DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-056, April 1, 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 1310: Sun 0330 on WWCR 5070 Sun 0400 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0530 on WRMI 9955 Sun 0730 on WWCR 3215 Mon 0300 on WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 on WBCQ 7415 Mon 0500 on WRMI 9955 Wed 0930 on WWCR 9985 Updated, plus tentative A-06 DST-shifted schedule: 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 NETS TO YOU, APRIL update: http://www.w4uvh.net/nets2you.html ** ALBANIA. R. Tirana, no matter what times it announces, English to NAm is at 0145-0200 and 0230-0300 on 6115, 7455. At 0230 heard on 6115, and 7455 which has RTTY (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. RAE to NAm at 0200 UT weekdays, English, sometimes makes it on 11710 (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. R. Austria, English to NAm at 0043-0058 on 9870; struggles a bit due to 9865 splash (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9865 I suppose R. Farda via Morocco (gh, DXLD) ** BERMUDA [and non]. BERMUDA LOGGED IN AUSTRALIA Below is a post from the mwoffset list describing greyline / antipodal DX of Bermuda to Australia. Note the fairly modest antenna-receiver combination being used. It makes me think if there was something in western Australia running serious power, especially on the high end of the dial, that it could be heard on the east coast of North America at or before local sunset here. What is amazing is that the Bermuda stations are not running much juice at all and are still making the long-haul journey to Australia. The spring and autumn equinoxes are the best time for trans-equatorial reception in my experience. I expect to be doing some listening sessions from Granite Pier in Rockport, MA and from the salt-marsh site in Rowley, MA in the next few weeks. Africa and Brazil are always in the game plan this time of year, but who knows - could Down Under via a transatlantic path be a possibility too? For the reciprocal reception version (in Atlantic Canada, Maine, Cape Cod, eastern LI-NY, southeast NJ, Cape Hatteras, or Florida) of what Tony reported, a highly directional antenna system right at the shore would have to be used since interference levels are much greater in eastern North America than in western Australia. Also I'd be trying to get readable program audio: somewhat more challenging than just finding a carrier to frequency-measure (Mark Connelly, WA1ION - Billerica, MA, USA, via Steve Whitt, MWC via DXLD) Viz.: Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 14:59:27 +0800 From: Tony Mann agm @ physics.uwa.edu.au Subject: Bermuda MW carriers into Perth Hi folks, It is becoming apparent that four of Bermuda's five 1 kW mediumwave transmitters are detectable here in Perth around (or before) sunrise, and are best received on days that have little or no magnetic disturbance. The fifth (1450) is buried under a semi-local (6TAB, Mandurah) on 1449. Hamilton, Bermuda (32.3N, 64.8W) is only 40 miles from the antipodes of Perth, WA (32.0S, 115.8E). It is not unexpected that there should be some antipodal signal enhancement: a 1 kW tx at 19000 km gives a carrier-to-noise ratio of 30 dB in a 0.2 Hz bandwidth, with just a 9m by 3m loop rx antenna and suburban noise levels. The MW carrier frequencies of Bermuda that I measured on 29-3-06 (UT) are: freq. kHz UTC 1159.9987 2224 27 dB signal 1230.0032 2224 13 dB* signal 1279.9968 2220 32 dB signal 1340.071-.074 2224 19 dB signal *rx desensitised by splatter from local 6RN Busselton, 1224 These frequencies agree with published lists within a Hz or two, except that 1280 is now about 7 Hz lower than that measured by DXer Jari Vanhatalo of Finland. Some MW transmitters move this much; for example Perth's 1620 has dropped 18 Hz in the past year and Emerald's 4QD has risen 4 Hz (now 1548.011). 1280 was in as early as 2130 UT, and 1340 faded in by 2210. 1340.07 drifts cyclically from .071 to .074. Its carrier frequency rises over about 3 minutes and falls over about 10 minutes. Whether 1230 and 1340 (Bermuda Broadcasting Co) are really both about 10 dB weaker than 1160 and 1280 (De Fontes Broadcasting) needs further investigation - it could be that the antenna noise is not uniform across 1160-1340 kHz. Peak reception is around local sunrise (currently 2230 UT) - the same time as sunset in Bermuda! I've had 1340.07 before, around sunrise, 2307 UT on 26-7-05, but I wasn't sure it was Bermuda then. Radio Tupi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 1279.9908 was in again this morning (fade-in before 2100) but not as strong as 1279.997 (Tony Mann, Perth, Icom R75, 9m x 3m loop E-W, via Connelly via Whitt, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 4925, Rádio Educação Rural, Tefé, 0403-0415, 01-04, comentarios, portugués, locutor. A las 0415 desapareció la señal. 24222. 4915, Radiodifusora Macapá, 0710-0740, 01-04. Esta emisora tiene un bonito programa musical en la madrugada en Brasil, amanecer aquí en Europa; se llama "A Difusora na madrugada" y es presentado por un locutor con frecuentes identificaciones: "Radiodifusora Macapá 630 AM, a nossa voz". "Radiodifusora Macapá, onda media 630 AM, ondas tropicais, 4915 kHz, estudios localizados na rua Cándido Mendes... Macapá Brasil, Radiodifusora Macapá, a nossa voz". Suele entrar con mucha fuerza por aquí. 44444. 4935, Rádio Capixaba, 0606-0615, 01-04, portugués, programa religioso, locutor, comentarios: "Temos duas horas de oracão neste sábado". 24322. 6135, Rádio Aparecida, 0152-0200, 01-04, locutor, portugués, programa religioso, atendiendo llamadas telefónicas. 34333. 9615, Rádio Cultura, São Paulo, 0914-0920, 01-04, portugués, locutor, comentarios. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. VG S5 signal, minor QSB, R. Bulgaria, English 2100 on 7500; at 2100 [sic, must mean 2300 or 0200] English on 9700 VG, but poor on 11700, co-channel Spanish (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) If at 2300, 11700 Spanish would be HCJB; I thought they were coordinating to avoid such collisions (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. CRI English to NAm I`ve heard at 2300 on 6145 [Sackville]; at 0000 & 0100 on 6020, 9570 [both Albania]; 0300 on 9690 [Spain], 9790 [Cuba]. English at 0100 on 9580 [Cuba] but different programming than 6020 and 9570. Also 9570 splashes on 9580! (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 5910, Marfil Estereo, 0724-0830, 01-04. De nuevo en el aire esta emisora, luego de varios meses inactiva. La última vez que la había escuchado fue el 7 de Enero. Programa habitual de canciones en español, presentado por locutor, identificación: "88.8", "Marfil Estereo, 88.8, para llevar paz y servicio a la comunidad". Anuncios comerciales: "Agroveterinaria J.A.E", "Supermercado Pataloso, competimos en calidad". 34333. 6010, La Voz de tu Conciencia, 0420-0432, 01-04, locutor, comentario religioso: "El pueblo de Dios somos un pueblo privilegiado, somos un pueblo especial". A las 0430 fuertemente perturbada al comenzar la Rai sus transmisiones en 6015 kHz con programa en italiano. Hasta entonces 24322 variando a 34333 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. 5054.6, Faro del Caribe, recibida carta, con bonitos sellos, conteniendo tarjeta QSL con datos completos, v/s Lic. Ronald Ortiz R., Administrador y carta agradeciendo el informe de recepción, también firmada por Lic. Ronald Ortiz R. en la que informa que "Nuestra radio tiene 58 años de transmiones ininterrumpidas", y que además de la onda corta, utilizan también la onda media, 1080 kHz y FM, 97.1 MHz. además de internet. De esta emisora tenía ya QSL de hace muchos años, pero como en sus programas pedían informes de recepción, dando su dirección de correo electrónico 1080 @ farodelcaribe.org decidí enviar informe por este medio, contestando ellos por carta, cosa poco frecuente en estos tiempos. Su página web: http://www.farodelcaribe.org Su dirección postal: Faro del Caribe P.O. Box 2710 San José Costa Rica (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Haven`t heard RHC here as of 3/28 on 6000 or 9820 at 0100 and 0200; dusting off the tubes? (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Then active again on 6000 and 9820 at 0000 in Spanish; 9820 co-channel from WHRI to 0059* in English. RHC English starts at 0100 on 9820 and 6000. They were off a few days; heard ‘em UT March 29 (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) When Turkey English signs off 6140 at 0348 I heard RHC in English, S- 4, minor splash from 6135 (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RHC 6140 not supposed to be English; change? (gh) ** CUBA. 5025, Radio Rebelde, 0820-0840, 01-04, programa habitual "A Esta Hora", con buena música y comentarios culturales. Hoy un muy buen comenario sobre Teotihuacan: El templo de la serpiente emplumada, la ciudadela: "La Ciudad de los Dioses es el orgullo de América, y una visita no basta". "Ciudad de México crece inexorablemente hacia ella". "Son las cuatro con veintisiete minutos en Radio Rebelde". Excelente señal. 45444 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. CLANDESTINA, 6135 kHz, Radio República, recibida carta QSL, no datos completos "Muchísimas gracias por reportarnos su audición a nuestra emisora de onda corta, Radio República". v/s Rafael y Estorino. Thank you for reporting your reception of Radio Republica. También envían un folleto con sus frecuencia y horarios. Tardaron en contestar 35 días. No IRC. No US $. El informe de recepción se envió por carta a la siguiente dirección: Radio República P. O. Box 110235 Hialeah, Florida 33011 USA http://www.directorio.or e-mail: info @ directorio.org (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. R. Prague English to NAm: 2130 11600, 2230 7345 9415, 0000 7345 9440, 0100 6200 7345, 0300 7345 9840. I don`t hear the 0400 on 6100 you mentioned. It`s very noisy and splashed thruout (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DJIBOUTI. 4870, Radio Djibouti, 0300-0330, 01-04, inicio de la programación a las 0300, cánticos islámicos. 44444 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 3279.6, La Voz del Napo, recibido archivo doc vía e-mail conteniendo carta QSL con datos completos, v/s Padre Dorigatti Humberto y banderín de la emisora, todo listo para imprimir. En el banderín se puede leer: "Radiodifusora Cultural La Voz del Napo, Misión Josefina, onda tropical 90 metros 3280 khz. Tena, Ecuador". El informe de recepción se envió por carta, adjuntando 1 US $ para el sello de retorno. Tardaron en contestar 80 días. Dirección: La Voz del Napo Misión Josefina Juan Montalvo s/n Tena, Ecuador e-mail: lavozdelnapo @ yahoo.es (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. I heard R. Cairo English to ENAm at 2300 on 11950. Big surprise that with S 4-5 audio, was up there with M&W announcers. I was happy till they played music. Then audio was 40% --- sometimes 60%. Their signal did not hold for the entire transmission and heavy QRN covered them. At 0200, 7270 fair (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The supposedly A-06 schedule we had recently showed the 2300-2430 broadcast still on 11885 as it was in B-05 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. 11690, SWR, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, 0745-0910, 01-04, música pop en inglés, locutor, comentarios en finlandés. Identificación en inglés a las 0900 "SWR, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, our address: P. O. Box 99, FI-34801, Virrat, Finland, email: info @ swradio.net web: www.swradio.net". Algunas canciones en español: "Bailando" y alguna canción brasileña. A las 0800 comienza, en la misma frecuencia, sus emisiores "Voice of Turkey" interfiriéndola fuertemente por momentos, pero en otros momentos SWR se escuchaba por encima de la emisora turca, llegando con un señal inusualmente fuerte. 22322 variando a 33333 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE [non]. RFI via French Guyana on 9800 at 0100, March 29, woman in Spanish with music program; romantic pop, some slightly jazzy, some tropical, occasional English lyrics, some Afro pop; an eclectic, moody mix, and one of the very best music programs on shortwave -- absolutely don't miss it; stunning, perfect signal (Eric Bryan, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UT Wednesdays only? (gh, DXLD) ** FRANCE. Strike on RFI - report on LIBERATION newspaper. Betreff: Streik bei RFI/Grève à RFI Liebe Hörer, chers auditeurs, Vielleicht kann Ihnen dieser Artikel von "LIBERATION" von heute Ihnen einige Erklärungen über den Streik bei RFI in den letzten Tagen liefern. Cet article de "Libération" DU 1er AVRIL 2006 vous livrera quelques informations sur la grève à RFI. La grève qui perturbe sérieusement la diffusion de Radio France internationale (RFI) depuis mardi a été suspendue vendredi. Mais un nouveau préavis a été déposé pour mardi. Lundi, une motion de défiance envers le PDG, Antoine Schwarz, sera soumise au vote. ___________________________________________ ``Là, c'est un précaire, là encore une pigiste...`` A RFI, près d'un tiers de l'effectif est CDD, pigiste ou cachetier. par Sonya FAURE, QUOTIDIEN : samedi 01 avril 2006 Suivez le guide pour une ``Visite de la précarité``. Telle est l'invitation lancée jeudi par les syndicats de Radio France internationale (RFI). Depuis mardi, et dans la foulée du mouvement de grève anti-CPE, ils dénoncent, outre l'absence de projet d'entreprise de la direction, l'abus de salariés précaires (lire ci- dessous). Pigistes, CDD, cachetiers ­ payés au cachet, comme des intermittents du spectacle ­ ou stagiaires représentent, selon le rapport d'un cabinet d'expert-comptable indépendant, 30 % de l'effectif total de la radio. Sixième étage de l'immense tour ronde de Radio France : ``On est aux langues.`` A RFI, on émet en 20 langues. Une femme du département ``Amérique latine`` s'énerve, pointe du doigt un bureau. ``Là, c'est un précaire. Là, encore un pigiste...`` Dans le service, on recense 17 CDD et pigistes contre 21 postes en CDI. ``C'est très grave quand on sait que la carte de séjour de certains journalistes étrangers dépend de leur statut professionnel``, rapporte Daniel Brown, du SNJ-CGT. Alexia (1) est précaire depuis douze ans. ``Les 19 langues étrangères de RFI, ce sont 19 plantations. Ils y font ce qu'ils veulent.`` Sa collègue, dix ans de piges : ``Ils acceptent de plus en plus de pigistes pour que le travail soit morcelé et qu'aucun d'entre nous ne puisse en faire assez pour pouvoir jamais justifier sa place.`` A presque 40 ans, elle touche 600 euros ``les bons mois``. Une pige d'une journée rapporte 81 euros brut. ``A l'écart``. Selon les syndicats, les pigistes ne sont pas de simples forces d'appoint mais occupent des emplois permanents. Une précaire du service ``anglais`` montre le planning : ``En rouge les CDI, en vert les pigistes, en bleu les CDD. En tout, un tiers de précaires chaque jour.`` Elle-même arrive à la fin de son CDD de quinze mois. Elle partira donc ``en carence`` pendant cinq mois, pendant lesquels elle touchera les Assedic. ``La direction respecte des carences d'un tiers du contrat pour éviter qu'on aille aux prud'hommes pour requalifier nos CDD en CDI.`` Ziad Maalouf, délégué du personnel CFDT, traduit : ``Le mérite n'existe plus : bon ou pas, ton CDD s'arrête et tu reviens dans six mois.`` Les ``Serbo-croates`` ont rejoint le cortège. Même complainte. Au service ``persan``, Nasser Etemadi alterne les piges et les CDD depuis 2001 : ``L'an passé, j'ai travaillé 320 jours, pour 1 200 euros brut mensuels en moyenne. Un journaliste en CDI travaille seulement 190 jours par an.`` Un membre des``Sans pige fixe``, le collectif des pigistes de RFI, parle du ``sentiment d'être bloqués, tenus délibérément à l'écart``. La situation n'est pas nouvelle, mais elle s'aggrave, pourrit le quotidien. ``Nos collègues en CDI ont enfin pris conscience du problème, glisse un précaire. Ils ont l'impression d'être "ceux qui savaient", ceux qui n'ont rien fait, et ça les gêne de plus en plus...`` Une pigiste ajoute que c'est aussi la première fois que les syndicats de la radio engagent une vraie lutte contre la précarité: ``C'est dans l'air du temps avec les manifestations anti-CPE, c'est politiquement correct.`` Couloir courbe à nouveau, carrelage gris. On passe à l'étage des techniciens et des administratifs. ``Tu rentres dans un studio, tu as deux chances sur trois pour que le technicien soit en CDD, rapporte l'un d'eux. Cet été, des techniciens précaires dormaient dans le studio et se douchaient à la radio, faute de pouvoir trouver un logement à Paris sans CDI...`` Complément des Assedic. Les sujets magazines (consacrés à la santé, aux médias...) représentent 48 % de l'antenne de RFI. Et sont préparés par 40 % de ``cachetiers``, soumis au régime de l'intermittence du spectacle. Ziad Maalouf est reporter. Mais, sur sa fiche de paie, on peut lire ``intervenant concepteur``. Un intitulé qui correspond à la grille de l'intermittence. Il dit toucher en moyenne 1000 euros net par mois de RFI... compensés par les Assedic du spectacle qui lui versent entre 1 000 et 1 200 euros mensuels. La plupart des journalistes du magazine ne pourraient vivre en travaillant à RFI sans ce ``complément de salaire`` versé par l'assurance chômage. ``J'ai été au Congo pour un reportage sur les viols de guerre, raconte Ziad Maalouf. Officiellement, j'étais intermittent du spectacle... Drôle de spectacle.`` (1) Le prénom a été changé (RFI via DJ9KR via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re Jülich sold to CVC: I have to admit that my Kavála speculation was wrong. . . In fact it was a shock to see the news about the Jülich station. At last year's IFA, T-Systems explained that they would be able to have four Jülich transmitters DRM-ready at short notice if demand will arise. Earlier a TV report praised a great future of Jülich, to be ensured by DRM. I am sure that the authors of this piece had another kind of future in mind. I think I already pointed out an increased use of Wertachtal and Nauen for the B05 season, and for A06 this became even more obvious with the IBB transmissions being gone to Wertachtal, too. Now the reason for these moves became clear with a loud bang. However, will Wertachtal and Nauen be able to take over all existing Jülich transmissions? Will T-Systems leave some airtime customers out in the cold? Will perhaps an existing (at least it existed a few years ago) but at present hardly obvious cooperation agreement with IBB Germany (specifically Lampertheim and their Biblis outpost) come to more importance? And to start the next wild speculation: Will Deutsche Welle cut shortwave transmissions, leaving an even bigger amount of capacity at Wertachtal and Nauen for other customers? Just a few question that came to mind now, late at night. Now I am going to bed, so I will once again close with a phrase that appears to be especially apt tonight: Good night! (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is significant and here in Germany of interest not only for the DX scene. I received so far one comment on this matter from somebody interested "only" in radio and not shortwave in particular: He finds it rather disturbing how German transmission infrastructure will be sold out this way. A minor aspect I just realized: The Jülich site houses also the 702 kHz mediumwave transmitter used by Truckradio. Somehow they will have to deal with it. Have a nice Sunday! (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 1, ibid.) Here`s a view of the Jülich site, from Media Network: http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4657/259/1600/kw_juelich.jpg (via gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Just as promised: Wilsdruff 1431 is now on air, at present with the scheduled English service. Certainly there were some short tests during the recent days to set up the equipment, just not during my random checks. Nice modulation, especially compared to co-located 1044 which sounds rather muffled since they inaugurated a kind of dedicated AM processing on the MDR Info output which already in itself sounds rather poor (if you would like to hear lots of sibilance, compressed to death, then MDR Info is the place to go for). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] No April fool's joke: During the day Wilsdruff 1431 carried some quite exotic (for a mediumwave station in Germany) languages. After noting a switch from Persian to Serbocroatian at 1600 it finally dawned me what's going on: They put the wrong satellite channel on air. What 1431 at present carries must be the feed actually meant for http://live.wm.t-bn.de/live/st_ru/stimme_russl_2 , one of the two audio streams operated for VOR by T-Systems. The schedule can be found at http://www.vor.ru/Audio/audio_eng.phtml : Until 0900 English, 0900- 1100 German (so the error can be noted only at 1100), 1100-1200 Chinese, 1200-1300 Japanese, 1300-1400 Hindi, 1400-1500 Turkish, 1500- 1600 Persian, 1600-1700 Serbocroatian, 1700-1800 Italian, 1800-1900 Greek, 1900-2000 Bulgarian, 2000-2100 French [yes, on air right now], 2100-2200 Sodruzhestvo and then the transmitter should go off until 0400. I understand that this can be corrected only at Wilsdruff itself, i.e. an engineer has to go to the transmitter site. Could take some time and is probably not to happen before Monday, since perhaps still nobody at T-Systems even knows about the messed up transmission. Persian signing off, as heard on 1431 at 1558, with co-channel Kopani very faintly underneath: http://www.radioeins.de/meta/sendungen/apparat/060325_A3.ram Also recorded in good faith how the English service wrapped up and German started at 0900 (in between a lot of strokes of interval signal, all but one edited out here): http://www.radioeins.de/meta/sendungen/apparat/060325_A2.ram (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. ALEMANIA, 6130, MV Baltic Radio, recibida carta con tarjeta QSL conteniendo datos completos, v/s Roland Rohde. Tardaron en contestar 50 días. El informe de recepción, con el que se acompañó 1 US $ para ayuda del sello de retorno se envió a la siguiente dirección: MV Baltic Radio R&R Medienservice Seestrasse 17 D-19089 Goehren Germany http://www.mvbalticradio.de En la tarjeta QSL informan de su nueva frecuencia: NOTE: From April 06th we will broadcast each first Sunday in the month at 1200 UTC on 6045 kHZ (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. VOICE OF GREECE: A06 PROGRAM SCHEDULE [translated by John Babbis] (Effective March 26 to October 28, 2006) UTC Program MONDAY 0000-0100 Connection With Second Program 0100-0200 You Must Know A Machine To Cut Black Eyes 0200-0300 It Dawns Just For You 0300-0400 Breakfast For Two 0400-0500 Connection With NET 105.8 (Continued) 0500-0600 Radio-Newspaper 0600-0750 Greek Coffee 0750-0752 Fellow-Countrymen Bulletin 0752-0800 Athletic Panorama 0800-0900 Hello Compatriots 0900-0905 News In Greek 0905-0907 Fellow-Countrymen Bulletin 0907-1000 Traveling With Art 1000-1100 BREAK 1100-1230 Radio-Newspaper With NET On The Economy 1230-1300 Mailman 1300-1330 Today’s Songs 1330-1335 Where From And Why 1335-1400 Shipping News 1400-1405 News And Fellow-Countrymen Bulletin 1405-1500 Company’s Songs 1500-1600 Hello Little Greeces 1600-1700 Radio-Newspaper 1700-1900 ERA 5-Network Without Borders 1900-1905 News 1905-1915 Athletic Panorama 1915-2100 Live Line 2100-2400 Without 090 (Connection With ERA Sport) TUESDAY 0000-0100 Connection With Second Program 0100-0200 You Must Know A Machine To Cut Black Eyes 0200-0300 Dawn On The Second Program 0300-0400 Breakfast For Two 0400-0500 Connection With NET 105.8 (Continued) 0500-0600 Radio-Newspaper 0600-0750 Greek Coffee 0750-0752 Fellow-Countrymen Bulletin 0752-0800 Athletic Panorama 0800-1200 BREAK 1200-1300 Radio-Newspaper 1300-1330 Sea Songs 1330-1335 Where From And Why 1335-1400 Shipping News 1400-1405 News And Fellow-Countrymen Bulletin 1405-1500 Company’s Songs 1500-1600 Hello Little Greeces 1600-1700 Radio-Newspaper 1700-1900 ERA 5-Network Without Borders 1900-1905 News 1905-1915 Athletic Panorama 1915-2100 Live Line 2100-2300 Connection With NET 105.8 2300-2400 Connection With Second Program WEDNESDAY 0000-0100 Connection With Second Program 0100-0200 You Must Know A Machine To Cut Black Eyes 0200-0300 It Dawns Just For You 0300-0400 Breakfast For Two 0400-0500 Connection With NET 105.8 (Continued) 0500-0600 Radio-Newspaper 0600-0750 Greek Coffee 0750-0752 Fellow-Countrymen Bulletin 0752-0800 Athletic Panorama 0800-0900 Hello Compatriots 0900-0905 News In Greek 0905-0907 Fellow-Countrymen Bulletin 0907-1000 Cultural Program 1000-1100 BREAK 1100-1230 Radio-Newspaper With NET On The Economy 1230-1300 Mailman 1300-1330 Today’s Songs 1330-1335 Where From And Why 1335-1400 Shipping News 1400-1405 News And Fellow-Countrymen Bulletin 1405-1500 Company’s Songs 1500-1600 Hello Little Greeces 1600-1700 Radio-Newspaper 1700-1900 ERA 5-Network Without Borders 1900-1905 News 1905-1915 Athletic Panorama 1915-2100 Live Line 2100-2400 Without 090 (Connection With ERA Sport) THURSDAY 0000-0100 Connection With Second Program 0100-0200 You Must Know A Machine To Cut Black Eyes 0200-0300 Dawn On The Second Program 0300-0400 Breakfast For Two 0400-0500 Connection With NET 105.8 (Continued) 0500-0600 Radio-Newspaper 0600-0750 Greek Coffee 0750-0752 Fellow-Countrymen Bulletin 0752-0800 Athletic Panorama 0800-0900 Hello Compatriots 0900-0905 News In Greek 0905-0907 Fellow-Countrymen Bulletin 0907-1000 Traveling With Art 1000-1100 BREAK 1100-1230 Radio-Newspaper With NET On The Economy 1230-1300 Mailman 1300-1330 Sea Songs 1330-1335 Where From And Why 1335-1400 Shipping News 1400-1405 News And Fellow-Countrymen Bulletin 1405-1500 Company’s Songs 1500-1600 Hello Little Greeces 1600-1700 Radio-Newspaper 1700-1900 ERA 5-Network Without Borders 1900-1905 News 1905-1915 Athletic Panorama 1915-2100 Live Line 2100-2400 Without 090 (Connection With ERA Sport) FRIDAY 0000-0100 Connection With Second Program 0100-0200 You Must Know A Machine To Cut Black Eyes 0200-0300 It Dawns Just For You 0300-0400 Breakfast For Two 0400-0500 Connection With NET 105.8 (Continued) 0500-0600 Radio-Newspaper 0600-0750 Greek Coffee 0750-0752 Fellow-Countrymen Bulletin 0752-0800 Athletic Panorama 0800-0900 Hello Compatriots 0900-0905 News In Greek 0905-0907 Fellow-Countrymen Bulletin 0907-1000 Cultural Program 1000-1100 BREAK 1100-1230 Radio-Newspaper With NET On The Economy 1230-1300 Mailman 1300-1330 Today’s Songs 1330-1335 Where From And Why 1335-1400 Shipping News 1400-1405 News And Fellow-Countrymen Bulletin 1405-1500 Company’s Songs 1500-1600 Hello Little Greeces 1600-1700 Radio-Newspaper 1700-1900 ERA 5-Network Without Borders 1900-1905 News 1905-1915 Athletic Panorama 1915-2100 Live Line 2100-2300 Voice Of Greece Concerts 2300-2400 Connection With Second Program SATURDAY 0000-0100 Musical Program 0100-0200 You Must Know A Machine To Cut Black Eyes 0200-0300 Hello Compatriots 0300-0305 News Bulletin 0305-0310 Athletic Panorama 0310-0400 Traveling With Art 0400-0500 Greece In First Person 0500-0600 Traveling In Space And Time 0600-0800 Special Handling 0800-0805 News Bulletin 0805-0815 Athletic Panorama 0815-0845 Saturday’s Money And Investments 0845-0900 Ecological Pages 0900-0905 News Bulletin 0905-1000 Sweet Country, Cyprus 1000-1100 BREAK 1100-1200 Midday Radio-Newspaper 1200-1215 Folklore Confessions 1215-1230 Unknown Hellenism 1230-1300 Today’s Songs 1300-1305 News Bulletin 1305-1400 People Of The Week 1400-1500 Greeks Everywhere (In English) [confirmed April 1] 1500-1900 Microphone At The Stadiums (Connection With ERA Sport) 1900-1905 News Bulletin 1905-1915 Athletic Panorama 1915-2200 Live Line 2200-2400 Say It Freely (Connection With ERA Sport) SUNDAY 0000-0005 Say It Freely (Connection With ERA Sport) 0005-0105 Good Luck 0105-0200 You Must Know A Machine To Cut Black Eyes 0200-0300 Hello Compatriots 0300-0305 News Bulletin 0305-0315 Athletic Panorama 0315-0330 Sea Songs 0330-0400 Good Word 0400-0500 One Week’s History 0500-0715 Divine Liturgy 0715-0800 Past Beautiful Years 0800-0805 News Bulletin 0805-0815 Athletic Panorama 0815-0900 Wins And Losses 0900-0905 News Bulletin 0905-1000 It`s All Greek To Me (Musical Broadcast In English) 1000-1100 BREAK 1100-1200 Midday Radio-Newspaper 1200-1230 Greek Aromas 1230-1300 Third Bell 1300-1305 News Bulletin 1305-1900 Microphone At The Stadiums (Connection With ERA Sport) 1900-1905 News Bulletin 1905-2000 Live Line (Athletic Broadcast) 2000-2100 Connection With ERA Sport 2100-2400 Say It Freely (Connection With ERA Sport) (John Babbis, Silver Spring, MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. Buena época por aquí, para escuchar las tres emisoras guatemaltecas que están activas en onda corta. Radio Verdad se puede escuchar toda la madrugada hasta su hora de cierre a las 0600, sin problemas de interferencia de otras emisoras. Radio Coatán y Radio Buenas Nuevas suelen escucharse de forma más esporádica y a las 0300 Radio Coatán es eclipsada por Radio Djibouti. 4052.5, Radio Verdad, Chiquimula, 0255-0558, 01-04, música, canciones religiosas, comentarios, programa en español. A las 0500 programa en inglés. Cierre a las 0558. 4780, Radio Coatán, San Sebastían Coatán, Huehuetenango, 0206-0300, 01-04, locutor, comentarios y canciones religiosas, anuncios comerciales, identificación: "Esta es Radio Cultural Coatán, San Sebastián Coatán, Huehuetenango, Guatemala, Centroamérica, transmitiendo en onda corta 4780 kHz". A las 0232 programa en vernáculo y a las 0300 completamente eclipsada al comenzar su programación en la misma frecuencia Radio Djibouti. 24222. 4799.8, Radio Buenas Nuevas, San Sebastián Huehuetenango, 0220-0415, 01-04, locutor, locutora, comentarios y canciones religiosas en vernáculo. A las 0303 identificación y programa en español "Desde San Sebastián Huehuetenango, Guatemala, Centroamérica, transmite Radio Buenas Nuevas en la frecuencia de 4800 kHz onda corta. Nueve de la noche con tres minutos". A las 0400 programa de saludos a los oyentes: "Saludos a la Hermana Paulina". A las 0415 desapareció la señal. 24222 variando a 14111 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. También buena época para escuchar por aquí las tres emisoras que están activas en la onda corta en Honduras. La Voz Evangélica y Radio Misiones Internacionales se suelen escuchar relativamente bien, y Radio Luz y Vida está siempre envuelta en un tremendo ruido en esa frecuencia, y solo se escucha en modo LSB. 3250, Radio Luz y Vida, San Luis, 0312-0330, 01-04, comentarios religiosos en español, locutor. Señal débil y con mucho ruido de fondo. Sólo se escucha en LSB. 24121 variando a 14121. 3340, Radio Misiones Internacionales, Comayagüela, 0215-0601, 01-04, español, canciones y comentarios religiosos, identificación: "Radio Misiones Internacionales, gracias por su amable sintonía." Programa "Radioencuentro", anuncios comerciales, programa "Día a día". "Gracias por haber estado con nosotros en Día a Día". Cierre a las 0601. 24222. 4819.2, HRVC La Voz Evangélica, Tegucigalpa, 0437-0650, 01-04, comentarios religiosos, español: "Nuestro Señor Jesucristo se presenta a la hermana Cruz, ella nos llama desde la Colonia de...". Identificación: "La Voz Evangélica". 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. R. Budapest, English to NAm heard at 0100 on 9590; looking for second transmission (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. BIHAR RADIO MAN GETS HELP FROM NRIs Indo-Asian News Service Patna, March 30, 2006 It is now the turn of Indians living abroad to pledge their support to an enterprising man in Bihar whose popular radio station has been shut down after failing to pay license fee to the government. After reading about the plight of Raghav Mahto and his Radio Raghav FM Mansoorpur 1, members of the Indian diaspora are contacting Mahto and the media in the state to find out how they can help revive the station. Some NRIs are ready to fork out money. . . http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5967_1662501,001600060001.htm (via Mukesh Kumar MUZAFFARPUR, INDIA, DXLD) I guess NRI means non-resident Indians? (gh, DXLD) ANGER AS INDIA SHUTS FM STATION India's authorities are being urged to relent after shutting a popular community radio station in northern Bihar state for not having a licence. Reporters Without Borders said the FM station should be granted a temporary licence to allow it to broadcast. The station, run on a shoe-string by local man Raghav Mahato, was featured on the BBC News website in February. Thousands of villagers tuned in to listen to a blend of songs from films and public interest messages. To forcibly close down a community-type radio is a sign of intransigence by the authorities over the emergence of pluralism on the airwaves . . . http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4860162.stm (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dx_india via DXLD) ** IRAN. V. of Justice English to NAm 0130-0230 on 7235; don`t know parallel yet (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9495 VOJ English to NAm, announces internet URL and a satellite sked; doesn`t give SW info. I hear them at 0130 on 7235; hams on 7238.5 LSB spar with them (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voice of Justice, on 9495 at 0130, March 29; man-woman team with news in English on Iran and IAEA nuke debacle, Iraq, the US ambassador to Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel (called Israel gov't "Zionist regime"), US immigration situation, Turkey, Japan, Guam, Council on Foreign Relations, India, and numerous commentaries on Iraq with coverage of Egypt, Syria, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia; interview with female US official in D.C. (missed name) re Iraq and Afghanistan; more Iraq commentary with coverage of Russia and China; Iraq: Occupation Crisis -- Kurdish New Year (March 21), and Iraqi expectations of new government; energy crisis re Nigeria and Shell Oil flap there; weather in Istanbul (yes); man gave web and postal addresses and satellites; said this transmission was for the whole world, "especially Americans"; pulled plug at 0230 (Eric Bryan, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Rai, English at 0055 on 11800 – it varies in signal quality, propagation stability and noise (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [non]. Rai on 6110 at 0204, March 30, man with news in English, news item: man shot in neck in Italian city (Rome?) street; into French at 0206, then German, then Italian and woman with music program of romantic cafe dinner pops (she described one of the songs as "Mediterraneano"); pulled plug at 0229; nice bonus to get a little English from Rai besides their 11800 0055 broadcast, which has been wrecked lately here by a broadcast in Chinese, tho' this 6110 newscast seems to be abbreviated and restricted mostly to domestic coverage; this and the 11800 broadcast after news are some of the best music programs on shortwave (Eric Bryan, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6110 is supposed to be the external service in Italian to South America, via Ascension at 0130-0230. Not the first time this has been reported carrying the domestic Notturno dall`Italia service with multi-lingual news on the hour, supposed to be on 6060 instead (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Italy [non]: RAI on 15380 at 1900, March 28, chirping bird interval signal till off abruptly at 1907; great signal, competed easily with KJES New Mexico on 15385 -- didn't need the narrow filter (Eric Bryan, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It`s not non but direct from Italy (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH [and non]. KBS English to NAm at 0200 on 9560 via Sackville, poor to fair. Midway transmission it may strengthen and noise level drops. Mornings here at 1200 on 9650, takes a while to improve, 30 to 45 minutes into transmission breaking thru heavy noise (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS. Cf VIETNAM; Laos wants to share experiences with VOV: http://www.vov.org.vn/?page=126&nid=8904 (Jukka Kinkamo, Finland, April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA. 5470, Radio Veritas, 2109-2130, 31-03, canciones africanas, comentarios, locutor, inglés. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [non]. Voice of Africa was on air in English language on the 30th of March 2006 at 1400-1500 UT on 17850 kHz; the signal was "loud and clear". On the 31st the same. Obviously the broadcast takes place between 1400-1600 but despite the signal being strong at the beginning, the propagation conditions worsened towards the end of the transmission. Hopefully conditions improve towards summer (Jukka Kinkamo, Finland, April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [and non]. 1 Abril. Saludos cordiales, hoy día 1 de abril la emisora Sawt Alamel inicia su transmisión a las 1200 por la frecuencia de 17680 y se prolonga la emisión en ésta frecuencia hasta las 1316 que cambia a 17685; hasta entonces no hubo ninguna emisión de interferencia. Sin embargo a las 1338 se inicia en esta frecuencia la emisión de música afro-pop, y en pocos minutos Sawt Alamel queda anulada. La emisión afro-pop se prolongó hasta las 1530, terminando con una canción en español con ritmo africano (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 6010, Radio Mil, 0717-0910, 01-04, anuncios comerciales: "En la Avenida Chapultepec...". "Escuela de Ingeniería Naval, oportunidades para todos". Programa habitual de música, con locutor identificando la emisora y dando la hora: "Radio Mil, una treinta y dos", "Las dos", "Dos tres", "Dos diecinueve". Muy ligera interferencia sólo durante un momento, de La Voz de tu Conciencia, luego Radio Mil estaba siempre por encima, sin escucharse la colombiana. 6185, Radio Educación, 0610-0650, 01-04, canciones en español ininterrumpidas. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. 12085 - VOM - 1022 beautiful instrumental song. ID 'voice of mongolia' t 1027 by woman nd mentioning their address, cont. with next prg in Mongolian at 1030. Not too good audio. SINPO 35343 (Lim Kwet Hian, Jakarta, March 31, HCDX via DXLD) 12085, The Voice of Mongolia, 1000-1015, 01-04, Inicio de su programa habitual en inglés a las 1000, locutora, identificación: "Welcome to the Voice of Mongolia in English". Noticias y comentarios de Mongolia. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. ARDMORE CLUSTER SOLD KVSO-AM & KKAJ-FM/Ardmore, KTRX-FM/Dickson and KYNZ-FM/Lone Grove PRICE: $6.5 million TERMS: Asset sale for cash BUYER: LKCM Radio, headed by VP/Secretary Kevin Prigel. Phone: 817- 332-3235. It owns five other stations. This represents its entry into the market. SELLER: NextMedia, headed by President Skip Weller. Phone: 303-694- 9118 FREQUENCY: 1240 kHz; 95.7 MHz; 92.7 MHz; 107.1 MHz POWER: 1kw; 100kw at 449 feet; 6kw at 341 feet; 25kw at 335 feet FORMAT: News/Talk; Country; Classic Rock; Hot AC COMMENT: A $325,000 escrow deposit has been made by LKCM. Isn't this the company that has all the stations that are on 95.9 FM?? Do you think they did this to possibly change frequencies on KKAJ thus creating some type of DFW move-in?? (MediaMogul, March 31, radio- info.com OK board via DXLD) Yes and no. Here's what's going on. LKCM is attempting to upgrade KFWR 95.9 from a class C1 to a class C and, I believe, put the transmitter a little closer to Ft. Worth. It will still not be a Dallas station per se. I still don't think it will put a citygrade signal into any of Dallas County, though it will finally put a citygrade signal into much of Ft. Worth. As a result, KKAJ is being downgraded to a class A and moved to Springer, OK. There were several other stations being shuffled, including sister KYBE 95.9 in Frederick. NextMedia consented to the downgrade and is selling the Ardmore cluster to LKCM. As I recall, the only reason Next bought the cluster was to get KMAD 102.5, which it has moved into the Sherman/McKinney/Plano corridor along with KLAK (Kent, ibid.) I don`t think there is going to be a move to Dallas; they would have a problem with 96.1 from OKC, possibly. I think it would be too close to 96.3 in Dallas. 107.1 is quite big in southern Oklahoma so I bet they leave it alone. I could see something happening with 92.7 though. Southern Oklahoma already has one classic rock at I think 102.5 KMAD. We don't need two at all, especially when Dallas and OKC classic rockers are available, possibly. I personally don't see the need for Dallas to have another move in. I will say, and I'm sure many will disagree, that OKC needs another move in. It is just too stale. OKC has not been friendly to move ins or very many format changes (except KKNG). Anyway just my opinion (adafamily, ibid.) ** PERU. 4950, Radio Madre de Dios, Puerto Maldonado, 0155-0210, 01- 04, locutor, español, comentarios, locutora, anuncios comerciales. 24222. 9720, Radio Victoria, Lima, 0556-0650, 01-04, español, predicaciones religiososas [sic] "La Voz de la Liberación". 33333 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. Radio Polonia Anniversary 22 March 2006 http://www.warsawvoice.pl/view/10897 Radio Polonia, a station for Polish listeners abroad, has begun the celebrations of its 70th anniversary. The official start of broadcasts addressed to the Polonia (i.e. Polish communities abroad) and Polish people living abroad took place March, 1936. Since then, the station had systematically grown, and the programs expanded. Radio Polonia began regular transmissions in German, Czech, English, Hungarian and, shortly before World War II, Portuguese and Italian. At the end of 1944, Radio Lublin started its daily broadcasts for the international audience in Polish, English and French. In August 1945, the External Service of Polish Radio moved to Warsaw and continually transmitted its daily two-hour programs. The 1970s were the best years in terms of program diversity. After 1989, Channel 5 (the name changed over the years) was restructured and it switched over from the Western to the Eastern orientation. The Arabic, Danish, Finnish, Swedish, French, Spanish and Italian sections were shut down and replaced by the Lithuanian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Czech, and Slovakian sections. From 2003, the Service does not include the Lithuanian, Czech, and Slovakian sections. Now, Radio Polonia broadcasts its programs in Polish and six foreign languages: English, German, Esperanto, Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian. It broadcasts 20 hours per day (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. RRI, English at 2300 VG on 7265, also on 9645 but very low audio, JBA. I`m looking for others (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also found weak and noisy 9690 at 0100 (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. Surprised at first to hear a VOR program in English with classical music, at 0653 April 1 on 6160. Must have been CKZU Vancouver with WRN/CBC overnight service; also some co-channel with a rapid SAH (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. VOR English I`ve heard at 0100 on 7250, not found others yet. 7250 closes at 0200, then I found 9665 past 0300 (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOR English to NAm: 0100-0200: 7250 good, propagational fading and hum, co-channel QRM. 9665 fair, co-channel and 9670 Chinese 15555: JBA, low but heard scratchin` 15595: no propagation yet 0200-0300: 9860 good to very good, minor 9865 QRM 9665 fair, co-channel, 9670 splash 0300-0400: 9665 good, some co-channel 9860 very good! 0400-0500: 9860 fair with 9865 splash 9665 poor with splash from 9660, open carrier and 9670 (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. VOR relay on 1431 starts with wrong shows: GERMANY ** RUSSIA. CHRISTIAN RADIO IN JEOPARDY IN RUSSIA, LICENSE RENEWAL REJECTED March 31, 2006 Russia (MNN) -- Christian radio in Russia may be a thing of the past if the Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications continues denying radio licenses to Christian radio stations. New Life Radio in Magadan applied for a license renewal this past fall. New Life's Dan Johnson says they successfully completed the first stage of the approval process and sent the application to the deputy minister of the federal licensing department in Moscow for final approval. According to Johnson, that's as far as it got. "It appears New Life Radio's paperwork remained on his desk unsigned for a long time, while the deputy minister continued to give approval and his signatures for other secular radio stations seeking license renewals. On March 23rd, New Life Radio was informed that the deputy minister refused to approve the license renewal due to late submission of documents." According to Johnson, everyone involved in the case was shocked by the decision. "A denial based on this reason had never happened before and we feel the action is unprecedented and highly irregular, given the fact the New Life Radio complied and it even has correspondence from the ministry that can corroborate this fact." Johnson says revoking a license is typically done by court action. He can only assume this is a religious freedom issue. "So, for us the bigger question is the Russian government's move against freedom of religion and freedom of the press. How does this come into play with the situation of New Life Radio, Russia's first Christian radio station being denied its license even though it had done nothing wrong to deserve the license denial." New Life will be appealing this decision to the Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications to renew the license, and if the appeal is denied then they enter into some kind of legal proceedings against the deputy minister. Johnson says there are only two Christian radio stations in Russia today. He says there's a reason for that. "No new Christian stations have started in Russia in the last five years," he says. "Many Christian applicants in cities across Russia have actually been denied the right to obtain radio frequencies. So, it's clear there is a bias that exists within the government against evangelical mission activities and in this case we're concerned that radio has simply been targeted and we fear for the future development of radio." Pray that the appeal will be successful and that the government will allow more Christian stations in the country (Mission Network News via Bruce Atchison, AB, DXLD) ** SPAIN. I think I found REE Madrid English to NAm at 0000 on 15385, JBA sig tune. Heavy Chinese co-channel and some other completely covers them (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That would be VOA Philippines and/or Chicom jammer (gh, DXLD) ** SPAIN. REE, on 15290 at 2000, March 30, two-man team with news in English on Italy, France, Mexico, Sierra Leone, Bolivia, Chile, and domestic coverage; slight QRM from 15285, but good solid listenable signal; bonus for me as 15385 at 0000 has been obliterated by a broadcast in Chinese (Eric Bryan, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You know something is wrong when you can hear the African service better than the North American service (gh, DXLD) ** TAIWAN [non]. RTI via WYFR: 0200 English to NAM on 5950 has splash from NHK Sackville 5960; 9680 co-channel QRM and 9675 splash (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. Finally, VOT/TRT gave correct info on air: English to NAm and Eu at 2200 on 9830; 0300 on 6140 to NAm, 7270 to NAf (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CUBA ** TURKEY. Turkey in Spanish --- Bienvenida nuevamente Radio Turquía a lo que parece ser su frecuencia de verano, 13720, con muy rica señal aunque un poco ruidosa, aparte de estar dirigida (entiendo que) en exclusiva para España, a partir de las 1630, verificada este primer día de Abril (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. RUI, Kiev, English to NAm at 00 and 03 on 7440 (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. The BBC relays in Kyiv and Kharkiv will change from 612 to 594 on 10 April. The background: on initiative by Radio Baltic Waves (RBW) in Lithuania, the Lithuanian telecommunication authority had asked its Ukrainian counterpart to free 612 (which so far was not coordinated for UKR), in order to eliminate interference in the target area Belarus to the RBW transmissions on 612 from Vilnius. (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, April 1, mwdx yg via DXLD) ** U K. BBC English at 0400 on 9410 with minor fade and above hash, but splash from gabby gal and guy in Spanish on 9420. ID? Different BBC English programming to Africa at 0400 on 7160 (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9420 must have been Voice of Greece, in Greek! (gh, DXLD) ** U K. Re 6-055: Bill, Tnx. I hate to keep after this piece by piece, but now could you tell us the name of the person who said that, and their position? This could be an important historical artifact. Glenn Glenn, I have no issue with you wanting a name of this individual; however here is the caveat --- it was signed (electronically of course) "audience relations BBC World Service Bush House London, England". To me that is a coward who hid behind the name of the BBC. Personally I know of no way to change their mindset; to them shortwave is a dead issue (unless as I now recall in your MT Column they and Deutsche Welle wanting to wait and see if DRM works --- at the SWL FEST, we did receive in fantastic quality DW's DRM test to North America in incredible quality. There were no audio breaks. Glenn, it sounded incredible!) I monitored the BBC briefly last night on 6110 in Spanish. I do not speak Spanish but what I heard was rather intriguing: at 0300 UT there was an identification "this is the BBC World Service in London" in English, and back to Spanish. Now why the heck do they air an English identification on a Spanish broadcast beamed to Central and South America? Keep up the great DX reporting! 73s (Bill Bergadano, swprograms via DXLD) ** U K. Unintended BBC Comedy --- while the WS no longer carries comedy programs, there was a moment (at least to me) of unintended levity on the new listener contact program "Over to You" this morning. Several listeners had complained about favorite programs that were "decommissioned" (a great word!) in the new schedule just put into place. After several of these complaints and proffered justifications from a BBC WS representative (didn't get his full name), the program host asked the rep if any of these decisions could be overturned if the WS received considerable push back from listeners. The rep said, and I quote, "Of course! We listen!" Now THAT's funny! (John Figliozzi, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) OVER TO YOU times: Europe: Sat 1741 rpt Sun 1041, Mon 0241 Americas: Sat 1341 rpt Sun 0441, 1041, 2141, Mon 0041 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Decommissioned is exactly the correct business term, as used internally at the BBC. These were programmes that are produced for the World Service by independent production companies. The BBC commissions these programmes, and when it doesn't want them any more it decommissions them. In this case, the producers had about six months' notice that their contracts were not going to be renewed. It actually isn't as simple as deciding to reinstate the commissioned programmes that have been dropped. The staff, having been given their due notice, will have moved on to other things. The whole business of commissioning programmes from independents is, however, the real joke here. Most of them are run by ex-BBC executives, who leave the Corporation and set up companies which receive lucrative production contracts to fulfill the rules imposed by the government on giving "independent producers" a fair share of the airtime. They may be independent on paper, but since they're run and staffed largely by people who used to work for the BBC, they might as well be produced in-house at a lower cost. But it's not the BBC's fault - it's the system (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Re BBC tailoring news: I can understand it IF the programme is specifically for a certain area. However with the BBC World Service I would expect their main bulletin to be targeted to "the world". Hence , I would like news items rated on importance to the general audience rather than a targeted subset. I know I am being "picky" (Andy O`Brien, K3UK, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. CONTROLLER TUNES OUT RADIO 4 THEME PLEAS By Sherna Noah 1 Apr 2006 http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/entertainment.cfm?id=502692006 Attempts to save the patriotic UK Theme on Radio 4 have failed. Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer sparked public outcry when he announced in January that the UK Theme was to be axed. Fans of the medley of Rule Britannia, Scotland the Brave and Londonderry Air launched a single to try to persuade the BBC to change its mind. The assortment of patriotic tunes, arranged by Fritz Spiegl, an Austrian-born composer, has been familiar to early risers and insomniacs for more than 30 years. It is broadcast at 5:30am to signal the switchover from the World Service to BBC Radio 4. But the BBC yesterday confirmed on 24 April, at 5:20am, listeners will now hear an extended shipping forecast. Mr Damazer said: "I'm sorry part of the audience is upset by the removal of the UK Theme". (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) The changes to early mornings on BBC Radio 4 begin on Monday 24 April 2006. Details have now been posted by the Press Office. Mark Damazer, Controller, Radio 4, said: "I'd like to thank all those who have been involved in this process, from our colleagues in the Met Office and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to the BBC News team and all the people in Radio 4 who have made this happen so quickly. I'm sorry that part of the audience is upset by the removal of the UK Theme. They may like to know that we will be offering the UK Theme as a stream on the Radio 4 website, where it will be available from Friday 21 April." Full details of the new schedule: http://snipurl.com/ogyj (Mike Barraclough, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U S A. VOA is making programming changes with DST rather than with A-06, and it appears from http://www.voanews.com/english/about/frequenciesAtoZ_e.cfm that a number of frequencies have been added to the English schedule, at least for now, compared to an earlier version of the VOA A-06 schedule. English to Europe, Middle East, and North Africa 1100-1200 15205 1500-1700 15195 15445 2200-2230 1593 English to Africa 0300-0330 909 1530 4930 6080 7340 9885 12080 15580 0330-0400 909 1530 4930 6080 9885 12080 15580 0400-0430 909 1530 4930 4960 6080 9575 9885 11835 12080 15580 0430-0500 909 4930 4960 6080 9575 11835 12080 15580 0500-0600 909 4930 6080 6180 12080 15580 0600-0700 909 1530 6080 6180 12080 15580 1500-1600 6080 13795 15580 17895 1600-1700 909 1530 4930 6080 15410 15580 1700-1800 6080 15410 15580 1800-1830 6080 11975 15410 15580 17895 1800-1830 909 4930 [Sat & Sun] 1830-1900 909 4930 6080 11975 15410 15580 17895 1900-2000 909 4930 4940 6080 11975 15410 15445 15580 17895 2000-2030 909 1530 4930 4940 6080 11975 15410 15445 15580 2030-2100 909 1530 4930 6080 11975 15410 15445 15580 2030-2100 4940 [Sat & Sun] English to Zimbabwe 1730-1800 909 4930 11975 17895 M-F English to Afghanistan 0000-0030 1296 7555 2030-2400 1296 7555 English to Far East Asia, South Asia, and Oceania 0100-0200 9885 11705 11725 1100-1130 1575 Sat & Sun 1200-1230 1170 6160 9645 9760 11750 1230-1300 6160 9645 9760 11750 1300-1400 9645 9760 1400-1500 4930 6080 7125 9760 13795 15185 15490 15580 17685 17720 17730 1500-1600 4930 7125 12150 13735 15105 2200-2400 7215 15185 15290 17740 2230-2400 1575 Fri & Sat English-Special 0000-0030 1593 0030-0100 1575 1593 9715 9780 15185 15205 15290 15560 17740 17820 0130-0200 7405 13740 Tue-Sat 1500-1530 6160 9590 9760 12040 15550 1500-1530 1575 1530-1600 1575 6160 9590 9760 12040 15550 1600-1700 12080 13600 17895 1900-2000 6040 9670 2230-2330 1593 9570 13755 15145 2330-2400 1593 7260 9570 13725 13755 15145 (via DXLD) The revised schedule seems to show a lot of extra frequencies to Asia at 1400-1500 and 1500-1600 but they look suspiciously like African frequencies - 4930 6080 15580, etc? Also nothing listed to Africa at 2100-2200 or to Asia at 0000-0030 which were included in the original A06 schedule, presumably now cancelled at these times? (Dave Kenny, UK, dxldyg via DXLD) I was going to add exactly the same comment about 4930, 6080, 15580! We should keep an eye on this page in case there were mistakes to be corrected (gh, DXLD) 0000-0030: 1296 0000-0030 KAB 400 non-dir 1575 0000-0030 BAK 1000 145 ended 060401 1593 0000-0100 KWT 150 350 7215 0000-0030 PHX 50 285 ended 060401 7555 0000-0030 KWT 250 70 15290 0000-0030 PHT 250 349 ended 060401 17820 0000-0030 PHT 250 21 ended 060401 and 2100-2200 to AF deleted also. 909 Botswana, 1530 Sao Tome, 4930 Botswana, 11975 Sao Tome, 15445 Greenville-B, 15580 Tangiers-Briech site. but COMPENSATED additional at 1400-1500 UT to AF of course: 4930 Botswana[-1600], 6080 Sao Tome, 13795 Botswana, 15580 Botswana, 17720 Sao Tome, 17730 Botswana. Also additional to SE Asia at 1400-1500 15185 Poro? mobile, 15490 Lampertheim. Also deleted: Mon-Fri 1600-1700 to SE Asia, 1170 Poro 1000 kW, 6160 Tinang, 7125 Udorn Thani Ban Dung site, 9760 Tinang. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOA'S ENGLISH TO AFRICA SERVICE LAUNCHES NEW PROGRAM LINEUP 31 March 2006 http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2006-03-31-voa63.cfm?renderforprint=1 Beginning April 2, the Voice of America's (VOA) English to Africa Service will launch a new and exciting program lineup for its African audience. Millions of VOA listeners across the continent will receive more in-depth local and world news, breaking news reports, and a broader range of topical features covering social and political issues, developments in science and technology, African youth, lifestyle and music, and much more. "It's very important that we respond to the needs of our audience," said VOA Director David S. Jackson. "Millions of people across the continent rely on VOA for not only accurate and up-to-the-minute local and world news, but for information that's targeted to their needs and interests -- health, education, technology, sports, music -- and we do our best to provide that information," he added. Enhancements will include additional broadcasts of Daybreak Africa paired with World News Now, a 30-minute world news package, creating four hours of seamless and comprehensive news coverage; Africa News Tonight will air feature segments examining developments in science, the environment, lifestyle and culture, and business; and Nightline Africa, a longtime VOA listener favorite, will include a weekly round-up of African news during its weekend magazine show. VOA music fans will also enjoy the new lineup, which introduces African Beat, a new, lively, up-beat African music show featuring a mix of Pan-African music, and the latest dance tunes from hot clubs around the continent. In addition, VOA's Hip-Hop Connection will now have two original shows each weekend, and the ever-popular Music Time in Africa show has expanded to a full hour each day on Saturday and on Sunday. An expanded lineup of half-hour discussion shows covering news, health, general interest topics and sports will run Monday through Friday, and VOA's popular live call-in show, Straight Talk Africa, will continue to provide viewers with expert analysis and discussion of Africa-related news and events. For a complete listing of English to Africa programs, visit our website at http://www.VOAAfrica.com VOA's English to Africa broadcasts targeted programming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to Anglophone Africa through shortwave, television, the Internet, and a growing list of more than 40 affiliates, including seven 24-hour FM stations in Africa. The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 100 million people. Programs are produced in 44 languages. (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. FIVE FORMER VOA DIRECTORS OPPOSE THE RADIO CUTS DATELINE: Washington, 03/30/06. VOA Directors from the Reagan era to the present administration have publicly weighed in against the cuts of the VOA shortwave radio broadcasts proposed by the Broadcasting Board of Governors in its FY 2007 budget request. Sanford Ungar and Geoffrey Cowan, who served under President Clinton, Richard Carlson, who served under President George H.W. Bush and President Reagan, and Eugene Pell and John Hughes who served under President Reagan all stated publicly that the proposed cuts are a mistake. The Board has been eliminating VOA radio broadcast services for a number of years starting in the 1990s in order to fund expensive and unfocused television projects that have little or no value. So far the Board has eliminated language service radio broadcasts to Brazil, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and severely cut back its global English broadcasts. Now the Board would like to eliminate radio broadcasts in Albanian, Bosnian, Croatian, Georgian, Greek, Hindi, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, Thai, Turkish, and completely wipe out its global English broadcasts. According to the Board the latest round of cuts is necessary to fund its broadcast efforts to the Middle East and the Islamic world. But that excuse makes little sense in light of the fact that the Board is proposing the elimination of the Turkish broadcasts as well as the elimination of the radio broadcasts to the Balkan nations which have large Islamic populations. The cuts are really meant to fund the multitude of uncoordinated television projects. The Board has had a healthy increase in its funding each year since 9/11 in which to produce broadcasts to the Middle East and the Islamic world. The proposed budget for FY 2007 is $671 million. That is an increase of $231 million over its FY 2001 budget. The largest portion of the increases have been wasted on the failed Radio Sawa and Alhurra TV boondoggles (AFGE Local 1812 via DXLD) ** U S A. Due to miscommunications? At least two WORLD OF RADIO broadcasts did not appear (yet?) when expected: The new Friday time of 3:30 pm CT on WWCR 15825 does not start until April 7, 2030 UT. While WOR had shown up on WRMI 9955 UT Sat originally at 0600 or 0630, Jeff White says it has been running at 0500, including April 1, and we THINK that will continue to be the time during DST. Meanwhile, AWR Wavescan has reappeared on WRMI, UT Sat 0630 following DXPL. 9955 reception was good April 1, unlike previous weeks (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WBCQ Schedule Updates, March 31, 2006. Allan confirms programming changes previously noted by Glenn Hauser, Will Martin, and others. Christian Media Network is running 1400-1500 on 9330 on Wednesdays and Fridays, with French language programming. Also, Brother Stair's The Overcomer Ministry is now running overnights from 0530 to 1000 on 7415 (note that the start time varies slightly depending on the day of week). Here are some other schedule changes, via Allan. Starting Monday, April 3, Christian Media Network will be running weekdays on 18910 from 1300 to 1800. The Lost Discs Radio Show will be swapping time slots with Christian Media Network's Saturday evening slot. Effective April 15, Lost Discs will be heard at 0300 Sunday and Christian Media Network will take over the Saturday 0300 slot. Lost Discs' simulcast on 5110 will continue (Larry Will, March 31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWBS is listed daily now instead of Su-M on 11900 (FCC via Dan Sampson, Prime Time SW, via DXLD) So it is; if you haven`t really been on the air for a few years, may as well pretend to be daily instead of two days a week (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Re: KMIA-710 --- I don't favor the vandalism, but I'm surprised this hasn't happened in more cities. In this case, the facility was already on the air, but voters still had to approve the towers. (Granted, that's bizarre, and a no vote would have probably led to all kinds of court appeals.) The important thing to remember is that they kept the English format long enough for the approval to happen, but months afterward, when the furor died down, they changed to a format which probably had little appeal in its city of license. The vote would probably have gone the other way if they'd been running a Spanish format at the time, and the company knew it. It's not surprising that someone probably felt betrayed enough to take the law into their own hands. As it turns out, if the culprits are caught, they'll have more downtime than KMIA did. Bet they didn't figure on that (Rick Lewis, AZ, ABDX via DXLD) KMIA is operating with non-DA into one of the remaining towers, with 25% power, daytime and nighttime respectively, per the stipulations of 47CFR73.1680(b)(1). (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Today is the first of the month. Most full time MW stations will switch to night power/pattern 15 minutes later then they did last night. With daylight time, they should switch an hour later tomorrow night. Most stations, in markets both large and small, make pattern/power changes on an automatic timer. With this being a weekend, how many of these "automatic timers" have been reset by an engineer for one day of operation, and then an entire new setting? Listen for mistakes. Just an idea (Brock WH6SZ Whaley, Lilburn, GA, April 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. AIR AMERICA GROWS PROGRESSIVELY UPBEAT BY DAVID HINCKLEY New York Daily News Posted on Sat, Apr. 01, 2006 It was two years ago Friday that the progressive network Air America took to the radio, like a band of pioneers seeking a foothold in territory long dominated by hostile conservatives. The ride has been as rocky as any 19th-century wagon train, and it's still not clear where the network is ultimately headed. But count Randi Rhodes, the 2- 6 p.m. host, among those who think a lot of turf has been claimed, with more to come. "For a long time, there was a big hole," said Rhodes, "and it's not there anymore. Now there's another side on the radio. People who think our government has been going in the wrong direction don't feel like they're alone anymore. . . http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/14235913.htm (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Washington Post News Radio --- A review The first morning they got lucky with content, the release of a CSM free lancer who a lot of Post staffers knew personally. It made for good conversation. The style is very conversational, while that`s good, it's NOT RADIO, because it misses the mechanics of successful radio stations. They refer to the station as Washington Post Radio, not by call letters and frequency, which after spending many years going thru Arbitron diaries, that's what counts, not what you call it. The stations that use names don't rank very well. Your listener isn't going to write down Washington Post Radio in a diary. Not going to happen. The station does not cross promote into other day parts. In short there is no forward momentum. The biggest problem: it doesn't give me a reason to listen. Why should I put up with endless talking heads? They did prove that you could blend a newspaper`s staff with a radio staff. What they haven't proved is the why would you listen? The other dumb thing they do is promote the other station WTOP FM, for traffic and weather, when they are doing WTWP traffic. Rather than hooking me into listening to WTWP where you can hear traffic again when? Judge for yourself. (audio link) (Lou Josephs, March 30, medianetwork blog via DXLD) ** U S A. WKQV [1620 pirate] continues a marathon broadcast beyond 3:30 am ET, Apr 1 2006. On since before 9 tonight and with promises of being on again with live remotes tomorrow. They began today with one from Glades and 441 in West Boca at a carnival, tomorrow at a car show in Ft. Lauderdale, I think. They've gone through four DJs so far and no sign of ending it. I can't believe the fun of hearing this silly station. Most of the time I can hear them on a simple portable, but don't want to miss those fades. A pair of LF Engineering active verticals, Quantum phaser, Ten-Tec RX320D receiver -- or alternately a Palstar R30CC with Quantum Loop to minimize WDHP interference -- and a Tivoli PAL for remote audio out in the front yard where the beer is. Can you believe the effort I go through to hear one station with a thousand on the air. It is Magic! Real DJs, clever banter, and good music. Why is that such a mystery? (Curt Deegan, FL, April 1, IRCA via DXLD) 1620 here Gulf Breeze w/Classic Country. True, it's not The Angry Samoans or Captain Beefheart but isn't there something evocative about 50's-60's slo-twang guitar and tinkling ever-so-slightly outa tune pianos 'neath adenoidal vocals? Doesn't it evoke images of blasting thru sunsplashed juke joint wastelands on blazing hot hazy afternoons? Metallic green dashboard hot, reeking of fresh hi-test and tanning compound. Watch the turns! Them chrome window cranks have bad habit of embedding themselves into cranial matter. =Z.= z mk fl bt (Paul Vincent Zecchino, FL, ibid.) ** UZBEKISTAN. Farewell from Radio Tashkent German service --- via Volker Willschrey (similar message sent by them to Helmut Matt as well). Gist: They were notified about an entire closure of the station as of April 1st. I gather that they got this message from their bosses not earlier than today. ---------- Lieber Herr Willschrey! Vielen Dank fuer Ihr e-mail vom 24.Maerz 2006. Wir haben hier untroestliche Nachrichten. Es ist passiert, was wir in letzter Zeit befuerchtet haben. Seit Morgen, d.h. dem 1.April wird der Auslandsdienst von RTI voellig eingestellt (auch ueber Internet). So haben uns unsere Leiter mitgeteilt. Sie haben die Appelle und Proteste unserer Hoererfreunden (wir sind Ihnen allen darueber sehr dankbar) nicht beruecksichtigt. Es ist kaum zu glauben. Aber es ist leider eine bittere Wirklichkeit! Fuer uns ist es sehr schwer, uns damit anfreunden zu muessen. Wir danken Ihnen von ganzem Herzen fuer die Langjaehrige und freundschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und wuenschen Ihnen und Frau Marise fuer die Ziukunft alles erdenklich Gute. Wir werden Sie in guter Erinnerung behalten und Ihre netten Zuschriften vermissen. Wir verabschieden uns von Ihnen. Es war schooen mit Ihnen! Im Namen der Mitarbeiter von RTI, Raisa Chismatulina (Korrespondenzabteilung) (via Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN. Vatican Radio English A06 0140-0200 As, Oc 7335, 9650 0215-0220 As, Oc 15560 0250-0320 Am 7305, 9605 0300-0330 Af 9660 0500-0520 Eu 4005, 5885, 7250 0500-0530 Af 9660, 11625, 13765 0630-0645 Eu 4005, 5885, 6185, 7250, 9645, 11740, 15595 0630-0645 As, Oc 15595 0630-0700 Af 11625, 13765, 15570, 15595 1130-1200 Af,As,Oc 15595, 17515 1530-1600 As, Oc 12065, 13765, 15235 1615-1630 Eu 4005, 5885, 7250, 9645 1615-1630 Af,As,Oc 15595 1730-1800 Af 11625, 13765, 15570 1950-2020 Eu 4005, 5885, 7250, 9645 2000-2030 Af 9755, 11625, 13765 (Vatican Radio website via Daniel Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, DXLD) ** VIETNAM. On the frequency of 9730 kHz with SIO 444, Voice of Vietnam was on air in English language on the 30th of March 2006 at 1900-1930 UT. In their news they had a report on Laotian minister visiting VOV and plans to upgrade Laotian broadcasting networks (Jukka Kinkamo, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Cf LAOS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM mentioned in this issue above: GERMANY; U K PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ THE LATEST MW CIRCLE DEVELOPMENTS Dear Glenn, We hope you may be interested in some recent developments at the Medium Wave Circle, the premier international MW/LW radio club. Maybe some of your DXLD readers would be interested too...... As you probably realise we are rapidly heading for the solar minimum in 2006 or 2007. This means MW conditions that are above average. In fact 2005 was the third best year in 25 years for MW DXing! In fact there is no better way to keep track of what's going on than by joining the Medium Wave Circle. Medium Wave News, published by the Circle, has been at record size this last year with nearly 600 pages in the magazine over the year. In fact there is no need to miss out on this because everything from recent years is now available on archive CDs. We have also launched a new look website with simple and secure on- line membership application and renewal. We now accept Paypal and credit cards so need to mess around with more cumbersome ways of payment. On the website you can join the Circle, renew your membership and order a selection of brand new CDs. Explore our new website here: http://www.mwcircle.org You might not be aware that we also have a lower cost e-membership for our friends outside the UK; it avoids the cost of printing Medium Wave News - which you pick up as a pdf file. It also saves on postage cost and avoid the delay in the post. Great value for money! And you can get MWN within minutes of it being published! BENEFITS If you are still not sure about joining, just remember the benefits of membership: * Medium Wave News - the Circle's prestigious magazine, published regularly since December 1954; now distributed on paper and electronically via the Internet as e-MWN * e-news - the Circle's exclusive members-only e-mail news service which delivers news instantly 24 hours a day in a safe and spam-free environment * Access to Circle publications, CDs and reprints - a reference library of important articles and features available at discount prices to members * Pre-publication discounts to members on essential radio books such as World Radio TV Handbook and Passport to Worldband Radio; save money each year * Access to the experience and knowledge of numerous other like-minded radio enthusiasts all over the world with a vast range of technical, linguistic and operating experience If you have not seen Medium Wave News recently you can download a FREE sample on line. Click here: http://www.mwcircle.org/page17.htm If you are interested in medium wave or long wave radio you won’t find a similar collection of benefits in any other place. And you get all this for a whole year for the cost equivalent to two pizzas or three glasses of beer!!! Yes I want to join! Click here: http://www.mwcircle.org/page9.htm Thank you for your attention and I hope you'll consider joining the Circle. You'll be most welcome. P.S. Full membership starts from £11/year and for e-membership as little as €10/ $10. We have not increased membership rates for 13 years! How many clubs can say that? Best wishes & good listening (Steve Whitt, General Editor Medium Wave News, editor @ mwcircle.org March 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ SUMMARY OF RECENT CHANGES IN LOCAL TIME - GEORGIA: did not change to DST on 26 Mar (observes now UTC+ 4h all year round; changed from +3 to +4h standard time zone in late 2005) - IRAN: did not change to DST on 22 Mar (observes standard time throughout 2006) - SRI LANKA: will move to UTC+ 5:30h on 14 Apr (new standard time zone, formerly UTC +6h) - TUNISIA: changed to DST (UTC +2h) on 26 Mar (observes now regular DST each year) DST = Daylight Saving [sic] Time (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, via Steve Whitt, MWC via dXLD) Re: GMT being surrendered to Europe! There's an interesting piece on the delay on the time pips on DAB at the National Maritime Museum Site as well as many other articles if you explore the site further: http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.19921 (Mike Barraclough, monitoring monthly yg via DXLD) SPECIAL FEATURE – You Know What Day it is DX Tidbits By Bruce Portzer INTERNATIONAL DX DIGRESSION 972 SOUTH KOREA, 1400 4/1 strong with program called the "Seoul Music Show", old James Brown and Wilson Pickett songs (Chopped Mutton, WA) 882 PHILIPPINES, 1330 4/1 unid, Arturo Beilio talk show in rapid- fire mix of Tagalog and English. Only caught a few words, sounded like they said a race of telepathic Yetis in flying saucers had invaded the station but my Tagalog isn't very good. Suddenly disappeared after a loud buzzing sound. Fair, mixing with China, Mongolia, North Korea, 4BH, India and BBC-Wales (Matt Pardon, OR) 1314 NORWAY, 2345 4/1 noted with Gershwin-derived Hip-hop xylophone polka music. Possibly a format change, as last week they were playing Mantovani-influenced Celtic-Gamelon covers of early Beatles songs. (Conn Malarkey, MA) +Also noted with coverage of International Lutefisk Festival, including Lutefisk carols, interviews with the winners of the Lutefisk eating competition, and recipes for making lutefisk 1234 4/1. (Sennheiser Tandberg, Denmark) 1360 MEXICO, 0000 4/1, XEBOX, Tijuana, new station, IDing as X-Box, unusual format of sound effects from video games. I didn't realize there was a market for that sort of programming. Program called "The Halo Hour" (a religious show??). Don't they realize there's a San Diego station on this frequency? (Confused DXer, CA) DX WHIRLED AROUND AUSTRALIA, 4TAB-1008 is being heard with a new beer-talk format. According to an e-mail, the station dropped its former horse racing format when the staff discovered it had no listeners. Further research showed beer drinking to be a more popular and faster growing sport. New format features songs about beer, beer reviews, infomercials about beer, and talk shows about beer. TAB stations in other parts of Australia are expected to follow suit. CHINA: A new station has been reported in Fujian Province. Programming is aimed at former New Orleans residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina. IDs as "Zhongyang Renmin Gumbo Dientai". CUBA: Clear Channel Communications has purchased the Radio Reloj network and will move the transmitters to the top 50 US markets. According to a CCC press release, "The Reloj format fits an important niche in our portfolio of properties by introducing some badly needed creativity into the radio marketplace". CCC plans to convert Reloj into a multi-lingual format by eliminating all announcements, leaving only the clock ticks and the letters "RR" in Morse code every minute. VARIOUS: The IBB has agreed to sell Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty to the Halliburton Corporation for $250 million. Budget cuts have severely cut back the RFE/RL schedule and staffing in recent years, so the sale is viewed as a way to revitalize the stations, while reducing government expenditures. The station will be supported by secret Defense Department grants of $350 million per year. Effective 4/1/06, the stations will be known as Radio Republican Europe and Radio Republican Liberty. Their new goal is to promote conservative Republican values in Europe and the Middle East. TECHNICAL COLUMN The Uni-directional Ferrite Loop: Loops have been popular AM DX antennas for decades. Ferrite rods are especially good because of their compact size and deep nulls. Ferrite rods typically have a figure 8 pickup pattern with nulls to the sides, and main lobes in both directions. Some designs have even included turns wrapped around three or more rods taped to achieve even deeper nulls than a single rod. For many reasons, it would be nice to have loop that receives in only one direction, rejecting signals off both sides and the back. This has obvious advantages in hearing TP stations on the west coast, TA stations in the northeast, or choosing between Latin American or domestic stations in the southeast. After years of research I've been able to perfect such a loop, the basic design of which is shown in below: The loop core is made of a carbon-impregnated polyhydrofluroclorodimethyltentrahedral polymer resin. 16 turns of #4 Litz wire is wound on each of the three legs, which are resonated using a three gang 365 mfd capacitor salvaged from an old five tube radio. Results thus far have been spectacular. For example, I can hear KNBR every night here in Seattle, with no interference from any other stations! Similarly, KXL Portland can be picked up during the day with no interference from KFQD Anchorage. Complete plans will be provided in a future issue, along with information on sources for the core material. Questions and Answers: I tried building Craig Healy's plumbing pipe loop. Unfortunately it's not very sensitive. I don't own a blowtorch, so I used plastic sprinkler pipe I had laying around instead of copper. Otherwise I followed the plans exactly as specified. Any ideas? Here are some suggestions: double check all your solder connections. Also try reversing the wire connections. Opposite wire polarities may be causing your signals to cancel out somewhere. And make sure you used the right type of toroid material in your pickup coil. BOOK REVIEW: HARRY POTTER AND THE BEVERAGE EXPEDITION by J.K Rowling The final book in the Potter series is a major surprise. I would never have expected it to showcase out humble hobby. Harry and his friends travel to northern Scotland and launch a major DXpedition in Shiegra, not to be confused with Sheigra, where the muggles DX (or do I have that backwards?). Anyway, they go up there to log exotic medium wave and tropical band stations and end up getting far more than they bargained for. The book is a virtual wish list of things we wish we could do at our DXpeditions. The Beverage wires are on self-dispensing reels. They simply sprout legs and walk in a perfectly straight line over puddles, bushes, and rocks. After a half mile or so, they burrow into the earth, effectively terminating the far end of the antenna. I wish we had a way of doing that, so we didn't have to slog through the rain and undergrowth to put up antennas. They also try set up an array of EWE antennas by putting an rf conductus charm on a flock of sheep. Unfortunately, the critters continue to wander around aimlessly and face in different directions, preventing any sort of directivity, but it was a cool idea nonetheless. Their charms and spells are much more successful once the DXing gets underway. I was especially impressed by their ionospheric modification spells, which allowed them to hear stations only from specific areas. The getlostiusinterferer charm was also pretty impressive - it causes undesired stations to shut down their transmitters. Or ID dammitus spells, which when uttered, cause the station to broadcast continuous IDs in morse code. I'd like to know more about this one; I've been uttering similar phrases for years without success. The lads also play tricks on one another by having fake IDs come out of one another's radios, changing receiver displays from English to Chinese, and having smoke curl out of speaker grills. Things take a dark turn as the book progresses. Unbeknownst to them, Lord Voldemort and his band of Death Eaters have assembled on the property next door. They attempt a massive summoning charm that, if successful, would have given them total control of all the evil forces that ever existed, allowing Voldemort to achieve complete world domination. Unfortunately, Draco Malfoy trips over one of the Beverage wires, ruining the charm. Instead, they end up creating a 100kw IBOC transmitter on each of the North American and European AM channels. The angry Death Eaters immediately vaporize the offending antenna, leaving Harry and his friends wondering what happened to their DX. They head outside to investigate, and confront the furious band of Death Eaters. What follows is an amazing intense confrontation between good and evil. The battle that follows will leave you totally breathless, but you'll have to read the book to find out what happens. You know you're an AM DXer if: - You take a trip to a tropical island and spend all your time checking out the radio dial. - Propagation forecast means far more to you than the local weather forecast. - You tell your wife, when she sees a new radio in the shack, that it's been there for years. - Your watch is set to UTC. - Someone asks if you'd like a Beverage and you immediately think of a long piece of wire. - DX Bulletins and electronics magazines make up most of your bathroom library. - You and your wife took a cruise so you could visit the radio room. - Your teenager doesn't invite friends over because you might be "listening to static". - You know the Latitude and Longitude of your home. - You've stripped wire with your teeth. - You've told your son "One day, this will all be yours", and he doesn't respond. - The sales people at the local Radio Shack can't answer any of your questions. - You bought your wife a radio for her birthday because it has a synchronous detector. - You know the locations of all the expanded band stations but you can't find your car keys. - You've ever told your wife "not tonight dear, I have a DX test". - You make suggestions like Aerial and Drake when picking names for the baby. - You've made an offer on a house, contingent on it passing ground conductivity tests. - You've ever told someone that electrical noise is not the same thing as static. - You have more friends in DX Clubs than in real life. - You can hum the national anthems of at least 40 different countries. - You know the call letters and frequency of every station in Alaska but you can't remember you kids' birthdays. - You can remember the frequencies, calls, dates, and times of all upcoming DX Tests, but you forget to pick up whatever it was your wife said to get on the way home from work. - You spent more on your receiver than you did on your wife's wedding ring. - You think that people yawning around you are sleep deprived. - Oldies tunes remind you of stations you've heard instead of former girl friends. - You've ever told a real estate agent you want a lot 1000 feet long and fifty feet wide, pointed at Australia. ********************************************************************** (IRCA Soft DX Monitor April 1, via DXLD) WBCQ ANNOUNCES THE TIMTRON NETWORK! For immediate release, April 1, 2006 http://www.wbcq.com/ Monticello, Maine -- WBCQ is pleased to announce The Timtron Network, a new 24 hour shortwave service for our listeners worldwide. Starting on Monday, April 3, WBCQ will commence programming on our two new 250 kilowatt transmitters for listeners in North America, South America, Europe, and the Mediterranean. The Timtron Network features the following programming: 0000-0200 Radio Timtron Worldwide, Pashto/Urdu Edition 0200-0330 Dr. Becker's Magic Mushrooms 0330-0415 Southern Kansas Farm Report & Rock'n'Roll Show 0415-0600 Duckpin Bowling Tournament Coverage 0600-0700 Radio Timtron Worldwide, Portuguese Edition 0700-0830 Subgenius Ministry, with Rev. Susie the Floozy 0830-0945 Radio Morania External Service 0945-1100 Icelandic Fishing Show, with Dr. Ástþór Ágústsson 1100-1230 SWL 101, with Dr. Smilkstein 1230-1330 Cadaverlac Corner, Tips & Tricks for Mobile HF 1330-1600 Rag Chewing Radio Show, with Old Buzzard Hyram 1600-1800 Radio Timtron Worldwide, Pig Latin Edition 1800-2200 Slop Bucket Theatre (broadcast in upper side band) 2200-2300 Slow Scan Television Theatre 2300-0000 Vindaloo Cooking Corner, with Alice the Cat The Timtron Network will broadcast on the following frequencies and times (all times UTC): 0000-0600 6900, 3295 0600-1200 15060, 6080 1200-1800 13555, 11660 1800-0000 21735, 6925 Our new 500 kilowatt longwave service on 179 KHz will simulcast The Timtron Network starting on April 15. WBCQ welcomes listener feedback and will issue QSL cards for verified reception reports. Thanks for your interest, and we look forward to hearing from you! (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) Although it's actually television related, this BBC April 1 hoax is legendary. I've heard and seen it mentioned many times. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/april/1/newsid_4362000/4362 667.stm (Fred Waterer, ON, dxldyg via DXLD) BBC April Fool's --- By Charles Leroux, Chicago Tribune The BBC has proven a rich source of April first pranks. In 1980, it reported that Big Ben, the clock that is iconic of London, was going digital. In 1999, BBC Radio announced that the national anthem ("God Save the Queen") was to be replaced by an Euro anthem sung in German. The new anthem, played over the air, sampled various Beethoven works and was sung by pupils of a German school in London. Reportedly, Prince Charles's office telephoned to ask for a copy of the new anthem. St. James Palace later insisted that it had been playing along with the prank and had never been taken in by it. . . http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/news/nation/14235843.htm In 1976, British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on a radio program that a peculiar planetary movement would create an upward gravitational pull that would make people lighter that day -- and dozens of listeners phoned in to say the experiment was successful... http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/marvinolasky/2006/03/23/190919.html "The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year." - Mark Twain (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ###