DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-073, May 13, 2006 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2006 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT SW AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 67: Sun 0230 WWCR 5070 Sun 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0530 WRMI 9955 Sun 0630 WWCR 3215 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 ** ALBANIA. 7465 // 9920 R. Tirana, Shijak *1845 UT May 11 in English to Europe. Reception was good, but audio distorted as usual from Shijak (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, Rx: AOR 7030+, Ant: 95 m lw to E, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. Glenn, nothing heard on May 8, 10, 11 at 15476. Checking various times from 19 to 21. Propagation path between Antarctica and Hawaii is ocean, so good chance of hearing this if on (David Norcross, Kahalu'u Hawaii, Sony 2010 w/ Grove Skywire in attic, SW100 7 meter lanai longwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: ¿Nadie en el Cono Sur trata de captar a LRA-36? Aquí los resultados de quienes nos enforzamos en el Norte, desde las emisiones recientes de DXLD, últimamente con éxito. 73, (Glenn Hauser, condig list via DXLD) Trabajo a esa hora!! :( (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, condig list via DXLD) Yo he intentado en el que sería su horario habitual (19 UT y más adelante hasta las 21) por última vez el pasado lunes y no había nada. La busqué con intensidad en ese segmento horario en el último mes. Jamás escuche señal alguna. Antes de esa hora para mí es imposible ya que trabajo. 73 (Arnaldo Slaen, Buenos Aires, May 11, condig list via DXLD) Saludos, Monitoreada LRA36 entre las 20 y 21h del viernes 12/5, en la ciudad de Buenos Aires con Sangean ATS 818. No encontré señal alguna (Loco Azulado [sic], condig list via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. New X-band [station] in Buenos Aires, 1640 kHz. Radio Bethel, Villa Caraza, Partido de Lanus, Provincia de Buenos Aires is a new religious station. These are the first transmission days. Radio Bolivia is off air on 1640 and Radio Bethel has a strong signal in different areas of Buenos Aires city. The phone number is 4276-2423 and the new station transmits programs from Assembly of God church. Now, a lot of religious stations transmit in the local X-band (1630; 1640; 1660, 1680 & 1690 kHz. Nueva [emisora de] X-band en el Gran Buenos Aires, 1640 kHz. Radio Bethel, Villa Caraza, Partido de Lanus, Provincia de Buenos Aires, es una nueva emisora que transmite en la X-band local. Pertenece a la Iglesia ``Asamblea de Dios`` y por lo escuchado, está en los primeros días de transmisión. Fue reportada el dia 08 de mayo de 2006, sobre las 1350 UT, con el programa ``Una palabra para ti``, con saludos a oyentes de Bernal, Lanus e Ingeniero Budge, alabanzas y música cristiana. Anuncia el teléfono 4276-2423 para comunicarse con la estación. No llega Radio Bolivia, que operaba hasta hace unos días en la frecuencia. ¿Podría haber un cambio de QTH y orientación de la emisora que dirigia sus programas a la comunidad boliviana? Radio Bethel entra con muy buena recepción en el oeste de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires y Lomas del Mirador, donde fue escuchada (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, BCLnews.it via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 2310, VL8A Alice Springs, 1915 UT May 8, came with great signal. Also heard 2325 Tennant Creek and 2485 Katherine. This time of year in Finland with good Super Kaz antennas or long Beverages one can hear even X-Band Aussies. I heard only Greek pirates (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, Rx: AOR 7030+, Ant: 95 m lw to E, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 2325 and 4910. VL8T. Tennant Creek. Northern Territory Service noted on 5/11 back on "normal" 0830 daily frequency changeover from 4910 to 2325. 4910 ID'd at 0825 followed by sign off at 0830. 2325 ID'd at 0830 sign on, still going strong at 0920. Strong signals noted on each frequency with some fading along with static from local storms (Steve Bass, Columbus, Ohio, Icom 746PRO and Wellbrook 330S Loop Antenna (with South Pacific heading), dxldyg via DXLD) ** BELARUS. Just listened to the last few WOR podcasts and noticed an item on R. Belarus in one of the editions, in which you noted that Some DXers were questioning if it was even on-the-air, as they were not hearing the station. Since I was one of the folks asking that question, though I'd drop you a line to let you know I have been hearing Radio Belarus' 0200-0230 English service regularly - with fair signals - since Apr. 29th. Only two of the three listed frequencies for this timeframe are heard here (North Alabama), and these are the results; 5970 - the strongest frequency, but heavy adjacent-channel QRN makes it extremely tough copy. 6170 - only a carrier on this frequency. 7210 - only slightly weaker than 5970, but no adjacent channel QRN make this the best choice for listening. I suspect the transmitters are not operating at peak efficiency, as they sound nothing like the listed 100 or 250 kW for these frequencies. Feel free to use this in WOR or DXLD, if you see fit. Incidentally, my friend Jim Pogue in Memphis, TN has been hearing their 0230 German service on the weekends. 73 (J. D. Stephens, Hampton Cove, Alabama, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6025, Radio Illimani en español, 2355-0000, 09-05-2006, Comentarios sobre cartas de los oyentes, el locutor anuncia un espectáculo cultural de baile nacional del Tango Boliviano, a las 0000 QRM de otra emisora, 33433. Receptor: JRC NRD-535 Antena: Watson PBX- 100 Lugar: Casco urbano. 73 (José Bueno - Córdoba - España, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. QSL: R. Difusora Acreana, 4885.0: I received a letter with veri statement by registered mail in 2m for 1st follow up. Their sched: 0400-0900 (sic) local time (0900-1400 UT) on 4885 kHz with 5 kW and 0400-2400 local time (0900-0500 UT) on 1400 kHz with 10 kW. V/S : Antonio Washington de Aquino Sobrinho, Gerente Geral. Also received n/d PPC, but signed by Francineide Dias, Chefe de Setor Comercial (Takeshi SEJIMO, Japan, Radio Nuevo Mundo May 1 via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. May 10 at 1347, big collision on 15285 as usual, but hard to sort out what`s what. One in Mandarin, the other in English. BBC is scheduled in Mandarin here via Singapore. Perhaps the English was China Business Radio network; certainly not Firedrake. Accent reminded me of CRI English, but not // 15260 or 9650 Sackville. Or the English segment could have been from BBC and the Mandarin the jammer (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 7245, China Business Radio/CNR-2, May 11, 1320-1330, ``English Evening`` with segment called ``Listening to the World`` (have noted this program before on Thursday), with a R. Canada International program ``The Real McCoy``, about the life of the African-Canadian, Elijah McCoy, who invented and patented the self- lubricating cup for train locomotives. Others tried to copy his invention but they were not as good, so the railroads only wanted ``The Real McCoy``. Fascinating story! (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, DX LISTENING DIGTEST) ** COLOMBIA. La Voz del Guaviare, 6035.02, 0240-0304* May 6, Spanish announcements, IDs, local music, sign-off with NA. Poor with a lot of splatter. 0300 co-channel QRM from VOA. Weak leapfrogging spurs on 5809.65 and 6110.43, 0615-0630+ May 6: 5809.65 with La Voz de tu Conciencia spur from 6010.17; 6110.43 with Marfil Estéreo spur from 5909.91; at 100.26 kHz intervals (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) First report I`ve seen of the 6110+, blocked earlier by NHK, etc. There might be a het audible then, however (gh) ** COLOMBIA [and non]. Re 6-072: Raúl's observation sent me back to my tape of the reception in question, and I find the beginning of the song occurred precisely at the end of the announcement by HJDH. The plus-or-minus 200 Hz difference between the two stations and the need to adjust both notch and passband tuning to go back and forth between them meant the station which was not zero-beat had distorted audio. During the ID announcement, distorted music from XEOI is faintly heard --- and, as I just timed it, for 40 seconds, the musical number is alone on the tape. Forty seconds after the music began, a deep-voiced man began to speak from "the other station," but the music was on frequency and the male announcer's speech was distorted 200 or so Hz away. I was surprised to hear a Spanish version of a 45-year-old U.S. pop song on a Colombian religious station (the first time I'd heard the station, by the way), but made the assumption that someone had written appropriate lyrics. I've noticed that CVC La Voz out of Chile has a lively, Radio Disney- like sound -- contemporary Christian in Spanish and Portuguese -- so the musical selection engendered no red flag to my mind. If the audio on both stations had been clear, as opposed to one clear and one distorted, I could accept the possibility that HJDH had 40 seconds of silence while XEOI's coincidentally-timed music suddenly took over the channel ---. and when I measure Raúl's knowledge of the current radio scene on 49 meters against mine, there's enough reasonable doubt that I could be wrong. I played the McDaniels tune in 1961 when I was a part-time DJ at KNOE in Monroe, La., and I do recall that the lyrics thanked the Lord for creating the beloved young lady of the song! (John Callarman, Krum TX, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) More under LANGUAGE LESSONS, PUBLICATIONS ** CUBA. Another feedline foulup at RHC: May 10 at 1325, surprised to find RHC Spanish on 9570, where CRI English is supposed to be relayed, and it was // correct RHC Spanish frequency 9550. Show was ``Figuras en la Historia``, then mentioning that 17 May would be ``Día del Campesino Cubano``, anniversary of agrarian reform. CRI should demand a refund; Commies vs Commies! Back to China 24 hours later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. So far no luck with all that great Bahamian BCB FM that so many on the east coast of Florida are hearing. However, Radio Cadena Habana on 99.9 continues on an almost daily basis here, local late afternoons until about 7-8 p.m. [2300-2400 UT] Occasionally, Musical Nacional on 99.1 and Rebelde 96.7 are in as well. This tropo has been the case for, I think, about three weeks now. Very neat (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, May 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also PROPAGATION ** ECUADOR. HCJB DRM test transmissions to North America: 1700 UT, 5/11, 15370 DRM. The antenna is pointed at 0 degrees and the transmitter is running 4 kW. HCJB is running a DRM test from 1700 to 2100 UT May 10-12. Outstanding signal with 100% copy for the entire four hour transmission. Transmission included local music, DX Partyline and ID's announcing the DRM test. 1000 UT 5/12, 9745 kHz DRM. HCJB DRM test to North America. Fair signal with about 50% copy on the audio for the two hour broadcast of local music. Sign-off at 1200. Best regards Glenn! (Jeff Imel, Muncie, IN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Are you using Dream, or what? (gh) ** EGYPT. 17835, R. Cairo, May 07 1234-1244, 35433, English, News, ID at 1235 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) I never see this transmission reported from Europe or North America, tho you would think there would be some back or side-radiation (gh, DXLD) ** EUROPE. Pirate, Mystery Radio, 6220, 0125-0135+ May 7, pop music, IDs, acknowledged listeners` reports; good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. German experimental stations on 440 kHz (May 9, 2006) -- Geri Holger, DK8KW/W1KW, in Peine near Hannover, reports that German telecommunication authorities have issued him an experimental license to operate on the "medium wave" frequency of 440 kHz using the call sign DI2BO. He joins Walter Staubach, DJ2LF, in Dormitz near Nuernberg, who's been operating experimental station DI2AG on 440 kHz. Tests have been under way on that frequency since January 2005, Holger says, "to study the special propagation conditions on medium wave." Holger says CW beacon transmissions (which include call sign and grid square) will be sent on 440 kHz (±100 Hz), maximum 200 Hz bandwidth at a maximum power of 9 W ERP. "Both beacon transmissions will be coordinated in a way so that they can be observed simultaneously to study the propagation from both locations at the same time," Holger explained. "Also, two-way contacts between both experimental stations are planned." DI2BO is using a marine radio transmitter running about 130 W output into a top-loaded 18-meter umbrella antenna. He calculates the ERP is around 5 W. Further information is on the DK8KW Longwave Information Web site. http://www.qru.de/di2bo.html (from arrl.org Via Brock Whaley, DXLD and John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) Which now gives a schedule for May 12- 15 (gh) ** GREECE. SUBJECT: KAVALA AND RHODES ALL TRANSMISSIONS FROM THE KAVALA AND RHODES RELAY STATIONS WILL CEASE AS OF 0900 UTC, 11 MAY 2006. THIS EFFECTIVELY ENDS BROADCASTING AT THESE STATIONS. THE US GOVERNMENT WISHES TO RECOGNIZE AND TO THANK THE IBB EMPLOYEES AND THE PEOPLE OF GREECE FOR THEIR SUPPORT AND DEDICATION DURING MORE THAN 50 YEARS OF US AND GREEK BROADCASTING. TRANSMITTER CHANGES: KAV-A 0000-2400 CANCEL ALL KAV-11 0000-2400 CANCEL ALL KAV-12 0000-2400 CANCEL ALL RHO-A 0000-2400 CANCEL ALL MAY 10, 2006 I M M E D I A T E OPERATIONAL MEMO A06-061 101753 EFC NNNN (via Aaron Zawitzky, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: Voice of Greece started the North American transmissions late at 0128 UT Thursday, May 11 (John Babbis, MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Instead of 0000; possibly unrelated as this is Avlis (gh, DXLD) Here is a rough Babelfish translation of some reaxion: Gentlemen, unfortunately, it was impossible to ask further extension of the ERA-5 program from the general management of the Voice of America. If those who until now did not express interest from the ERT for the station, the Americans advance in the script of withdrawing the 2 short-wave transmitters 419-F from Xanthi and the 2 DX 600 medium-wave transmitters from Xanthi and Rhodes and they will sell the remaining material of value 41,000,000.00 Euro (prices at manufacture), which he was to give away in Greece. The value of the station today is calculated in 1,000,000,000.00 Euro. Congratulations to those who decided to interrupt the operation of ERA-5. Congratulations to those who refused a fortune of such level. Congratulations to those who undermined the Greek Broadcasting Corporation concerning the broadcasting corporations of adjacent states. In the page that I attach, I present the capacity in force in adjacent states. It is a worthy query as to who decided, with what thought they decided, and what expediency is hidden behind this decision, so that they deprived the ERT from such fortune. The association of workers denied that they assisted in the ceremony of the closing of the station and today it will inform all the means of mass briefing on National E'gklima (George Tsatalzinos, Person-in-charge of Maintainance and Repairs of the Department of Transmitter, Voice of America, Woodland, Xanthi (May 11 via John Babbis, DXLD) Glenn: It sounds as if VOA is going to pull out two 250-kW transmitters from Xanthi (Kavala) and two medium waver transmitters (one from Kavala and one from Rhodes) and sell off the rest (my guess). (John Babbis, MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here is a another notice in Greek dated May 11, forwarded by Babis Charalampopoulos, as run thru Babelfish (via John Babbis, MD) Sorry we can`t get better translations, but these give us an idea of how the latest developments are going over in Greece (gh) Today it is one particular day. TODAY THE RADIO PROGRAMS OF VOICE OF HOMELAND ARE CEASING. THEY ARE TRANSMITTED BY XANTHI [near Kavala] AND RHODES. Tens of workers are led aproejdopoj'ita to the unemployment. Without no one them gives the time to seek a solution for their own survival and their families. No one of responsibility does not wonder and should the basic right to work be crushed in inter-country transactions, if the sensitive societies of Xanthi, Kavala, Rhodes bear other unemployment. This is a side of currency that unfortunately it shows it interests few. Exists however and the other side that should it occupies all of us. With this programs STOPS ALSO the VOICE of GREECE in the Greeks in all the world. Stops the connection of emigrant, xenjteme'nwn and seamen with the Homeland. Thirty five years emissions of ERT, the ERA-5 are ruined. Unfortunately the administration of ERT and the politicians projsta'menoj did not evaluate rightly the situation. They decreased unacceptable and impermissible the importance of operation of station for our homeland and they unacceptably increased also and unfoundedly the functional cost, ignoring the elements that the association us brought. They lead to the demolition and destruction priceless installations. They leave unexploited the equipment and they lose the occasion to maintain the strategic advantage in order to strengthen the Voice of Greece in all the world. They ruin experienced personnel in technology that does not possess no one. They allow in other countries to increase their force in the sector of information. It cannot exist expediency in this, the most painless thought is that it is rather disability and indifference. Sure however it is national crime. Support our efforts. Stand with us and with the emigrant Hellenism that protests and fights. You we call all, to support our effort. To us has not been given the occasion to inform and to give in responsible to occupy who it is our national interest. Workers Society, "The Voice of America" (via John Babbis, DXLD) Dear John, Who knows what will happen with the transmitters. Spain? John, on Tuesday I`ll go to Avlis. There I will make a test on the frequency 12105 / 285 degrees, 1200-1900 GMT. I need your help. Please inform me for the difference with frequency 15630. Regards (Babis Charalampopoulos, ERA May 11 via John Babbis, MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Friend Babis: I have a feeling that the 792 kHz Kavala and the 1260 kHz Rhodos medium-wave transmitters will be shipped closer to Mr. Bush's private war in Iraq. As for two of the 250-kW Kavala transmitters, they will probably end up in Asia, too. The other ten 250-kW transmitters will probably be sold to the highest bidder, private or government, to make a few bucks for the Voice of America. I assume that Voice of Greece will now be busy working to put some of those four Gloria transmitters into service to resume the external service to Australia, Asia, South America, etc., that was formerly on the two Kavala transmitters. In the meantime, you will be forced to put reduced service to those areas on one of the three Avlis transmitters. Have you worked up a new Transmission Schedule to get some sort of service to the above areas? I will be here on Tuesday, May 16, to give you hourly reports from 1300-1900 UT on 12105 and 15630 kHz. I am assuming that ERT-3 will be on Avlis 1 on 9935 and 7450, Avlis 2 on 15630/285, and Avlis 3 on 12105/323. Will you be carrying the Foreign Language programs on 15630 as a replacement for 7430 Kavala? Regards, (John Babbis to Babis Charalampopoulos, via DXLD) Dear John, No No, trial concerns the transmitter that transmits 15630 where it will transmit on frequency 12105 (Babis to Babbis, ibid.) Dear Friend Babis: I think that I have it now. On the Tuesday, May 16 test, you will be using the Avlis 2 transmitter which is now on 15630 to test on 12105/285. Avlis 3 will stay as it is on 9420/323. Right now, I am tuned in to 15630 which was at SINPO 45344 at 1200 UT, but has been fading in and out since then and at 1245 UT it is barely audible. Regards, (John Babbis to Babis, ibid.) Hellenes Around the World, English from VOG, audible poorly at 1428 Sat May 13 on 15630; could not hear 12105 or 9420 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also U S A ** HONDURAS [and non]. Honduras adopts summer time --- Possibly a chance for DXers here. The government of Honduras approved a decree by which the country’s official time will be moved forward by 60 minutes, that is, implementing a summer time or daylight time regime, as in other countries. This means the day here now begins an hour early. The local time is then UT —5 and not UT minus six anymore, since midnight of Saturday May the 6th to Sunday May the 7th, 2006. At 0000 local time we moved our watches forward one hour. The government said ``indefinitely``, but I would bet this schedule will be on at least until September 30th. Also Guatemala and Nicaragua have adopted this measure. So ``keep an ear out`` for Central American stations (Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua) now to begin broadcasting one hour early, possibly increasing your chance of getting them in the local morning hours (from 10 to 11 UT) while we are entering the grey line. Best 73s (Elmer D. Escoto, Controller, Liberty de Honduras, S.A., Choloma, Cortés, HONDURAS, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) We already reported that Guatemala went on UT -5 April 30. Rechecking http://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst2006a.html we see indeed that Nicaragua --- and El Salvador are doing it too! --- 30 Apr 2006 - 06:00 DST starts: 00:00 -> 01:00 (Guatemala) 30 Apr 2006 - 08:00 DST starts: 02:00 -> 03:00 (Nicaragua) 7 May 2006 - 06:00 DST starts: 00:00 -> 01:00 (Honduras) 21 May 2006 - 06:00 DST starts: 00:00 -> 01:00 (El Salvador) Apparently not Costa Rica, Belize, still UT -6, despite being eastward of UT -5 countries; and Panamá is already UT -5 yearound (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. All India Radio. 0030 UT 5/11 10330 kHz. Hindi. Great local music. Some QRM from digital utility station with CW ID on 10229 kHz. Faded out at 0120 (Jeff Imel, Muncie, IN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 3987, RRI Manokwari, May 06 0940-1006 1054-1117 25232- 35232-35433-44433 Indonesian, talk and music, ID at 0959 and 1003 and 1059. A chime sounded at 0959 and 1059, Thanks for tip from Ishida via Kageyama BBS (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium May 12 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. RRI Makassar, Sulawesi (Presumed), May 13, 4750 kHz at 1135, Good signal, very stable with voices and music, female announcer with positive ID of RRI just after 1200z, but no definite mention of the location. Presumed location. Probably the most noise free reception of this station ever at my QTH (Jerry Lenamon, Waco TX, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 12 May, *08, 15150, VOI English. IS heard 0758. ID around 08, start of program, clear English ID. Weak and noisy. This transmission starts about 2 hours after Hawaii sunset. Not regularly heard (David Norcross, Kahalu'u Hawaii, Sony 2010 w/ Grove Skywire in attic, SW100 7 meter lanai longwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15149.84, Voice of Indonesia; 2000-2016+, 2-May; News of Indonesia to 2012 VoI ID, then feature on National Education Day. All in English. SIO=232+, QRM de WYFR in Spanish on 15155; LSB helps; best heard in quite a while. 9525 buried if there (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. Re Site search in DXLD 6-072 --- ``Voice of the Libyan People, SEP 16 & NOV 10 1989, My note says "Chad?"`` So says also Harald Kuhl in an article written in late 1990: Chad was the presumed origin. Schedule mentioned in this article was from 1400 until ca 2200 on 11825, by the way. And he also mentions effective Libyan jamming, sounding like the start of a car race, played over and over. Not transmitted by Issoudun I presume. ``Radio Yugoslavia, JAN 24 1997, Bijeljina or Stubline?`` Bijeljina. What came out of Stubline until the transmitter got air- raided was 7200, carrying Beograd 1 programming, // 684 which suffered the same fate (transmitter deliberately destroyed in an air raid). ``Radio Prague, JUL 29 1984, 5930, site? Radio France, SEP 1 1991, 17690, which site in Hungary?`` Very good questions. 5930 used to originate from Litomysl when relaying CRo 1 Radiozurnal (Czech characters omitted here) after 1991, but this does not necessarily say anything about the situation in the old days (when, I seem to recall, 6055 was at times run with all five Litomysl transmitters, so 500 kW, and so all other frequencies had to come from Rimavska Sobota or Velke Kostolany). I think RFI relays via Hungary used both Diósd and Jászberény, but perhaps I am wrong here. ``Radio Venceremos 6659 khz, MAR 19 1988, Has this been proven to be an El Salvador transmitter? My notes say "Morazon"`` The already quoted Harald Kuhl article leaves it as unanswered question whether they transmitted from within El Salvador or not [more below on spelling] ``La Voz del CID, 9940 khz, SEP 10 1987, The 11700 broadcast was from Radio Clarín. I seem to recall speculation that this 9940 might have been transmitted from Guatemala or Costa Rica. Anyone remember?`` Harald Kuhl mentioned at least a contact address in Costa Rica, and I also seem to recall that Costa Rica had been suspected as transmitter site. Still remember how I managed to catch this station on a signal tower where I worked then. Entirely history now, since this tower has been closed in last autumn. If somebody wants to see it: http://www.eisenbahn-stellwerke.de/bp_w2.html ``Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting 9022 khz, MAR 16 1985, this was a long-time frequency in use, any idea of the transmitter site?`` Always Kamalabad, never moved to other sites. The same goes for 15084, here I saw even the transmitter specified: It was said to be the Thomson TRE2330 (350 kW model), installed at Kamalabad in 1972. ``Radio Iran, JAN 9 1988, this was believed to be from Egypt, I think?`` No statement by Harald Kuhl here; he mentioned Egypt as transmitter site only for Iran´s Flag of Freedom Radio. Let me leave the remaining questions to others . . . Good night! (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It should be written "Morazán", the name of the centroamerican hero Francisco Morazán. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Moraz%C3%A1n (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, ibid.) There is a Salvadoran province /"departamento"/, named after Francisco Morazón. Several reports pop up to show the "Morazán connexion" if you google "departamento de morazán + radio venceremos". (Henrik Klemetz, ibid.) The real name of the 19th Century Central America political personality was Francisco Morazán (in no way "Morazón") who was born in Honduras and was involved in several battles and political turmoil. He finally was executed by arms in Costa Rica. We have indeed our own Parque Morazán. La Voz del Cid was the brainchild of Cuban Revolution dissident Hubert Matos, one of Castro's sidemen, that was enjailed for 20 years. LV del Cid was run by his son of the same name, and had its headquarters in downtown San José, from were canned programs were sent in cassette tape to be aired on mobile transmitters, placed in Miami and El Salvador. It has been said that due to wrong financial handlings by Matos, Jr. The station finally folded its wings by the mid 90s. Regards (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, ibid.) ** LATVIA. Radio Caroline Eifel on 9290 kHz --- Please do not ask for a translation, I'm sure you will understand the times and dates! (Martin Schöch, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Von Juni bis Oktober wird der Sender in Ulbroka, Riga, restauriert. Radio Caroline Eifel sicherte sich noch 3 Sendezeiten! Wir senden am : 25.05.2006 um 08:00 09:00 UT 27.05.2006 um 07:00 08:00 UT 28.05.2006 um 08:00 09:00 UT Natürlich auf der 9290 kHz mit 100 kW. 73 OP Roman *Radio Caroline Eifel* http://www.radio-caroline-eifel.de.vu SRS Deutschland, *Radio Caroline Eifel*, P. O. Box 101145, 99801 Eisenach, Deutschland/Germany (via Martin Schoech - PF 101145 - D- 99801 Eisenach, Germany, May 9, dxldyg via DXLD) But the introduction really needs to be translated, since it contains the information about an imminent shut-down of the Ulbroka shortwave transmitter for almost a half year: "The transmitter at Ulbroka, Riga, will be reconstructed from June until October. Radio Caroline Eifel was able to secure another three slots!" (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) ** LIBYA [non]. OPPOSITION SAWT AL-AMAL RADIO'S PICTURE BULLETIN Sawt al-Amal radio was launched shortly after a June 2005 conference of seven Libyan opposition groups in London. The station operates from studios in London and is supported by the National Movement, the Libyan Alliance, the Republican Grouping for Justice and the Amazigh Grouping. The shortwave transmitter facilities are located in Black Sea region. Frequency changes are common to avoid jamming. The following is an excerpt from a broadcast on 4 May The transmission opened at 1200 and closed at 1400 gmt, with the frequency ranging between approximately 17665 - 17695 kHz to avoid jamming. Programmes started with the station ID "Sawt al-Amal, Libyan Radio in exile", followed by a music prelude. The presenter introduces a programme entitled "Political change in Libya, between reality and possibility", describing the political change in Libya as highly important. especially for Libyans in the homeland. The presenter begins by saying the subject of political change was discussed before with the guest Salim al-Rab'i, who talked to us about the role of the "will" in the change process. Today the role of the ability will be discussed. Salim al-Rab'i said that "will" and "ability" are needed for the change. He added that negative thoughts such as change are not possible do not help. He added that the people should think positively and help strengthen the will of society as a whole. He said that people should think that they have rights and that they had a better future for themselves and their children. He added that it was important to feel and share the responsibility in order to affect change, and that they should believe in the alternative and use positive discourse which does not bring frustration make people lose hope. Al-Rab'i said that society as a whole should work together to achieve change. Society, he added, needed organizations and institutions to help affect this change. He said that if the government banned the formation of organizations then it was the duty of the public to form secret organizations to achieve the change. Al-Rab'i concluded by stressing the importance of positive thinking to achieve a better life for the children's future. The interview with Al-Rab'i ended after about 15 minutes. Station IDs, music and a reading from the Koran followed. Then a programme entitled: "The crisis of rule in Libya" lasting about five minutes was broadcast. The presenter began by saying that the crisis of rule in Libya was a crisis of liberties, or the absence of positive dialogue between acceptance and rejection. The resolution of this crisis will not be possible without a guarantee of human rights and the right of someone to speak their mind whether it was in agreement with the government or not, adding that people had the right to opposition. He said that a change of government did not guarantee liberties and an end to the current problems, adding that any new government should guarantee human rights and their rights to express their opinion. The broadcast became inaudible due to interference from Libyan Great Jamahiriyah Radio for about 35 minutes. Then a repeat of above programmes with music and songs, followed by a programme entitled: "Memoirs of a Libyan citizen." A programme about the crimes committed by Al-Qadhafi's men against Libyan businessmen. Source: Sawt al-Amal radio, London, in Arabic 1200 gmt 4 May 06 (via BBCM May 10 via DXLD) 6 Mayo 1200-1400 En 17680 Idahat al Jamaeriya al de Ouzma. 1200-1300 En 17670 Sawt Al-amal 1300-1400 En 17675 Sawt Al-amal 1309-1530 En 17675 Jammer musical. 7 Mayo 1200-1400 En 17680 Idahat al Jamaeriya al de Ouzma. 1200-1300 En 17665 Sawt Al-amal 1300-1323 En 17670 Sawt Al.amal 1323-1400 En 17665 Sawt Al-amal 1308- En 17670 Jammer musical. 11 Mayo 1200-1400 En 17680 Idahat al jamaeriya al de Ouzma. 1200-1300 En 17690 Sawt Al-amal 1216- Señal de burbuja de forma intermitente. 1300- En 17695 Sawt Al-amal 1309- Jammer musical. (José Miguel Romero EA5-1022, Burjasot (Valencia), España, May 12, YAESU FRG-7700, SANGEAN ATS 909, Antena RADIO MASTER A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17680, V. of Africa, May 08 1218-1240, 33443, Arabic, Arabic music, It plays the same Arabic music every day, ID at 1227 and 1237 as "Idha'at al-Jamahirayah al-ozma", QRM of Sowt Alamel on co/channel. 17680, V. of Africa, May 10 1214-1229, 44444, Arabic, Arabic music, It plays the same Arabic music every day, ID at 1217 and 1227 as "Idha'aru al-Jamahirayah al-ozma" unID: 17670, May 07 1518-1530*, 35443, Unknown, African pops music, there was not the announcement at all, 1530 sign off. 17675, May 06 1420-1457, 35433, Unknown, African pops music, There was not the announcement at all (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) LIBYA/UNITED KINGDOM: SAWT AL-AMAL RADIO BROADCAST BEHAVIOUR BBC Monitoring observed the UK-based anti-Libyan station, Sawt al- Amal, on 11 May at 1200 gmt on shortwave frequency 17680 kHz, identifying itself as "Sawt al-Amal". By 1203 gmt, the Libyan state broadcaster Great Jamahiriya radio had also opened on this frequency, making reception of the clandestine very difficult, with highly- compressed audio and music. At 1300 gmt, Sawt al-Amal left 17680 kHz, moving to 17675 kHz until 1324 gmt when it returned to 17680 kHz. This was presumably due to 17675 kHz being occupied by the commercial station Africa No 1 broadcasting from Gabon which, combined with splash from 17680 kHz, led to very poor reception. Great Jamahiriya radio was still present on 17680 kHz when the clandestine returned. Poor reception of the clandestine continued throughout, until Sawt al-Amal closed down at 1400 gmt. Source: BBC Monitoring research 1405 gmt 11 May 06 (via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. Was barely able to confirm that V. of Africa, English via France at 14-16, has indeed moved to 17725 // 17850, ex-21695, altho I could not be sure 21695 is gone since it rarely propagates anyway. Both 16m frequencies were inaudible at 1426 May 13 but JBA at 1500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [and non]. Sat May 13, at 1426 check and even more so at 1503 recheck, CVC La Voz had co-channel from the African music jammer via Gabon, causing a SAH of a few Hz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. Re 6-070, log on 7290 of Traxx FM, presumably meant to read 7295 like previous and subsequent logs (gh, DXLD) Solar-terrestrial indices for 10 May follow. Solar flux 78 and mid- latitude A-index 3. The mid-latitude K-index at 0900 UTC on 11 May was 4 (61 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours (SEC via DXLD) 7295, RTV Malaysia, 1018-1030 May 11. Noted a man taking phone calls between pop music selections. Comments were in English. Signal was good, especially by 1031 (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) May 11 indeed did have some good Asian reception. Noted Malaysians on 5965 (Nasional FM/RTM), 7270 (Wai FM/RTM) and 7295 (Traxx FM/RTM), all with fair reception, from 1310-1318 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7295, Traxx FM (RTM), May 13, 1310-1400, Saturday program of ``Traxx Chart Toppers``, DJs Mary and Constantine playing the top 20 songs (#6 ``Walk Away`` Kelly Clarkson, etc), segment with many individual greetings for Mother`s Day and ``From all the crew at Traxx FM, we wish all the moms a Happy Mother`s Day``, requested listeners vote for songs by calling 32770, ToH echo Traxx FM ID, fair-poor (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. R. Mali, 4834.89, *0555-0635+ May 6, sign-on with IS, 0558 march-style NA. 0559 French sign-on announcements. 0601 local African music, French talk. // 5995, both with fair reception. Both also heard later at 2330-0002* with French announcements and local African music. 0001 sign-off with march-style NA (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11960, R. Mali, Kati, logged 1158-1246, 12 May, Vernacular, traditional tunes, few talks; 33442, but sometimes with less QRM, which was from adjacent frequencies (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, May 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. All this recent brou-ha-ha about illegal immigrants and the fussing over it between the US and Mexican governments has made me wonder -- has there been *any* movement within Mexico to try to establish some sort of external radio service directed at the Spanish- speaking immigrants all across the US? I realize that most urban areas with a sufficient number of such people have some local AM or FM Spanish stations, or Spanish-language hours part-time on some broadcasters, but there appears to be a vast unserved number of these individuals in sparser-populated areas or in smaller communities. I would think that Vicente Fox and other members of his government would want to communicate with them. Perhaps they could distribute some sort of recorded programming to the existing Spanish-language radio stations here, but it sure seems like an obvious use for SW. Considering the cheap radios I mentioned in my recent posting, it seems like a sensible method for some type of "Voices From Home" . I haven't heard of anything like that, and I was wondering if they've even discussed it in the Mexican-national press. I'd love to be able to hear a good strong SW signal from Mexico; I'd guess they'd have a lot of music interspersed with whatever message they'd want to deliver to their expatriates. Wondering, (Will Martin, MO, May 10, Swprograms mailing list, via DXLD) I doubt the ptb in the Mexican government appreciate the power of SWBC or even know what it is, since XERMX was closed down. IMER is fighting its own battle for survival with the domestic stations it has left. Closest to the funxion you mention would be XERF, 1570, Radio Frontera, Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, which may be running something like 100 kW now. It still has limited range due to all the co-channel QRM at night, but maybe some immigrants listen to it. I haven`t listened enough to say whether much of its programming is specifically targeted at them, however. 73, (Glenn Hauser, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Another effort in this arena is heard on XETRA/690, and its "W Radio" format, apeing XEW/900, and specifically for "California Del Sur", right down to English-language IDs at the TOH. Unfortunately reception in the Los Angeles area is limited by KSPN/710's newfound IBOC incarnation (GREG HARDISON, CA, ibid.) ** NETHERLANDS. MEDIA NETWORK 25TH ANNIVERSARY VODCAST, PRODUCED BY JONATHAN MARKS I'm pleased to say that things are a lot calmer now, and the vodcast files have been put online. The video has been encoded at high quality in Windows Media and QuickTime format. Because of the large file size, it has been split into six parts, each of which is self-contained. We recommend that you download each file to your Hard Disk (e.g. in Internet Explorer, right click and select "save target as"). Unless you have a very fast broadband connection, trying to stream the video on the Web is not recommended. If you have problems downloading or viewing the video, let us know. This is something of an experiment, and we are open to constructive criticism. Please send all comments to media @ rnw.nl http://www.radionetherlands.nl/features/media/mna060511 (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter May 11 via DXLD) See also SURINAME ** NEW ZEALAND. Just finished watching the NHL playoff hockey game and tuned into RNZI on 15720 kHz at 0330 UT. Seems they are in digital mode at the moment. 73 (Mick Delmage, Sherwood Park, AB, UT May 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Leaving them with NO analog at the moment?? But DRM info seems to have vanished from their website, except for the half-hour a week via Merlin in UK! And I see the ``current`` [analog only?] SW schedule has been modified again to show two frequencies not only at 06-07 but also at 1851-1950: Our direct broadcasts can be heard on short-wave as follows: 08 May 2006 - 02 Sep 2006 UTC kHz Target Azimuth 0600-0700 15720 & 7145 Pacific 0 0700-1059 7145 All Pacific 0 1100-1259 9870 NW Pacific, Bougainville, PNG, Asia 325 1300-1650 7145 All Pacific 0 1651-1850 7145 Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Samoa 35 1851-1950 9630 & 15720 All Pacific 0 1951-0600 15720 All Pacific 0 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Right you are, Mick. Very strong here covering about 15712 to 15729 with DRM. I don't have any software to decode though (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, HCDX via DXLD) Hi Adrian, It seems you change the posted RNZI transmission schedule on your website every few days. I am glad you keep it up to date, but could you also add the last date it has been changed? ``Effective from May 8``, for instance, is no longer correct if you have changed it since then. Also, it is a bit misleading to give the date it expires months from now when we very well know there will be further changes long before then. Why is there no DRM schedule on your website? (Except for the UK half hour). Yesterday someone heard 15720 in DRM around 0330 UT, instead of analog. Does this mean you had NO analog service at that time, or was the other transmitter running on some other frequency? Also, last UT Friday at 2030 on 15720 (analog) I heard Mailbox, at a very unscheduled time. How does this happen? May we depend on it at that time from now on? 15720 generally provides good reception here during most of its span (as long as it is analog). 73, (Glenn Hauser to Adrian Sainsbury, RNZI, via DXLD) Hi Glenn, It makes too much work making minor changes without doing a complete rewrite of the whole schedule on the web due to the ancient software in use. I have mixed feelings about showing an end date. The next official end is always definite even though there are minor changes before then. We are just grateful it nearly reflects what we are doing. We will not publish a DRM schedule until we know something definite. Engineering staff continue their work at the transmitter site and we are often off air between 1030-1800 NZT [2230-0600 UT]. During that period there may be random tests on various frequencies. It is not practical to update the web site so we have a general notice on the home page which says these interruptions are likely. Mailbox on Friday at 2030 was an additional repeat to programme which first airs on Monday. As far as I am aware this is a permanent arrangement. I am hopeful all the installation work is completed very soon now! (Adrian Sainsburg, RNZI, UT May 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I don`t quite understand about difficulty in updating the website. If you can change numbers pertaining to times and frequencies, why is it any more difficult to change numbers pertaining to dates? (gh, DXLD) Several observations on RNZI: 7145 1807-1832, 07 May, news, sports news, program Tagata o Te Moana following, with music and talks; 43442, adjacent QRM only. 7145 1652-1720, 09 May, talks, IS at 1655 (instead of 1650), announcements, jingle, news, etc.; 23431, stronger adjacent QRM after 1700. 9630 evening is poor due to persistent co- channel QRM de BBC WS. 15720 around 0700 is inaudible or barely audible at best though poor~mediocre evenings (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, May 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] 15720 kHz is, as I write this, 2034, 13 May, quite reasonable, though not strong, despite QSB. Maybe propagation is changing again, but it's been adverse when I try them mornings on 9870 for instance. 7145 is a mess in the afternoon / early evening. I've switched to AM-S on the NRD545 and reception is fairly adequate. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, May 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. At the start of the 0300 UT May 10 news on KFOR-TV, it was reported that Brad Edwards has suffered a brain aneurysm and is now in a coma. It looks bad. Before this, on Monday night, he was thankful for all the well wishes that had come in, as a pile of E-mail had been taken to him. Another followup on the noon news, 1700 UT, Wednesday, which BTW is streamed live, said this was his 12th day in ICU, with his wife Marianne (sp?) and daughter Ashton constantly at his side. One report mentioned vasculitis, severe inflammatory arthritis, but more recently they say that he was being treated for endocarditis, which led to the aneurysm; now in a coma and on a ventilator. I should refer you also to the ``In Your Corner`` page about his consumer reporting: http://www.kfor.com/Global/category.asp?C=9666&nav=menu99_2_10 As of May 13 there are at least a couple of video stories on Brad linked from http://www.kfor.com (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX Listening Digest) ** OKLAHOMA. OKC CW NETWORK AFFILIATE ANNOUNCED [message #4510] Tue, http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6330747.html?display=Breaking+News Apparently Sinclair has managed to become affiliated with the new CW (Morse Code?) network in 8 markets including Oklahoma City. According to the press release ``The Sinclair affiliates signing on with The CW are KMWB Minneapolis (No. 15); WNUV Baltimore (No. 24).; WLFL Raleigh- Durham, N.C., (No. 29); WNAB Nashville, Tenn. (No 30); WVTV Milwaukee, Wis. (No. 33); WTTO/WDBB Birmingham-Tuscaloosa, Ala.(No. 40); KOCB Oklahoma City (No. 45); and KFBT Las Vegas (No. 48). Seven of the stations are WB affiliates, and KFBT is an independent.`` I would assume that NY Times owned KAUT will become an affiliate of the new My Network TV, which is owned by Fox. (FridayNightInTheBigTown, radio-insight OK board May 9 via DXLD) KAUT is jointly owned with KFOR; apparently KFOR is still owned by NY Times Co., if this is up to date: http://www.nytadvertising.com/was/ATWWeb/public/screens/pages/otherNYT.jsp But KFOR website no longer has NYT ownership line at the bottom of the home page, leading to my 6-072 remark. I watched for the © notice at the end of the 10 pm news and it was © KFOR-TV, not New York Times Co., as it used to read (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. 15140, Radio Oman, 1854-1905, escuchada el 4 de Mayo en árabe a locutor en conversaciones telefónicas con los oyentes, locutora con cuña de identificación, acompañada de música árabe de fondo, sonido de campanas, locutor con ID, titulares y noticias, SINPO 35433 (José Miguel Romero EA5-1022, Burjasot (Valencia), España, May 12, YAESU FRG-7700, SANGEAN ATS 909, Antena RADIO MASTER A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Sultanate of Oman, 15140, held up well all the way to sign-off 2157* May 9; listened to the last 10 minutes or so, with dramatic reading in Arabic over music, sort of a nitecap, I guess, certainly not Qur`an (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 6173.8, Radio Tawantinsuyo, Cuzco, 0005-0040, 13-05, locutor y locutora, español y breves comentarios en quechua, música. Identificación: "Continúen en sintonía a través de Radio Tawantinsuyo". Comentario del Día de la Madre: "A las madres hay que respetarlas toda la vida". "Continúen con este programa dedicado al Día de la Madre". Señal débil a muy débil. 24322, variando a 14321. 6193.4, Radio Cuzco, Cuzco (probable), 0042-0053, 13-05, se escucha portadora en esta frecuencia con comentario de fondo, locutor, parece español, pero apenas audible. Señal muy débil y perturbada por emisoras en frecuencias adyacentes. 13211 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain Escuchas realizadas en Friol, 27 Km. W. de Lugo Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW7600G Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. R. Cusco, 6193.42, 0205-0214* May 5, OA folk music, Spanish announcements, 0213 ID, abrupt sign-off. Fair with very little adjacent channel splatter (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Hola colegas: Esta es la respuesta de Radio Victoria [6020v or 9720v?] a un informe de recepción correspondiente a una emisión del pasado 21 de abril. Un saludo, Paz y Dx (Ignacio Sotomayor, Segovia, Castilla, España (40º57'00''N-4º07'10''W) Rcvx: ICOM R-75; SONY ICF - SW7600 Anx: Hilo largo de 10 metros; KIWA Pocket Loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Sr. Ignacio, Gracias por escribirnos informándonos de su recepción de Radio Victoria; para nosotros es muy importante su información. En breve le enviaremos un sti[c]ker de nuestra emisora. Mi nombre es Henrique Ramos, soy de Brasil y estoy en Perú por motivo de trabajo. Usted también puede nos escuchar por internet http://www.ipda.com.pe Que Dios le bendiga; pronto esperamos más noticias de su parte. Saludos cordiales Henrique Silvio Ramos silvioramos777 @ hotmail.com Administrador (via Ignacio Sotomayor, ibid.) 9719.98, Radio Victoria, Lima, 1106-1111, May 07, Portuguese, long talk by male in Portuguese with a “Dios es Amor” pentecostal church, 24432 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, HCDX via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. Rádio Comercial/R. Club Português: 1035 & 783 kHz. Report on R. Club Português via R. Comercial MW transmitters. 783 kHz 100 kW new site at Avanca (municipality of Estarreja), ex- Canidelo 10 kW. This THALES transmitter, also DRM capable, is expected to be on the air by the next Summer, if the already delayed installation process runs as expected. The town of Estarreja is some 50 km southwards to the former transmitter site of Canidelo, which in turn is close to what we call "the northern capital", i.e. Porto. For home coverage purposes, I estimate the new location is a lot more adequate than the old one, which is still being used, but according to the station explanation, the criteria were mostly upon availability of space required for such an installation. The flat land around and the distance to the ocean will hopefully make this new transmitter a TA DX target... while also turning reception of co-channel Mauritania 50 kW somewhat tough, hi! Let's see what my K9AYs can do about that. 1035 kHz, 100 kW Belmonte (Benavente municipality) is off for quite a number of days due to a major problem, and the station is awaiting spares from the Swiss manufacturer THALES. The antenna is a 120 m tower. As reported by me months ago, this new site, albeit a short distance from the old one at Porto Alto, commenced service back in mid Spring, 2005. According do the station owner, the group doesn't intend to reactivate the other assigned frequencie, at least in the near future: 9 sites using 558 (1), 828 (5) and 1170 kHz (3). I believe the stn still have the transmitters, but not the the places where to install them in the assigned locations. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, May 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Re 6-072: Indeed Radio Rossii is in the evening now on 7120, as reported by Radio Bulgaria. Just (May 9, after 2030) confirmed here, with co-channel CRI being rather prominent, so this frequency appears to be no good choice. Right now the interference also makes it impossible to say if the background noise is gone that plagued this transmitter (a 250 kW unit at Taldom) for some time. By the way, it is a bit hard to make out due to co-channel interference, but it appears that Radio Rossii on 171 has now a considerable delay of more than two seconds compared to Taldom (7120 and 261). Perhaps Bolshakovo now takes a DVB-S satellite feed? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Russia, 9765, Radiostansiya Tikhiy Okean, 0846-0900, Noted interviews and comments in Russian until 0850. At 0850 a segment of music presented until 0858 when a woman comments. At 0900 canned ID by a man as, " ... Radiostansiya Tikhiy Okean ...". and off the air. The signal was at a good level during the entire period. (Chuck Bolland, May 10, 2006) Clewiston, Florida NRD545 ** SAINT HELENA. REVIVE RADIO ST. HELENA DAY ZD7 is an old friend for amateur radio operators, but St. Helena is near the top of the "Most Wanted" list for many shortwave radio listeners. Radio St. Helena has a medium wave transmitter and, during the 1990's, "borrowed" a shortwave transmitter one day per year for the now famous "Radio St. Helena Day" broadcasts. These were, probably, the world's first international, multi-media (telephone, fax, email), listener interactive (in real time) shortwave programs. The RSH QSL card is now a treasured item in the collections of many SWL's around the world. In late 1999, this all came to a halt, and the transmitter and antenna were scrapped. Our new project is to try to put RSH and, therefore, the entire country of St. Helena back on the air on shortwaves. The Board of Directors and all connected with or friends of RSH are behind this idea, but the entire project must be funded privately by sponsors and through donations. A few of the SWL's and Radio Clubs supporting this project come from: the UK, USA, Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, South Africa, Canada, Spain, Holland, Italy, Russia, Chile, and Brazil; and include Adventist World Radio and Radio Havana Cuba. The revival of these programs would spread the word of this wonderful and historic island and lead to increased commerce, trade, and tourism for St. Helena. It may also be possible to actively support amateur radio in the St. Helena schools and, perhaps, to set up an amateur radio club station. This may be the first time ever that radio friends have actually helped to build "their own" shortwave radio station. To give St. Helena and the "Saints" their international voice back, we will need a considerable amount of international help. We have set up bank accounts in Germany, USA, the UK, and Japan for donations, and we thank you one and all, in advance, for your contributions. For donations in EURO's, please use: Account name: Radio St. Helena Fund Kipp Account number: 0360304070 Bank: Commerzbank , Langen, Germany Bank Sorting Code (BLZ): 50840005 IBAN: DE45 5084 0005 0360 3040 70 SWIFT: COBA DEFF 012 If you transfer money from a non-Euro country, please add the extra costs for the conversion of your currency into Euro's. Thank-you. For donations in Pounds Sterling, please use: Account name: Martyn Phillips, G3RFX Account number: 60613487 Bank: Barclays Bank , Bristol , England Bank Sorting Code: 20 - 13 - 34 Note: If donating by cheque, please send the cheque directly to: Martyn Phillips, G3RFX, 17 Richmond Hill, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1BA , England For donations in USA Dollars by check, cash, or money order: Please make money orders payable to: Radio St. Helena Fund Please send your check, cash, or money order directly to: Richard A. D'Angelo c/o Radio St. Helena Fund 2216 Burkey Drive Wyomissing, PA 19610 , U.S.A. For donations in JAPAN YEN by check, cash, or money order: Please contact Mr. Toshimichi OHTAKE, Japan Short Wave Club We are also hoping for the donation of two transceivers such as the Yaesu FT-757GXII. For equipment donations, please contact me by email. With sincere best wishes, Robert Kipp DJ 0 PU Special Assistant to the Station Manager of Radio St. Helena Email: RDC-Roberts-Data @ t-online.de (via Dario Monferini, bclnews.it via DXLD) ** SCOTLAND [non]. DXtra, extra! The first edition of the new monthly show for DXers and radio enthusiasts from Scotland's RADIO SIX INTERNATIONAL went out this morning. If you missed it, you've a chance to hear repeats twice this week. Tomorrow [Sunday May 14], at 0745 GMT (08.45 BST) on 13840, Thursday 18th May at 1945 GMT on 5775 or streamed on the web at http://www.radiosix.com Dave Kenny and I listened to the first show this morning on the web here in sunny Eastbourne, as sadly nothing could be heard here on my Sony ICF 7600. It's possible this was due to poor propagation conditions following last night's aurora. However, don't give up on listening on "real" radio this week --- and certainly make sure you catch the programme, which was excellent and also gave the club a very welcome plug. Thanks also to club member Colin Ferris for his contributions. Further info on the show on their website, or on my latest (overdue!) posting to my radio blog at http://www.Radiofar- far.blogspot.com For those of you not besotted with soccer, happy listening this Saturday! (MARK SAVAGE (and DK), May 13, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Via IRRS via Bulgaria ** SPAIN. 15290, Radio Exterior de España; 2038, 3-May; English programming with ID; English/Spanish lesson involving a story about a submarine following a sea gull and leading your goats across country. Who writes this stuff? This was weirder than CRI's English/Chinese lessons, which usually involve trying to pick up women. SIO=3+44 (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. SLBC Ekala, 7275, 1335 UT May 12. This really only a tentative logging. Should be Hindi-English Service, but only possibly Hindi heard after the 30 minute listening period. I really miss the All Asia Service on 15746 kHz! 73 and happy weekend! (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, Rx: AOR 7030+, Ant: 95 m lw to E, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sri Lanka Broadcasting Company. 0125 UT 5/11 15745 kHz. English. Playing easy listening music from the 60's. ID at 0130 UT. "Back to the Bible" program at 0130. Best regards Glenn! (Jeff Imel, Muncie, IN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SURINAME [non]. SPECIAL RADIO NETHERLANDS PROGRAMME TO HELP SURINAM As you have probably seen in the news, Surinam (a former Dutch colony) has been ravaged by floods. What the country needs now is financial help to deal with the situation. Radio Netherlands, in cooperation with regional public broadcasters Radio Rijnmond and RTV Noord- Holland, will be broadcasting a special programme at 1800-2100 UT in Dutch on Sunday 14 May, to raise money for emergency aid. It will be heard worldwide on satellite and Internet, and on shortwave as follows: 6035 kHz: Western Europe 9695 kHz: Southern Europe, the Canary Islands, North Africa and the Middle East 9895 kHz: Southern Europe, the Canary Islands, North Africa and the Middle East The programme will also be broadcast to Surinam on 15530 kHz to allow listeners there to follow events, and may be relayed in whole or part by local stations in Surinam. The regular daily transmission to West and Central Europe at 2000-2200 UTC on 6015 kHz will be on the air as normal. A special TV programme called "Doekoe voor Suriname" ("Money for Surinam") is also planned in the Netherlands for Sunday at 1830-2030 UT, and will be carried worldwide by our international TV service BVN. (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter May 11 via DXLD) Sites?? RN publicized special broadcasts for Suriname flood relief on May 14 at 18-21 as above, but I already heard something from there Saturday May 13 at 1429 on 15540. It sounded a bit like Dutch but it wasn`t Dutch; presumably Sranang Tongo or one of the languages there with Dutch influence. Mentioned Paramaribo, RNW, special broadcast at 1431. Clipped audio. Stopped abruptly at 1500, carrier stayed on a semiminute, then off, but carrier back on at 1501-1502:30* as if standing by, hoping for the program feed to resume. Of several frequencies listed for the Sunday special is 15530, for Suriname, but this was on 15540, not in the RN schedule either as a regular broadcast. No transmitter sites given, but good reception here implying Bonaire (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. Hello Glenn, I got this information today about upcoming transmissions from Grimeton, Sweden: There will be transmissions with the Grimeton Radio/SAQ alternator on VLF 17.2 kHz on the following dates: 1. May 16th at about 0930-1030 UT 2. May 17th at about 0930-1030 UT 3. May 18th at about 0930-1030 UT 4. June 5th at 10:00 UT 5. July 2nd. The "Alexanderson" Day. (No time given yet) No QSL reports are required except on the July 2nd transmission. Regards, Lars Kalland/SM6NM (via Lennart Weirell, Västeås, SWEDEN, DXLD) ** TAIWAN. GREETINGS FROM TAIWAN --- Well, actually, I`ve just returned from a one-week visit to Taiwan. My wife, son, and I were there, during my son`s spring break, to visit my inlaws. We flew over on EVA Air, a Taiwan based airline. EVA has a ``premium economy`` class with a blessed 38-inch seat pitch, compared to the 33 inches in their ``economy economy`` class. And compared to the 31 inches in economy on one of the U.S. carriers that I, as a low level bureaucratic functionary, would have been required to take if this had been an official trip. I`m really getting too old, too stiff and sore in the bones, for trans-Pacific travel under such circumstances. We spent most of our time in Taoyuan, a large city just south of Taipei. You would go to Taoyuan for business, or to visit inlaws, but not for tourism. My 10-year old son Ian was initiated to Asian street smells -- alternating among Chinese foodstuffs, raw sewage, exhaust fumes, and (from the occasional streetside temple) incense -- and he was appalled. But, by the end of the week, he was acclimating. And he enjoyed spending time with his cousins. [see RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM] A visit to Radio Taiwan International Our other trip to Taipei, we visited Radio Taiwan International. The last time I visited Taiwan`s international radio service, ten years ago, it was still called Voice of Free China and located in the headquarters of its then-parent, Broadcasting Corporation of China. Now Radio Taiwan International (RTI) is in the building that for years was the home of the Central Broadcasting System (Chungyang Kuangpo Tientai). The CBS name is still used only for corporate purposes. Outwardly, almost all Taiwan broadcasting abroad, including to mainland China, goes by the RTI name. The RTI logo is now displayed on the wall of what used to be the CBS building. I brought along the recording of the most peculiar ``Dragon Time`` program from VOFC in 1961. This recording has been circulating among U.S. DXers for years. The RTI managers I spoke to were not familiar with the program, but I hope this excerpt encourages them to look in their archives for any surviving studio recordings. RTI does honor its history in a very nice one-room museum describing the history of Taiwan broadcasts to the mainland, as well as VOFC and RTI. This includes quite a bit of technical detail about the transmitting sites, including models of the antenna farms. (At VOA headquarters, similar displays of the IBB shortwave plant have been dismantled, shortwave no longer being the flavor of the month here.) And if that is not enough, RTI also maintains a museum at its Minxiong transmitting station in Chiayi County. This was built by the Japanese in 1940, and damage from U.S. air raids during World War II is still visible in the transmitter building. I will definitely have to visit this place next trip to Taiwan. (And Chiayi County is apparently much more scenic than Taoyuan.) My ninth-floor hotel room in Taoyuan afforded very good shortwave reception, with a few feet of wire pressed against the window. VOA Mandarin was overtaking any Chinese jamming attempts on most frequencies. RTI Mandarin broadcasts, however, had co-channel interference, presumably PRC jamming, on virtually every frequency. I did not hear any jamming of mainland broadcasts back to Taiwan. Tuning across the shortwave bands, I found English broadcasts to be difficult to find. This is in contrast to my visits to Taiwan seven and ten years ago, when English-language broadcasts were plentiful. Now it is Mandarin-language broadcasts that are all over the shortwave bands, perhaps a harbinger of the comparative roles of English and Mandarin in the world (Kim Andrew Elliott, Kim`s NASWA Column, May 2006 via DXLD) ** TIBET. 9490, Xizang PBS. May 5 at 0720-0730. SINPO 34333. Holy Tibet in English with Tibetan music & interview. Program in Tibetan from 0730 (Iwao Nagatani, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** TURKEY. 7300, Voice of Turkey; 2243-2254:20*, 5-May; Anatolian folk legend. ID/sked at 2249:30; sed 2200 was 9830 and didn't mention 7300. All in English. Strong signal on 9830 was not English. Piano IS started at 2250:15 and also strong clatter QRM. Vatican IS also there till 2245. SIO=443+ (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** U K. PRESS RELEASE VT COMMUNICATIONS WIN CONTRACT TO DELIVER RADIO TIME SIGNAL SERVICE VT Communications, part of VT Group plc has been awarded the contract to provide the National Physical Laboratory’s (NPL’s) Radio Frequency Time Signal Service commencing on 1st April 2007. This prestigious 10 year contract with NPL will see VT Communications build new highly resilient transmission infrastructure to deliver the Time Service from its Anthorn transmission facility in Cumbria, UK. Utilising its extensive experience in delivering similar LF (low frequency) infrastructure projects, VT Communications is well placed to deliver this critical service, which is transmitted at 60Hz and provides both a time and frequency standard. The proposed solution offered by VT Communications will see the introduction of new time code generation equipment, a remote control and monitoring system as well as a new LF transmitter, which will be installed and integrated at the Anthorn transmission facility. The site at Anthorn will provide NPL with infrastructure to accommodate the service and its geographical positioning provides greater coverage of the entire UK. The VT Communications solution will ensure that the maintenance schedule is minimised, reducing the overall service down time, providing NPL users with a highly reliable service. The new time code generator will have the ability to accept up to 50 unused data bits which VT Communications will make available to third parties for data transmissions around the UK and near Europe. Utilising the signal allows VT Communications to offer other customers exceptional transmission integrity over a large geographical coverage area. Doug Umbers, Managing Director of VT Communications, said: ``We are very proud to be working in partnership with NPL on a programme of national significance. We are excited to be implementing a highly resilient solution, which will provide tangible benefits to all stakeholders``. NOTES TO EDITORS About VT Communications VT Communications, part of VT Group plc is a leading specialist communications services company, providing innovative technical solutions and systems integration across the RF spectrum from VLF to SHF from 29 locations around the world. VT Communications design, build, operate, maintain and support mission critical infrastructure for some of the most demanding organisations among them defence organisations, national governments, NGO’s, broadcasters and space agencies. VT Communications has extensive expertise in developing everything from principal infrastructure to delivering unique customised technical solutions. Its’ core capabilities include Radio Frequency Engineering, ICT, Specialist Vehicle & Container Engineering and Power Generation & Distribution, providing all technical support services, communications facilities management and project management. Currently, VT Communications provide such services for a broad range of customers including the UK Ministry of Defence, the Swedish Navy, European Space Agency and global relief organisations. Global broadcast infrastructure owned and operated by VT Communications transmits over 1,000 hours of both short and medium wave broadcasts every day for customers including the BBC World Service, NHK (Radio Japan), Radio Canada International, Radio Netherlands, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and Voice of America. VT Communications is a founder member of Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), a consortium of broadcast related organisations working to bring digital AM radio to the market place. For further information about this press release, please contact: Laura Jelf Marketing Manager VT Communications Tel: +44 (0) 20 7969 0000 Email: laura.jelf @ vtplc.com Web: http://www.vtplc.com/communications (via DXLD) ** U S A. Kavála aftermath: VOA Bosnian? Just came home and found the latest news, almost like three years ago when I was also away while Megaradio went off air (only difference: This time I did even something related on my trip by shooting the 630/756 kHz site from the train between Königslutter and Schandelah): Does VOA Bosnian continue on satellite for the time being? The service is doomed anyway, to be scrapped in autumn. 792 kHz was the only terrestrial outlet for it since February when they cancelled shortwave, so the shut-down of this transmitter could be a reason to give up. By the way, I heard that Star FM in Berlin again relays some VOA content, but only the news and only two or three times a day. No details at hand yet, and of course one has to wonder if VOA will still be able at all to deliver such content after autumn (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also GREECE! ** U S A. Is CMN`s French service to Québec cancelled? WBCQ 9330 was on the air, Friday May 12 at 1320 but was in English, poor signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. World of Radio Extra 67 started 4.5 minutes late on WWCR-3 Saturday May 13, at 1604, or so it was on the webcast I was monitoring (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. UNA VISITA NO LOGRADA [sic] A KJES En pasados días festivos hice un viaje turístico a Las Cruces y otros lugares en el sur de Nuevo México, en los Estados Unidos. Así, decidí ir a Vado, a buscar la estación KJES. De Las Cruces, siempre viajando por el Condado de Doña Ana, tomé el Free Way 10, (un free way es una autopista interestatal libre, con pocos accesos y de alta velocidad), mismo que conecta el sur de California con el norte de Florida; rumbo a El Paso, Texas, en dirección al este. Cada varios kilómetros, los puentes sobre el Free Way indicaban las salidas hacia las localidades cercanas. Primero, La Mesilla, pueblo de donde salieron quienes fundaron en 1871 Ascensión, la localidad en donde vivo. Después University Park, Mesquite y San Miguel, y ya cerca del límite estatal, en la salida número 155: "Vado" hacia la derecha. Vado es una pequeña y típica localidad agrícola neo mexicana. 3065 habitantes, extendida, fundada en 1920, con áreas agrícolas de alta tecnología y rodeadas de casas bien equipadas, y en otras zonas casas modestas, pero con todos los servicios. Las calles son más bien caminos, algunos asfaltados, con abundantes indicaciones y señales de tránsito, llamadas Holguin, Vado, Boyer, East Drain, Joel, Gomez, Highway, Arapaho, Sankana, Live, Chihuahua, etc. indican la multicultura de la localidad. Busqué la oficina del "Sheriff" u otra del gobierno; me indicaron que ahí no había, que necesitaba regresarme a Mesquite. Entonces me dediqué a buscar algún inmigrante mexicano, en estos pueblos son la mayoría de la población, pero han adquirido ya el hábito norteamericano de no caminar por las calles, eso solo se ve por el centro de las ciudades; entonces esperé a encontrar gente en los patios de sus casas. El nombre de la calle, tomado del WRTH "High Valley Road" nadie lo reconocía, y amablemente, algunos me informaron que las emisoras más cercanas se encontraban en El Paso y Las Cruces. Tuve que explicarles que no era una emisora de radio común lo que buscaba, que sus antenas posiblemente eran "un poco raras". Así, fui enviado a lugares con antenas que resultaron ser de celulares, de control remoto de riego agrícola, para intercomunicación rural, etc. Finalmente un paisano, joven, orientado por el nombre de "Our Lord´s Ranch" me informó que fuera del pueblo, del otro lado del Free Way, había un establecimiento de gente extraña, que "ahí hay una antena como esta que tengo para la televisión -una Yagi- pero esa antena es grande, yo creo que es de terroristas o de la CIA, por que la antenota es más grande que mi casa". Me dijo que siguiera a su hermana, una chica alta, de cabello castaño claro y de muy agradable presencia, que estaba saliendo en su lujoso auto deportivo rumbo a su trabajo en la gasolinera, y que de ahí continuara de frente hasta donde terminaba el pavimento. Pues quise seguir ese atractivo auto Mustang y quedarme en la gasolinera, naturalmente, en vez de seguir buscando la KJES, pero era ya mediodía y como me esperaba un viaje de varias horas hacia Arizona, decidí seguir de frente rumbo al rancho. A un kilómetro y medio, pasando el Free Way, entre pequeñas lomas sube el camino rural, y en donde termina el pavimento, en un llano con gobernadoras (larrea tridentata), mezquites (prosopis juliflora), rodadoras (salsola kali) y diversos cactos, teniendo de fondo la pedregosa, seca y abrupta sierra de Organos Mountain, que es azulada a lo lejos, de repente se aparece, como en lo que podría parecer un espejismo a quien no está acostumbrado a manejar por el desierto, el "Our Lord´s Ranch" con edificios modernos y austeros, posiblemente entre otros, sean viviendas, dormitorios, una bodega y un salón de actos. Y del otro lado del rancho, la "pequeña" antena en cuestión. Me dirigí directamente a la antena, en el extremo sureste del complejo. El solo observar esta enorme y bella antena, con su elegante mástil y rotor, producía una emoción que recompensó las molestias del viaje y búsqueda. Junto a ella, un edificio de tipo multiuso más o menos común en la región: a partir de piezas prefabricadas traídas de otras partes, que se van armando rápidamente sobre una plancha o piso de concreto previamente construida. Ahí supongo está la radiodifusora. Lo supongo, por que no había nadie en ese momento: estaban cerradas las puertas, excepto una que al parecer daba a una bodega. Tras estar buen rato tocando la puerta principal, gritando y llamando en varios idiomas, me quedé con las ganas de asomarme por puerta de la bodega, un poco más hacia adentro; por las ventanas del frente no se veía nada, tampoco pude circular por los patios en donde estaban las antenas. Por que en Nuevo México existen severos cargos judiciales para quienes lleven a cabo la invasión de una propiedad particular, y ni decir los líos producibles en caso de una simple sospecha de vandalismo y robo. Pude observar que lamentablemente el patio de enfrente de la emisora, y mucho más la zona de las antenas, los terrenos se encontraban descuidados, con hierba dispersa -no había más por lo seco del lugar-, del cerco que rodea las instalaciones sólo son unos tramos de cable grueso de acero oxidado sostenidos por algunos antiguos durmientes o travesaños de vías férreas, con anuncios en inglés y en español de precaución por la energía irradiada por las antenas. Sin embargo, pude ver que desafiaba esas advertencias alguna liebre (lepus callotis) que tenía su madriguera en ese campo de antenas, y distinguí claramente una lagartija (lucertola, dicen nuestros amigos italianos) (EXACTO !!!!!) entre los disminuidos zacatales junto a uno de los mástiles, seguramente buscando su alimento. Además de la "pequeña" antena, rodeando a ella hay 5 mástiles que forman un cuadrado de aproximadamente 75 metros de lado -el quinto mástil se encuentra en el centro del cuadrado-, con líneas dobles de cables entre ellos. Me llamó la atención que los amarres o seguros de uno de estos mástiles estuviera anclado en un bien equipado corral supongo de vacas, que mostraba indicios de no haber sido usado desde hace tiempo. También está junto al edificio una antena al parecer para un enlace cercano en VHF. Finalmente, me dirigí hacia los otros edificios del rancho. Todos con nombres de lugares bíblicos, y al parecer, las personas que los ocupan estaban ausentes o en siesta. En uno de ellos, "Bethany", de materiales y aspecto similar al edificio de la estación de radio, observé ropa tendida y numerosas bicicletas infantiles estacionadas junto a la puerta, y ahí me dirigí. Posiblemente era aquí la escuela o un comedor infantil, por las voces que se escuchaban desde adentro. Salió una dama, todavía con algunos alimentos en la boca, al parecer extranjera también, ya que requería de hacer pausas para hablar un inglés no muy fluido y con un acento francés. Al juzgar por la cara que me mostró, le fue extraño que yo preguntara por la emisora de radio, que quién me había platicado de la radioemisora y de que manera había podido llegar al rancho... entonces le mostré el WRTH 2006 con los datos de KJES y mis datos del Club Diexista; de acuerdo a lo que le pude y me pudo entender, me informó que de KJES ella no sabía nada, y que en el rancho tampoco había nadie en ese momento que me informara de la radio. También me solicitó que en ese día no me acercara al edificio de la emisora y las antenas -no le dije que de ahí venía-; me comentó que el teléfono de KJES es (505) 233-2090 y que el código postal completo es 88072-7221, y le entregué mi tarjeta de presentación y les invité al próximo XII Encuentro Nacional Diexista. KJES me queda a un poco más de 3 horas de mi casa. Espero volver en próximas vacaciones e informarles más ampliamente. Claro, en un día no festivo en ninguno de los dos países -en algunos sitios de EUA también celebran las fechas mexicanas- ni en fin de semana. Hace algunos años, al pasar por la carretera, observé unas antenas para ondas cortas, similar al cuadrado mencionado, en Mesquite. Supongo que eran las de KJES cuando estaba en esta localidad. Según algunas fuentes, es una emisora católica, pero no observé yo alguna cruz -al menos alguna cruz grande-, en alguno de los edificios en Our Lord´s Ranch. Las cruces son elementos comunes en instituciones católicas de todo tipo, por eso esperaba observar alguna. Amigos: visiten el sitio con informaciones sobre el XII Encuentro Nacional Diexista: http://mx.geocities.com/diexismo73/encuentrodx.html 73 de (Miguel Angel Rocha Gámez via Dario Monferini, playdx yg, DXLD) Hola Estimado Miguel Angel, gracias por tu historia de como se ubica esa emisora... puedo deducir que es inactiva en la onda corta ??? 73's (Dario Monferini, ibid.) Dario, gracias por adelantar este informe tan interesante. Yo también visité a KJES hace muchos años, mientras me quedaba en Las Cruces, e igualmente no encontré a nadie en la planta, ni en el Rancho entero. Acabo de probar los 11715 a las 1519 del 10 de mayo, y encuentro su señal débil en español, mujer hablando de cosas religiosas, y algo sub-modulada. Creo que sea irregular en OC, pero no inactiva. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Hi Glenn, talvez también en Italia pasa lo mismo visitando pequeñas emisoras FM de áreas rurales. Me alegra que te gustò la información. A mí me "encanta" leer tus informativos. 73's (Dario, ibid.) I should add that KJES is probably remote-controlled from HQ in El Paso, so not surprising no one is around at the transmitter site (gh, DXLD) Aquí en mi casa no he podido captar a KJES, ¿será por que estoy cerca de ella? No sé si esté activa o inactiva. 73´s de (Miguel Angel Rocha Gámez, Chihuahua, playdx yg via DXLD) ** U S A. Re 6-072: Gentlemen: I'll have to shut up my mouth and apologize for my comments on the poor Google postings about WRUL-WNYW history. Must be that in my first searching I didn´t specify most properly "WRUL RADIO NEW YORK WORLDWIDE". Well, I have done it this way and sites related almost drowned me. One of the most complete, and BTW I recommend, is http://www.northernstar.no/wnyw3.htm by Lou Josephs (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. All in a day's work... May I indulge in a little online bragging? This isn't DX related, but it's definitely radio-related (for me)... This seems to be the year for me to receive awards for my work at KSMU... on Friday 4/28 I was surprised with the "Ozzie" award, given annually by the Springfield Regional Arts Council to an individual who is said to "personify" the arts in the community, has demonstrated a long-term commitment to go "above and beyond" in promoting the local arts etc. And this year, I'm it! I've been at this job (first "Music Director," later "Arts Producer") for 28 years now, and I've made it a part of the job to do an extensive weekly "Arts News" event-and-interview program, as well as numerous in-depth reports each year about issues, crises, etc. facing the local arts groups. I can't tell you how cool it is --- and how humbling --- to be recognized by the community for what is, in one sense, just "part of the job" for me, but in another sense has always been my major passion: getting out the word about the thriving performing-and-visual-arts offerings in this area. S.O.P. for these awards is to surprise/ambush the recipient by somehow contriving to get them to show up at the awards banquet... and I have to say, everyone involved --- my wife, my colleagues at the station, the Arts Council folks --- gave Oscar-worthy performances in keeping this from me (and I'm not the easiest person in the world to keep a secret from!). True, it's only a "local" honor, but I'm thrilled! Also, we just heard that the feature I did a few months ago about IBOC, HDTV etc. is one of the finalists in the "Special Programs" category in the Missouri Broadcasters Association annual awards, along with features by two other KSMU producers. The nice thing about the MBA awards is that it's not "winner take all" --- in each category they give a first-place plaque, but every finalist gets a "certificate of merit/honorable mention" plaque as well, so no one who's a finalist goes home empty-handed. But it's been two or three years since I last won anything from the MBA, so I'm very pleased with this as well. It's neat to go head-to-head with producers from major commercial and non-commercial stations in the state, like KMOX! Anyway, sorry to take up so much bandwidth on this, but I thought you folks would like to know (Randy Stewart, Springfield MO, May 9, IRCA via DXLD) (applause!) Kudos! Wouldn't it be interesting if everyone in broadcasting had the same mindset (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) ** U S A. PINE RIDGE RADIO STATION TRIES TO GET BACK ON AIR AFTER LIGHTNING --- CARSON WALKER, Associated Press [KILI 90.1 Porcupine] SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A lightning strike knocked the FM radio station that serves the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation off the air, but managers hope to secure a federal grant for repairs if they can raise the matching funds. "We've told them that we will definitely come up with the money," though "in southwest South Dakota, there's not a lot of money," said Tom Casey, business manager and development director. "One way or another, this station is going to continue and meet the needs of the people in this area." With five full-time staff and 15 to 20 on-air volunteers, KILI - which means "extraordinary" in the Lakota language - is a unique community radio station that broadcasts programs, announcements and music in English and Lakota. Its programming includes live broadcasts of youth basketball and baseball tournaments and tribal council meetings, shows on health and other issues, public service announcements and music - including native, country, rock, rap, jazz and even a little bluegrass. "It's just such an eclectic bit of music," Casey said. Though its focus is the community, KILI also has been a player in national politics. In 2004, several friends of former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle called the station on Election Day in a last-ditch attempt to urge the mostly Democratic listening audience to help save the party leader's job. Among the callers interviewed by Casey were former President Bill Clinton, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and the Rev. Jesse Jackson. Daschle carried the reservation but lost to Republican John Thune. The noncommercial station is supported by grants and donations from well-known foundations to local groups that depend on it as the main communications tool for the Oglala Lakota Nation. KILI is one of the few stops a radio makes when using the scan function on the vast Pine Ridge reservation. The April 15 lightning strike hit near the station's 300-foot antenna and knocked out equipment that was already in bad shape, Casey said. KILI, located on a bluff near Porcupine, just marked its 23rd anniversary and much of the technology is at least that old. The station has had outages in the past because of it, and the roof leaks. Casey hopes to send off a proposal within days for an emergency grant from the Public Telecommunications Facilities Program at the Department of Commerce in Washington. Still, it could be months before the repairs are done, he said. Besides replacing the antenna and transmission line, Casey wants to put in a new transmitter and grounding system, which would better protect against lightning. The project estimate is around $150,000. The government would pay 75 percent of that, so the station needs to raise roughly $37,000, he said. Donations can be left in cans, jars and bottles in businesses around the reservation. Oglala Lakota College has committed some money, as has the tribe. The station is also sending out letters to other tribes and the National Indian Gaming Association. KILI is streaming music and some announcements over its Internet site, but the station itself will stay silent until repairs are made, Casey said. The station did a survey in the 1990s and found that 95 percent of the 500 people who responded had listened to it in the last 24 hours, he said. "When I go out into the community, everybody asks, "When you gonna be on?" Casey said. "What I tell people is we will definitely be back on the air. I just can't tell you when." One regular listener is Birgil Kill Straight, who really came to appreciate the station in 1998 when he broke his back and was bedridden for several weeks. "That radio station just kept me aware of what was happening and to my friends and the people I was working with," he said. "People don't realize that until they're without it." On the Net: KILI-FM: http://www.kiliradio.org/ Public Telecommunications Facilities Program: http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ptfp/ (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) OFF THE AIR! Last week we had a lightening strike that hit our tower. The result was that the antenna needs to be replaced, and also our transmitter. This is a very expensive proposition. The NEW Estimate is between $75,000 and $80,000. We are working on and will get back up as soon as we can (KILI website in a strange font, May 13, via gh, DXLD) ** U S A. PETITION TO DENY LICENSE RENEWAL [BINGHAMTON NY] Two station members of the BU radio station, WHRW -- Bill Huston and Gabriel Harrison -- have filed a Petition to Deny license renewal with the FCC against 11 radio stations owned by Clear Channel and Citadel What follows is an online article and press release about this Petition to Deny. PSB article: http://pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060503/NEWS01/605030325/1001 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE --------------------- CITIZENS ASK FCC TO GIVE CORPORATE BROADCASTERS THE BOOT Monday, May 1 2006 (Binghamton, NY) - Today, a group of citizens filed a an action with the Federal Communications Commission which could ultimately change the shape of the broadcast media landscape in Binghamton. A group of activists, clergy, academics, and regular folk asked the FCC to deny the license renewals for 11 radio stations locally owned by Clear Channel Communications, and Citadel Broadcasting Company. Rev. Kevin Bunger (priest), Karen Glauber (speech pathologist), Eric Schwartz (media scholar and graduate student), Gabriel Harrison (community radio producer), and Bill Huston (media activist and producer) today either joined the petition, or supplied supporting statements. Their reasons are varied, citing the lack of local production, the lack of news and public affairs, the lack of local music, the use of automation, and the for-profit business model, which pits the interests of the distant corporate stockholders against the public service needs of the community of license, and which even treats political speech as commercial speech! "[Broadcast automation] is like being stabbed in the ear with a Q-Tip", said Harrison. "The FCC rarely denies a license", says Bill Huston, who organized the effort, "but at least we may engage the FCC, the corporate licensees, and the community in a dialog on the issues at stake, and the issues are grave." Huston continues, "Without exaggerating, our very democracy is at stake." License renewal comes once every eight years, and the broadcast licensees must prove to the FCC they are acting in the public interest. "But as Edward R. Murrow once said, 'Sometimes there is a clash between the public interest and the corporate interest', says Huston. "We argue this is the case here." The petitions and supporting documents are here: http://binghamtonpmc.org/bhuston/petition_to_deny/ http://binghamtonpmc.org/bhuston/petition_to_deny/citadel http://binghamtonpmc.org/bhuston/petition_to_deny/clearchannel For more information, call Bill Huston 607-724-1755 bhuston at stny.rr.com http://home.stny.rr.com/bhuston/ Kevin Bunger 607-648-5209 bunger@frontiernet.net Karen Glauber (prefers no media calls) Eric Schwartz 607-797-6718 novgorodva at yahoo.com Gabe Harrison 607-725-4025 piggyboy7 at hotmail.com (via Bob Carter - KC4QLP, Mid-Atlantic-Engineering-Services of Utica NY / Elizabeth City NC http://www.geocities.com/midatlanticengineeringservice ABDX via DXLD) ** VANUATU. 12 May, 0630-0730, 7260, R. Vanuatu, English. Heard earlier on this date than usual. 4960 just noise. IS and ID clearly heard at 0701 (David Norcross, Kahalu'u Hawaii, Sony 2010 w/ Grove Skywire in attic, SW100 7 meter lanai longwire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. 6005, Radio Yemen, 2005-2010, escuchada el 4 de Mayo en árabe a locutor con comentarios y músicas folklóricas árabes, SINPO 43433 (José Miguel Romero EA5-1022, Burjasot (Valencia), España, May 12, YAESU FRG-7700, SANGEAN ATS 909, Antena RADIO MASTER A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ WRTH SUMMER SCHEDULES FILE AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD WRTH is pleased to announce that a Summer schedules file is now available for free download at the WRTH web site, http://www.wrth.com Please follow the simple instructions on our site to download the file. The file is pdf document and you will require the free adobe acrobat reader 5 or above to read it (a link to the Adobe website is on our page). The file contains Summer 06 broadcasting schedules from all International and selected clandestine/target broadcasters. Also included are 'By Frequency' LW, MW and SW listings of the stations in the file plus a new feature for the Summer web file: broadcasts in English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish. The file contains 113 pages and the page layout is the same as WRTH. and is approximately 450k. We hope that you find this file a useful accompaniment to the WRTH. Regards, (Sean Gilbert, International Editor, WRTH, May 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AZIMUTH/DISTANCE CALCULATOR It'll probably be an unfinished project, but I've started to apply the FCC's azimuth/distance calculator at http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/distance.html to the SWBC transmitter coordinates to show, particularly, the azimuth from the transmitter to Krum. I was particularly interested in the path from Armavir to Krum for the exceptionally strong signal I'm getting almost every night on 7125. It's 326 degrees from Armavir to Krum, the formula shows. The HFCC listing shows 500 kW from Armavir directed at 310 degrees. It'll be interesting to compare other, less regularly heard transmissions to see if sense can be made of any of it. I'm not a scientist, but I have a long history of tracking virtually useless trivia! (John Callarman, Krum TX, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ As I try to cram a lot of new tricks into this ancient head, I'll likely make a few misinterpretations of what I hear. One example --- I'm in print, now, identifying the Call to Prayer from VOIRI to open its Russian transmission on 9650 as in Farsi, an apparent erroneous assumption, as I've more recently read that in Muslim nations, Arabic is the language used for Holy ritual. I've also been called on an apples-to-oranges comparison when I wrote that I hope to learn enough about languages that I can tell the difference between Azeri and Farsi. Bob Hill reminded me that Azeri is a Turkic language, sounding not-at-all like Farsi! I've just enough intelligence left to recognize that there's a great body of knowledge common to those who've stayed with SWBC for many years about which I am almost totally ignorant! So if I blunder, don't hesitate to correct me (John Callarman, Krum TX, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ NOT PUBLICIZING IBAC By the way, with limited local listening, I have noted that WBGO very rarely mentions their HD. I have noted the 104.3 mentioning theirs at ID time. And WLTW-106.7 who runs TV ads a lot never mentions their HD in those ads. And as a final comment, haven't noted any HD ads on WCBS-880 for weeks and no HD ads on WOGL Sunday night except for a very brief one from a local electronic outlet which is not part of that HD campaign. The next question will be whether HD radios sell or not. Still think a loser is a loser (Joe Fela, NJ, May 9, WTFDA via DXLD) DRM: see ECUADOR; NEW ZEALAND; PORTUGAL; UK; RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM: RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ A VISIT TO SANGEAN [see also TAIWAN above] The week did include a couple of trips up to Taipei. The first was to the headquarters on Sangean. They are down to one building in Taiwan, with most of their manufacturing now in China. About eighty people are still involved in manufacturing at the Taipei facility, engaged in final finish to products mostly assembled in China. Sangean leadership is obviously concerned about the future of shortwave, and of radio in general. They are already established in the manufacture of DAB receivers in the U.K., but the growth of DAB in Europe is slow and uncertain. Expect Sangean also to be active in HD Radio, the U.S. version of digital radio. Sangean is working on a DRM receiver. It will use the same case as the Roberts Gemini 1 DAB radio in the U.K. This has a nice rectangular display that can be used for the pictures and text that can be transmitted along with DRM audio. But a Sangean official mentioned software problems, so it could be several months before we see this standalone DRM radio for sale in the United States. I suggested that Sangean produce a version of its ATS-909 with a 12 kHz IF output, patch cord, and CD with DRM software. I’m not sure if they took this seriously. In this age of personal computers, wide-screen high-definition televisions, and iPods, I can’t help but cheer for one of the few companies that still takes radios (other than car radios) seriously: portable radios, table radios, retro radios, under-counter radios. (Kim Andrew Elliott, Kim's NASWA Column, May 2006 via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ CUBANS GET TO WATCH US TELEVISION THANKS TO TROPO DX Desde el pasado 8 de Mayo, los cubanos y especificamente los residentes en su capital, Ciudad de la Habana, están recibiendo diferentes señales de Televisión procedentes de los Estados Unidos. Las cadenas TeleMundo, Univisión y CBS son las más vistas comenta el periodista independiente Ernesto Roque. En los barrios se ha corrido la Noticia y se ha visto a personas en las azoteas de los edificios de la Habana Vieja a individuos tratando de orientar las antenas para obtener mejor recepción. Al parecer el TROPO le ha dado un respiro a la aburrída programación de la TV Cubana. Cordiales 73 (Oscar de Céspedes (Miami, FL), May 12, condig list via DXLD) ###