DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-068, April 30, 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 SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1313: Mon 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 Mon 0500 WRMI 9955 Wed 0930 WWCR 9985 Complete schedule including non-SW stations and audio links: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 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, May: http://www.w4uvh.net/nets2you.html [pending shortly] ** ALBANIA. 6225, Radio Tirana, escuchada el 29 de abril desde las 1905 a las 1910 en francés, locutora con boletín de noticias de Albania, no consta este servicio ni en el EiBi ni en el ILG, se trata pues de un nuevo servicio o de una transmisión accidental (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Per new sked in 6-063, at 1900, French is supposed to be on 9920, Italian on 6225; feedlines crossed? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I assume this was a mistake at the transmitting station. The broadcast at 1901-1930 UT should be in Italian on 6225 (x 5995) - and there is an earlier transmission on this same frequency at 1800-1815 in Serbian (x 6205). And BTW, the French broadcast at 1901-1930 should have been on 9920 - I wonder if that went out in Italian instead! (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. LRA36? 28/04/2006 - 13h40 UT, signal on 15477 Khz. Seem to be AM this time. SINPO : 24412 (Denis, southern Brazil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. LA ROSA DE TOKYO PARA EL PRÓXIMO DOMINGO "LA ROSA DE TOKIO" (( LS11 RADIO PROVINCIA )) -- El Grupo Radioescucha Argentino está colaborando con LA ROSA DE TOKIO, el programa de DX y comunicaciones que se irradia por LS11 Radio Provincia, La Plata, Argentina, con 56 kW en su horario habitual de 13 a 14 hora argentina (1600 a 1700 UT) y también en Internet, en http://www.radioprovincia.gba.gov.ar El domingo 30 de Abril, el programa se dedicará a analizar la historia de dos de las emisoras mas representativas de la Argentina y que están directamente vinculadas con los primeros y más gloriosos años de la radiodifusion local: LR1 Radio El Mundo y LR3 Radio Belgrano. Se revisará su pasado y presente y su profusa actividad en la onda corta. Por supuesto, se difundirán interesantísimos archivos de audio. Además, a las 18 Hs. Argentina, 21 UT, comenzamos con el nuevo horario para la retransmisión del programa para todos aquellos que no puedan escucharlo en el horario habitual de transmisión. Les recuerdo, que la retransmisión se realizará en la siguiente dirección: http://www.frecuencia9.com.ar La temática que se desarrolla cada domingo consiste en la investigación y análisis de la situación radiofónica en un país. Se revisa su historia, su actualidad política y social y, por supuesto, se revisan y analizan sus emisoras de radio y TV más representativas. No dejen de escucharlo!!! (Arnaldo Slaen / Omar Somma / Argentina, Noticias DX via DXLD) Plus lots of unrelated music fill. The repeat was on UT Sat at 2200; do you mean the 21 UT time is now Sunday?? This referred to April 30, but not checked here (gh, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 18 ABR, 0847 UT, 11131 KHZ LSB, Radio Continental, Buenos Aires. Castellano. Identificación: "En Continental, Primera Hora...". Temperatura en Buenos Aires. Hora Exacta. Fuerte. Calidad Excelente (Adán Mur, Ñemby, Paraguay, Conexión Digital April 30 via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. LRA1, Radio Nacional Buenos Aires (870 kHz) renueva su equipamiento. En efecto, el jueves 4 de Mayo inauguran oficialmente el nuevo transmisor de 100 KW de potencia, con la presencia del Presidente de la Nacion Nestor Kirchner en la planta transmisora de General Pacheco, a cuyo evento van integrantes de LRA1, RAE y otros (Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, via Arnaldo Slaen, April 30, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Re 6-067: 4910, VL8T at 1230-1335 on Apr 27. Noted here instead of 2325; YL with news at 1230, followed by features to 1330, then YL with news again. Good signal at 1230, poor by 1330. Occasional ABC ID and program notes for ABC and what sounded like "ABC-2" (John Wilkins-CO-USA, DXplorer Apr 28 via BCDX via DXLD) But later: 2325, VL8T-Tennant Creek, 0939-0949, Apr. 30, English, End of news re Indonesian violence, weather, "ABC News" ID at 0940 and "ABC TV" promo. Music intro from "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" and 2 OM re "nationwide controversy" of some sort, pop music. Fair at tune-in, fading rapidly after that. // 2310 VL8A (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R75, 200' Beverages, MLB-1, DTS-4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AVES ISLAND. AVES 2006 ---> The YX0LIX/YX0A operation from Aves Island was expected to come to an end by Friday 28 April, earlier than originally planned. Logs will be available at http://www.yv0.info/ once the team gets back to Caracas, as they were unable to upload the logs during the operation. There was no RTTY activity, because the late Jose, YV5LIX was the one who was going to operate on that mode and the rest of the team was not experienced enough. [TNX W4DTA/YV5DTA] (425 DX News April 29, via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** BELGIUM. Saludos cordiales, remito mensaje recibido por la RTBFi con motivo de los Test de emisión que tienen programados. Hola, Muchas gracias por sus mensages! RTBFi emite en francés todo el día de 5h a 23h30-24h en el 9970 kHz (31m). Durante 3 semanas vamos a probar diferentes antenas y un nuevo emisor. Empezamos el sábado 29 de abril y los tests se acaban el 20 de mayo. Si es posible para ustedes, quisiéramos saber cómo nos reciben por la mañana (+/-8h), en el medio día (+/-13h), por la tarde (+/-18h) y en la noche (+/- 22h). Muchísimas gracias por su ayuda! Hasta luego, Saludos de Bruselas Priscille CAZIN, RTBFi, RTBF international Tel: ++ 32 2 737 40 14 Fax: ++ 32 2 737 30 32 Mail: prc @ rtbf.be et rtbfi @ rtbf.be Adresse: RTBFi, local 3C17, BRR016 Bd. Auguste Reyers 52 1044 Bruxelles, Belgique Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté française (via José Miguel Romero2, Spain, DXLD) Tests de RTBF a 29 Abril del 2006-04-29 9970 kHz 0538 SINPO 45554 1140 SINPO 45554 1442 SINPO 45454 1743 SINPO 55555 2200 SINPO 55555 Programa en francés con mucha música de varios estilos (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, SANGEAN ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DXLD ** BELGIUM [non]. TDP via Russia and Moldova transmitters: Denge Mezopotamya in Kurdish: 0400-0800 on 11530 KCH 300 kW / 116 deg to ME Daily 0800-1600 on 11530 KCH 500 kW / 116 deg to ME Daily Sawt al Amal / Voice of Hope in Arabic: 1200-1400 on 17660*KCH 250 kW / 250 deg to NWAf Daily *17655-17695 range. All freqs jammed by Libya Tensae Ethiopia Voice of Unity in Amharic: 1500-1600 on 15660 ARM 250 kW / 188 deg to EaAf Daily Voice of Liberty Eritrea in Tigrigna: 1600-1700 on 15260 MSK 200 kW / 190 deg to EaAf Wed/Fri/Sun Voice of Eritrea in Tigrigna 1600-1700 on 15260 MSK 200 kW / 190 deg to EaAf Thu, ex Sat Voice of Oromo Liberation in Oromo: 1700-1730 on 12120 SAM 250 kW / 188 deg to EaAf Mon/Thu Dejen Radio in Tigrigna: 1700-1800 on 12120 SAM 250 kW / 188 deg to EaAf Wed Voice of Ethiopian National United Front in Amharic: 1700-1800 on 12120 SAM 250 kW / 188 deg to EaAf Fri/Sun Voice of Ethiopian People in Amharic: 1700-1800 on 12120 SAM 250 kW / 188 deg to EaAf Tue/Sat Radio Horyaal in Somali: 1730-1800 on 12130 ARM 250 kW / 188 deg to EaAf Sa-Th; 7590 from Sep 3 Voice of Delina in Tigrigna: 1800-1900 on 12130 ARM 250 kW / 188 deg to EaAf Sun; 7590 from Sep 3 Radio Free Southern Cameroons in English: 1800-1900 on 15695 ARM 500 kW / 235 deg to NoAf Sun (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 28 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 5983.71, Radio Cooperativa, Huanuni, 1104-1125, April 30, Spanish, tropical songs non stop, ID by male at 1124 as: "Radio Cooperativa... de interés general"; other announcement & ID as: "Muy buenos días, queridos amigos de Radio Cooperativa. Son las 7 de la mañana con 25 minutos de hoy domingo 30 de abril de 2005". Bulletin news by male in Spanish. Regional and national news, SINPO: 34433. Best reception in LSB mode. I couldn´t hear this station in the last weeks (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Amigos, Hoje moro em um prédio em Brasília com muitas interferências e pouco escuto de OC, OM e FM. Mas acabo de verificar que a Guaíba em 11785 está realmente muito melhor do que há algumas semanas, quando ouvi muito mal a decisão do campeonato gaúcho (ouvi mal, mas fiquei muito feliz com resultado do jogo). Aproveito para dizer que os testes em DRM em 25885 aqui no DF devem iniciar na próxima semana. O transmissor está junto à torre na Rádio Justiça, no Colorado (Lucio Haeser, Brasília, April 29, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** CANADA. See NEWFOUNDLAND ** CANADA. Incidentally, if you haven't heard it, Canadian AM station CHML (900 kHz) [Hamilton] seems to broadcast a lot of old time radio programs late at night (Ed Stone, (NYC), April 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. IBIQUITY PROMOTING IBOC IN CANADA --- Ibiquity has scored an appearance at a CRTC radio policy review hearing. Their seven-page outline PDF, and a list of other intervenors, is available at the CRTC web site. I include a link to the particular index page that includes Ibiquity. There are other intevenors, too. I am curious as to what might be said to the CRTC, in response. . . http://support.crtc.gc.ca/applicant/applicant.aspx?pn_ph_no=2006-1&lang=E (Saul Chernos, ON, April 28, WTFDA via DXLD) Their letter says "advanced coding techniques virtually eliminate multicast (multipath?) interference for digital FM broadcasts. This enhanced robustness may allow stations to offer greater reliability within existing coverage areas." (page 4 of his letter) I particularly admire his deft insertion of weasel words like 'virtually' and 'may'! Now, I don't have a IBOC radio -- but that sure isn't what those who do have them have been posting to this list? Is Albert Shuldiner smoking those twisty little cigarettes, or have I totally misinterpreted what 'users in the field' have said about broadcast coverage with IBOC vs analog? So who's gonna rebut this non-sense? (and can we get them to push things south of the border too?) (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI, ibid.) You mean, N of the border (gh) I posted this a few days ago and, with all the concern that has been raised about IBOC over the past couple of years on this list, am surprised no one has offered any input for an intervention. I'm particularly interested in any legitimate cases where a local coverage area has been infringed upon. If you can discern A and B contour areas, or offer any details or specifics, all the better. Or perhaps some of you have other kinds of technical or economic factors to weigh in with. I'm not so much looking for how DX will be affected. The CRTC won't be moved by that. But, radio -- AM and FM -- itself, how day-to- day listeners will be affected, how station economics will be affected. That sort of thing. See below for details. Please send to me at: schernos AT sympatico DOT ca Saul (Saul Chernos, IRCA via DXLD) I had a look at iBiquity's submission - it's the usual hype, with a nary a mention of interference problems. In fact, it says this: "The experience in the United States to-date has demonstrated that HD Radio can be introduced without fear of disruption to existing services". That's when my BS detector started ringing, long and loud! It's worth noting that DRM also made a submission. I wouldn't read too much into either one at this point (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF, Ottawa, ON, ibid.) Barry & fellow iBLOC lovers - Usual hype perfectly describes tedious tales oozing from TeamBOC. Radio World this week has great article. Author dares to mention 'I' - interference - word as well as dread 'J is for Jamming' word. He keeps focus on those two pesky little fatal flaws which TeamBLOC finds oh so inconvenient to discuss in anything but high-hat shonky manner. Author rhetorically asks familiar questions such as 'didn't anyone think this through?' Reply article adolescently quips 'radio has sounded barely passable since the 20's thus we must go total HD now'. Typical of cons, they assume the public cannot smell a lie. First article illustrates 'going total HD' to avoid interference & jamming is like jumping into a cesspool to wash one's hands. HD FM's in Philly and Delaware bust up one another badly. Can you hear the frenzied fearful gibberings in the surely well- frequented TeamBOC exec toilet? - "Sell Canada quick before they get wise to the noise." iKWAKWITTY handed promotion to manufacturers and didn't show its two faces at Vegas. Does it sound as if they're washing their hands of this mess? Do they hope sales to unsuspecting Canadian companies will raise cash to defend against inevitable litigation from those damaged by second and third-adjacent interference which - ooops, almost forgot - according to TeamShonk 'doesn't exist'? HD Cheerleader article actually admits HD interferences. He justifies it, stating IBOC is a transition on the road to Digital Damascus and the quicker we go HD the better. Doesn't he stink of fear and desperation? The more TeamBOC lies the worse they make it for themselves. Did they ask the American people about discarding billions of dollars of radios rendered worthless by HD? Why didn't TeamShonk tell them they must buy new sets which can't pull stations more than a few miles distant? If backward-compatible HDTV is any indice, no wonder iBLIKWITTY runs to Canada. Americans refuse to throw out perfectly good tv's and rejected HDTV. And HDTV is backward compatible whereas HD Radio is backward- destructive. Ooops, forgot, iBLOC is a 'transition' to digital. Besides, it doesn't interfere. As with BPL, why bother with temperamental costly dated technology just because a bunch of obvious corporate shills fatuously scream about 'our inevitable digital future'? Selling Canada America's inevitable digital misery is a cynical ploy. As with all, it richly deserves its inexorable outcome - failure. =Z.= (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manasota Key, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. CHINA/TAIWAN. 17330 --- Seemingly against "Sound- of-Hope" clandestine station program from Taiwan, and accompanied by China mainland jammer with CNR program noted today Apr 30th on 17330 kHz, but noted on 18080 midst in ham radio band again yesterday Apr 29th. On other days of the week also noted on either 17330, 17350, 18080, 18160, 18180, or 18200 kHz. Ham Radio band watch organization in Asia, Pacific and Europe informed various FCC [sic] authorities in AUS, D, GB about this intruder program already. See also URL http://www.iarums-r1.org site. Logged CNR program today Apr 30th in 0745-0830 UT slot on \\ 13610[jamming VoA Tinian Mandarin], 15250[jamming VoA Tinang-PHL Mandarin], 15390[Lingshi], 17580[Lingshi], 17605[Beijing, 1 sec ahead], 17780[jamming VoA Tinian Mandarin], 17855[strongest stn here in EUR, jamming VoA Tinang-PHL Mandarin]. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, April 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CHINA/TAIWAN. 18080, Hallo Uli, heut haben wir wieder gute condx und schon ist wieder der Rundfunksender aus China auf 18080.00 kHz mit S8 in AM mit dem ueblichen QSB zu hoeren. Auf der alten QRG 18160.0 kHz ist nix mehr, 0710 UT (Wolf Preusse-Berlin-D, DL7HU, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 29) Der Rundfunksender sucht verschiedene QRGs heim. Das hat mit dem Sender "Sound-of-Hope" aus Taiwan zu tun, den er stoeren moechte. Heute Morgen waren z.B. auf 18080 kHz zwei Programme zu hoeren. Vermutlich war das schwaechere der Sound-of-Hope. Ich habe den Chinesen auch schon auf 18160, 18180 und 18200 kHz gehoert. Die BNetzA ist unterrichtet, und auch die anderen Bandwachten im Ausland arbeiten an dem Fall (Uli Bihlmayer-D, DJ9KR, Leiter der Bandwacht des DARC http://www.iarums-r1.org via wwdxc BC-DX Apr 29 via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. For Radio Revista Lux on 9955 via WRMI, I received a full-data WRMI/Cruise Lines International Association/Tropical QSL card from Jeff White at WRMI in 1 month. No QSL for a report direct to the broadcaster, but they have been sending me their monthly magazine Revista Lux for several months now (W. Craighead-KS-USA Mar 5, 2006 for CRW via DXLD) ** DENMARK. PEOPLE'S PARTY PROPOSES BROADCASTS AIMED AT ARAB WORLD | Text of report by Danish newspaper Politiken website on 11 April Danish Radio (Danmarks Radio) should broadcast news in Arabic, and should also provide teaching of democracy to the Arabic countries, proposes the Danish People's Party. The party wants the government to appropriate 25m kroner [4m dollars] to Danmarks Radio, which would use the money to transmit radio and television programming to the Arabic countries. The funds would be taken from the 100m kroner that has been previously earmarked for the Arabic initiative --- a development initiative from 2003 that Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller (Conservative Party) is right now in the process of re-evaluating following the Muhammad crisis. "The Muhammad affair has shown that there is a tremendous and acute need for a Middle East radio station in the style of Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, which during the Cold War brought needed news to the East Bloc outside the Communist dictators' state media," said Danish People's Party foreign policy spokesman Soren Espersen. He believes that the content in the news service should be news and teaching about democracy. The Danish People's Party has previously called for a new "Radio Free Europe" directed towards the Arabic world. The proposal to have Danish Radio be responsible for the task is therefore only an elaborating of the project. Source: Politiken website, Copenhagen, in Danish 11 Apr 06 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ECUADOR [and non]. HCJB Pifo dismantling --- Yesterday's program of HCJB German service, heard here in local-like quality (well... via Wertachtal) contained a studio talk about impressions from the Pifo site. Summary: The place is no longer the forest of masts it used to be. A lot of them are already dismantled, people are busy disconnecting wires and bringing them down. It's a scary sight: These were the antennas we used to broadcast to Europe. On the other hand it's a big difference to the scenes at other abandoned sites where they just cut the wires, let anything collapse and a scrap dealer picked up the remains. At Pifo they instead carefully prevent the masts from falling over while they dismantle the guys, and once they have an antenna down it will be packed for later use. An engineer said that they hope to find grounds for a new station. However, "no decision has been made yet" according official information from the mission's leadership (Kai Ludwig, April 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Relays on 6045 kHz: Sun 7th May MV Baltic Radio 1200 UT [until when???] Good Listening (Tom Taylor, April 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Some DTK T-Systems changes: Deutsche Welle /DW/ in DRM from Apr. 19: 1000-1300 on 6140 JUL 040 kW / 175 deg to Eu in English, cancelled 1600-1900 on 6140 JUL 040 kW / 175 deg to Eu in English, cancelled Brother Stair /TOM/ from Apr. 19: see SOUTH CAROLINA [non] Bible Voice Broadcasting Network /BVBN/, additional txions from May 3: 1530-1600 on 15775 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Wed to CeAf in English (tent.) 1600-1630 on 13810 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Wed to EaAf in Amharic (tent.) (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 28 via DXLD) ** GREECE [and non]. Re John Babbis` question about 15630: I did not hear a signal here during my quick check yesterday, hence my wording "at least four". Anyway now, after 1900, all five ERT frequencies are on air as scheduled: There is Voice of Greece programming with the same punchy audio processing on 7430 and 9375, with much softer modulation on 7475 and with a third kind of audio on 9420. At the same time there is the Thessaloniki program on 7450, as usual without special AM audio processing. Obviously Avlis with the old Marconi transmitters on 7450 and 7475 as well as the Continental (ex Glória) rig on 9420. And 7430 plus 9375 are apparently the Kavála transmitters, at least their Optimod sound does not point at whatever other site as origin (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Babis: Glenn Hauser forwarded this [6-067] to me from Wolfgang Buschel in Germany. What is the situation with ERA 5 shortwave broadcasts at Kavalla? Regards, (John Babbis, MD, USA, to Babis Charalampopoulos, via DXLD) Dear John, The situation is: 10 years agreement between ERA & VOA has expired. The frequencies from Delano & Greenville are cancelled. Kavala is working temporarily. Regards (Babis Charalampopoulos, ERA, via John Babbis, MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Babis: Efharisto polye. That helps to clarify the situation. Hope that Voice of Greece and VOA can come to some sort of a new agreement to reestablish Delano, Greenville, and Kavala frequencies. The shock of closing Kavala and Rhodes was just too sudden (John Babbis, MD, April 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What does "Kavála is working temporarily" mean? ERA programming on air but site officially closed and all BBG programming already off or moved to other sites? (Kai Ludwig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: The way I read "Kavala is working temporarily" could mean that Voice of Greece now has a short-term agreement to continue on air with the Kavala transmitters until such time as other arrangements can be made. I don't believe that VOG realized that the axe would fall so fast. They probably assumed that the cut-off date would be in late October, just before the B-06 broadcasting system would go into effect. After all, the agreement was signed 10 years ago by other people, and the present-day powers-that-be were not aware of what the fine print said! (John Babbis, MD, ibid.) John, We try with each way to achieve something right. It only stopped Delano- Greenville transmissions. Kavala - Rhodes is OK until the end of the month (Babis Charalampopoulos, ERA, April 28, to John Babbis, via DXLD) Babis: I hope that you meant May 31. Today is April 29 UT, meaning that there are only 2 days left until the end of the month of April. Regards, (John Babbis, MD, ibid.) We will see, likely on Monday (Babis via Babbis, April 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Tell Wolfgang Bueschel in Germany to keep his ears open on Monday for signals from Kavala (John Babbis, MD, ibid.) Kavalla-GRC relay. This morning (Apr 28): 0400-0800 9510 Farda Farsi - 1.5 second ahead of 17845 0700-0900 11645 ERT ERA - on air, full power. 0400-0600 15225 Farda Farsi - very weak signal (tent) 0600-0800 15290 Farda Farsi - via Briech Tangiers-MRC 0800-1000 15290 Farda Farsi - 1.5 second ahead of IRA 15690, 17755 0000-0600 15650 ERT ERA - didn't propagate into EUR 0800-1400 15690 Farda Farsi - via Iranawila-CLN 1.5sec behind 15290 0200-0700 17520 ERT ERA - didn't propagate into EUR 0800-1400 17755 Farda Farsi - via Iranawila-CLN 1.5sec behind 15290 0600-0800 17845 Farda Farsi - 1.5 second behind 9510, in sync with 15290 Morocco relay. 0600-0900 21530 ERT ERA - fade-in very late at 0820 UT. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saturday April 29 during the 1400 hour, 15630 stayed in Greek, so what became of Hellenes Around the World? It has always appeared erratically but when it did would be on this frequency as well as the now cancelled Delano 9775 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is my abbreviated reception report for Sat & Sun UT April 30 2006 SATURDAY SUNDAY 2100 2200 2300 0000 0100 0200 kHz Az. Kw. Tr. Station 15441 44444 XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX 7450 323 100 AVL 1 ERT 3 25333* XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX 15630 285 100 AVL 2 V of Greece XXXXX 35344 45444 55555 55555 55555 7475 285 100 AVL 2 V of Greece 45344 55555 55555 55555 55555 55555 9420 323 170 AVL 3 V of Greece 00000 45344 XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX 9375 105 250 KAV 1 V of Greece XXXXX XXXXX 35333 XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX 9375 240 250 KAV 1 V of Greece XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX 00000 17520 095 250 KAV 1 V of Greece 00000 35444 00000 00000 00000 00000 15650 095 250 KAV 2 V of Greece *Scheduled to be on 7475 at this time. Regards (John Babbis, Silver Spring, MD, USA, to ERT, via DXLD) All the discussions about VOA Kavala made me check the 792 kHz channel. April 27 around 2040 UT ERA transmission in Greek as scheduled. April 29 I first heard a carrier and at 1928 UT the announcement "This is the Voice of America Washington signing on" followed at 1930 by VOA in Serbian, as scheduled (Ullmar Qvick, Norrköping, Sweden, April 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also U S A ** GUAM. Frequency changes for AWR / KSDA from Apr. 30: 1200-1300 Korean NF 9880 SDA 100 kW / 315 deg, ex 9685 to avoid CRI Russian 1400-1430 Sinhala NF 12075 SDA 100 kW / 285 deg, ex 12045 1700-1730 Hindi NF 11640 SDA 100 kW / 315 deg, ex 11560 1730-1800 Tamil NF 11640 SDA 100 kW / 315 deg, ex 11560 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 28 via DXLD) ** INDIA. 11620, AIR Delhi (Kamphur), 0142-0230 4/29, off and on (presumed) fair to good with Indian-style musical selections, with woman announcer between numbers; mostly female vocals or male/female duets. Song at 0144 had tune that seemed to derive from ``Dance, Ballerina, Dance.`` Tune back 0224 found man talking; silence 0226:30 some bits of dead air before music continued 0230. Listed in Urdu to Pakistan. Checked 11580 for scheduled Pakistani but got nothing more than carrier detectable on BFO. Very weak signal 0211 on 11715 may have been AIR in Nepali to Nepal, but at 0216 recheck was unreadable due to adjacent RAE-11710.7 QRM (John Callarman, Krum TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9680, RRI Jakarta, Apr 30, 0959-1020, KGRE program #5104, begins & ends with song ``Waltzing Matilda``; Kevin interviews actor (Nicholas Saputra), record producer (Agnes Monika) and Aussie students visiting Southeast Sulawesi, songs ``Rupuh`` and ``So Beautiful``, fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5 [my first reception with this great little radio], DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 3578.73, RSPK Ngada (presunmed) at 1230 on Apr 22. Scraps of audio with man talking in Bahasa Indonesia, I think. Don't always get audio on this one, as the California DX Machines seem to suck up most of the signal. 4604.95, RRI Serui at 1157-1300 Apr 22. M reading an endless list of 9-digit numbers, each phrase beginning with the same 2 words and first 6 digits, i.e. "Nomor setatan 800400 ..." with a few words following each number. No idea what this was; this exciting program ended around 1225, per spot checks, and vocal music followed to 1300; local ID was followed by Jakarta program (berita ekonomi). Best Indo signal on the Trop bands, peaking at S9+15 dB. 4749.96, RRI Makassar (presumed) at 1154-1239+ Apr 22. Indo talk by M with possible mention of Makassar; different M at ToH but did not take Jak relay; more talk past 1230 per spot checks; "ekonomi" mentioned occasionally. Fairly good signal but nowhere near their former strength when they were consistently the strongest Indo on the lower bands. 3325, RRI Palangkaraya at 1227-1247 on Apr 25. Vocal music program with man speaking occasionally. Good signal, rising above the noise level. 3956v, RRI Palu? at 1251-1313+ on Apr 25. Something in this vicinity with horribly distorted signal. The voice coming out of the blob seemed to be in Bahasa Indonesia, but cannot be sure due to distortion. Seemed to be slowly drifting downward, which fits the pattern of Palu, last logged here in late '05. Fairly good strength but, again, readability zero due to distortion (John Wilkins-CO-USA, DXplorer Apr 25 via BCDX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. No Popups at http://www.schoechi.de Glenn, once more it is true that (your) critical remarks are the best advices. I removed all the (Ex)-Nedstat-webcounters and now the iLead popups do not pop-up any longer at my website. Yours (Martin Schoech - PF 101145 - D-99801 Eisenach, Germany, April 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I.e., i.a. QSL Information Pages, Clandestine Radio Watch, not to mention Bellabarba page, and Obituary for DXers http://www.schoechi.de/obituary.html (gh) ** ISRAEL. Servicio en español --- no Ladino, según aparece en Eibi, no mencionado en ILG ni en WRTH --- de Kol Israel captado a las 1545 en 15640 // 15760, esta última con señal más débil, e inaudible en 11605. La locutora pasó buena parte de la corta emisión hablando de Turquía y hasta se despidió con una canción de un grupo turco. Eibi, sin ser un sitio muy pretencioso, dice que esta emisión va hacia Europa y NAm (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, April 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. 7530, Kol Israel, Yavne, Fair 0356 4/19, apparently in Hebrew instead of French as listed; not // 9345 which was in French; production announcements; five short, one long pip at 0400, began news in Hebrew, returned to 9345, which by now was // 7530, but when I tuned back to 7530, KI was gone (John Callarman, Krum TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) All too common nowadays for KI to make such operational errors; sloppy, sloppy. But we must be thankful they have not gotten around to terminating the external SW service yet (gh, DXLD) ** ITALY. ITALIA, 7260, RAI Internacional, escuchada el 29 de abril desde las 2150 a las 2155 en idioma árabe. Estaban transmitiendo canciones italianas; al final de la transmisión un locutor con identificación y sintonía. Al acabar la transmisión no hubo ninguna otra transmisión de la RAI, tampoco consta ni en el EiBi ni en el ILG, tampoco en la web de la RAI, se trata pues de otra transmisión accidental, un problema de la FI o un nuevo servicio (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not accidental, but a recent change; see below: ** ITALY. Frequency changes for RAI International from Apr. 23: 0435-0445 Italian NF 6145 ROM 100 kW / 235 deg NWAf ex 6015 \\ 7235 0445-0500 English NF 6145 ROM 100 kW / 235 deg NWAf ex 6015 \\ 7235 1500-1525 Italian NF 11655 ROM 100 kW / 235 deg NWAf ex 11660 \\ 9670 1630-1655 Arabic NF 11810 ROM 100 kW / 130 deg EaAf ex 11915 2025-2045 English NF 5970 ROM 100 kW / 130 deg EaAf ex 6010 \\ 11875 2135-2155 Arabic NF 7260 ROM 100 kW / 235 deg NEAf, ex 7145 \\ 6000 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 28 via DXLD) ** ITALY [non]. Updated summer A-06 for NEXUS-IBA: IRRS-Shortwave in English from Mar. 26: 1900-2030 Mon-Thu 5775, 020 kW / non-dir to Eu/ME/NoAf 1700-2200 Fri 5775, 050 kW / non-dir to Eu/ME/NoAf 0700-1200 Sat/Sun 13840, 020 kW / non-dir to Eu/ME/NoAf 1900-2200 Sat 5775, 020 kW / non-dir to Eu/ME/NoAf 1900-2200 Sun 5775, 050 kW / non-dir to Eu/ME/NoAf (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 28 via DXLD) Site not specified. Could it be BULGARIA? ** JAPAN [and non]. Radio Japan on 6145 kHz --- Have received a relay via Radio Canada International of China Radio International and Radio Japan / NHK World, during the evening, weekdays on 6145 kHz AM here in New Hampshire using a Undine SW radio and telescoping whip. China Radio International runs 2300 UT 7 PM to 2400 UT 8 PM EDT Radio Japan runs 2400 UT 8 PM to 0100 UT 8 PM EDT It comes in S-9, and the audio is better than the local AMers! At about 7:58 PM after Japan Radio/NHK World sign off, Radio Canada International plays their interval piano jingle or the female announcer station I.D. This varies night to night. This Frequency is listed at http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/freq/all_e.pdf ``English 0.00-1.00 6145 CAN (East)`` Here's Radio Japan/NHK World complete schedule for North America: 0.00- 1.00 6145 CAN (East) 1.00- 2.00 17825 5.00- 6.00 6110 CAN (West) 6.00- 7.00 13630 10.00-12.00 6120 CAN (East) 15.00-16.00 9505 17.00-18.00 9535 21.00-22.00 17825 This morning, Saturday, April 29, 2006, using the Monitoring Times, May 2006 SHORTWAVE GUIDE on P 44-45, I listened to Radio Japan / NHK World on your published frequency of 6120 kHz, In-between the 6 -7 AM hours the Radio Japan announcer said the program was ``being relayed to North America on 6120 kHz`` at the end of the show after the NHK sign off. At 7:58 AM, Radio Canada International female announcer gave the station I.D. Radio Canada International, then the male, in French. Before the plug was pulled! I checked the RCI website and did not see the freq of 6145 kHz AM, listed. This may be due to it being a foreign radio broadcast relay! Thanks for all the great information in SW listening. Hope this helps (Jim Mac Donald, to gh at Monitoring Times, via DXLD) ** KASHMIR. AIR TO BROADCAST EXCLUSIVE PROGRAMME FOR CRPF PERSONNEL http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200604231554.htm Srinagar, April. 23 (PTI): Aiming to lessen the strain faced by CRPF personnel entrusted with maintaining internal security in Jammu and Kashmir, the local All India Radio station has decided to start a new programme which will feature songs exclusively requested by them. The programme 'Hello CRPF' will be aired by Radio Kashmir from today, station director G H Zia said adding there will be repeat broadcast of the programme on Monday from the commercial broadcasting service of the station. IGP CRPF, Kashmir, A P Maheshwari welcomed the gesture of Radio Kashmir and said the programme will go a long way in entertaining the jawans who are serving in difficult situations in the state. CRPF recently replaced Border Security Force from the internal security duty in Jammu and Kashmir (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dx_india via DXLD) I suppose every Indian knows what CRPF stands for, but how about the rest of us. Let us guess: Commando-Ready Peace Force? WTFK? (gh, DXLD) Schedule for program "Hello CRPF" as follows : 0935-1030 UT - 6110, 1116 kHz (Sunday) Repeat on Monday - on FM Channel. Regds (Alokesh Gupta, ibid.) ** KOREA NORTH. Die STIMME KOREAS, der Auslandsdienst der KDVR (Nordkorea) aus Pyongyang, aendert seine Frequenzen ab Dienstag, 02.05.2006, wie folgt: KOREANISCH fuer Europa 0900-1000 UTC 13760 und 15245 (Pyongyanger Rundfunkstation) 1300-1400 UTC 9325 und 12015 (Pyongyanger Rundfunkstation) 1700-1800 UTC 13760 und 15245 (Koreanischer Zentraler Rundfunk) 2000-2100 UTC 9325 und 12015 (Koreanischer Zentraler Rundfunk) 2300-2400 UTC 13760 und 15245 (Koreanischer Zentraler Rundfunk) DEUTSCH fuer Europa 1600-1700 UTC 9325 und 12015 1800-1900 UTC 9325 und 12015 1900-2000 UTC 9325 und 12015 ENGLISCH fuer Europa 1300-1400 UTC 13760 und 15245 1500-1600 UTC 13760 und 15245 1800-1900 UTC 13760 und 15245 2100-2200 UTC 13760 und 15245 FRANZOESISCH fuer Europa 1400-1500 UTC 13760 und 15245 1600-1700 UTC 13760 und 15245 2000-2100 UTC 13760 und 15245 SPANISCH fuer Europa 1900-2000 UTC 13760 und 15245 2200-2300 UTC 13760 und 15245 RUSSISCH fuer Europa 0700-0800 UTC 13760 und 15245 0800-0900 UTC 13760 und 15245 1400-1500 UTC 9325 und 12015 1500-1600 UTC 9325 und 12015 1700-2800 UTC 9325 und 12015 Damit wird nach bisherigen Beobachtungen der Sendeplan des vorigen Sommers komplett uebernommen (Arnulf Piontek-D, A-DX Apr 27 via BCDX April 28 via DXLD) It appears that last year's schedule comes into effect again unaltered. Have not yet been able to confirm Japanese broadcasts but I assume these will also be the same as last year's. Any further information or amendments will be mailed when they become available. Voice of Korea are also anxious to get letters and reception reports on their programmes. Please address all mail to: VOICE OF KOREA, PYONGYANG, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA (North Korea) All times in UT, all frequencies in kHz, subject to change at short notice. Programmes last 47 to 57 minutes. Data based on announcements and schedules of the Voice of Korea and own monitoring. KCBS = Korean Central Broadcasting Station (Choson Jungang Pangsong); PBS = Pyongyang Broadcasting Station (Pyongyang Pangsong). Compiled by Arnulf Piontek, 12359 Berlin, Germany. Please feel free to publish this schedule by mentioning the source: Happy listening and all best wishes! '73s, OM (Arnulf Piontek, Berlin, Germany, HCDX via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. "The Freedom North Korea Broadcast" (FNK) heard on 9760 kHz on April 26 at 1700-1733* UT, strong and clear. And 11750 kHz on April 27 at 1000-1027* UT, Good http://www.freenk.net/ (NDXC S. Hasegawa via Shigenori Aoki-JPN, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 27 via DXLD) 1000-1100 VT-Merlin brokered Korean 11750 Taiwan 1500-1600 Open Radio Korean 7470 Dushanbe-TJK 1700-1800 VT-Merlin brokered Korean 9760 Taiwan (wb, April 18, ibid.) ** LATVIA. Relays on 9290 kHz: Sun 30th April Hamburger 0900 UT [until when??] Mon 1st May Hamburger 0900 UT [ditto] Good Listening (Tom Taylor, April 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. From May, KREBS TV is planning to provide foreign relays on 945 kHz, via a 150 kW transmitter in Ulbroka (Riga). The transmission time of the KREBS TV outlet Radio Nord on 945 kHz (2.7 kW from Ulbroka) will be reduced accordingly (Bernd Trutenau, Ltihuania, mwdx yg via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. 20 ABR, 1542 UT, 21695 KHZ, Voice of Africa from the Great Jamahariya. (Issoudun, Francia). Inglés. Explicación del proceso filosófico de la formación de legislación y de las constituciones, del Libro Verde de Muamar Al Qadafi. Fuerte. Buena Calidad (Adán Mur, Ñemby, Paraguay, Conexión Digital April 30 via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 7295 Traxx FM (RTM), Apr 27, 1335-1400, IDs ``Traxx FM reaching out on 102.9`` and ``Traxx FM on 89 point ?``; could not make out the final number. This is the first time I have heard frequencies given (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST 7295, Traxx FM, 1039-1102, Apr. 30, English, OM with promos at tune- in, solid ID with echo FX at 1040. Easy listening pop music until OM at 1055 re "Malaysia". More music and "echoing" ID at 1100. Poor, needed USB to separate from 7294L ham with a huge signal. First Malaysian log here in quite some time for myself. Heard nothing but DRM hash on frequency all winter! (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R75, 200' Beverages, MLB-1, DTS-4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) According to http://www.hfcc.org/data/B05drm.html that was: 7295 0900 1545 27 Broadcasting Center Europe S.A. DTK Juelich 50N57 006E22 290 40 1234567 2005-10-30 00:00:00 2006-03-26 00:00:00 --- Rather late, local noon, for Germany to be propagating, but possible in deep winter (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6000v, Radio Insurgente tuned in at 2057 and they were already on. No sign of Cuba today March 17 [Fri]. The signal was as good as when I first heard them. I would say 3/3/3 overall. Signal did drift a bit. Started on 5999.9 but drifted/switched to 6000 even. I also did an experiment and checked to see if I could hear them on the Wellbrook. While it was not as good as my 240 degree antenna, I could have logged it with just the Wellbrook. Lots of short speeches and talk. Just a bit of music, but there was a local rap song! (H. Johnson-FL-USA, in JihadDX-ML via CRW via DXLD) ** MEXICO. The Marzo 2006 edition of MPM's directorio de Medios Audio- Visuales (the Mexican equivalent of Standard Rates & Data Service) discloses that the operators of XEMQ-810 have converted in into la "1a estación comercial en lengua Maya." WRTH-2006 still lists this one as a Radio Fórmula outlet, but it became "La 810 Activando tu Mente" in 2004, according to previous MPM listings. Now, its name is "Yóol Iik," which the company translates to "Esencia de Viento." Address is Edificio Publicentro, Calle 62 No. 508 Altos, (A.P. 217), 97000 Mérida, Yuc. It shares that address with XEMH-970/XHMH-95.3, "Candela, La Mera Mera;" XEPY-680 "Foro 6.80;" and XEUL-930 "La Picosita." MPM shows XEMQ with 2,000 watts, scheduled 06.00 to 18.00, hora de Mérida. I guess I'll have to fly to Yucatán to hear this one! (John Callarman, Krum TX, April 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) John, Tnx for this news. XEMQ used to be the call of the Mérida station that had SW on 6105 as XEQM, or was it vice versa? But at that time I think the MW side was on 1240 or vicinity. Probably swapped around the calls in the group, or just moved. The SW has been inactive for several years, and I`ll bet no mention of it anyway in MPM/MAV. 73, (Glenn to John, via DXLD) ** MONACO [non]. Hello, just a reminder about Monte Carlo Radiodiffusion (MCR) transmitter site in Roumoules, South-East of France. Frequency: 216 kHz 1400 kW (power reduced at night time). Transmitter in use from 0428 (local time i.e. 0228 UT) to 0005 (local time i.e. 2205 UT). From 0228 UT religious programmes in French. At 0258, RMC info in French, always sign-on with Monaco National Anthem (La Marche de Monaco). The night RMC info programmes are on FM, satellite and Internet only. Note that on Sundays, there is a special programme produced by Catholic Church on 216 kHz ONLY, at 0545-0600 UT. On FM and satellite regular RMC Info programmes. RMC Info is now also available on World Space AfriStar West Beam. You can find pictures of Roumoules at the following website: http://phototheque.niv2.com/photo/visionneuse.php4?cat=116 (Christian Ghibaudo, Nice, France, April 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. Re 6-067: GH wrote "Nor does RN broadcast in French." Sorry, Glenn, we do - unless you're one of those people who believe international broadcasting on anything other than shortwave, and on a daily basis, doesn't count :-) The ladies who produce material for our West African bureau sit in the office next to mine, and I can often hear then editing interviews etc. As you will see from our website http://www2.rnw.nl/partners/barn/fr/ our West African bureau is also expanding its output in English and Portuguese. Please don't make the assumption that broadcasting on shortwave is all we do. There's a lot more going on behind the scenes! (Andy Sennitt, Radio Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very much behind the scenes, it seems. French is not among the ``other languages`` on a par with Arabic, Aruban or Surinamese on the dropdown at http://www.radionetherlands.nl/ but in another category at http://www2.rnw.nl/partners/barn/fr/ I was rather expecting such a correxion, and of course he is technically accurate; however, despite all the non-SW stuff in DXLD, we still regard SW as first and foremost when it comes to ``broadcasting``; second and nextmost, is any other form of broadcasting *over the air* (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. CBC Newfoundland out west - 6160 kHz. Picking up the CBC Newfoundland 300 Watt repeater out on the west coast of North America with a fabulous signal over top of Vancouver`s CKZU. – 0630 UT / APR 30 / 06. Not quite sure why this sounds so good - but it does (Colin Newell in Victoria B.C. Canada, Drake R8 - Wellbrook ALA100, http://www.dxer.ca HCDX via DXLD) Great catch, Colin. I haven't heard them for years. Funny thing, though, for a season about 3 or 4 years ago, I heard them virtually daily, well over CKZU Vancouver from about 0200 to past 1030 virtually every night with a S7+ signal. As I recall it was around the same time of the year (March to April). The following year(s) did not reproduce these findings, so I'm glad you heard them. You may wish to try earlier. I bet they're there at the earlier hours. I'll give it a shot from my shack (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, ibid.) ** PHILIPPINES. FILIPINAS, 15190, Radio Filipinas, escuchada el 29 de abril en idioma Tagalog desde las 1808 a las 1807. Cómo curiosidad de este idioma es que incluye palabras en español; durante la intervención del locutor se pudo escuchar varias veces algunas palabras en español. ``Negocio``, ``Franquicia``, ``Compañía``, ``Una letra... Franquicia``, ``Programa``, ``Pero completo... completo... Manila...`` y ``Nación... negocio`` (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. Test transmissions, RDP Int. Radio Portugal from Apr. 27: 1600-1900 Mon-Fri NF 11905 LIS 100 kW / 045 deg to WeEu, ex 15555 1400-1200 Sat/Sun NF 11905 LIS 100 kW / 045 deg to WeEu, ex 15555 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 28 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Frequency changes for Voice of Russia from Apr. 18: 1100-1200 Chinese NF 7165 VLD 500 kW / 230 deg, ex 7390 1200-1400 Russian WS NF 7165 VLD 500 kW / 230 deg, ex 7390 1400-1500 English WS NF 7165 VLD 500 kW / 230 deg, ex 7390 ++++ 1200-1500 Commonwealth NF 9555 MSK 250 kW / 085 deg, ex 9920 1400-1900 English WS NF 7370 KCH 500 kW / 290 deg, ex 7300 ++++ 1530-1700 Serbian NF 7300 MSK 250 kW / 240 deg, ex 7370 1700-1800 Bulgarian NF 7300 MSK 250 kW / 240 deg, ex 7370 1800-1900 Greek NF 7300 MSK 250 kW / 240 deg, ex 7370 1700-1745 Hungarian NF 7210 S.P 200 kW / 225 deg, ex 7400 1745-1830 Czech NF 7210 S.P 200 kW / 225 deg, ex 7400 1830-1900 Slovak NF 7210 S.P 200 kW / 225 deg, ex 7400 1800-2000 French NF 7180 S.P 500 kW / 220 deg, ex 7310 1800-1900 German NF 7310 S.P 400 kW / 220 deg, ex 7380 1900-2000 English WS NF 7310 S.P 400 kW / 220 deg, ex 7380 ++++ (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 28 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Primorski Kray. Vladivostok. From 1-st May, radio station "Tikhyi Okean" (Pacific ocean) will use additional frequency 12065 kHz (Vladimir Rozhkov, Kansk, Krasnoyarsk region) Radio "Pacific Ocean" in the summer: 0835-0900 UT 810 and 9765 kHz (Editor) (Rus-DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Radio Mayak cut LW/MW airtime The RUS-DX newsletter sent out today http://rusdx.narod.ru/bulletin/153-E.txt contains a transcript of an interview with somebody from Radio Mayak in VOR's Klub-DX programme. Beware of machine translation, especially "announcement" must read "transmission" instead. Gist: Radio Mayak cut airtime on all LW and MW transmitters to only nine hours a day, effective April 1st. Strategy is to phase out LW/MW entirely in favour of FM. Can't find any mention of this considerable cut on their website; the frequency charts at http://www.radiomayak.ru/about/110.html were last updated in 2003 and still show full 19 hours schedules. http://www.radiomayak.ru/about/35.html is especially outdated; I am not aware of Radio Mayak still using 1143 (only VOR here anymore). Only 549 via transmitter RV-129 at Kaliningrad (that's the old Reichssender Königsberg site) should still carry Mayak, alongside the FM transmitters RCh-200 at Kaliningrad on 67.58 and RCh-318 at Veselovka on 67.46. Note that powers for FM are always transmitter output, so these 4 kW rigs produce an ERP well above 10 kW. First reports about MW transmitters of Radio Mayak being on air only for nine hours appeared already in 2005, cf. http://mediumwave.info/news_archive.htm#RUSSIA (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 21 ABR, 1300 UT, 21640 KHZ, Idh´aa as´Saah. Arabe. (La Emisora de la Verdad). Arabia Saudita. Llamadas telefónicas, expresando preferencias, en cuanto a la programación de la emisora. Programa de participación de la audiencia. Fuerte. Calidad Excelente (Adán Mur, Ñemby, Paraguay, Conexión Digital April 30 via DXLD) No such name is mentioned in the WRTH listings for the General Arabic service; is this really a program within that service, or now the name for all transmissions in Arabic other than Qur`an? (gh, DXLD) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. RUSSIA(non). Frequency change for FEBA Radio in Afar to EaAf from Apr. 8: 1600-1630 NF 11655 ARM 300 kW / 188 deg, ex 11750*KIG 250 kW / 030 deg *to avoid RFA in Uighur (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 28 via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. 6960.0, R. Shabelle, Mogadishu hrd 3/9 via DX Tuner SE [Sweden] from 0357 tune to 0432 fade. Tuned in to the middle of a commercial sequence with man and woman animated announcers (not unlike LA stations), 0357-0358, followed by Somali instrumental music 0358- 0358.5, then at 0359 into man announcer (Somali) to 0401, more Somali instrumental music, man announcer 0401-0407.5, Somali instrumental music followed by continuation of man announcer to 0413.5. Then there seemed to be a pattern of 2-3 min commercial segment, short (25-30 sec) Somali instrumental music, then man announcer again for about 5 minutes or so. Commercial at 0413.5 started with a phone ringing sound effect. SINPO (average) 24432. Started with S3 but quickly faded to S2 and then gradually to S1 by 0432. Less intermittent fading than R. Peace - more of a constant and slow decline. At infrequent intervals there was some sort of staccato-like "machine-gun"-sounding ute QRM on channel, but it was not a major problem. Given listed 0400 sign-on, the 0357 program was a surprise when I tuned - sign-on must now be earlier. Web site is http://www.shabelle.net (Bruce W. Churchill-CA- USA Mar 9, 2006 in JihadDX-ML via CRW via DXLD) 6960, R. Shabelle E-mailed QSL in 1 day for 3/9 reception at 0357 on the 6960 frequency via DX Tuner SE. Signer was the Shabelle Media Network Manager, Malik Yusuf Mohamud. I had e-mailed both info @ shabelle.net and maalik @ shabelle.net (the E-mail address for Malik is indeed not spelled quite like his name...). Text of the response was: "Dear Bruce, thank you for contacting us. that is really Shabelle Radio. it is very wonderful how you understood our Programs particularly how you identified the jingles that is very fantastic. briefly, we are a media company based in Mogadishu, Somalia in the Horn of Africa. I think you know Africa very well. we work on both FM and SW transmitters. our schelude begins 06:30 am local time everymorning. thank you Bruce once more. wish you and your large family best as ever. Manager Of Shabelle Media Network (Abdi Malik Yusuf Mohamud)" Note the sign-on time is 0330 UT vice the listed 0400. That explains the program in progress at 0357. Pleased to get this even if from DX Tuner SE - this would otherwise be a non-starter on West Coast and would be considered good DX by our Scandinavian colleagues (B. W. Churchill-CA-USA Mar 11, 2006 in DXplorer-ML via CRW via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Frequency change of CVC International from Apr. 24: 1905-2205 NF 4990 MEY 100 kW / non-dir to Ce&SoAf in Portuguese, ex 9620 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 28 via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. GERMANY. Some DTK T-Systems changes: Brother Stair /TOM/ from Apr. 19: 1900-2100 NF 9405 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg to C/SAf, ex 1900-2000 on 9860 1900-2100 on 13810 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg to WAs/ME, cancelled Via IRRS [via Bulgaria] Brother Stair/TOM/ in English from Apr. 19: 1400-1755 Daily 9310, 050 kW / non-dir to Eu/ME/NoAf 1800-2300 Daily 5785, 050 kW / non-dir to Eu/ME/NoAf Brother Stair/TOM/ in English till Apr. 18, all deleted: 0600-1455 Mon-Fri 13840, 030 kW / non-dir to Eu/ME/NoAf 1300-1400 Mon-Fri 15750, 100 kW / 090 deg to ME/SoAs/FE 1500-1900 Daily 5785, 030 kW / non-dir to Eu/ME/NoAf 1900-2000 Mon-Fri 5785, 100 kW / non-dir to Eu/ME/NoAf 0600-0700 Sat/Sun 13840, 030 kW / non-dir to Eu/ME/NoAf 1200-1455 Sat/Sun 13840, 030 kW / non-dir to Eu/ME/NoAf 1300-1500 Sat/Sun 15750, 100 kW / 090 deg to ME/SoAs/FE 1900-2100 Sat/Sun 5785, 100 kW / non-dir to Eu/ME/NoAf (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 28 via DXLD) BS on WBCQ never got on the schedule in the first place, so not shown as deleted same date (gh) ** SUDAN [non]. 9905, MADAGASCAR, R. Nile, Talata Volonddry, 0421-0457 4/18 Very strong, solid copy with two African accented men talking about soccer, Dubai playing Manchester, on program entitled `Youth and Sport;` 0423 male vocal on African music; 0427 began long presentation by man on health precautions that can be taken by those in Darfur and refugee camps; don’t share dwelling with animals; wash your hands to avoid cholera, etc. After 0446-0451 musical numbers talked of psychological ways to maintain health. More music 0455; carrier cut mid-music 0457. Same program heard same date by Jim Renfrew on 12060! (John Callarman, Krum TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. A new Utility verie, Bangkok VOLMET, 6676 kHz USB. Letter and folder paper card in 35 days, v/s Ms. Jantima Niyomchok, for Director of Meteorological Information Communication Division. New Utility country, now to get Thailand on regular SWBC verified! (Martin Foltz, Mission Viejo CA, IRCA via DXLD) Lest we think of IRCA as a MW- only club ** TIBET. TIBETAN BROADCASTERS ORDERED TO WEAR FUR 2006.04.28 Vendors walk the streets of Beijing trying to sell animal skins said to be from Qinghai. Photo: AFP/Frederic J. Brown [caption] KATHMANDU --- Chinese authorities in the Amdo Tibetan region of northwest China have ordered Tibetan broadcasters to add fur trimmings to their traditional clothing, in an apparent jab at an anti-fur movement inspired by Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama... http://www.rfa.org/english/news/2006/04/28/tibet_fur/ (RFA via GRDXC via DXLD) This item has been spammed to many other lists where it is off-topic, such as harmonics, realdx, really to plug GRDXC? (gh, DXLD) ** TURKEY. Hi gh, Very good signal today from Voice of Turkey at 2200 UT on 9830, about S9 or S9 + 10 dB. Turkey has always been a bit difficult to receive a listenable signal here, but lately the signal seems to have improved. Today's broadcast included an interesting feature on using some kind of blue beads to ward off "the Evil Eye," and some quite listenable music. Fidelity was surprisingly good. Years ago Voice of Turkey called itself "Sunshine Radio," or something like that. Now they're talking about the Evil Eye. Sign of the times...?! Am using an Icom R-75 with a shortened Par End-Fed SWL antenna (probably about 25 feet or so extended; the rest is coiled due to space restrictions I have here). Switching to SSB, the signal seemed to zero beat at 9830.05 -- which is a bit unusual, because most signals on this Icom seem to zero beat at + 0.025 kHz. Wonder if the transmitter frequency is off a bit. There was some interference with what sounds like an RTTY signal on or close to the frequency (Ed Stone, (NYC), April 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. Checked out Radio Ukraine on 7490 again tonight: Indeed, there is a quite nasty noise, but no doubt it is transmitted and no "jamming". The noise is kind of something in between hissing and roaring, similar to what could be heard some years ago (and perhaps can still be heard) on Romanian transmitters. The audio itself is of telephone bandwith, limited to ca. 300...3000 Hz, so they apparently make do with a makeshift feed, perhaps full of the annoying hiss/roar. What's up there? How do they usually receive audio at all? Perhaps still via amplified/equalized copper wire and the cable(s) went faulty? [Later:] Just listened again to 7490 now after 2000, while the German program is on: 300...3000 Hz is an exaggeration, but the bass range is indeed entirely suppressed and music sounds like coming out of a pressure-chamber loudspeaker. So probably this is the regular feed and they deliberately limited the audio bandwidth to optimize speech readability. Concerning the noise: It is prominent when side-tuning to 7488 or 7492 and also when switching the radio to either USB or LSB (no difference between all these cases) but disappears when tuning exactly to 7490 while the radio is set to AM. Quite intriguing (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. Kharkov 837 kHz has changed from UR 2 (Promin) to UR 3 (Kultura) and was heard with a symphonic concert at 2000 UT. This is all from me for now. 73 and good luck (Ullmar Qvick, Norrköping, Sweden, April 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Fire at Rampisham --- Hi All, Today's Dorset Echo carries this brief report:- "A Fire at the transmitting station on Rampisham Down north of Dorchester was tackled by Firefighters last night (Thursday). Retained Crews from Maiden Newton and Beaminster wore breathing apparatus to extinguish the blaze which affected the switchboard. Thermal imaging cameras were also used to locate the seat of the blaze. A spokesman for Dorset Fire and Rescue Service said electrical equipment was damaged." Sounds like a relatively small fire so I doubt whether it was serious enough to cause any breaks in scheduled transmissions (David Lane, Weymouth UK, April 28, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U K. Re: POSSIBLE INDUSTRIAL ACTION --- There is now a statement about this on the BECTU website: Union officials are now due to present the BBC with a list of demands, calling on the BBC to keep the pension scheme open to new staff, scrap plans to raise retirement age, and retain the cap on staff contributions at the present limit of 7.5% of salary. If the BBC refuses to negotiate over the demands, or is unwilling to reach agreement with the unions, members across the BBC will be balloted for action. The Musicians' Union, whose members in various BBC orchestras belong to the Corporation pension scheme, attended the summit meeting today, and has not ruled out industrial action. Full statement: http://www.bectu.org.uk/news/bbc/nb0285.html (Mike Barraclough, UK, April 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The pension package for BBC staff is considerably better than that given to the UK's local government employees. Not only have the UK government withdrawn an early retirement deal for new public service employees, but they are also attempting to claw it back from existing long service staff who have spent many years contributing on the assumption they could retire on a full pension at 60 rather than 65. The final salary scheme has also been replaced in the same manner as the BBC proposals. The Beeb should not be strapped for cash; they broadcast to a country little bigger than the state of Florida and receive about 4 billion dollars a year from obligatory payments from every TV owning property in the nation. This method of funding has advantages over commercial radio and TV as the BBC's income is absolutely guaranteed, where the commercials are effected by the fluctuating profits of air-time sales. The commercial sector does complain about this unfair competition, but it has to be said the public in general do like commercial free radio and TV channels (Andy Cadier, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Quote of the Day --- In a Bloomberg News article carrying the byline of Charles Goldsmith and published in today`s Albany (NY) Times-Union (and probably other papers), BBC Director General Mark Thompson is quoted as follows: "[The BBC] should no longer think of itself as a broadcaster of TV and radio and some new media on the side. We should aim to deliver public service content to our audiences in whatever media and on whatever device makes sense for them, whether they are at home or on the move." But apparently if you are part of the BBC's audience living in the Western Hemisphere or Australasia and you are a part of the sizeable segment of that audience for whom the media that makes the most sense for you -- whether at home or on the move -- is shortwave and the device that makes sense for you is a shortwave capable radio, you curiously -- and somewhat illogically -- do not come under the aegis of Mr. Thompson's stated intent. One can only conclude from this dichotomy that this statement is just more of the same p.r.-inspired b.s. that is intended to obfuscate rather than clarify and illuminate which we are getting used to hearing from those in BBC management circles of late. Underlining this point is information contained in the remainder of the article wherein Mr. Thompson states that he wants the BBC and its web site to be a "premier destination" for unsigned music groups, ape the success of sites like MySpace.com, create a new "broad-based teen brand" with "a single music strategy" across all its platforms and commission more comedy pilots while creating a BBC Sports broadband portal with live video and audio. To my ears, these all sound like broadcasting objectives more appropriate to commercial entities, and decidedly not the "delivery of public service content" stated by Mr. Thompson. In drawing such a conclusion, one has to wonder under what possible justification can the BBC still legitimately claim special status as a public service broadcaster and demand access to a mandatory license fee, let alone an increase in one. Recent management had broken the BBC... and it can no longer be fixed. Make it be what its myopic management wants it to be by releasing it from its no longer deserved special status. What has been lost is considerable and valuable, but it can no longer be recaptured or rebuilt and that is sad, very sad. Let's not reward the destroyers of the dream and let the delusion that this is a "public broadcaster" stand any longer. [Later:] The speech was Royal Television Society's Fleming Memorial Lecture dealing with domestic TV and radio, tying in for the BBC's licence fee submission http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/04_april/25/creative.shtml The full speech is online but I can't find the link (John Figliozzi, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The full text is on the BBC Press Office site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/speeches/stories/thompson_fleming.shtml (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) I didn't see the article, but I bet Mr. Thompson was primarily pontificating regarding the UK audience. I'll wager that shortwave never entered his (or his speechwriter's) consciousness (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, swprograms, via DXLD) [Reply to JAF:] Doesn't follow from the above but how do you justify putting the word sizeable in front of segment? Time has moved on since the decision was made to drop shortwave, which in itself reduces the shortwave audience. There is more broadband penetration and online listening with portable devices and WiMax being developed. Satellite radio, which at the time was unproven, has a large subscription base. I would contend, since you are asking me to pay out of my taxes a service you would get free on shortwave, that there is a segment but it's not sizeable and, given there is a limit on funding, it's not seen as a priority. I don't accept the BBC's claims on FM coverage being effective in the US market for reasons previously argued on this list but, in my opinion, you can't argue a case like this now without statistics. To put it bluntly how many people in the US and Canada today are using shortwave to listen to international broadcasts, to what extent are they using it if they have access to other sources, and, which is more difficult to argue, how many would consider using shortwave again if a BBC service came on with reliable reception. You would also need a commitment for the advantages of shortwave to be publicised to rebuild the audience. Did one of your government agencies recommend everyone have a wind-up radio with shortwave coverage in case of emergency by the way? If so that's actually a good argument for a re-introduction of the service. ``One can only conclude from this dichotomy that this statement is just more of the same p.r.-inspired b.s. that is intended to obfuscate rather than clarify and illuminate which we are getting used to hearing from those in BBC management circles of late.`` How can one conclude that in such strong terms? Thompson backed up his statements with research, stating what I see every day, young people don't use media like I used to, for example a quarter of 16-24 year olds watch no BBC television. Everyone in the country pays a licence fee and as the UK media scene becomes more diverse, both in terms of media sources available and the way people access them, the BBC has therefore, as a broadcaster, to use the appropriate technology. If it buries its head in the sand and thinks everyone will listen to radio and TV at set times of the day on traditional devices its whole model of funding will collapse as people will question the licence fee. ``Underlining this point is information contained in the remainder of the article wherein Mr. Thompson states that he wants the BBC and its web site to be a "premier destination" for unsigned music groups`` How is that more appropriate to a commercial entity as you claim later who have narrow playlists of bands signed to major labels with PR budgets. The BBC's commitment to music is excellent. Use appropriate technology for public service content. The BBC is adding an Electric Proms season this year, long overdue. ``ape the success of sites like MySpace.com, create a new "broad-based teen brand" with "a single music strategy" across all its platforms and commission more comedy pilots while creating a BBC Sports broadband portal with live video and audio.`` If you read and google further you will see that the "teen brand" will be targeting markets the commercial sector does not, for example unsigned music, access, and talk radio programmes for young people. ``To my ears, these all sound like broadcasting objectives more appropriate to commercial entities, and decidedly not the "delivery of public service content" stated by Mr. Thompson.`` Disagree for reasons above. ``In drawing such a conclusion, one has to wonder under what possible justification can the BBC still legitimately claim special status as a public service broadcaster and demand access to a mandatory license fee, let alone an increase in one.`` There's a widespread debate going on at the moment in the UK, amongst those who pay the licence fee, on these very points but I don't accept the premise on which you base your conclusion. ``The recent management had broken the BBC... and it can no longer be fixed.`` The programming and strategy has improved a lot since the governors found the excuse they needed to get rid of Greg Dyke. As you assert that it can no longer be fixed what exactly are you proposing? ``Make it be what its myopic management wants it to be by releasing it from its no longer deserved special status.`` The use of the word myopic in a speech dealing with how technology is changing, and will continue to change, the use of audio and visual content I find quite bizarre. Can't respond, don't understand. ``What has been lost is considerable and valuable, but it can no longer be recaptured or rebuilt and that is sad, very sad. Let's not reward the destroyers of the dream and let the delusion that this is a "public broadcaster" stand any longer.`` A politician`s statement, using 43 emotive, yet ultimately meaningless, words to back up, in my opinion, a wafer thin case. I am quite happy daily to watch the breadth of programming on BBC Television, listen to the superb radio networks, use the listen again facilities on the BBC radio player, await the new Integrated Media Player, use ITunes to start subscribing to the BBC podcasts, and use the BBC website, I believe the UK's most visited. As a US citizen, John, you say, in somewhat dramatic terms, that, despite all this use I make of its content, the BBC has been destroyed, can you point me to another public, or even private, broadcaster that offers all this please since you appear to be claiming the BBC may as well close down tomorrow. Where is your model of a public service broadcaster I am to compare with one you say is irreparably broken? (Mike Barraclough, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) You make excellent points and I thank you for taking the time to address my points. I'll try to explain briefly -- and, yes, this might involve a little backtracking on my part. 1. I've never argued that the BBC was wrong to embrace new delivery platforms; quite the contrary. My sole points in this regard -- and I believe I have been consistent -- has been that the WS was premature in its abandonment of SW as one of the platforms and disingenuous in the use of research to justify it. They also acted on an insulting, arrogant and inaccurate bias (i.e.: that SWLs are just hobbyists uninterested in and unworthy of their content). 2. I agree with you that BBC management have produced, in effect, a self-fulfilling prophecy. By eliminating SW, of course there are no (or very few) SW BBC listeners today in the Western Hemisphere. At this point, I accept that as accomplished fact. It doesn't mean that I've forgotten how they got there. I appreciate your support on the FM argument. (Parenthetically, I now use XM and Sirius to access WS; but the BBC can't even keep the RDS-style displays up to date when they change schedules as they did in March. My screen still carries the old schedule -- unprofessional and wholly lacking in attention to detail if you ask me.) 3. As to your remarks about paying taxes to allow me to hear the BBC for free, you already do that for elsewhere and have been doing it for some time. I don't quite understand how the BBC (or you) might justify leaving SW and MW in place for Europe which has access to broadband and satellite at least in similar measure to us in the Western Hemisphere. I hope you'll agree there's an inconsistency in its approach there at least. This may contribute to my impression about those of us on this side of the pond being somewhat unfairly singled out and victimized. 4. The DG's statement I quoted seemed to be saying that the BBC had an obligation (or at least an intent) to engage listeners whatever way was most convenient for the listener. I just thought that their actions viz NA and shortwave belied that stated conviction and therefore was said more for effect and was to a degree hypocritical. 5. As time went on in my statement (hopefully not too much of a rant), I probably am guilty of having become too hyperbolic in my points about Thompson and how he sees the future. You make excellent points about the fragmentary nature of audiences today and in arguing that the BBC has employed some skill in identifying and carving out segments not likely to be served (at least immediately) by commercial media. I, myself, enjoy the various radio services still (although perhaps not for long without charge) available to me via the internet, as well as some of the programming on BBC America (though I still think that a good portion of the latter reflects commercial rather than public service values). 6. I also agree there is much quality in much of the programming produced for and by the BBC. I think credit for that goes primarily to the creative people and those in administrative and management circles closest to them, rather than those at the loftier levels; but there you have it. 7. As for my views on what constitutes a good example of public service media, I have to plead that I'm still working that one out. It's sort of "I know what it is when I see it, but can't quite define it satisfactorily for others". We've had quite an ongoing discussion about that very point in this forum, and it remains unresolved, I think it is fair to say. As to some of my arguments being "emotive", I also have to plead guilty. I have had great and deep respect for the BBC and can get quite defensive toward it (as demonstrated) when I begin to fear that its great tradition of public service might be threatened and underappreciated by those charged with protecting it. I probably haven't addressed each and every one of your points, but hopefully I've explained myself a bit more clearly and have advanced the discussion at least marginally (John Figliozzi, April 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Re 6-067, John Babbis` comments under GREECE: Hello again, Glenn: Want to add something as a comment to what I read: "What a terrible catastrophe . . .`` Just reading Mary Motes' interesting book "Kosova-Kosovo 1966-1999 - Prelude to war" in which she mentions that the Kosovo Albanian Suleiman had learnt English himself by listening to the Voice of America in Thessaloniki, long before English was taught in the Kosovo schools; later he graduated in Belgrade and started teaching English at the Prishtina University. You can't deny the fact that the VOA was important to this guy, whose English was excellent according to Mary Motes, and to his work as a pioneer of the English language in a remote part of Europe... Just wanted to mention this as a comment to John Babbis (Ullmar Qvick, Norrköping, Sweden, April 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also GREECE ** U S A. VOA: Falleció Juan José Betancor MUERE EXPERIODISTA DEL SERVICIO LATINOAMERICANO DE LA VOA http://www.voanews.com/spanish/2006-04-26-voa19.cfm Falleció, este miércoles 26 de abril, Juan José Betancor, uno de nuestros más queridos colegas. Juanjo, como cariñosamente lo llamábamos, llegó a la Voz de América el 19 de septiembre de 1968. Previamente, se desempeñó en el ámbito publicitario en su nativo Uruguay y en España. Durante más de 30 años su voz acompañó a varias generaciones de escuchas latinoamericanos. Entre los programas a los que Juan José prestó su inigualable estilo, en la Voz de América, estaban Escritores norteamericanos, Cuentos Cortos, Agricultura en Marcha y el Club de Oyentes... Juan José Betancor, periodista, escritor, investigador, guionista, amante de la Literatura, amigo entrañable, murió a los 85 años, en Virginia, rodeado del afecto de sus familiares y amigos (via Dino Bloise, FL, April 29, DXLD) ** U S A. SW as Alternate Media --- When the religious broadcasters started to proliferate on SW, I was unhappy. But something interesting has happened. Some of them have morphed into alternative media, anti- Establishment programs. There is still the religious flavor, but they do provide an alternative to the censored, brain-dead garbage that's on mainstream media. You want more of the suppressed truth? Buy a shortwave radio. Can this trend grow and keep shortwave alive? I hope so. Through SW I've learned about the Web site, http://www.ST911.org -- done by a group of academics who have found troubling inconsistencies in the government's version of what happened on 9/11. They seem to be very credible. An eye-opener, if you're not familiar with all the evidence. Kudos to WBCQ's This Week in Amateur Radio. Caught the broadcast today -- very professionally produced, clever and amusing material. Reception of WBCQ this past Winter was abysmal here. Seems better now (Ed Stone, (NYC), April 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Heard Marion announce on WBCQ that her Attic is also heard on http://www.skybirdradio.com Sundays at 18-19 UT. Quite good reception already on WBCQ 7415 UT Sun at 01-02, fading after that in Lost Discs (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Another routine check to confirm whether WOR is on as scheduled found DX Partyline instead during the 0530 UT Sunday hour April 30 on WRMI 9955. It was barely audible. Perhaps WOR appeared at 0500 instead? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Solar-terrestrial indices for 29 April follow. Solar flux 101 and mid- latitude A-index 1. The mid-latitude K-index at 0600 UTC on 30 April was 0 (02 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours. No space weather storms are expected for the next 24 hours (SEC via DXLD) ** U S A. Frequency change for WYFR Family Radio in English to NoAm: 1700-2000 NF 13690 YFR 100 kW / 355 deg, ex 13695 to avoid RFI French (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 28 via DXLD) ** U S A. Radio Veronica US has been added to the database at http://www.publicradiofan.com/cgi-bin/station.pl?stationid=4958 Includes WORLD OF RADIO and a number of progressive shows (Glenn Hauser, April 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. RANDY SHOULD HAVE SEARCHED THE AIR AMERICA TRASH Is it a bidding war for WLIB, New York? And could Air America wind up extending its lease past August 31? That s the way Inside Radio now hears it – and that WLIB owner Inner City doesn’t have an agreement with Randy Michaels. Nobody’s talking, but it sounds like Inner City’s interested in maximizing its long-term lease revenue, not long after signing a short-term renewal with Air America. posted by lou josephs at 1:28 AM April 29 (medianetwork blog via DXLD) ** U S A. My local AM station, WABC, doesn't broadcast one of my favorite shows, Coast to Coast AM, on early Saturday morning (1 am here). So I try to listen instead to other stations that broadcast it: WHAS 840 kHz(Louisville, KY), WTAM 1100 kHz (Cleveland, OH) or WTIC 1080 kHz (Hartford, CT). The Par gives me better reception than my longwires -- usually by about 3 S-units or better. I guess that's partly due to the fact that the Par is oriented East-West, while the longwire is mostly North-South. The Par also picks up less RF noise. Best reception here is usually on WTAM (Ed Stone, (NYC), April 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re 6-067, no QSLing WABC: Typical Disney bullshit! (Greg Hardison, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I can't guarantee this will work, but it might be worth a shot: Now that WABC is playing music again on Saturday evenings (6 - 10 pm EDT / 2200 Saturday - 0200 Sunday UT), they've established a little message board where people can post during the show, making song requests, reminiscing about the old "Musicradio WABC". Quite a few WABC staffers tend to monitor that board while the "Saturday Night Oldies" show is on the air, so it might be worth making a post to that web board during those hours asking about QSLs. Maybe your post might catch the eye of a WABC engineer who might be more open to the idea of providing you some sort of QSL: http://musicradio.computer.net/wabcboard/wwwboard/wabcboard1.html You might also consider posting to the "big sister" of that board, the New York Radio Message Board, where all sorts of employees and fans of all NYC metro radio stations post 24 hours a day: http://musicradio.computer.net/wwwboard/nyboard1.html If nothing else, a post there may start a discussion where all the regulars bemoan the decline of QSLing by New York stations ... if there's anywhere that such a discussion would have a chance of being read by those in a position to change the "no QSL" policy, it's on that board (Aaron Dickey, April 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I replied back to the Boyce Allmighty at WABC, and here is what the God of Broadcasting said: ----- Original Message ----- From: Boyce, Phil Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 6:36 AM Subject: Re: WABC reception First of all you did get a response from WABC. Print it out and keep it. I do appreciate your listening to WABC. Thanks and stay tuned. WABC is heard in 38 states and 7 countries. We have a ton of listeners out there. Why do you assume it is no big deal to personally type a response every time one of them writes us? We have 2 million listeners. Years ago when Radio was growing it was a thrill for a radio station to know it had been heard a few thousand miles away. It no longer is a thrill. Now we stream on the internet. I have listeners in Iraq for God's sake. It is no big deal that you heard us in Kentucky. ----(break for comment here)---- I guess he refers to fly over country as Kentucky, even if you're in Ohio at least 225 miles from Kentucky. ----(resume e-mail from Boyce Allmighty)---- The hobby of DXing is a dying one. Most of us in radio were DXing as a kid just listening. I never would have asked a radio station to acknowledge my existence. Instead I went into the business and worked my way to the top at one of those stations. I am in management. Phil Boyce VP of Newstalk Programming ABC Radio WABC Radio The Sean Hannity Show The Mark Levin Show ----snip---- I have nothing more to say about this. It saddens me to hear that WOR has gone back to non verifying; they were sending out a QSL a few years back, after I e-mailed a bunch of times and their engineer kept putting it off. If you inquire about IBOC HD broadcasting they might send you some propaganda about that! The engineer they had a few years back was all gung ho about that (Michael Procop, OH, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) This reminds me of the words I overheard from a Toronto newspaper reporter, while covering a large demonstration in Toronto a couple of decades ago: "I don't really care what they (demonstrators) think. I'm making more money than them, anyhow." I wish I'd caught those comments on tape, and that I'd had access to web and podcasting technologies back then. Sometimes drech [sic] rises to the top (Saul Chernos, ibid.) Michael-all, Arrogant SOB! 2 million people don't request QSL cards! Yet, on Saturday night, they beg for calls to their oldies show, or any other talk show, for that matter. Hang on the line 56 minutes so you can be "put down" or told "you have 45 seconds" by the host. Just because HE wanted to get into radio and HE is in management, you should be in awe! I know one thing, Michael. I have always, always had the last laugh. It might take you a year or 3 or 5, but you will have the last laugh. In 10 years, you'll have 20,000 QSLs (or close, hi!) and if WABC's ratings drop, and drop and drop, this guy will be yesterday's news! Do the other ABC-Disney stations (AM or FM) behave like this? If you ever get a diary, fill in someone other than an ABC outlet (John J. Rieger, in South Milwaukee, WI, ibid.) As far as other ABC stations, I have not had too much trouble, but that was a few years ago, the most recent QSL was from WFDF in Detroit, which is R. Disney and affiliated with and possibly owned by ABC, I have a QSL card from WJR and a letter for their FM station which took some patience and persistence, I had positive e-mails from their engineer, said he was busy but would get to it and he did eventually, so I have no gripes with ABC Detroit. I usually have no trouble with R. Disney stations. It's not necessarily the company the station's owned by but the people that work in that market, Clear Channel has some great people working for them in some markets but there are a few markets where you'll find the Gods of Broadcasting up on Self Righteous Mountain. Cumulus seems tough in most of its markets, especially with the engineer they had (or still do have) in Flint. Of course then there's non verifiers like WTIC, WCBS, WAQI Miami, CHSC, (add WOR back to the list). The good ones for QSL's a few years back were WBZ, WFAN, KSL, KNX, KFAB. Good DX! (Michael Procop, Bedford, Ohio (Cleveland), ibid.) ** U S A. To Don Niccum at KCKN, with copies to Les Rayburn and the NRC list: I have received my KCKN-1020 DX test QSL card. Thank you very much for verifying the report and for running the test. A link to the audio clip may be accessed from http://home.comcast.net/~markwa1ion/dx_audio.htm#dxtests The QSL card with mailing envelope can be viewed from a link on my QSL Gallery page http://home.comcast.net/~markwa1ion/qsl_gallery1.htm This is my first New Mexico broadcast-band reception in 45 years in the hobby. Again, thanks (Mark Connelly, WA1ION - Billerica, MA, April 28, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Would anyone on this list have the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner en español, or a link to same? I've only been able to find an approximate EE translation of the Spanish text, but not the actual SS version. 73 (Mike Brooker, Toronto, ON, April 29, NRC-AM via DXLD) Nuestro Himno lyrics http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-060426nuestro,0,6454902.story?coll=chi-news-hed Nuestro Himno audio link on this page http://hotair.com/archives/the-blog/2006/04/26/your-new-national-anthem/ (Clara Listensprechen, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Mike, These two sites have it. But since I don't know more than the alphabet, numbers and perhaps a hundred words I'll have to take the translation as correct. The Star Spangled Banner lyrics are so far off and screwed up, it's hard to believe it's supposed to be the same thing. http://www.johnandkenshow.com/ John and Ken show- 640 KFI et al.(scroll down for song lyrics) http://victoriataftkpam.blogspot.com/ 860 KPAM (scroll down) These sites may have additional information on the SSB. http://www.numbersusa.com/index http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer http://www.theamericanresistance.com/index.html http://www.veteransforsecureborders.us/ Here's a couple more that may have the Star Spangled Banner in SS. Hope one of these has what you need. http://www.theterryandersonshow.com/ 720 KDWN (870 KRLA) This is a great program. http://www.wake-up-america.com/ (720 KDWN) This one's on about 22:00 each night. http://www.tancredo.org/ http://www.minutemanhq.com/hq/ http://www.teamamericapac.org/ http://www.mayorno.com/WhatIsRaza.html http://www.borderfenceproject.com/about_us.shtml http://www.smartbusinesspractices.com/ 73- (Doug Pifer, KE6GMM, IRCA via DXLD) Actually I found the Spanish version on NPR along with a real audio sample http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5369145 but thanks for the links to those politically incorrect, far-right and in some cases blatantly racist sites. 73 (Mike Brooker, Toronto, ON, ibid.) On the contrary, I think the translation is pretty good, for what is a rather convoluted lyric in the original English (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR MARKS 4,000TH RADIO BROADCAST April 29, 2006 Salt Lake City When music director Craig Jessop raises his baton Sunday morning to direct the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, it won't be just another broadcast of the weekly program "Music and the Spoken Word." It will be the 4,000th broadcast - a milestone in radio broadcasting history. . . http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=283252&Category=8 (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Includes link to their site http://www.mormontabernaclechoir.org/ but it took forever to load; is there an affiliate list and schedule? I haven`t run across the show in years, perhaps because I listen mostly to public radio. I suppose it must be on KBYU (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [and non]. I checked Voice of the People at 11705 at 1710 March 21 and they have resumed regular programming. Plenty of talk and ID's as "Radio Voice of the People." The signal was not as good as the above and there was some co-channel interference (H. Johnson-FL-USA, in JihadDX-ML via CRW via DXLD) ?? How do you know they ``resumed regular programming``? Were there current date references? AFAIK, they continued only with repeats courtesy of RN, whilst the staff continues to face prosecution and have no access to their produxion equipment, right Andy? (gh, DXLD) ZIMBABWE: TRIAL DATE SET AGAINST VOP DIRECTORS The trial of Voice of the People (VOP) board members accused of operating a radio station without a licence in terms of the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) has been set for 15 June 2006 at the Harare Magistrates Courts. A Harare magistrate set the trial date on 26 April 2006 when the VOP board members appeared in court on remand. David Masunda, Nhlanhla Ngwenya, Lawrence Chibwe, Millie Phiri, Arnold Tsunga, Bella Matambanadzo and director John Masuku are accused of contravening section 7(1) of the Broadcasting Services Act which prohibits broadcasting without a licence. It is alleged that the accused established an office at Beverly Court in Harare which they equipped with computers and produced news programmes. The news programmes were allegedly then dispatched to the Netherlands, from where they were relayed to Madagascar. The state alleges that the station in Madagascar then beamed the programmes into Zimbabwe via shortwave. (Source: Media Insitute of Southern Africa) # posted by Andy @ 10:30 UT April 28 (Media Network blog via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 21420, April 14: Hi all, Just downloaded EIBI schedules, which are now all up to date. Checked out 7140 which i was hearing on its 3rd harmonic, 21420 on April 14 at 0807z, seems there are two programs on frequency, V. of Korea DPRK with Mandarin and CNR2 China PRC with China Business Radio, also in Mandarin. Have a carrier almost every day now on 21420, not sure which one I'm hearing. Anyway thanks for the support, Tim, as for above 30 MHz harmonics this season, they have been few and far between, but never give up! Will try to hear a few more on HF, I'm sure there's more around, and with more effort some of your logs Tim, could be heard here; conditions here have been better than expected, keeping note of everything you`re hearing. 73 (Dave Vitek, Adelaide, S Australia, April 28, harmonics yg via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ PROGRAMAS DISPONIBLES EN PROGRAMAS DX http://es.geocities.com/programasdx/ LA ROSA DE TOKYO - LS11 RADIO PROVINCIA http://es.geocities.com/programasdx/larosa.htm FRECUENCIA RM - LA VOZ DE RUSIA http://es.geocities.com/programasdx/frecuenciarm.htm RINCÓN DIEXISTA - RADIO RUMANIA INTERNACIONAL http://es.geocities.com/programasdx/rincondiexista.htm MUNDO RADIAL - GLENN HAUSER http://es.geocities.com/programasdx/mundoradial.htm AMIGOS DE LA ONDA CORTA - RADIO EXTERIOR DE ESPAÑA http://es.geocities.com/programasdx/amigosondacorta.htm RADIO ENLACE - RADIO NEDERLAND http://es.geocities.com/programasdx/radioenlace.htm REVISTA DEL DIEXISMO - RADIO BUDAPEST http://es.geocities.com/programasdx/revistadiexismo_rbudapest.htm ANTENA DE LA AMISTAD - KBS WORLD RADIO http://es.geocities.com/programasdx/kbsantena.htm PROGRAMA DIEXISTA DE RADIO BULGARIA http://es.geocities.com/programasdx/programadx.htm EN CONTACTO - RADIO HABANA CUBA http://es.geocities.com/programasdx/encontacto.htm NOTICIERO DIEXISTA - NHK WORLD RADIO JAPÓN http://es.geocities.com/programasdx/noticiero_diexista.htm (José Miguel Romero2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ PAR END-FED ANTENNA Bought the Par End-Fed antenna based on some reviews at eham http://www.eham.net/reviews/ Am generally happy with the build quality and performance, although I can't fully deploy it outside because I'm in an apartment building. On some signals, though, I gain about 10 dB over about 50 feet of longwire strung in front of a window and around the room (Ed Stone, (NYC), April 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MUSIC ON SW Many SW broadcasters don't seem to take propagation instability into account when they choose which music to play. Unless you have a really strong signal, it's just not listenable. Broadcasters should make more thoughtful choices. Hard rock doesn't mix well with a fuzzy signal. I think something with a lot of highs or midrange notes would get make it through better. Bach harpischord music, anyone? (Ed Stone, (NYC), April 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ HOUSE COMMITTEE OKAYS TELECOMS BILL WITH BPL-INTERFERENCE STUDY AMENDMENT Apr 27, 2006 Newington, CT http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/04/27/2/?nc=1 The US House Energy and Commerce Committee's version of the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement (COPE) Act of 2006 includes an amendment requiring the FCC to study the interference potential of BPL systems. After spending two days marking up (the Ross amendment is No 25) the measure, the panel voted April 26 to send the much-talked-about "telecoms rewrite" bill to the full House for its consideration. "Outstanding news!" was the reaction of ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ. "This is a major victory for the ARRL," he exulted, noting that the amendment "received significant opposition" from utility companies. Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR), proposed the amendment, and, with the support of Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), the committee agreed by voice vote to include it in the bill. A year ago, Ross sponsored House Resolution 230 (H Res 230), which calls on the FCC to "reconsider and revise rules governing broadband over power line systems based on a comprehensive evaluation of the interference potential of those systems to public safety services and other licensed radio services." The non-binding resolution has six cosponsors. "Hundreds of ARRL members who wrote their congressional representatives in support of Rep Ross's H Res 230 helped to achieve this week's success with the COPE Act amendment," Sumner observed. A more-widely reported Internet "network neutrality" amendment to the COPE Act bill was defeated. The measure will get a number next week. A statement released by Ross's office notes that his amendment, which received unanimous committee support, "would guarantee that valuable public safety communications and Amateur Radio operators are not subject to interference." One of two radio amateurs in the US House, Ross said infrastructure-free Amateur Radio, "often overlooked in favor of flashier means of communication," can maintain communication in disasters that bring more vulnerable technology to its knees. Ham radio operators "are often the only means of communication attainable in a devastated area," Ross said. "I believe it is imperative that the interference potential [of BPL] is thoroughly examined and comprehensively evaluated to ensure that deployment of BPL, which I do support, does not cause radio interference for Amateur Radio operators and first responders who serve our communities," Ross added. The COPE Act BPL amendment adds a section (under Title V) to the proposed legislation that would require the FCC to study and report on the interference potential of BPL systems within 90 days of the bill's enactment. The Commission would have to submit its report to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation. "This puts the House Energy and Commerce Committee on record as having concerns about BPL interference," Sumner said. "If we are vigilant in protecting it against deletion on the House floor -- assuming the bill is approved by the House -- the BPL language will be included in the legislation that goes on to the Senate." (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM: See BRAZIL; CANADA; GERMANY; MALAYSIA IBOC: See CANADA; USA WABC/WOR AUDIBLE ATROCITIES ++++++++++++++++++ ``Accra is the biggest city in Africa, with a population of one and a half million`` (Megan McCormick, Globe Trekker on PBS, UT April 28 at 0202 via OETA) That was the episode on Ghana and Ivory Coast. This young lady must be barely 20, and despite her travels, has yet to learn much about Africa, or basic geography. For example Cairo has over 10 mega and Alexandria over 4 mega, just to take one other African country, per World Almanac 2002. Doubt-benefiting her, perhaps it was a slip and she meant to say ``in Ghana``, but then the program editors are to blame (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ 19 METERS AFTER DARK 19 meters has generally been dead after local sunset (except for Shepparton) but Saturday evening (Sunday morning GMT} between about 0325z and 0355z I tuned across the band and logged 32 signals. 25 of the signals were almost certainly short path across the Pacific (or the North Pole) to central Texas, for example, North Korea, China (Kashi & Xi`an), India (Bangalore), Japan, Taiwan, Northern Marianas, Australia, New Zealand and Russian Far East. Those stations had just a couple of hours of darkness (at my end) to contend with. But a few of the stations may have been long path, off the back side of their arrays with much lower radiated power. Saudi Arabia, Iran, Oman and Israel would have almost all darkness if propagating via short path but almost all daylight if via long path. I think it more probable they came via long path. Only two stations, Cuba (15230 kHz) and Chile (15585 kHz) were certainly a short path. I also caught Noblejas, Spain (15160 kHz). This one would have been all darkness if short path but still a couple of hours of darkness at each end if via long path. Nothing else from Europe on 19 meters (Jerry Lenamon, Waco, TX, Drake R8B, sloper, UT April 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###