled lines of magnetism twist and stretch until the tension becomes too great and an explosion occurs-a flare. This link between flares and spots is why solar minimum is so quiet. "But not absolutely quiet," adds Hathaway. "During solar minimum we can have occasional sunspots and solar flares." Indeed there was at least one monster spot and one X-class solar flare (the most powerful kind) during each of the last three minima in 1976, 1986 and 1996. 2006 will probably be the same-long stretches of quiet with occasional episodes of spots and flares. How long will this last? Stay tuned for the answer in our next story: "Solar Storm Warning." (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) PREDICTING SOLAR CYCLES The graphics, many of the animated video, accompanying the March 6 presentation, are now available at the website: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/solar_cycle_graphics.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SUN'S NEXT 11-YEAR CYCLE COULD BE 50 PERCENT STRONGER Mon Mar 6, 2006 pm ET Science News By Deborah Zabarenko http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2006-03-06T204858Z_01_N06327000_RTRUKOC_0_US-SPACE-SUN.xml&rpc=22 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sun-spawned cosmic storms that can play havoc with earthly power grids and orbiting satellites could be 50 percent stronger in the next 11-year solar cycle than in the last one, scientists said on Monday. Using a new model that takes into account what happens under the sun's surface and data about previous solar cycles, astronomers offered a long-range forecast for solar activity that could start as soon as this year or as late as 2008. They offered no specific predictions of solar storms, but they hope to formulate early warnings that will give power companies, satellite operators and others on and around Earth a few days to prepare. "This prediction of an active solar cycle suggests we're potentially looking at more communications disruptions, more satellite failures, possible disruptions of electrical grids and blackouts, more dangerous conditions for astronauts," said Richard Behnke of the Upper Atmosphere Research Section at the National Science Foundation. "Predicting and understanding space weather will soon be even more vital than ever before," Behnke said at a telephone news briefing. The prediction, roughly analogous to the early prediction of a severe hurricane season on Earth, involves the number of sunspots on the solar surface, phenomena that have been monitored for more than a century. TWISTED MAGNETIC FIELDS Every 11 years or so, the sun goes through an active period, with lots of sunspots. This is important, since solar storms -- linked to twisted magnetic fields that can hurl out energetic particles -- tend to occur near sunspots. The sun is in a relatively quiet period now, but is expected to get more active soon, scientists said. However, there is disagreement as to whether the active period will start within months -- late 2006 or early 2007 -- or years, with the first signs in late 2007 or early 2008. Whenever it begins, the new forecasting method shows sunspot activity is likely to be 30 percent to 50 percent stronger than the last active period. The peak of the last cycle was in 2001, the researchers said, but the period of activity can span much of a decade. The strongest solar cycle in recent memory occurred in the late 1950s, when there were few satellites aloft, no astronauts in orbit and less reliance on electrical power grids than there is now. If a similarly active period occurred now, the impact would be hard to predict, according to Joseph Kunches of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's Space Environment Center in Colorado. "It's pretty uncertain what would happen, which makes this work more relevant," Kunches said. "What we have here is a prediction that the cycle is going to be very active, and what we need and what we're of course working on is to be able to predict individual storms with a couple days or hours in advance so the grids can take the action," Behnke said (via Bill Smith, DXLD) Oh, for another Cycle 19 ... it was super. 73. (Bill Smith, W0WOI, IA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I don't think this is good news --- from the Drudge Report. DX while you can! BC (Bruce Collier, swl at qth.net via DXLD) Au contraire (gh) Here is the exact release from NASA. If you read this properly you will notice there is a lot of room for error, after all, it is a projection not yet founded on solid facts (Duane Fischer, ibid.) March 6, 2006 Dwayne Brown/Erica Hupp Headquarters, Washington (202) 358-1726/1237 Bill Steigerwald/Nancy Neal-Jones Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. (301) 286-5017/0039 RELEASE: 06-087 NASA AIDS IN RESOLVING LONG STANDING SOLAR CYCLE MYSTERY Scientists predict the next solar activity cycle will be 30 to 50 percent stronger than the previous one and up to a year late. Accurately predicting the sun's cycles will help plan for the effects of solar storms. The storms can disrupt satellite orbits and electronics; interfere with radio communication; damage power systems; and can be hazardous to unprotected astronauts. The breakthrough "solar climate" forecast by Mausumi Dikpati and colleagues at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. was made with a combination of computer simulation and groundbreaking observations of the solar interior from space using NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). NASA's Living With a Star program and the National Science Foundation funded the research. The sun goes through a roughly 11-year cycle of activity, from stormy to quiet and back again. Solar storms begin with tangled magnetic fields generated by the sun's churning electrically charged gas (plasma). Like a rubber band twisted too far, solar magnetic fields can suddenly snap to a new shape, releasing tremendous energy as a flare or a coronal mass ejection (CME). This violent solar activity often occurs near sunspots, dark regions on the sun caused by concentrated magnetic fields. Understanding plasma flows in the sun's interior is essential to predicting the solar activity cycle. Plasma currents within the sun transport, concentrate, and help dissipate solar magnetic fields. "We understood these flows in a general way, but the details were unclear, so we could not use them to make predictions before," Dikpati said. Her paper about this research was published in the March 3 online edition of Geophysical Research Letters. The new technique of "helioseismology" revealed these details by allowing researchers to see inside the sun. Helioseismology traces sound waves reverberating inside the sun to build up a picture of the interior, similar to the way an ultrasound scan is used to create a picture of an unborn baby. Two major plasma flows govern the cycle. The first acts like a conveyor belt. Deep beneath the surface, plasma flows from the poles to the equator. At the equator, the plasma rises and flows back to the poles, where it sinks and repeats. The second flow acts like a taffy pull. The surface layer of the sun rotates faster at the equator than it does near the poles. Since the large-scale solar magnetic field crosses the equator as it goes from pole to pole, it gets wrapped around the equator, over and over again, by the faster rotation there. This is what periodically concentrates the solar magnetic field, leading to peaks in solar storm activity. "Precise helioseismic observations of the 'conveyor belt' flow speed by the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) instrument on board SOHO gave us a breakthrough," Dikpati said. "We now know it takes two cycles to fill half the belt with magnetic field and another two cycles to fill the other half. Because of this, the next solar cycle depends on characteristics from as far back as 40 years previously - the sun has a magnetic 'memory'." The magnetic data input comes from the SOHO/MDI instrument and historical records. Computer analysis of the past eight years' magnetic data matched actual observations over the last 80 years. The team added magnetic data and ran the model ahead 10 years to get their prediction for the next cycle. The sun is in the quiet period for the current cycle (cycle 23). The team predicts the next cycle will begin with an increase in solar activity in late 2007 or early 2008, and there will be 30 to 50 percent more sunspots, flares, and CMEs in cycle 24. This is about one year later than the prediction using previous methods, which rely on such statistics as the strength of the large-scale solar magnetic field and the number of sunspots to make estimates for the next cycle. This work will be advanced by more detail observations from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, scheduled to launch in August 2008. SOHO is a project of international collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency. For images explaining the data on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/solar_cycle_graphics.html (via Duane Fischer, swl at qth.net via DXLD) SCIENTISTS SAY SUN'S NEXT CYCLE STRONGER By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 11:18 p.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Solar-Storm.html?pagewanted=print LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A new computer model suggests the next solar cycle will be more active than the previous one, potentially spawning magnetic storms that will be more disruptive to communication systems on Earth. The next sunspot cycle will be between 30 percent to 50 percent more intense than the last one, scientists said Monday. The cycle will also begin a year later than expected, in late 2007 or early 2008, and peak around 2012, said Mausumi Dikpati of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo. The new prediction is at odds with previous forecasts, which suggested that the intensity of the next solar cycle would be measurably smaller. Accurately predicting the intensity of the sunspot cycle, which occurs about every 11 years, allows scientists to anticipate solar storms. They are caused by solar flares, or giant eruptions that burst from the surface of the sun. Solar storms, which eject billions of tons of plasma and charged particles into space, can produce dazzling northern lights, but also disrupt power lines, radio transmissions and satellite communication. The last time the solar cycle peaked was in 2001. During the last cycle, solar storms caused extreme radio blackouts in the Pacific. For decades, scientists have tracked the solar cycle and appearance of sunspots, but they have been unable to accurately predict the intensity or timing of solar storms, which increase as the number of sunspots increases. Dikpati, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said her team tested the new computer model using previous solar cycle data and had 98 percent accuracy. David Hathaway, a solar astronomer with [4]NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., does not doubt that the next sunspot cycle will be stronger than the previous one. But Hathaway said his own research suggests that the next cycle will occur [sic, means start] late this year -- earlier than what Dikpati predicted. The current research, funded by National Science Foundation, is published in the latest Geophysical Research Letters. ------ On the Net: National Center for Atmospheric Research: http://www.ncar.ucar.edu Copyright 2006 The Associated Press (via Dan Say, Ricky Leong, DXLD) March 6, 2006 SCIENTISTS ISSUE UNPRECEDENTED FORECAST OF NEXT SUNSPOT CYCLE BOULDER -- The next sunspot cycle will be 30-50% stronger than the last one and begin as much as a year late, according to a breakthrough forecast using a computer model of solar dynamics developed by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Predicting the Sun's cycles accurately, years in advance, will help societies plan for active bouts of solar storms, which can slow satellite orbits, disrupt communications, and bring down power systems. . . http://www.physorg.com/news11434.html (via e-layer yg via Jim Moats, dxldyg via DXLD) Sunspot warning --- There is a story in the Denver Post today titled "Solar Salvo On The Way?". The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder is forecasting that the biggest solar storm in 50 years could hit us by 2008. They say it could be 30 to 50% stronger than the storm that hit us in 2001 and could rival the biggest one on record which was in the late 50s. NASA also made a statement on this and they say that the storm could come as early as this year or 2007. The link to the story is http://denverpost.com/news/ci_3576314 (Patrick Griffith, Westminster, CO, March 6, IRCA via DXLD) That conclusion may come from this article. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060306_solar_cycle.html (Steve Hawkins, NG0G, ibid.) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ XX FILES --- MONKEY GONE TO HEAVEN --- by Jennifer Loviglio Although there has been tension between science and religion since well before Darwin, passions are running higher than ever. The lines are drawn: You're either with God or you're against him, as President Bush hinted when he was in China, pretending to encourage greater religious freedom there. You either support teaching intelligent design or you "believe in" evolution, as if it's some half-cocked theory like, well, ID... http://www.csindy.com/csindy/2006-03-02/xxfiles.html (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) Could have put under RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM ###