DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-078, May 24, 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 SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1316: Wed 2200 WOR WBCQ 7415 [first airing of each edition] Wed 2300 WOR WBCQ 18910-CLSB Fri 2030 WOR WWCR 15825 Sat 0400 WOR WRMI 9955 Sat 0800 WOR WRN 13865 DRM via Bulgaria Sat 1430 WOR WRMI 7385 Sat 1600 WOR WWCR 12160 Sun 0230 WOR WWCR 5070 [start varies 0225-0235] Sun 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0530 WOR WRMI 9955 Sun 0630 WOR WWCR 3215 Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WOR WBCQ 7415 Mon 0500 WOR WRMI 9955 Wed 0930 WOR 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 DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS May 23: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** ALASKA. 620, 1406-, KGTL, Homer, May 22. Simple ID as 'KGTL 620' following USA network news. Fair to good reception 670, 1329-, KDLG, May 22. BBCWS programming, and then a generic NPR ID. Local IDs usually occur just before the top of the hour. Fair reception. 800, 1334-, KINY, Juneau, May 22. Oldies music followed by semi-ID as Hometown Radio, and mentions of the capital. Good reception. 890, 1333-, KBBI, Homer, May 21. Excellent reception with BBCWS relay. ID at 1359. 930, 1338-, KTKN, Ketchikan, May 22. Local programming with KTKN.com website and PSA. This is the strongest AM station heard in Masset, heard very well all day. 1110, 1348-, KAGV, Big Lake-Houston, May 21. I suspect that KAGV is back on the air. Heard at fair level with inspirational hymns. Hopefully it will still be audible in 10 minutes for an ID. Yes! ID as KAGV, Alaska's Gospel Voice at 1356. Full ID at 1400. 1230, 2326-, KIFW, Sitka, May 20. Fair reception at 4:30 PM best on North Beverage which makes sense. Interesting that they're in // to KTKN Ketchikan on 930, the closest Alaskan which is heard like a local, with local IDs in between the oldies. Saturday night's alright for fightin' by Elton John. 1229.99, 1350-, KIFW, Sitka, May 22. Very strong reception with ad for 'Coastal Contacts', then dead air (which occurs frequently on this station. I'm assuming this is a spot for local announcements between network feeds). Finally, after about 3 minutes of dead air, 'The latest in Alaskan news at KIFW.com'. Full ID at 1359:40 for KIFW. Reporting first drop in gasoline prices by a penny. Loggings from Masset, the Queen Charlottes --- Bottom of Form 1 Summer (oh well, almost summer) DX is alive and well on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Enjoy the following, and apologies for any errors in advance as I've just arrived home. Receiver used was an AOR 7030+, with a classic Beverage N/S and a Beverage on the ground running E/W. Exciting loggings at times! (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, May 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Most of Walt`s logs are in this issue, but some additional ones, especially MW, are in his full report in the dxldyg (gh) ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. Dear Friends, The May-June 2006 issue of NIAR Ham News which features the Hamfest VU4 2006 held in Port Blair, Andaman & NIcobar Is. is now available in pdf format at: http://www.niar.org/hamnews/Newslettermay2006.pdf With best wishes, (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, dx_india via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Several dates and times May 20-22: 3300 kHz, weak signal, harmonic of an (unidentified) Argentine X-band station (2 x 1650 kHz). Religious program. "Radio...., Mil Seis Cincuenta, las diecisiete horas veinticuatro minutos". Heard even in daylight as early as 1900 UT (4 pm local time) Reception at Cuchilla Alta, Uruguay. Receiver Sony ICF-7600DS + 15-m external antenna. 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) El fin de semana escuché en 3300 kHz un armónico de una emisora argentina de 1650 kHz, con programación religiosa. La señal era muy débil; no logré oir la identificación pero claramente dijeron "mil seis cincuenta" ¿A algún colega argentino le suena familiar? 73, (Moisés Knochen, Uruguay, condig list via DXLD) Hola Moisés!! ¿Cómo andas viejito? Sí, se trata de la RDB La Radio de la Bendición, transmite desde Quilmes Oeste, en la zona sur del Gran Buenos Aires y aparentemente se reactivó recientemente. Yo también la reporté justamente ayer con muy buena señal pero desde el centro porteño. Un abrazo Aldo (Arnaldo Slaen, May 24, condig list via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 1670 KHz, RADIO BETHEL, la emisora religiosa evangélica que opera desde el sur del Gran Buenos Aires, transmite ahora por esta nueva frecuencia, abandonando así la de 1640 KHz, a fin de evitar interferencias con Radio Bolivia (AM 1640 KHz), la emisora de Capital Federal que ha sido reportada nuevamente activa en esta última frecuencia. Cabe señalar que Radio Bethel, la estación operada por la Iglesia ``Asamblea de Dios``, había comenzado sus emisiones de prueba por los 1516v KHz, hasta que su ubicó en la X-band (1640 KHz), aprovechando la ausencia de la ``irregular`` Radio Bolivia. Tan pronto como ésta retornó al éter, Radio Bethel debió cambiar su frecuencia por la actual 1670 KHz, la que se hallaba ``desocupada`` de emisoras. Recordemos que en 1670 KHz, transmitía Radio Central, desde la ciudad de Buenos Aires, hasta que se vio obligada a salir del aire por problemas técnicos, al poco tiempo de comenzadas sus emisiones. Finalmente vale decir que Radio Bethel posee su QTH en la calle Benito Pérez Galdós 688 de Villa Fiorito (Banfield oeste), en el Partido de Lomas de Zamora, Provincia de Buenos Aires. Tel: (011) 4276-2423. ANUNCIO IMPORTANTE: Es importante señalar por último, que próximamente en la Página Web del GRA se ofrecerá un listado completo y actualizado de las emisoras de Onda Media Argentinas que operan en la X-Band, incluyendo: Frecuencia, Nombre de la emisora, QTH, Teléfono/s, E-mail, Página Web, Nombre de su Director y/o propietario, y demás datos relativos a cada una de las estaciones activas desde los 1610 KHz a 1710 KHz (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Lomas de Zamora, Argentina, May 22, condiglist via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 1611 kHz, 1230-, Radio Two, May 20. I knew things were hopping when I briefly monitored this Australian graveyard frequency at 1230 and heard music, and at least 3 different programs. At 1301 I caught a 'Radio Two' ID at decent levels. Excited, I checked the PAL only to find about 20 Radio Two stations all sharing the same frequency!!! Still, I'm very pleased. 2325, 1319-, VL8T, Tennant Creek, May 19. Excellent reception of ABC programming with a call-in show regarding numismatics. 2310 VL8A Alice Springs was not on the air this morning. Parallel to 2485 VL8K Katherine was also well heard, with its characteristic buzzing audio (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1316, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VL8A, Alice Springs, 4835 & 2310, went off the air last week for 3 months of refurbishing, according to Nigel Holmes (Chris Hambly, visiting Alice, May 22, WORLD OF RADIO 1316, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I thought they finished all three stations last year or earlier this year. Does this mean there will be another HF relay via RA Shepparton to fill in? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** BELARUS. 11930, 0357-, Belorussian Home Service 1st Programme, May 19. Nice reception with open carrier at 0355 tune-in. Single interval tone, and then in Belarusian ID and news headlines dealing primarily with local news. Then weather for Miensk, Brest and Grodno mentioned. Rain and 15 to 17 degrees in the capital. Minimal het noted. A good solid S7 signal. Presumably the same transmitter that once used 11960 during the same time period in the past (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM [non]. Some changes of TDP via ARM 250 kW / 188 deg to EAf: Voice of Delina in Tigrigna: 1700-1730 Mon-Fri NF 11830, ex 1800-1900 Sun on 12130 Radio Horyaal in Somali: 1730-1800 Sat-Thu NF 11830, ex 12130 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, May 23 via WORLD OF RADIO 1316, DXLD) Armavir ** BOLIVIA. 2353 UT May 20, 4715+ kHz. R. Yura, Spanish, public service announcements, 35333. Best heard here in the mornings, e.g. around 1030 UT, when it is received with a very strong signal. The modulation is very clear (better than some international stations, indeed!). Reception at Cuchilla Alta, Uruguay. Receiver Sony ICF- 7600DS + 15-m external antenna. 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4965, R. Alvorada de Parintins, full-data Maroti card in 33 days, of which the last 19 were in transit from Parintins! Also enclosed 4 postcards with explanations typed in PT on the back of each card. Also enclosed a plastic Brazilian flag with a plastic rod that fits into a suction cup that was provided. This for a CD (my first QSL for a CD report), $1, mint stamps and other enclosures. V/S Raimunda Ribeiro da Silva, Secretaria/Gerente. Brazilian #51. V/S and address as in 2006 PWBR, except postal code three-digit suffix is 480 on the envelope instead of 460 (John Sgrulletta, NY, DX-plorer via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. HORÁRIO LIMITE DE SERVIÇO DIURNO DAS EMISSORAS DE RADIODIFUSÃO SONORA EM ONDA MÉDIA (Tempo Legal) is available at: http://www.anatel.gov.br/biblioteca/resolucao/1999/anexo8_116.pdf (Tore B. Vik, ARC LA News Desk via DXLD) A valuable document! Brazil, like the US, has day/night power change requirements on MW, and like the US, the times change each month depending on local sunrise and sunset, and furthermore like the US, are rounded off to the nearest 15 minutes. Unlike the US, the exact location does not determine this, but is the same in each state, some of which are quite large and local mean time therefore also varies widely. The dedicated domestic Brazilian DXer could apply this to determine the optimum time to DX certain stations, i.e. beginning or end of month, east or west side of the state, etc. Times in the table are of course local, generally UT -3. Some states span two timezones, as in the Notes. This obviously does not take into account DST which is observed in the local summer especially in the SE coastal states. In states near the Equator the yearly variation does not amount to more than half an hour, while in RGS there is a 2-hour variation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Passing of Neville Denetto --- Thanks to Nandor Petrov to alerting us of the recent passing of Neville Denetto. Neville was member of the ODXA in our early years and was a member of a very active core group of DXers in and around Thunder Bay, Ontario. It was Neville and his friends who hosted the 1981 ANARC Convention in Thunder Bay. I also remember another DX gathering in the city when Neville welcomed visiting DXers to his rural home near Kakabeka Falls. We also visited the falls and the Department of Communications Monitoring Station. Neville passed away on May 18th of a stroke at his home in Gatineau, Quebec (Harold Sellers, Ontario DX Association http://www.odxa.on.ca May 22 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Re: [mwc] Norway 1314 - catch it while you can Ironic, as 1320 CKEC [New Glasgow NS] will likely be going silent in the near future, given the upcoming flip to FM. I was looking forward to getting 1314 Norway more often, as the immense splatter from CKEC makes it pretty tough. CKEC's move to FM was long rumoured, and as I recall, referred to in the NRC log two or three years ago as an application filed. That may have been jumping the gun, or it may have spent a long time in a dusty pile at the CRTC and or Industry Canada. At any rate, the CRTC held a hearing here in Charlottetown in October 2005, the decision was made in March 2006 and the CRTC gave CKEC the green light. CKEC-FM is approved for 94.1, with 35,000 some odd watts, Class C1, and a fair bit of height above average terrain - and the average terrain in Pictou County is rather high. Most recent FM licenses here in the Maritimes are for directional patterns, and CKEC is no exception. I'd be very surprised if CKEC AM was off the air by July 1. My hunch is that they may have the FM on testing by mid to late summer, with the AM off a month or two later. The CRTC normally allows up to three months, but for most stations, once the FM is tested and approved, they don't want to be paying the electricity bills for the AM. Most of the time, they can't pull the towers down fast enough, get whatever $ they can for them - usually peanuts, and sell the land, usually not peanuts! For example, the CFCY tower land - right in Cornwall - would pay for many, many, many FM conversions. The old pre 1991 CJFX site in Antigonish now is home to a big bunch of box stores. The post 1991 site is likely fair game for some subdivisions. The CKEC site could be used for residential development, but the housing market is kind of soft in Pictou County. Drive 35 miles to Antigonish and it`s a rather different story, or over across the pond to PEI. Funny thing is, for someone who knows both broadcasting and real estate, one could have in the recent past borrowed a million or so to buy a small town AM station, converted it to FM for $500,000, then in some cases sold the transmitter site land for several times the total. Unfortunately, most of those opportunities down this way are gone (Phil Rafuse, PEI, ABDX via DXLD) ** CANADA. Manitoba TV received in Northern Ireland: See PROPAGATION ** CHILE. 0118 UT May 21, 6090 kHz. Unidentified Chilean station, most probably R. Esperanza, Temuco. Religious program, with a Paraguayan- accented female preacher. The station's announcer on the other hand had clear Chilean accent. Program "Noche de Milagros". 44343. Intense background roaring noise resembling jamming. Against... whom? Reception at Cuchilla Alta, Uruguay. Receiver Sony ICF-7600DS + 15-m external antenna. 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Would it be possible to explain to an English speaker the difference between Paraguayan and Chilean accents? (gh) ** CHINA. 3280, 1334-, Voice of Pujiang, May 19. Straight 5-5-5 signal with very modern programming with many mentions of Shanghai. At 1335 a pop song in English (I didn't recognize it), interrupted several times by a young sounding female. A real contrast to KCBS, North Korea! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also TAIWAN ** CUBA. Hi Guys: It's 1555 EDT [1955 UT] and I have what looks like some kind of test pattern on channel 5 that says PERLAVISION. Above the word Perlavision is a big round DOT with 3 EYEBROWS over it. The eyebrows get gradually larger from bottom to top. There are also some numbers at the bottom of the screen. On the right the numbers start with 357????? There are also some numbers or writing on the left hand bottom corner. This is taking out semilocal Channel 5 WEWS Cleveland!!! Any help?? Caribbean??????? [Later:] Hi Guys: Just figured this thing out with some help from the net!!! It's Channel 5 Perlavision from Cienfuegos City CUBA!!! Found the exact same LOGO on the net with the EYE and Eyebrows!!! A NEW Station for me too!!! Yippppeee!!!!!!!! WPBT 2 Miami also in Good!!! 73. ROB (Robert S. Ross, VA3SW, Box 1003, Stn. B., London, Ontario, CANADA N6A5K1, May 23, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. RE 6-076: ``UNITED KINGDOM. 7205, Radio República (via Woofferton). A 'thank you for your report' letter, along with hand written statement thanking me for the CD, and that my report was correct. Also returned my PPC, signed, along with newsletter information. Reply in 60 days for a CD Report to Miami address. v/s illegible. This is the first station that has replied since I started to send out audio CDs (mp3 form). (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Canada, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I bet they did not specify Woofferton, did they? This was a big secret as far as they were concerned. Edward`s QSL items in this issue are filed under transmitter site country instead of [non] countries (gh)`` It would be even more odd if they did specify Woofferton since we have presented strong evidence that it is Rampisham, as discussed at length here previously. So, Edward, did they say anything about transmitter site? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I put the site in brackets as what has been previously posted for this frequency. Whatever the site (Woofferton or Rampisham) it was not indicated in the letter quotes. The verification (PPC) I left blank for the transmitter site. They did not indicate the site. I could be rather a bit dubious and write the site in on the PPC, but no, left as is. Hope this clears up this (Edward Kusalik, ibid.) ** DIEGO GARCIA. 12579, 1434-, AFN, May 21. Interesting to figure out. Quite distorted, so I thought this was a spur, but it does not appear to be the case. Parallel to Guam 5765 (very good), and Pearl Harbor 10320 (fair). Signal is S5 to S7, and suffers from the usual tone utility/slow CW. Plug finally pulled at 1453:30. What a mess! Within a minute I was able to hear them very weakly on 4319U. That signal doesn't appear to be distorted, although it's probably too weak to be sure. 12579, 1412-, AFN, May 22. Very good reception this morning except for occasional CW interference. Distorted audio heard yesterday is gone today. USA radio network news at 1415. Off in mid-sentence at 1452:30, and then very weakly heard on 4319U. Monitored the entire time, and not a hint of anything local. I'm still skeptical over reports of local IDs heard (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1316, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 2345 UT May 20, 11700 kHz, HCJB, ID in Spanish, then program in "Special English", i.e. spoken slowly. Made me remember the broadcasts in "Easy English" that the VOA used to have decades ago. 55444. Reception at Cuchilla Alta, Uruguay. Receiver Sony ICF-7600DS + 15-m external antenna. 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So no QRM de Bulgaria. Ah yes, so HCJB DOES still broadcast in English (A2L) in this little-publicized show which has been at that time for many years in the Spanish service (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. 2027 UT May 20, 15375 kHz, R. Cairo, English program. Poor audio, distorted and low modulation. Around 2030 time pips and ID (the time signal was late by about one full minute!) Reception at Cuchilla Alta, Uruguay. Receiver Sony ICF-7600DS + 15-m external antenna. 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EL SALVADOR. Hola Glenn: Según anució la ministra de economía, la hora en El Salvador NO será adelantada, se mantendrá TU-6. Saludos (Humberto Molina, El Salvador, May 23, WORLD OF RADIO 1316, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, the entry I previously saw at http://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst2006a.html showing a shift on May 21 has been removed. It must have been anticipated at some point (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1316, DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 2211 UT May 20, 5005 kHz, R. Bata. Spanish language. Cultural program, talk about the life of Mozart, films, etc. 2232 ID as "Radio Bata" and reading of several "bandos" (official announcements), then African music. 2252 the announcer closed the transmission until 6 o'clock local time (i.e. 0500 UT), with a gong and the words, "Viva el Presidente de la República, Su Excelencia ....", "Viva la República de Guinea Ecuatorial", followed by the National Anthem. The recording of the Anthem was poor, sounded with strong flutter, indicating perhaps that the tape player is needing some maintenance. BTW, did somebody get a QSL from them recently? Reception at Cuchilla Alta, Uruguay. Receiver Sony ICF-7600DS + 15-m external antenna. 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Re missing Nuntii Latini: they may already be taking the summer off, Jun-Aug, as mentioned in the WRTH A-06 supplement (Joe Hanlon, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. I am wondering what has become of RFI`s 14 UT broadcast in English to Asia. WRTH A-06 supplement shows it on 7220 via TCH which would be Chita, Russia; EiBi shows 14-1430 on 21620, but can`t hear it there (Joe Hanlon, NJ, May 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And http://www.rfi.fr/langues/statiques/rfi_anglais.asp still shows outdated A-05/S-05 info! One can however, listen to the latest broadcast at that hour via above site. No frequency announcement at the outset, the middle or the end, tho I did not listen to all 60 minutes, the last 3, strangely enough, in French (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** GABON. I don`t know what went on earlier May 23, but at 1404 found the African music jammer on 17620, where I have never heard it before; this is normally a poorly audible RFI frequency direct from France at this hour. No announcements, still going by 1455 check, probably until usual 1530* This was right next to overt Africa Number One on 17630, and if anything, 17620 was stronger. No other Sawt al-Amel-related activity audible in the 17625-17690 range, unless something was under Chile 17680, but this was after SAA`s usual closing at 1401*. Cf Olle Alm`s previous report of 17620 swapping with 17665, but those were both from Issoudun. Nor could Libya in English via France be heard on 17725 or 17850 today (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1316, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Then on May 24 at 1315 check: African music on 17665, equivalent signal to ANO 17630; nothing on 17620. Something on 17670 with Arabic talk, and SAH. Hi latitudes were better with Solh fair on 17700 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also LIBYA [and non] Solar-terrestrial indices for 23 May follow. Solar flux 84 and mid- latitude A-index 6. The mid-latitude K-index at 1200 UTC on 24 May was 1 (6 nT). The mid-latitude K-index at 1500 UTC on 24 May was 2 (12 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours (SEC via DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. RUSSIA(non), Frequency change for Deutsche Welle in German to EaAs: 1000-1200 NF 7350 P.K 250 kW / 247 deg, ex 7430 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, May 23 via DXLD) ** HAWAII. Glenn, Honolulu 1170 has definitely moved to 1180, per observation last evening while driving back to Pearl City from Lualualei (Ben Dawson, HI, May 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 3945, 1433-, AIR Gorakhpur, May 19. Urdu is listed at this time (Foreign service) with typical middle eastern/sub continental audio, likely Kor`an recitation. Poor to fair reception but quite clean audio. 4970, 1440-, AIR Shillong, May 20. Easy listening western music with a nice clean S5 signal. Brief English talk just before this song by a YL. Then a Beatles song (As my guitar gently weeps). Then another Beatles song (Life goes on). Same YL announced the previous songs and the next one. Morse intruder suddenly came on at 1451, but on LSB only. Blue skies, and other western songs. Unfortunately, not a single Indian song. North Eastern serve of AIR from Shillong ID'd twice at 1500 in English, and then onto more western songs (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA [and non]. Re 6-077: I give up; what does ODI stand for? Answer: One Day International (an abbreviation I've also noticed used on the BBC website Cricket pages sometimes) (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) One Day International as opposed to Test Matches which last five days (Mike Barraclough, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ODI is One Day International, i.e. as match which takes one day to complete, as opposed to a Test Match which takes up to five full days. I don't dislike cricket, but I have never had the luxury of sufficient free time to follow a whole game. Soccer is better for me because it's all over in a couple of hours (Andy Sennitt, UK [non], DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, 'ODI' is a cricketing term that stands for One Day International. This is a limited overs (usually 50 x 6 ball overs per side, one innings per side) cricket match between the major cricketing nations (i.e. Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe) over a one day period, unless poor weather conditions dictate it needs to be carried into the next day. As opposed to a Test Match, which would be scheduled for five days, two innings per side. Cheers (Chris Brand, BDXC-UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Noted the live commentary of 3rd one day international cricket match between India & West Indies on 3315, 4910, 4960 & 5040 at 1920 UT. Regds (Alokesh Gupta, UT May 23, dx_india via DXLD) Next on 26 and 28 May (gh, DXLD) Yes, my friend, I was listening too last night. I heard it also on 4950. 5040 was the strongest here. 73 (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, ibid.) ** INDIA. PRASAR BHARATI CEO K. S. SARMA RETIRES IN JUNE Sarma retires in June; govt. yet to move on replacement Indiantelevision.com Team (22 May 2006 12:30 pm) NEW DELHI: Indian pubcaster Prasar Bharati would soon be headless unless the government, too busy with other issues like reservation for backward classes in educational institutions, hurries up. On 30 June 2006, Prasar Bharati CEO KS Sarma retires after serving an over five-year term that can be easily termed a roller-coaster ride. The present chairman of Prasar Bharati, veteran journalist MV Kamath, was appointed during the tenure of previous government, headed by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party. Meanwhile Sarma, a veteran of Prasar Bharati (he officiated as the DG of Doordarshan when he was a joint secretary in the I&B ministry in the mid to late 1990s) has seen over five ministers at the information and broadcasting ministry, which controls the purse strings for the publicly funded Prasar Bharati. Despite allegations of nepotism during a time when DD used to outsource marketing of big events, including the money-spinning cricket matches involving India, a wily Sarma has come out unscathed. It was during Sarma's tenure as the CEO that DD floated its subscription-free DTH service, which raced ahead of the country's first pay TV DTH service, Dish TV, in terms of subscribers. For the financial year ended march 2006, for the first time Prasar Bharati clocked a gross revenue of Rs 12.38 billion with Doordarshan clocking Rs 9.68 billion and All India Radio 2.7 billion that signified a growth of 67.67 per cent. Some of the achievements during Sarma's tenure included the following: 1. Increased focus on pro-active in house marketing of properties. 2. Successful execution of media campaigns on behalf of government departments. 3. Rationalization of rate cards to suit the changing market conditions. 4. A strategic shift from Sponsored Programmes to Self Financing Scheme. 5. Introduction of blockbuster Hindi Feature Films on DD National and marketing them in-house. 6. Leveraging AIR's vast network and unprecedented reach. 7. Narrowcasting programming strategy. 8. Publicity support for programmes to create awareness, especially among C & S audience. 9. Improved billing and housekeeping efforts (Indiantelevision.com via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 2960, 1327-, RPDT2, Manggarai, May 19. Fair reception with Indonesian talk by a male. A real mom and pop sounding operation. 3325.05, 1339-, RRI Palangkaraya, May 19. Fair to good reception with easy listening Indo music by a female vocalist. I suspect both PNG and Indonesia was very strong this morning as there are several presumably PNG open carriers still present on 90 meters. 3344.97, 1342-, RRI Ternate, May 19. Good reception with a western pop song, which seems a bit odd for an Indo station, but sure enough afterwards the usual sing-song Indo voice of a young lady came on. Akin to Filipino to me. Open carrier at 1344:45. Then at 1345:00 returned with more traditional Indonesian vocal. 3976.06, 1438-, RRI Pontianak, May 19. Very good reception despite only a S3 to S5 signal. Very clear, with only a minimal of the typical bassy sound of most Indos. Several mentions of Pontianak. Best heard on my West facing BOG (Beverage on Ground). (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. Re 6-077 and WOR 1316: which RRI station is on 7290v? EiBi, PWBR and ILG say Nabire; WRTH and Aoki say Serui (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Glenn, re Int'l Vacuum - DXLD 6-077 --- Interesting! AOL carries selected XM channels including a '60's Music' channel. I'll have to listen in Friday to see if it's the same channel Bill Nolman refers to. Google led me to this info about the Terry Young show: Again it may be that the 'XM's Channel 6' is different than XM's 60's Music station: (Vuolo Aircheck) http://www.vuolovideo.com/audioairchecks.html "GREAT STATIONS OF THE SIXTIES ON XM AVAILABLE ON CD Each Friday on the Terry Young Young Show on XM Satellite Radio, he pays tribute to a great top 40 radio station from the 1960's. We have archived them ALL! Since August 13, 2004 here's what we have: WKYC Cleveland, WCFL [Chicago], WMCA New York, WIBG Philadelphia, WPOP Hartford, WMEX Boston, WAKY Louisville, WAYS Charlotte, KXOK St. Louis, WKNR Detroit, KQV Pittsburgh, WKKO Cocoa Beach, FL, KISN Portland, OR, KYA San Francisco, WKIX Raleigh, NC, WKLO Louisville, KY, WLCY Tampa, FL, WFIL Philadelphia, WNDR Syracuse, NY, WIFE Indianapolis, KOMA Oklahoma City, WDGY Minneapolis/St. Paul, WIXY Cleveland, KLIF Dallas, KILT Houston, KELP El Paso, KJR Seattle/ Tacoma, WEAM Washington, DC, WHB Kansas City, KFWB Los Angeles, WHBQ Memphis, KOIL Omaha, KXOK #2 St. Louis, WABC New York, KHJ L.A, WROV Roanoke, WLEE Richmond, WOLF Syracuse, WING Dayton, KFJZ Fort Worth, WSGN Birmingham, KIMN Denver ....with more coming each week from XM 6. We did not record all of the repeated tributes. Those that are archived include: WCFL, KXOK, KQV, WFIL, KFWB, WIXY, KOMA and WABC. These shows are four hours and fit perfectly on three 80 minute CD's and most include 4 CD's as I have usually included (as a bonus) the one hour Sweet 16 countdown done in the style of the station featured. These Terry Young shows are done LIVE on XM and feature the jingles, old spots, vintage airchecks of DJ's from the showcased station and of course the 60's oldies! They're really GREAT! The show airs on XM Channel 6 Fridays from 4 pm till 9 pm EST." (Chet Copeland, NY, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) EDT = 2000-0100 UT ** JAPAN. 3925, 1421-, Nikkei Radio Broadcasting Corp., May 19. Superb reception with even a short English clip (an interview with an English speaker about fuel cell technology), without Japanese translation. Many mentions of Nikkei weekly. 'Home page' and 'www' mentioned. Parallel 6055 equally strong. 9595 just slightly weaker. Possibly an English lesson, since the same male returns explaining what the term 'rev' means! Society for testing English proficiency incorporated mentioned at 1428 as the presenters of this program (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. Hi Glenn and all, 11970 was heard here at 1700, Tuesday 23 with SIO 242 on my ICF-SW 7600G and telescopic antenna, and much better SIO 433 using the AOR 7030 and a 30 m longwire, From 1700 to 1800 it was co-channeled by Rai in Italian. A re-check at 1830 revealed that Rai was off and that NHK World's program in Spanish was on. All this checks with Eibe's A06 frequency list, which is of great value. Many thanks to him. A suggestion to Eike: a column giving the supposed ERP would add even more help to DX-ers (Johan Berglund, Trollhättan, Sweden, Sony ICF-SW7600G telescopic antenna, AOR AR7030 30 m lw, May 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So would azimuths but that would be a lot more work, and we can usually find these elsewhere (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 2850.05, 1324-, KCBS, May 19. Superb reception with very clean audio with the usual strident female vocalist, marching to socialist victory ;-) !!! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. RUSSIA, 5890, 1433-, Shiokaze program, May 20. No chance to make anything out of them, although reception was strong. Completely obliterated, though, by a very loud pulsing buzz jammer on both USB and LSB. Darn! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [and non]. 22 Mayo --- Sawt Al-amal comenzó su emisión a las 1200 por la frecuencia de 17665 y se mantuvo hasta las 1300; se aprecia señal de burbuja de fondo, a las 1300 cambia a la frecuencia de 17660, a las 1311 inicia en esa misma frecuencia la emisora musical, anulando por completo a Sawt Al-amal, pero a las 1322 cambia otra vez a 17665 y se mantiene hasta las 1400. Por otra parte en 17680 de 1200 a 1400 emitiendo la emisora musical ``Idha`at al Jamaeriya al de Ouzma``. [is there really a `de` in the ID?] 23 Mayo --- La situación de hoy me ha desconcertado; no sé si las condiciones no eran buenas, pero de las 1200 a 1400 en 17680 la emisora musical, ninguna noticia de Sawt Al-amal, ni de las emisoras Libias ni tampoco de la emisora jammer musical (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See GABON ** MALAYSIA. 7295, 1506-, RTM Kuala Lumpur, May 20. Traxx FM, but with English news ending at 1509 without a Traxx FM ID and into rap music. Kuala Lumpur mentioned at the end of the news. I went to have breakfast and upon my return at 1552 the signal was musch stronger and totally in the clear. Excellent reception! 34 minutes past 11:00 (or was that 54 minutes?). Traxx FM ID at 1600 and TC for midnight, so it was 54 minutes. Wonderful programming! Into news. 7295, 1504-, Traxx FM, May 21. English news, mostly regarding Malaysia, such as elections in Sarawak, and bilateral relations between Mongolia and Malaysia, and Slovak-Sabah relations (!). Good level (S7), but suffering from some adjacent splatter on both sides. Recap of headlines at 1509:30 and ID for RTM newsroom. 'Before we end, say no to corruption.' (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. MEXICAN BROADCASTER FAMED FOR YELLING "GOOOOOL!" DIES AT 80 http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4657/259/1600/Angel%20Fernandez.jpg The Mexican sportscaster famous for yelling "Goooooooool!" during soccer commentaries died yesterday, aged 80, after a long illness. Ángel Fernández was one of the best-known voices in the history of Mexican radio and television, and his style of commentating was copied by hundreds of radio and TV sports broadcasters in Latin America. Born in Mexico City in 1925, Fernández became a Mexican institution with his soccer broadcasts throughout the 1970s and was still employed by Mexico City's W radio, which made the official announcement of his death. posted by Andy @ 14:50 UT May 24 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. 1022 UT May 22, 12085 kHz. The Voice of Mongolia, English language program. Closing the program at 1028 with frequency schedule. They welcome letters, comments and "detailed reception reports", that should be sent to the English Section, The Voice of Mongolia, Central Post Office Box 365, Ulaan Baatar 13, Mongolia. At 1030 a program in unknown language (presumably Mongolian) began, preceded by the interval signal. 35232 - 35333 Reception at Cuchilla Alta, Uruguay. Receiver Sony ICF-7600DS + 15-m external antenna. 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORWAY. 1314 - CATCH IT WHILE YOU CAN --- This item from MWC UK. Good news on this side of The Pond for 1310 and 1320 but may be not so across the Atlantic as a bellwether station goes dark? (Barry Davies, IRCA via DXLD) According to a feature program on NRK P2 last Saturday, 1314 will go silent from July 1st. As many will know, the transmission on 1314, named Europakanalen (something similar to The European Channel) was a mix of NRK P1 and P2 programs primarily aimed at Norwegian listeners in Northern Europe and at sea. To supply the fishing fleet with updated weather reports, NRK will launch a 24-hour satellite weather channel (Bjarne Mjelde, http://www.kongsfjord.no via Steve Whitt, ibid., WORLD OF RADIO 1316) Although this has been rumored for some time, it's really a shame! Aside from it being a bellwether, it has been a nice TA to just listen to - and show off to non-DX'ers because the programming, at least the overnight programs (over there) were very pleasurable listening fare (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA (360' ASL) [15 mi NNW of Philadelphia], IRCA via WORLD OF RADIO 1316, DXLD) See also CANADA ** OKLAHOMA. Silly meaningless competition amongst the OKC TV stations` weather departments: KOCO-5 started doing 10-day forecasts, and now KFOR-4 has countered with 7+4 = 11 day forecasts, of highs & lows, winds and pcp. probabilities. Then on May 24 I see KOCO is doing a ``bonus 5`` forecast, but I didn`t notice whether this was added on to only 5 or to 7, which would put them one-up on KFOR for a total of 12! Where will this end?? When sweeps are over?? So far KWTV-9 has not joined this nonsense, as a mere 9 days would still put them in third place, but I am sure they are wondering how to respond. They all had been doing 7-days, unlike in some markets where 5 days is the norm, and a lot more reliable. Even 7 days is pushing it into pure guesswork, let alone 9, 10, 11 or 12. If I had the time and dedication, I would keep records of each station`s extended forecast as issued each day, keeping track of how they change as time goes on, AND how they relate to what ultimately happens (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. I stumbled upon a relatively strong pirate on the north side of OKC at 107.1 FM. I haven`t tried to locate it, but it is very strong near the Capitol. It isn`t in stereo, and airs some feed from the internet, and sounds like Dale Gribble on King of the Hill is programming it. Perhaps the operator should call it WWCR-FM (Fridaynightinthebigtown, May 22, radio-insight OK board via DXLD) ** OMAN. 15140, 1406-, Radio Sultanate of Oman, May 20. Good S6 to S6 [sic] signal with English news and ID at 1407. A very minor low level hum present. Headlines at 1410. 'That's it for the moment from the news desk of Radio Sultanate of Oman', heard at 1411. 15140, 1458-, Radio Sultanate of Oman, May 21. What a difference a day makes. Signal earlier in the hour was very weak, but improved to good level when I checked just now. Western pop music cut a few seconds later and replaced by Arabic program (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 1159 UT May 21, 11570 kHz. R. Pakistan, Interval signal, 30-second silence, then Qur`an reading, talk, more Qur`an reading. Language unknown. Poor audio, kind of intermodulation by a low frequency hum or something so (typical of this broadcaster). Reception at Cuchilla Alta, Uruguay. Receiver Sony ICF-7600DS + 15-m external antenna (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 1725 kHz, 1215-, GA, aeronautical beacon, Goroka, May 19. Very happy to hear this 50 watt beacon at surprisingly very good levels! I don't believe I've ever heard this one, with only KUT 1737 Kutubu being the only PNG beacon audible. It was, but at only fair levels. 4960, 1155-, Catholic Radio Network, May 19. Reception is fair to good with inspirational hymns. Seemingly low modulation. Much better when rechecked at 1315 (after my MW DX session), with 'God is Watching Us' by female vocal. 7120, 1157-, Radio Wantok Light, May 19. Poor reception with Christian vocals, and talk in ?Tok Pisin at 1157. Nowhere near as strong as the virtual armchair copy when they were first on the air several years back! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Contradictory info to 6-077: Carlos Gamarra Moscoso conducting the sports program "La Hora Deportiva" by Radio La Hora, Cusco, Peru (4855.6). He told me yesterday in a personal mail that the station has a simple & new pennant for all foreign listeners. Radio La Hora transmits on short wave from 1000 UT (Monday to Friday) with a cut in the evening and from 2000 to 0100 UT in the nights (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, May 24, HCDX via DXLD) ** ST. KITTS & NEVIS. 555, ZIZ Radio-TV, Basseterre, St Kitts sent f/d blue QSL card and T-shirt in 37 days for CD, SWL Card & $1-US. QSL shows emblem above "The Government Broadcasting Service" (St Christopher Nevis) and filled in power of 8,000 watts. T-shirt 3 color: "ZIZ Radio Family Station 555AM, 96.1FM, 95.9FM" with slogan "The Pulse of the Eastern Caribbean." Nice addition to the collection, and filled in gap - realized report of decade ago went unanswered or lost (Konnie Rychalsky, HCDX, via ARC LA News Desk edited by Tore Larsson via DXLD) ** SAIPAN. SEND US MONEY OR WE'LL RELAY BBC AND RADIO AUSTRALIA. Because of money shortage, public radio KRNM in the Northern Marianas Islands "could be forced to switch to an all-news format, with feeds from the British Broadcasting Corp. or Radio Australia." http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=57642 (Saipan Tribune, 19 May 2006 via kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) See 5-012 for another KRNM problem (gh, DXLD) ** SINGAPORE [non]. 2132 UT, 11850 kHz, Adventist World Radio. English language program. Speech from the President of AWR in occasion of the 2006 American Short Wave Conference [NASB]. Later, talk about the history of broadcasting in the Philippines. At 2140 DX program hosted by Bob Padula (Australian DXing Association [EDXP]). 45333 Reception at Cuchilla Alta, Uruguay. Receiver Sony ICF-7600DS + 15-m external antenna. 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KSDA UT Sun ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5019.87, 1519-, SIBC, May 19. Fair to good reception of BBCWS relay with world news (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 2034 UT May 20, 3320 kHz. R. Sonder Grense. Music program. 35333. This station is easily heard here in the evenings. when reception is good I like to listen to their fine music programs. Recently (April 14) I sent a reception report directly to Kathy Otto at Sentech via e-mail with an MP3 recording attached. After a follow up message 3 weeks later they replied that a QSL-letter had already been sent by mail on April 24 (not received yet). Reception at Cuchilla Alta, Uruguay. Receiver Sony ICF-7600DS + 15-m external antenna. 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. I almost forgot to check for the Brother Scare relay test via French Guiana again today, since I was listening to Kojo Nnamdi Tech Tuesday during the 1600 UT hour May 23, so rushed to the SW receiver already tuned to 16m, and at 1659 found him quickly on 17720, VG signal, but poor audio, especially during music bits, from low rate internet feed running some 20 seconds behind WWRB 15250, and continued past 1700 anyway (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1316, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. En la frecuencia 11805 kHz acabo de escuchar a las 0345 UT a la emisora clandestina: Sudán Radio Service con identificación en inglés y luego comentarios en otro idioma, pero se entendía facilmente cuando indicaban el nombre de la radio. Es la primera vez que escucho a esta emisora; la captación fue hecha con el radio Degen 1103 y antena telescópica externa de 5 metros. Atte: (José Elías, Venezuela, UT May 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SURINAME [non]. Nothing on 15540 at 2120 check May 23, so apparently the R. Boskopoe relays via Bonaire are over and the flood waters are receding. Also checking 15540 around 1455 May 24, I had two weak unID signals mixing, unseems this (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1316, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe had just signed off, because: Radio Boskopoe relays via Bonaire reduced to one hour a day Our Programme Distribution Department informs me that the relays via Bonaire of the Surinam station Radio Boskopoe have been reduced to one hour a day instead of two and a half hours. The transmission that remains is at 1400-1500 UT on 15540 kHz. # posted by Andy @ 16:09 UT May 24 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** SWAZILAND. 15359.89, 1412-, TWR, Swaziland, May 20. Noted them on an off-frequency with their IS and an ID as, 'This is Trans World Radio, Swaziland'. Then off at 1415. My out of date ILG (from A05) shows Urdu. Weak but in the clear (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. Have you ever heard of Radio Bohuslän? It's a small community station with one transmitter in Uddevalla on 88.7 MHz, obviously run by enthusiast, highly automated and even sponsored by local business and organizations. Bohuslän is not an administrative area, rather the historic name of the coastal region in southwest Sweden running from approx. the town of Kungälv up to Strömstad near the border to Norway. I suppose they are with 10 watts only and always heard well at my place, which is just 200 meters inside Bohuslän. I have one more community station always present, and that's Radio Trollhättan on 90.6 MHz. Their studios are downtown Trollhättan, in the community center, also housing the public library, an art gallery, a theater and a couple of restaurants./ 73 (Johan Berglund, Trollhättan, Sweden, Sony ICF-SW7600G telescopic antenna, AOR AR7030 30 m lw, May 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN? Following up on last week's observations, I was up early today and can report the following: 1100 UT - 7185 (weak), 9680 (strong QRM), 11665 (good), 11715 (good), 15285 (very good) all with the same program in Chinese - definitely parallel as determined by close attention to the music played. Nothing noted on 6085 or 6150 this time (something ended at 1100 on 6150 with drums). Bells heard at 1105 following the news. The program consisted of peppy talk with a man and woman over droning electronic music in the background. The program seemed to have a lot of IDs, which sounded more like the phrase under "China" in the WRTH than the phrase shown for "Taiwan". 1129 UT - Some sort of interval signal, in which I am fairly sure I heard Taiwan mentioned by a young child (same as last week). My computer speaker is malfunctioning, else I would have gone to Interval Signals on Line to compare. After 1130 there were a lot of ads or promotional announcements. Meanwhile, I was also getting signals on 11550.06, 11605.11 and 11935 which could be RTI in Indonesian, Japanese and Russian, respectively (as listed in WRTH 2006) - although I would have thought RTI would be dead-on channel. Back to the Chinese program at 1159 I noted two sets of 5+1 pips at 1200 on 15285. There was some sort of anthem at 1200. After 1200 I noted the same program on 15465. There might have been a Cantonese program on 11945.07, as listed in WRTH 2006. At 1215 I noted 15285 // 11945. This is interesting because the BBC Mandarin program is listed on those channels at that time. I made a tape of this stuff, but have not had tiome to replay it later in the day. It sure sounded like "Taiwan" mentioned in the various IDs, but the additional frequencies of 15285 and 11945 cast a big wrench into the theory for the moment (Jim Renfrew, Byron NY, May 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FWIW, May 24 at 1331 I noted that the dominant Chinese on 15285, which I think is Chicom jamming of BBC Chinese, was // 15265. During this hour CBS Taiwan in Chinese is scheduled on 15265, but again I think I am hearing only the Chicom jamming against it (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. 0009 UT May 21, 4635 kHz. R. Tajikistan. Very weak signal under heavy noise (25232), Central Asian-sounding music played on a strings instrument and talks in Asian language. Better signal around 0030, when the announcer said something about "Dushanbe", then long talk by male announcer. At around 0100 the interval signal was played several times, followed by an announcement and what apparently was the National Anthem (sounded like a rendition I found in the internet). I can't tell if the transmission continued or ended at that time. BTW, what are the latest experiences about their QSL policies? The info appearing on Martin Schöch's QIP website is not very encouraging. Reception at Cuchilla Alta, Uruguay. Receiver Sony ICF- 7600DS + 15-m external antenna. 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. THINK TANK SUGGESTS BBC SHOULD SELL RADIO 1, 2 A report by the EUROPEAN MEDIA FORUM calls for the BBC to sell its Top 40 RADIO 1 and AC RADIO 2 "as soon as possible," saying that the stations' reliance on music give them a limited public service role and that the channels "could survive quite easily in the private sector." The report by economist KEITH BOYFIELD, a response to the government's recent white paper on the renewal of the BBC's charter, suggests that the BBC could get up to a half gigapound for the two channels. The BBC, which operates the stations as noncommercial entities funded by the annual radio license fee, responded to the report by asserting that the two stations offer documentaries and public affairs programming as well as diverse music (allaccess.com via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. Charlie, Several times you have mentioned that the different IBB sites have slightly different versions of the VOA s/on/off so that those in the know can tell which site is being heard. How about giving us the details, either verbally or with audio files? (Glenn to Charlie Taylor) Your listeners can compile the sign-on and sign-off data better than I. First of all, the two domestic sites have vastly different YDD versions for sign-on. Greenville's starts at about 3:20 before the hour and is the standard march rendition, and ends out at some point inside the march. Delano's does a medley of portions of YDD, Broadway style. As to the sign-offs, I think that Greenville's sign-off and Delano's sign-off starts right at the hour or at the end of the program. Greenville's YDD sign-off ends out with the very end of YDD and the final three steps in-place of a march. I believe Delano's is shorter; duration is important. I thing Botswana's sign-off is a peppy, woodwind version of YDD's end- out and lasts about 10 seconds. As to the others, I don't know. I became aware in about 1998 of Botswana's while listening from Greenville's Site A Plant. I noted the sign-off was at variance with Greenville's, and immediately sensed that this was how monitors would discern a site. Upon transfer to Delano, I totally expected the differences and they were VERY obvious. I was surprised that techs who had served at other sites didn't notice this. I should have polled them. I feel that site IDs are a real thing. More feedback from listeners comparing observations over a period of time would make it certain. I renew my offer to be a clearing house for data since I started it and am very interested. But it's better you relay it to me. Two prime determinants of a bona fide site ID will be the variation on YDD and its length in seconds. I hope this works out (Charlie Taylor, NC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) OK, let`s get going on this project, DXLD contributors! The question is, where to start. We can check the HFCC A-06 to find some VOA frequencies with sites, hoping they are still correct. Those who really want to work on this may contact me off-list, and perhaps we can get organized, rather than posting random observations until the whole thing is put together. You may also send me audio files of Yankee Doodle Dandy versions you monitor. Be sure to identify every detail associated with them (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WHY IS AMERICA JAMMING ITSELF? Text of an address by Alan Heil, former Deputy Director of the Voice of America, at the American Shortwave Conference on May 11, 2006. Mr. Heil is the author of the book, ``Voice of America: A History.`` Thank you for organizing this conference and inviting me to brief you on the present and future planned reductions in U.S. international broadcasting. A couple of years ago, the World Radio TV Handbook said in its annual review of the world`s HF broadcasters that the Voice of America seemed headed toward extinction, that it was destined to ``go the way of the dodo bird.`` I thought at the time that was a gross exaggeration. Today, I`m not so sure. Just a few hours ago, VOA`s last operating transmitters in Greece --- near the northern city of Kavala --- went dark. George Jacobs certainly remembers when the Kavala Relay Station was built, and I visited the site when it was under construction nearly forty years ago. Kavala, more than any other station, strengthened VOA`s signal into the former Soviet Union and much of Eastern Europe and Turkey. Until this morning, it had provided VOA`s only medium wave signal to Turkey`s most important urban area, Istanbul. Kavala`s closure, in addition to shutdowns earlier this spring of the VOA station on the island of Rhodes, means that as of this hour, VOA has just 145 shortwave frequency listings in English on its worldwide schedule --- compared with 280 frequency listings (nearly twice that number) at the turn of the century. All this, as Congress considers the Bush administration`s request to virtually eliminate all remaining VOA English broadcasts around the world, except for a few highly-targeted programs to Africa. Beyond that, the plan is to abolish all programs in Croatian, Georgian, Greek, Turkish and Thai --- and all radio programs in Russian, Hindi and four languages in a region called ``the Balkans tinderbox.`` If the cuts go through, VOA will rank sixth among the G-8 nations in on-air hours of English, our own language, as Al Jazeera, Russia, China and Iran all expand their English language radio, TV and Internet services! VOA, as of next fall, may well have abolished the radio units in 20 of the 54 language services it had on the air in early 2004. ``Incredible... impossible. . .`` said one senior American diplomat. Pondering all this makes one absolutely nostalgic. I suppose one of the highlights of VOA`s past --- and I begin my book with an account of it --- was the coverage of the pro-democracy demonstrations in China during the spring of 1989. Shortwave then in an unjammed environment enabled us to reach tens of millions of residents in the Peoples Republic of China. You recall that the protest movement was crushed during the Tiananmen massacre of June 3 that year. About a dozen days before the Peoples Liberation Army was unleashed against the people there, we should have guessed what lay ahead. Let`s listen to VOA`s evening newscast of May 21, 1989 to see why: [TAPE OF VOA TIANANMEN COVERAGE WITH JAMMING] If you listen to VOA Mandarin Chinese just a few hours from now as the morning broadcast begins, you`ll hear jamming just like that --- as intense as when it resumed against America`s Voice nearly 17 years ago. Likewise, Beijing is jamming or co-channeling the Tibetan and Cantonese broadcasts of the Voice, and all the transmissions in local languages of Radio Free Asia. President Bush brought the jamming up with visiting Chinese President Hu Jin Tao during the latter`s visit here a couple of weeks ago. Hu`s response is unknown, but we can guess what he said. The only U.S. government broadcast service remaining to China in the clear today is none other than its English service, nine hours daily. But if the cuts go through, that service will be axed to Asia as of next September. Two million Chinese listeners will be cut off, unless they want to tune to the limited vocabulary Special English broadcasts. Incredible.. impossible. Our own government jamming itself, all to save the equivalent of about three percent of the U.S. international broadcasting budget next year? The Pentagon spends about that much every sixteen minutes. In this era when Congress can appropriate approximately ten times that much for a Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska, it seems fair for us to ask our Senators and Representatives to reverse the VOA cuts --- in English and all strategic languages along with their associated shortwave, AM and FM transmission costs. It reminds me of the story of the Chinese professor who met VOA`s News Chief during a visit to China in 1986. He recalled that what he had learned by listening to VOA enabled him to pass a university entrance exam and pursue a promising academic career. In his words: ``I owe my life to you.`` The budgeteers get to work on Capitol Hill next week, shuffling funds about. You can help persuade them to stop the cuts… and save America`s big bird of international broadcasting from extinction, at least for a few more years. America`s authentic, universal voice should be loud and clear in this post 9/11 era. Congress should be receptive to the idea that for millions of radio listeners, the news and information provided by VOA is America`s Bridge to Everywhere, their window on a world of both peril and promise. Fact Sheet about VOA prepared by Alan Heil As the United States approaches the fifth anniversary of 9/11, the Voice of America – its once powerful flagship network on the world`s airwaves – is being reduced to a mere whisper. The administration budget request for FY 07 calls for the elimination of VOA broadcasts in English, our dominant mother tongue, to all areas of the world except for a few hours daily to Africa. This decision – from a purely strategic perspective – makes no sense. English is the primary world language of trade, education, print media, and the Internet. As the Arab World (Al-Jazeera), China, Iran, Russia, and France ramp up their English international services on the airwaves and in cyberspace, America is pulling its service down. Iran announced March 19 that it will establish a second English language news station for listeners abroad later this year or early in 2007. Furthermore, VOA radio broadcasts in Russian, Serbian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Albanian, and Hindi will be terminated. Loss of VOA`s 60- year-old Russian service on radio will be devastating amid increasing signs of authoritarianism in the Kremlin. Silencing radio broadcasts to the four widely-listened to Balkans services as Kosovo continues to be a tinderbox, seems terribly mis-timed --- as does cutting Hindi as Congress is set to debate US-India nuclear ties. VOA`s Turkish, Greek, Croatian, Georgian, and Thai services will also be shut down. Turkey --- where VOA has an audience of 2.5 million --- is a strategically vital, but unstable, bridge between the West and the Muslim world and is an indispensable ally in the war on terror. Georgia, an emerging democracy, is threatened by Russia. There is a Muslim insurgency in Thailand, where two large VOA relay stations beaming programs to China, Burma and Bangladesh are located. Croatia and Greece are in the volatile Balkans. These reductions would coincide with substantial enhancements in U.S. regional international broadcasting at the expense of its global reach. The budget savings realized from the cuts amount to about two percent of the administration`s $672 million request for U.S. international broadcasting next year. The savings are equivalent to approximately what the Pentagon spends in 20 minutes. Yet, the absence of VOA English in four of five continents would mean: The loss of all VOA English transmissions to East Asia. More than two million Chinese will be denied a window on America, on the world, and on events in their own country. VOA and Radio Free Asia broadcasts in Mandarin, Cantonese, and Tibetan are heavily jammed or blocked, as are their websites in these languages. Only English reaches Chinese in the clear, and more people are learning English in China than speak English in North America. Advocates of cuts in English contend that English shortwave audiences are small, but they ignore the fact that these programs are simulcast or rebroadcast on FM and AM stations in 48 countries - from The Philippines to Guyana. Worldwide, VOA English reaches an estimated 13.3 million listeners, many of them among the most influential in their societies who turn to VOA on shortwave in crises. Among them are U.S. citizens who seek information on emergency evacuation procedures in times of conflict or unrest. Voice of America remains an effective, but relatively low-cost, element of U.S. public diplomacy. Silencing America`s voice – especially in the English language – would be foolish and unnecessary. It is urgent that either the administration or Congress reverse course and ensure that this vital national network remains viable in the post 9/11 age (May NASB Newsletter via DXLD) ** U S A. New VOA Program Guide available online The latest edition of the Voice of America (VOA) Program Guide is now available online, and hard copies are being mailed out. The new edition includes articles about VOA's new programme schedule for English to Africa, broadcasting to China, special in-depth reports on VOANews.com, the Azerbaijani television programme Amerika Icmali (American Review), and the opening of the new VOA Studio Tour. The VOA Program Guide is published twice a year, in November and May, when VOA's broadcast schedules change. VOA Program Guide http://www.voanews.com/english/about/ProgramGuide.cfm # posted by Andy @ 15:26 UT May 24 (Media Network blog via DXLD) Broken up into a number of sexions linked from above page, some html, some pdf. I don`t see a single pdf for the whole thing. The English portion is at http://www.voanews.com/english/about/ProgramGuide.cfm (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. VOA'S BAGHDAD BUREAU STILL CLOSED AFTER SIX MONTHS By Howard Kurtz The Voice of America's bureau in Baghdad has been closed for the past six months, ever since the government-funded agency withdrew its only reporter in Iraq after she was fired upon in an ambush and her security guard was later killed. To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/22/AR2006052201386.html?referrer=emailarticle (via Jim Moats, DXLD) Same: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/22/AR2006052201386_pf.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Story also mentions that "50 Iraqi employees remain in Iraq for the U.S.-funded Radio Sawa and al-Hurra." But VOA doesn't use their reports because, under the structure of U.S. international broadcasting, VOA and Sawa/Alhurra are separate and competing stations (kimandrewelliott.com updated May 23 via DXLD) This was picked up on MSNBC Countdown, where they were incredulous that the USG`s VOA couldn`t manage to keep a correspondent in Baghdad. Speaking of which, a low-key announcement on Nightline that ABC is opening a MidEast bureau in Beirut with someone formerly reporting from Baghdad. You mean they didn`t already have a real ME bureau??? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WoR/WWCR/WBCQ Anomalies Saturday night --- Didn't see this mentioned on the group or the "Anomaly" file so here it is for the record: UT Sunday 5/21/06: 0145 on 5070 kHz: WWCR began airing DX Partyline instead of Ask WWCR. This was chopped off and the correct program, Ask WWCR (#229, for 5/16 thru 5/31/06) began at 0149. Note that this particular Ask WWCR has a segment with Fred Osterman quoting DXLD and giving gh as a reference. This meant that the DX Block, with the restarted DX Partyline, began at 0203 UT on 5070 (it was the correct current DXPL both times, by the way, a full 30-minute edition, with an awfully-long Tip for Real Living embedded). WoR #1315 then started at 0233 UT. Over on WBCQ on 9330 kHz at 0300 (roughly), WoR #1315 was run as scheduled. What was unusual about this for me was that I was getting 9330 kHz clearly at this time here in St. Louis, MO; it usually has faded out long before then. What was interesting was that WoR #1315 was REPEATED at 0330 UT on 9330 kHz, and the signal then seemed even stronger! That ran to the end and then the 9330 carrier was dropped. Meanwhile, on WBCQ 7415 kHz at 0400 UT, the scheduled "Tom & Darryl" program was NOT aired; instead, a repeat of the Jennifer "867-5309" program with Allan Weiner also participating, aired earlier that evening, was broadcast. I did not keep the radio on WBCQ so did not hear the fact (reported here earlier) that "Shortwave Overnight" was not broadcast. I *had* heard that first effort the previous week (5/14/06). 73, (Will Martin, MO, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Updated A-06 schedule of WYFR relays 0000-0100 Hindi 15195 TAI 100 kW / 250 deg 0100-0200 English 15195 TAI 100 kW / 250 deg 0400-0500 German 3955 SKN 250 kW / 106 deg 0500-0600 Portuguese 9525 MDC 050 kW / 280 deg 0900-1100 English 9450 IRK 250 kW / 110 deg 1000-1100 Japanese 7380 K/A 250 kW / 178 deg 1000-1100 Korean 7130 TAI 100 kW / 250 deg 1100-1200 Korean 9450 IRK 250 kW / 110 deg 1100-1400 Chinese 7250 TAI 300 kW / 250 deg 1100-1400 Chinese 9280 TAI 300 kW / 250 deg 1100-1400 Chinese 12150 A-A 500 kW / 094 deg 1200-1300 Indonesian 11520 TAI 100 kW / 250 deg 1200-1300 Burmese 11560 TAI 100 kW / 250 deg 1200-1300 Vietnamese 11895 IRK 250 kW / 180 deg 1300-1400 Burmese 11520 TAC 200 kW / 131 deg 1300-1400 English 11895 IRK 250 kW / 180 deg 1300-1500 English 7580 NVS 250 kW / 180 deg 1300-1500 English 11560 TAI 100 kW / 250 deg 1400-1500 English 7250 TAI 300 kW / 250 deg 1400-1500 Urdu 7510 TAC 200 kW / 131 deg 1400-1500 English 9280 TAI 300 kW / 250 deg 1400-1500 Bengali NF 11850 ARM 300 kW / 110 deg, ex 11510 1400-1500 English 12150 A-A 500 kW / 094 deg 1400-1500 Hindi 15520 DHA 250 kW / 085 deg 1500-1600 English 6280 TAI 300 kW / 250 deg 1500-1600 Chinese 9280 TAI 300 kW / 250 deg 1500-1600 Punjabi NF 11850 ARM 300 kW / 110 deg, ex 11510 1500-1600 Hindi 11560 TAI 100 kW / 250 deg 1500-1600 English 15520 DHA 250 kW / 085 deg 1500-1600 English 15750 WER 500 kW / 150 deg 1500-1700 Hindi 7580 NVS 250 kW / 180 deg 1500-1700 Russian 9955 TAI 100 kW / 250 deg 1600-1700 English 6280 TAI 300 kW / 250 deg 1600-1700 Persian 7520 SMF 250 kW / 131 deg 1600-1700 Swahili 9590 MDC 050 kW / 320 deg 1600-1700 English 11850 DHA 250 kW / 085 deg 1600-1700 Amharic 15750 WER 500 kW / 150 deg 1600-1800 Turkish 9925 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg 1700-1800 German 3955 JUL 100 kW / non-dir 1700-1800 Arabic 13700 RMP 500 kW / 105 deg 1700-1800 Arabic 13840 JUL 100 kW / 175 deg 1700-1800 Swahili 15750 WER 500 kW / 150 deg 1700-1800 English 21680 ASC 250 kW / 085 deg 1700-1900 Russian 9495 TAC 200 kW / 311 deg 1800-1900 English 3955 SKN 250 kW / 106 deg 1800-1900 Polish 5810 SAM 250 kW / 284 deg 1800-1900 Swahili 5905 MDC 050 kW / 305 deg 1800-1900 English 7395 MDC 250 kW / 320 deg 1800-1900 English 7435 SAM 250 kW / 188 deg 1800-1900 Arabic 13720 SKN 300 kW / 140 deg 1800-1900 Arabic 13780 RMP 500 kW / 105 deg 1800-1900 English 15750 WER 500 kW / 150 deg 1900-2000 Swahili 5925 MEY 250 kW / 019 deg 1900-2000 German 7370 SAM 250 kW / 284 deg 1900-2000 English 7395 MDC 250 kW / 320 deg from July 1 1900-2000 Arabic 7435 SAM 250 kW / 188 deg 1900-2000 Spanish 7440 MSK 250 kW / 264 deg 1900-2000 Italian 9490 MSK 250 kW / 240 deg 1900-2000 French 12060 ARM 250 kw / 290 deg 1900-2000 Arabic 15165 RMP 500 kW / 105 deg 1900-2100 English 3230 MDC 100 kW / non-dir 1900-2100 English 6020 MDC 050 kW / 255 deg 2000-2100 Arabic 9705 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg 2000-2100 French 11895 WER 125 kW / 160 deg 2000-2200 English 7360 KCH 500 kW / 309 deg 2000-2200 English 15195 ASC 250 kW / 085 deg 2030-2130 French 11985 ASC 250 kW / 027 deg 2100-2200 English 6045 MEY 250 kW / 019 deg 2100-2400 Chinese 7235 TAI 100 kW / 250 deg 2100-2400 Chinese 9280 TAI 100 kW / 250 deg 2115-2315 English 11875 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, May 23 via DXLD) ** U S A. 25950 [NB]FM, KOA Denver (studio link) 1738-1803, May 23, Audible here with good peaks via E-skip. Conservative talk format with a couple of station IDs at 1800, including: "Your only live local 24 hour news source, 850 KOA" (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still wondering why they are running this, and if it is just left on all the time; hope so for DX purposes, not the programming (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 4666, 1456-, San Francisco Aeroradio, May 19. Couldn't help but mention a silky smooth sounding female op on this frequency calling and receiving calls from airliners over the Pacific. Good reception (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. In northern NEW JERSEY, Salem's WWDJ (970 Hackensack) is applying for a power increase. As part of a coordinated interference agreement with WAMD (970 Aberdeen MD), which will reduce its power, WWDJ wants to boost day power from 5 kW to 50 kW, providing more solid coverage of New York City from its existing three-tower array in Hackensack. Night power would remain at 5 kW (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch May 22 via DXLD) ** U S A. Re: Pete Fornatale: Radio filth starts in corporate suites Pete Fornatale's article identifies the major flaw in the political marriage of corporate America and religious fundamentalists. What will happen to these unlikely consorts when the religious right realizes that corporate America has no interest in elevating the level of morality that our public is buying? I'm not intending to foment further fur-flying flames from fervent fundamentalists or the followers of fetid free-format frequency freaks or their feckless FCC factotums, so this will be my last word on this subject ... other than one other F-word ... the TV network that's pushed the entertainment envelope to the farthest frontier of foul-mouthery is Rupert Murdoch's Fox Net. No, I have never been to Manawhatever Key, Florida (Qal R. Mann, Krumudgeon, ABDX, VIA dxld) That was fantastically fabulous from a fine practitioner of florid language. Fornatale understands that the corporate founding fellows only care for product of the Federal Reserve. Qal R. Mann, I have to give it to you for being better with the F words than I. And the public is complicit. In the face of these trends, too many of us have turned down the volume on our own voices, settling for a kind of radio that, for the most part, replicates the industry view of what it should be (Kevin Redding, ibid.) I would say the public is more than complicit. If the public wasn't listening to this stuff in ever greater numbers, there would be something else playing on the radio. I'm no fan of shock radio. Howard Stern could permanently lose his voice and I'd never know unless I read about it on a radio list. But I also don't think it's my place, or Pete Fornatale's place, or even the FCC's place to be the moral compass of the listening audience. If people are offended by this stuff, they should tune out. If enough of them do that, it won't be profitable to put it on the air, and there will soon be something else taking its place. There may well be some areas where free market competition is not the best way to serve the interests of the people, but I don't think radio is one of those areas. These forces may not serve some smaller, less commercially desirable segments of the population, and that's unfortunate, but I don't think the alternative is any better. Is it really preferable to have government mandated radio formats? For those New Yorkers who love CW, jazz, or oldies, it's sad they have no full-time radio outlet. But if there were enough of them to be a market force, they would have a full-time outlet. There is no innate right to have a radio station format to each individual's liking. For better or worse, this country long ago decided the direction of radio and television should be decided by the market. That's the system we've lived with for a very long time. Ultimately, the only viable alternative is government controlled and provided entertainment such as they have in Great Britain. It's a system that largely seems to work for them and maybe it would work here. But there IS a demand for Howard Stern and hip-hop and lots of other things I wouldn't want my tax dollars going to pay for. And I certainly don't want the government having any more say than they already do in what I get to watch and listen to. No matter what form and formats radio takes on, there will be some entertainment genre that is not served and some people who will be offended by at least some of what's on the air. This is inescapable. And attempts to make radio inoffensive to everyone will render it unentertaining to almost everyone (Jay Heyl, ABDX via DXLD) I agree with you only to the extent that *adults* can, and should be able to choose what they want to listen to. Where this falls apart, is when you're a parent, how do you control what your children listen to? I think there still needs to be some limit to what is broadcast over the public airwaves. There is no V-chip for radio. If I allow my kids to have a radio (which would be impossible to prevent in this day & age, where all they need to do is head to any drug store and pick one up for a couple of dollars), then they can listen to whatever is on. I haven't found a radio yet that only plays Radio Disney (and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't buy one if I could). Don't you think that parents should be able to prevent their kids from being exposed to this stuff? I have no problem with cable - where parental controls can be set up (though I can tell you it's a major pain with DirecTV, since the "unrated" programs can range from sports to soft-core porn). I have no problem with satellite radio, since (I think) I can prevent my kids from getting a subscription, but over- the-air radio really does need limits. If you want choice, then buy satellite (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA, ibid.) The popular culture tends to gravitate toward the lowest common denominator. The large corporations have recognized that, and have fed that latent appetite. There may well come a day when the "market" will justify the exhibition of public sex performances, but that doesn't mean that the public interest was well served. The lowering of public standards is a cultural issue, and everyone is affected by the consequences of it, whether they actually participate or not. The fact is, the public has been in the process of being desensitized for a long time now, and the newspaper headlines are showing us some of the results. This is a tough issue, and there is no simple answer. However, "letting the market decide" is not necessarily the same thing as "serving in the public interest". We know that the financial prowess of the large corporations has already made them the dominant factor is our elective process (Dick W., ibid.) I heard last night that "Cops" is in its 17th season. That pretty well sums up the "lowest common demoniator" argument all by itself. That should have said denominator, but somehow the lack-of-coffee typo seems appropriate (Mike Hawkins, ibid.) They have their limits! --- It's OK for a Clear Channel jock to stalk and want to pee on a four year old girl, until all hell breaks loose. But, the real threat is....... (Brock Whaley, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SAVANNAH RADIO "NOT READY TO PLAY NICE" WITH DIXIE CHICKS WSAV News 3, Tuesday, May 23, 2006 Not Ready to Play You won`t be hearing The Dixie Chicks` new songs on Gator 106.9. Program Director Laura Anderson says they tried playing the single "Not Ready to Play Nice" in light rotation for a couple of weeks but response from listeners was overwhelmingly negative. One Clear Channel regional vice president Steve Gramzay, described the song as showing "arrogance and disrespect." Clear Channel owns Savannah country station Kix 96. The Rise and Fall The Chicks formed in 1989 in Dallas Texas. By the late 1990`s they were selling millions of albums and filling up stadiums for their live shows but the Dixie Chick train came to a screeching halt in 2003. In March of that year, war was brewing in Iraq as the Chicks took to the stage in London. During the show, lead singer Natalie Maines told the audience that the band was ashamed President George W. Bush was from their home state of Texas. Despite Maines` subsequent apology that acknowledged the remark was disrespectful, many country radio stations, including those in Savannah, stopped playing their songs. Forgive Sounds Good Three years later Maines seems less apologetic. The first single from the newly released Taking the Long Way album includes the lines: I'm not ready to make nice, I'm not ready to back down, I'm still mad as hell And I don't have time To go round and round and round It's too late to make it right I probably wouldn't if I could Cause I'm mad as hell Can't bring myself to do what it is You think I should While local radio is not embracing the song, it is the number 2 most popular download on iTunes and is in the top 40 Country Songs on the Billboard charts. It`s also showing up on pop stations and sales of the album on the first day have been brisk. Related Links: Dixie Chicks Website http://www.dixiechicks.com/ Gator 106.9 http://www.gator1069.com/home.php (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. MARTIN BOOKSPAN IS TO LEAVE 'LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER' AFTER 30 YEARS === By KATHRYN SHATTUCK Published: May 24, 2006 On Thursday, Mr. Bookspan will close a chapter in his storied career when he signs off for the last time during the series's 30th- anniversary episode. . . [registration required] http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/24/arts/television/24book.html?pagewanted=print (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. 'THE AMERICAN HOME FRONT: 1941-1942,' by Alistair Cooke - The New York Times - Book Review - New York Times May 24, 2006 Books of The Times | 'The American Home Front' Alistair Cooke's America, Explored in Wartime By WILLIAM GRIMES Soon after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Alistair Cooke, a reporter for the BBC, made a shrewd decision. As his fellow journalists converged on Washington, he bought a Lincoln Zephyr, recapped its bald tires and took to the road to see what was going on in the rest of the United States and what Americans outside the circles of government thought about the war. . . [registration required] http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/24/books/24grim.html?pagewanted=print (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Hy Glenn, I heard Radio Nacional Venezuela on 13680 via Habana, Cuba, starting program 2000 UT, stop 2100. Verry nice music and talks about Venezuela, verry strong and clear sinpo 55444 in Spanish. RX AOR 7030 and EKD 300 +EZ 100, atu MFJ 959b, antenna 100 m LW (Maurits Van Driessche, May 23, member DX Antwerp, Belgium, opendoors 27and 28 May, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. 4739.70, 1355-, Radio Son La, May 20. Very distinctive music immediately identifiable. Although not nearly as good as heard in Grayland, nonetheless still a decent signal at S5. Audio still a little distorted, but nowhere nearly as bad as when previously heard in Grayland last year. A very brief announcement just after 14:00 and then off. 9839.92, 1427-, Voice of Vietnam, May 20. Strong reception of VoV's Japanese service with sign-off announcements and then open carrier. Indonesian scheduled from 1430. Sure enough at 1430 no IS heard, but into the same ident song as I recall from the 70s (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. UNKNOWN 999 kHz, 1206-, unknown, May 18. English religious broadcasting. HLCL, Korea is listed as a Christian broadcaster, but do they do so in English as well? (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 3480.95, 1354-, May 19. Good reception, especially in USB to avoid a loud het. I suspect this is Korean. None of my more recent lists show anything, except for a deleted station in the DBS. Voice of the National Salvation, Wonson. I suspect this is the same station. I have always been confused over whether or not these clandestine stations beamed north or south ever really left the air. Now I'm really confused. After a short musical piece muddy audio by a man and woman. Perhaps this is one of those Kurdish clandestines? NA or some such piece at 1401. Very interesting! NA ended suddenly at 1402:30. I have a good audio clip here if anyone wishes to have a listen! (Walt Salmaniw, Masset, Queen Charlotte Islands BC, AOR 7030+, Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 4950: Hi Glenn, At this point, this is indeed unidentified. It is only because of the programming that I raised the possibility of it being CRN. Wayne Wilson has kindly contacted several persons who will be able to confirm the present frequency for CRN. Walt Salmaniw’s log of CRN on 4960, on May 19, makes it fairly unlikely that this unidentified station is CRN, as I first noted it May 20. Tomorrow I am off to Shanghai for 3 weeks, but will try to check my e- mails once in a while to see what is happening and will of course pass along whatever feedback I get (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, May 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I would not expect this in the case of Ron`s superior receiver, but I should point out that WEWN is on 5850 at 04-14, and on some rx would produce an image on 4950 (-900 kHz). Perhaps its huge fundamental signal could still break thru with something audible. If you could hear it again, check 5850 to be sure. Have a good trip! 73, Glenn UNIDENTIFIED. Please check whether VT Merlin is still testing 13640 at 22-2215. I would not be surprised if it is for R. República, as 6135 seems a bit low for the summer at 22-24 from the UK. 73, (Glenn, May 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Virtually no signal here in London at 2217, although there were other signals in the 13 MHz band, including the Aussies on 13620 (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, United Kingdom, ibid.) Saludos cordiales, desde Valencia en España, 2200 en 13640 Radio Internacional de China, en idioma japonés (José Miguel Romero, ibid.) CRI Japanese was already there when the VT tests were heard last week (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) 13640 2200-2215 UT, the VT-Merlin test via Cyprus site seemingly ended now. At present in Europe you will hear CRI Beijing in Japanese at 2200-2257, and 2300-2357 UT, steady S=8 signal, yes - Japanese - not Mandarin ! language. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 17260 approx., May 23 at 1400, just tuning in some SSB I came across, heard YL voice, maybe synthetic say twice, what sounded like ``Falcon one hundred, 57 bravo classified``. Nothing further for 5+ minutes, nor did have opportunity to measure frequency, probably plus/minus 1 kHz from here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ BILL HEPBURN`S SITES MOVE My web stuff has moved. Time to change your links (sorry) DX Info Centre http://www.dxinfocentre.com/ Tropo Forecast http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html Canadian TV E-Skip Logos http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tv-logos-can.htm Caribbean TV Station List http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tv-car.htm VHF-Lowband Ute Targets http://www.dxinfocentre.com/ps-lo.htm (pagers, etc) (William Hepburn, WTFDA Grimsby, ON, CANADA, WTFDA via DXLD) PHOTOS OF CHANNELS 7-13 TV DX FROM MACOMB, IL http://oldtvguides.com/hiband/ (Jeff Kadet, WTFDA via DXLD) DX VENGEANCE 2006 PROMO I know nothing about "professional" wrestling. While browsing the YouTube site this morning I ran across a video entitled, "DX Vengeance 2006 Promo," and didn't know what it was about. Hoping it was a DX- pedition special (right!) I clicked on it to learn it was a WWE pay- per-view trailer. Apparently there is a wrestler named "DX" Here is the link to the 30-second clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1k_511Tgc0 (Brent Taylor, VE1JH Doaktown, NB, ABDX via DXLD) In this case ``DX`` may be short for `Degeneration``, one word flashing by in this (gh, DXLD) I'm quite sure the DX wrestler builds up his wrist muscles tuning a R- 390A and his arm muscles lifting them, and his leg muscles jumping over piles of them (Phil Rafuse, PEI, ABDX via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ "IBOC NAYSAYERS FEAR CHANGE" So goes the title of an unintentionally hilarious opinion piece from Radio World. http://www.rwonline.com/reference-room/iboc/2006.05.24-05_rw_hd_ed_guest_2.shtml What makes the link above so damn funny is that the author is oblivious to the fact that his description of IBOC/HD naysayers --- ``Human beings generally cling to the status quo. When something new comes along, trepidation often results`` --- is a perfect description of how the terrestrial broadcasting industry, including Radio World and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), has responded to looming competition from satellite radio, streaming via wireless broadband, cellphonecasting, and other sources. . . http://futureofradio.typepad.com/the_future_of_radio/2006/05/iboc_naysayers_.html (Harry Helms, futureofradio blog May 24 via DXLD) IBOC hash in SoCal On Sunday morning on my drive back home from my morning run I tuned across the band in my Toyota truck. I noted several stations running IBOC at the lower end of the band. I typically don't listen there because I have a loud buzz below about 900 kHz. This buzz appeared last fall and I need to find out the source. This evening I did a quick scan. I didn't check against a list of known IBOC stations. All done on my HQ-180A and 1 foot air core loop. 570 KLAC, 560 and 580 all hash 600 KOGO, 590 I can null and hear KTIE, 610 nothing 710 KSPN, 700 and 720 all hash 740 KBRT, 730 and 750 all hash 790 KABC, 780 hash and 800 XESPN weak in hash. Also 760 KFMB hard to hear now. 830 KMXE, 810, 820, 840 and 850 all hash and buzz 1020 KTNQ, 1010 nothing and 1030 XESDD with hash in background 1070 KNX, 1060 and 1080 all hash 1110 KDIS, 1100 and 1120 all hash Unfortunately there are several frequencies that were good at sunset and they are probably gone now. I've even lost the ability to hear some San Diego/Tijuana area stations (Martin Foltz, Mission Viejo CA, May 23, IRCA via DXLD) How horrible. If HD noise were visible, EPA would be on it like stink on dog-doot. Does the re-invented FCC now stand for Feckless Chamberpot of Cronies? One can only vomit upon the shoes of the citizenry for so long. Consequences will flow. If HD is the greatest thing since fitted sheets, as cheerleader- dullards purport, why won't they tell the public? What are they hiding? This is first time in history customers are last to know of such a 'great' product. Radio World article by teacher - radio pro? - embodies 'iBLOC approach'. Scolding, patronizing, nonsensical. Writer exalts himself above 'Luddites' who fear change. He misses the reason for iPod's success - it gives listeners choice. HD steals it. iBLOkers are still drunk on the 90's. - Change for the sake of disruption. 90's guiding techno-light was a wild-haired geek who pressured classmates into turning their backs on Henry Kissinger at Brown University's commencement. Wow! A real '60's statement! Those well familiar with this politically prominent shonk describe his methods in language which perfectly fits iBLOC. "Bring him a watch in need of a band", said they, "He'll return it to you in pieces - along with a hefty bill." Their greed will be their downfall. =Z.= "Truth leads a wretched life - and always survives the lie." - Cathy O'Brien (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manasota Key, FL BT, IRCA via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ VHF TV R.I.P. --- Band I Analog TV in Germany For those of you who are interested in Band I TVDX, it seems that there are still German TV transmitters on this band, at least until the end of the month! If the SpE seasons starts nice and early, you may just be able to pick two of them up before they are switched off on 29th May. According to the German DX Magazine "Reflexion", HR Ch E2 Biedenkopf and ?? Ch E3 Kreuzberg (don't know whose transmitter this is, or where it is) will be no more after this date. It sure is sad to see all these Band I transmitters being switched off. Reading further down the pages of "Reflexion" it looks like analogue TV in the Netherlands will be switched off. This appears to be set for the night of 29 / 30 October 2006. It looks like all future digital TV will then be on UHF. So there is a whole summer to still enjoy VHF analogue TV reception from the Netherlands, and then - that's it. More info from: http://home.planet.nl/~ploe2070/fmtv/dvbt/dvb.html http://www.agentschaptelecom.nl/dav/cgi-bin/dav.cgi?action=input_submit&kanaal=Alle&vhf_uhf=&provincie=Alle (Andrew Tett, Shoreham-by-Sea, BDXC-UK via WORLD OF RADIO 1316, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ [Fwd: [skywaves] Overnight TA - E opening makes crazy FM look even more possible] --- Could we be in for a repeat of a few years back? (Mike Bugaj, CT, WTFDA via DXLD) Viz.: Hi all, not being the best of sleepers I was doubly insomniac last night when I woke up about 1.45 with a very bad toothache. Took some pain killers and came online to read about all the antennas I will never have space for. Left the radio on in the background tuned to 55.25 to see if Iceland TV would pop up. Around 2 am it did, with the 6 m beacon in tow. And then all went quiet. So sitting here at the computer I listened to ms pings and read about more neighbour scaring aerials. Around 3 am a fairly strong carrier came up and I thought oh must be Iceland back, got up and had a tune about and was very surprised to see TA TV carriers up to 67 MHz. One on 55.24 was belting in as was another on 61.24. Had some audio coming through on 59.74. Quick tune down to 6 metres and heard the VE8BY beacon on Baffin Island, new one for me, and at pretty good levels. Also OX3VHF Greenland and VE4ARM presumed on 50.018 from Manitoba! No other beacons on this frequency (it was very low with me) and at the same time MM0AMW in Kintyre was working a bunch of VE4's! All this at 3:15 am! So my TV carriers were probably from the Canadian prairies which I am amazed by, more detective work to do. So, it looks like we are in for quite a season. I`ve heard TA carriers every day for the last week or so and again today 6 is open into the Caribbean. On July 20, 2003 I heard CBAF in Moncton NB at 2:15 am [BST = 0115 UT] (an even more outrageous event than 26-6-03 imho) - last night I am convinced something similar almost happened. However if FM had opened it would have been to somewhere insane, possibly Manitoba. I would have considered such talk pre 2003 to be nonsense - so forgive my optimism. All signals last night were coming from around 300 / 310 / 320 degrees so we aren`t talking East Coast. This also makes me wonder about the station I heard in both 2004 and 2005 on 88.5 both times with an anti alcoholism programme. God knows where this originated from, but, it was on the same kind of beam heading as last night. So increasingly I`m coming to believe that this is all possible and that eventually someone will get something from way inland in North America. All depends on the atmosphere but it will come. Thrilling stuff. Anyone got any ideas on possible candidates on 55.24 / 61.24 possibly from Manitoba?? Regards, Paul Logan, Lisnaskea, N. Ireland, May 23 Low VHF / FMDX page http://www.geocities.com/yogi540 (via Mike Bugaj, WTFDA via DXLD) CKND2 Minnedosa, MB is a 55.24 and gets out real well. 73, (Jeff Kadet, Macomb, IL http://www.oldtvguides.com/DXPhotos/ ibid.) Hi Jeff, I`m positive the A2 minus signal was CKND2 - it is about 55 miles away from the VE4ARM 6 metre repeater I was receiving at the same time. I`m both shocked and thrilled at last night`s reception!. - As you can imagine. The 3 minus I reckon is CBWFT from Winnipeg MB. 80 miles to VE4ARM. I think it was on roughly 61.240.6 --- perhaps you can post this on and someone might confirm it. A 4+ signal I think was CKYB from Brandon MB. 25 miles to VE4ARM. I didn`t see any spotting of anything other than MB on the 6 m cluster at that time so I`m building in confidence that these are correct and that the area propagating wasn`t that large to draw in other states or provinces. From what I`ve read already I`m absolutely sure about CKND2. Feel free to repost this. Regards (Paul Logan, Lisnaskea, N. Ireland, ibid., WORLD OF RADIO 1316) He received a station on 61.240.6 MHz during a period when Manitoba ham stations were coming in on 6 meters via multiple-hop Es. Seems unlikely to me that CBWFT would be that far off frequency, but maybe not? 600 Hz off would *not* be illegal under U.S. regulations. Anyone close enough to Winnipeg to know? (Doug Smith, W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com ibid.) The geomagnetic field generally ranged from quiet to active levels with one interval of minor storm conditions observed at high latitudes late on 18 May. Solar wind speed ranged from a low of about 305 km/s early on 17 May to a high of near 615 km/s beginning midday on 18 May, and extending through early on 20 May. The period began with wind speed slightly elevated at about 475 km/s and the Bz component of the IMF weakly south at about -2 nT as a coronal hole wind stream rotated out of a geoeffective position. Early in the summary period, the geomagnetic field was at quiet to unsettled levels, and remained so through early on 18 May. By midday on 17 May, wind speed, temperature, and density showed gradual increases, all indicative of a co-rotating interaction region in advance of a coronal hole high speed wind stream. By late on 17 May, the IMF Bz began fluctuating between +/- 5 nT, and by early on 18 May, the fluctuations increased to +/- 15 nT and remained at these levels through about 18/0900 UTC. During this period, the geomagnetic field responded with unsettled to active conditions at middle latitudes, while high latitudes observed active to minor storm levels. These geomagnetic conditions persisted through late on the 18th. The remainder of the summary period saw the geomagnetic field at mostly quiet to unsettled levels with an isolated active interval observed midday on 20 May at high latitudes. By midday on the 18th, the IMF Bz relaxed and did not vary much beyond +/- 5 nT through the remainder of the summary period. Wind speed remained elevated between 550 to 600 km/s through 21 May. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 24 MAY - 19 JUNE 2006 Solar activity is expected to be at very low to low levels. No greater than 10 MeV proton events are expected. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels on 04 – 13 June. The geomagnetic field is expected to be mostly quiet to unsettled for the majority of the forecast period. Recurrent coronal hole high speed wind streams are expected to rotate into geoeffective positions 01 – 04 June, 07 – 08 June, and again on 14 June. Active to minor storm conditions are expected with the first coronal hole, while unsettled to active conditions are expected with the latter two coronal holes. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2006 May 23 2124 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2006 May 23 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2006 May 24 85 5 2 2006 May 25 85 10 3 2006 May 26 85 5 2 2006 May 27 85 5 2 2006 May 28 80 5 2 2006 May 29 80 5 2 2006 May 30 80 10 3 2006 May 31 80 10 3 2006 Jun 01 75 15 3 2006 Jun 02 75 20 4 2006 Jun 03 75 20 4 2006 Jun 04 75 15 3 2006 Jun 05 75 10 3 2006 Jun 06 75 12 3 2006 Jun 07 75 15 3 2006 Jun 08 75 15 3 2006 Jun 09 75 12 3 2006 Jun 10 75 10 3 2006 Jun 11 75 10 3 2006 Jun 12 75 8 3 2006 Jun 13 80 8 3 2006 Jun 14 80 15 3 2006 Jun 15 85 10 3 2006 Jun 16 85 10 3 2006 Jun 17 85 8 3 2006 Jun 18 85 8 3 2006 Jun 19 85 8 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1316, DXLD) ###