DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-097, July 3, 2006 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2006 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRING OF WORLD OF RADIO 1320: Wed 0930 WOR WWCR1 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 ** ALASKA [and non]. KNLS ANCHOR POINT, THE GOSPEL VOICE OF ALASKA KNLS, the New Life Station is the one and only short wave station operating from this beautiful state. World Christian Broadcasting Service [sic], the parent entity of KNLS was formed in 1976. Later they planned to form global radio ministry broadcasting from Alaska on shortwave. They bought three hectares of land located 180 kilometres south of Anchorage on Kenai Peninsula, just outside the small town of Anchor Point and started construction of the station. KNLS the New Life Station went on the air on 23rd July 1983. KNLS owns 3 [sic] x 100 kW shortwave transmitters at Anchorage [sic] for the coverage of Asia and the Pacific region. The New Life Station has a giant curtain dipole antenna. It measures about 120 square meters. The wire mesh curtain actually consists of sixteen separate dipole antennas strung together. A second wire screen, hanging just behind the antenna, pushes the radio frequency radiation towards the west. Using huge switches at the curtain's base, operators can slew the antenna at different parts of Asia and the Pacific Basin. The administrative staff as well as the international production and programming staff are located at the WCBS Operation Centre at Franklin, Tennessee. It was started in 1989. Since the summer of 1992 KNLS is using digital technology for programme delivery and automation system. KNLS is a very DXer-friendly station. The New Life station broadcasts a DX Segment produced by Carl Mann in their show. KNLS offers a number of free booklets and audiotapes and other interesting Souvenirs for listeners who write in frequently. Their offer includes free booklets such as DX Tips for Beginners, Radio Propagation for Beginners, etc., written by Carl Mann. Mr. Kevin Chambers is the Director of Engineering and KNLS Station Manager and is well known among DX circles. He recently that informed efforts are underway to construct a second transmitting station in Madagascar. The proposed transmitter site is located in a 42-hectare plot donated by the Madagascar Government. The new transmitter site will cover Africa and South Asia. KNLS also offers very colourful verifications for reception reports. Many QSLs depict Alaskan sceneries, flora and fauna. Electronic reports can be mailed to knls @ aol.com The postal address is Radio Station KNLS, P. O. Box 173, Anchor Point, Alaska 99556, USA. Courtesy 1. The New Life Station Story Leaflet-KNLS 2. KNLS Press Releases 3. WORLD Radio TV Handbook 2006 (R E P O R T F R O M I N D I A, news, views and comment presented by T. R. RAJEESH, July World DX Club Contact via DXLD) Three 100 kW SW transmitters at KNLS?? I thought there were only two. They have made a big deal of installing the second one and new antennas. Or is the third, the secret one leased to Radio Free Asia? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. [15476], LRA36, audible since tune-in at 2005 Jun 27 [Tue], just at noise level, but enough signal to distinguish between talk and music. Equally well received on R8A, R7, and R75 coupled with A/D Sloper. Still audible, but fading at 2038 (Jerry Strawman, IA, DX- plorer via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. I've been hearing CW lately on 1700. 'CRJ' is repeated continuously. Does anyone else hear this? Where does it originate? 73 (Andrew Brade, UK, July 1, MWC via DXLD) Nice one - Carajás, Brazil (Paul Crankshaw, UK, ibid.) Thanks Paul - I wish I'd kept the recording now! It's been annoying me for a few nights, but I thought it was something European. It has been interfering with the weak US station I was hearing that at last I identified (disappointingly) as KVNS [Texas]. As it's from so far away, I might try recording it tonight. It was audible at the same time as KVNS, i.e. between 0330 and 0400 if you want to have a listen (Andrew Brade, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL – Captar a Rádio Globo, do Rio de Janeiro (RJ), pela freqüência de 11805 kHz, tem sido uma surpresa. Um dia não está lá. Noutro, é ouvida perfeitamente, como foi o caso do Édison Bocorny Jr., de Nova Hamburgo (RS), em 30 de junho, por volta de 1615, quando transmitia o jogo entre Alemanha e Argentina. BRASIL – A Rádio Caiari, de Porto Velho (RO), foi sintonizada, em Embu (SP), pelo Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, pela freqüência de 4785 kHz, em 23 de junho, às 2159. Ele ouviu a identificação: ``Rádio Caiari, a rádio da família``. BRASIL – O retorno da Rádio Inconfidência, na freqüência de 6010 kHz, foi saudado por diversos radioescutas e dexistas. Em 29 de junho, Paulo Cabral ouviu a emissora, em Vila Velha (ES), às 1810, com bom sinal. De acordo com ele, ``existe muita gente, no Brasil, que não tem nem o rádio como meio de comunicação. Por isso, cada vez que pudermos levantar a bandeira para o retorno de uma emissora não estaremos só brigando pelo nosso hobby, mas também pela inclusão de muita gente que precisa dele``. Em Altamira do Paraná (PR), Reinaldo Gomes ouviu a emissora, em 29 de junho, às 2330, com identificação e pedidos musicais. Já o Luiz Chaine Neto, de Limeira (SP), agrega que ouviu a emissora, também em 29 de junho, às 1130, com ``ótima qualidade de áudio``. Do Rio de Janeiro (RJ), Jorge Igor informa que também ouviu a Inconfidência, em 30 de junho, por volta de 1100, com sinal regular (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX July 2 via DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. 15480, Democratic Voice of Burma (via Alma Ata - but site not specified on QSL reply). Full data confirmation & information letter, in 44 days. This for a CD postal report to their Norway Address. v/s Banya Mon (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, July 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Re 6-096: Glenn, CFRX is alive and well on 6070. // 1010 is much more difficult here lately. It used to be stronger than 6070, at least in the summer. 73/Radioblonde's Pink DX Blog Shortwave, Mediumwave, Scanner Michigan Logs http://radioblonde.blogspot.com (Liz Cameron, MI, 2103 UT July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I, too, had been looking for 6070. Nothing heard last week, but audible today at 2115 GMT (Don Hosmer, Dearborn MI, July 2, ibid.) Checked CFRX 6070 here at 1610. Coming in well, but seemed to be at a slightly reduced signal level. Propagation perhaps? (Steve Lare, Holland, MI USA, July 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CBC now has a strip of new summer feature shows running about 10 weeks each, replacing the last half hours of Current, and Sounds Like Canada. On RCI these go out M-F at 1330 and 1530, on 9515, 13655 and 17800. Oops, make that 1331:30 as monitored after some more harmonica fill, Monday with Global Perspectives, which we were informed is on the theme of crime, starting with serial rape in Calgary; not a good topic for breakfast listening. Here`s the lineup: 1331:30: Mon Global Perspectives Tue The Contrarians Wed Connections (Network) Thu Subcultures Fri Here`s the Thing Sat Ten Times Table And confirmed not starting until 1531:30: Mon As If Tue Best of C`est La Vie Wed Socket Thu So, You Think You`re Funny? Fri Madly off in All Directions Sat CBC Festival of Funny As It Happens also contracts to only one hour, with the sesquihour filled out by these at 0130 UT days on 9755: Tue Steal This Show Wed And Sometimes Y Thu The Contrarians Fri Dispatches Sat So, You Think You`re Funny? Those who listen to webcasts have multiple opportunities for these on timeshifts across the country from CBCR1 stations, plus RCI1. All these are entered on http://www.worldofradio.com/calendar.html From this page http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/schedule/dailySchedule.jsp?network=CBC%20Radio%20One if you click on VIEW WEEKLY SCHEDULE you will find a grid from which you may also link to individual program pages, to find out what they are about (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A series of 10 interesting-sounding programmes on CBC Radio 1 from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation started this week under the title "Here's the Thing". I heard the first programme on Friday evening, which is repeated tonight, which deals with the subject of the bed, ranging from the history of the bed through to how to get a good night's sleep. The programme lasts for around half-an-hour and can be heard every Friday, starting between 13:30 and 17:30 BST, depending on which CBC stream you choose to listen to, with repeats starting between 23:30 on Sunday and 02:30 on Monday. Go to:- http://www.cbc.ca Look for "CBC Radio", then "live radio" and then find the appropriate location. This week's edition is certainly worth listening to, and I do not think it is archived (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, United Kingdom, swprograms via DXLD) BST = UT +1 See below - for fans of the CBC. Fridays 1230 UT (Atlantic/ Newfoundland streams) through 1630 (Pacific streams), repeated Sundays 2130 through Mondays 0130. Website is http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/program/index.jsp?program=Here%27s+The+Thing and the program subject was covered in the Friday Hotsheet (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) ** CANADA. CHTN to go dark pretty soon... Ocean 100.3 [CHTN] is on the air with its new format - older songs and hits. certainly not an oldies station (Phil Rafuse, PEI, 1907 UT July 2, ABDX via DXLD) Now that my wife has surrendered the computer, I can add some more: Ocean 100.3 CHTN is testing and asking the public to contact them if they have any reception problems. Transmitter site is Churchill/ [Bonshaw] e.g. the CBC tower. Testing format is just like the described format for the station - an occasional 60s song, 70s songs a bit more common, 80s songs, 90s songs and the ocassional song from today. Cancon seems pretty high - certainly higher than the required 35%. The old "butter up the CRTC idea". Meanwhile, programing is business as usual on 720, with 60s and 70s oldies. At some point the changeover will occur, and the new format will be on 720 for a little while. And then it will go dark. My guess is that 720 will go dark the end of August, first of September. And then there will be howls of protest from all the listeners over in NS. They actually have some ad revenue from there too. Not a lot, but some. They wouldn't duplicate the AM's coverage even if they were full Class C parametres [100 KW, 600 metres EHAAT] and they won't be anywhere near even full C1 parametres. So it looks like 3 new stations to be added to the CBC tower - CHTN, its sister station to be, and CFCY [given that MBS Radio has applied to amend their FM flip]. By my rough calculations, we're talking about 1.2 to 1.5 million watts of ERP at the FM and VHF TV frequencies. Its been my experience that new testing FM signals can have really mega signals - years ago CKTO had a mega signal while testing and more recently CKHZ had a big testing signal (Phil Rafuse, PEI Canada, Soon to be FM only, 0251 UT July 3, ABDX via DXLD) ** CHINA. July 3 at 1311 looked around for CNR-1 jammer on 20m but did not find it; there was an open carrier on 14318, but it was so strong and steady that I think it was coming from a VCR, TV or other local household device. Ditto exactly one hour later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. Some new frequencies for A-06 of China Radio International: 17865 KAS 500 kW / 308 deg 0600-0757 French 17735 BKO 100 kW / 020 deg 1600-1657 Arabic 17725 XIA 500 kW / 292 deg 0400-0557 English 17680 KAS 500 kW / 294 deg 0600-0757 Spanish 17560 XIA 500 kW / 292 deg 0800-0957 Chinese 17540 BEI 500 kW / 257 deg 0300-0357 Chinese 17540 KAS 100 kW / 173 deg 0400-0457 Hakka 17540 KAS 100 kW / 173 deg 0500-0857 English 17540 XIA 500 kW / 193 deg 0900-0957 Chinese 17540 XIA 500 kW / 322 deg 1000-1057 Chinese 17530 XIA 500 kW / 073 deg 0800-0857 Chinese 17530 XIA 500 kW / 190 deg 0900-0957 Chinese 17530 XIA 500 kW / 190 deg 1000-1057 Hakka 17530 XIA 500 kW / 190 deg 1100-1157 Vietnamese 17530 XIA 500 kW / 190 deg 1200-1227 Tagalog 17515 KAS 500 kW / 294 deg 0600-0657 Italian 17500 KAS 100 kW / 174 deg 0900-0957 Chinese 17500 KAS 100 kW / 174 deg 1000-1057 Hakka 15785 XIA 500 kW / 252 deg 0100-0157 English 15785 XIA 500 kW / 073 deg 0300-0457 English, co-ch Galei Tzahal in Hebrew 15785 XIA 500 kW / 073 deg 0500-0657 Chinese, co-ch Galei Tzahal in Hebrew 15665 KAS 500 kW / 308 deg 0400-0557 Russian 15665 KAS 500 kW / 308 deg 0800-0957 Russian 15565 XIA 500 kW / 292 deg 0800-0957 Chinese 15525 URU 500 kW / 212 deg 0900-0957 Chinese 15525 URU 500 kW / 212 deg 1000-1057 Hakka 15460 KUN 500 kW / 135 deg 1100-1157 Chinese 15445 KAS 500 kW / 308 deg 0400-0557 Russian 15360 KAS 500 kW / 308 deg 0800-0957 Russian 15225 KAS 500 kW / 298 deg 1100-1157 Czech 15220 KAS 500 kW / 298 deg 1000-1057 Hungarian 15160 JIN 500 kW / 059 deg 0100-0357 Chinese, co-ch REE Spanish 15140 KAS 100 kW / 239 deg 0600-0657 English 15130 JIN 500 kW / 059 deg 0300-0557 Chinese 13850 BEI 500 kW / 193 deg 1000-1057 Hakka 13780 KUN 500 kW / 283 deg 0130-0327 Nepalese 13755 KAS 100 kW / 174 deg 1100-1257 Chinese 13755 KAS 100 kW / 174 deg 1300-1357 English 13750 BEI 150 kW / 095 deg 0300-0457 English 13720 XIA 500 kW / 292 deg 1000-1157 English, co-ch REE Spanish, VOIROI Dari 13710 KAS 500 kW / 308 deg 1300-1357 French 13710 KAS 500 kW / 308 deg 1400-1457 English 13710 KAS 500 kW / 308 deg 1500-1557 Chinese, co-ch BSKSA Holy Quran Arabic 13690 XIA 500 kW / 190 deg 0000-0057 Vietnamese 13690 KAS 500 kW / 308 deg 0300-0357 Chinese 13685 KAS 500 kW / 298 deg 1000-1057 Hungarian 13685 KAS 500 kW / 298 deg 1100-1157 Czech 13680 KAS 500 kW / 308 deg 1500-1557 Chinese 13640 KAS 500 kW / 298 deg 1500-1557 English 13620 XIA 500 kW / 073 deg 1000-1057 English 13620 XIA 500 kW / 073 deg 1100-1357 Korean, co-ch R. Kuwait Arabic in DRM 13600 XIA 500 kW / 292 deg 0100-0157 Russian 13600 XIA 500 kW / 292 deg 1200-1357 Russian 13590 BEI 500 kW / 193 deg 1000-1157 English 13580 KUN 500 kW / 135 deg 1100-1157 Cantonese 12085 XIA 500 kW / 354 deg 2300-2357 Mongolian 12035 XIA 500 kW / 200 deg 0000-0057 Chinese 11795 KAS 100 kW / 174 deg 1100-1157 English 11690 XIA 500 kW / 292 deg 1200-1257 English 11635 BEI 500 kW / 318 deg 1000-1057 English 11620 XIA 500 kW / 142 deg 0800-0957 English, co-ch AIR HS 11620 XIA 500 kW / 142 deg 1000-1157 Japanese, co-ch AIR Burmese/English 11600 XIA 150 kW / 195 deg 1100-1257 Vietnamese, co-ch R. Bulgaria Sp till 1130 9880 XIA 500 kW / 292 deg 1500-1557 Russian, co-ch R. Kuwait Arabic in DRM 9780 BKO 100 kW / 085 deg 1730-1827 Hausa, new frequency from June 4, ex 11640 9740 XIA 500 kW / 354 deg 1000-1057 Hakka 9740 XIA 500 kW / 354 deg 1100-1157 Russian 9695 KAS 100 kW / 209 deg 0100-0157 Urdu 9695 JIN 500 kW / 310 deg 1830-1857 Bulgarian 9585 XIA 500 kW / 073 deg 1500-1557 Japanese 9555 XIA 500 kW / 292 deg 1800-1857 Russian, co-ch BSKSA Main Px Arabic 9470 XIA 500 kW / 354 deg 0000-0057 Mongolian 9470 XIA 500 kW / 292 deg 1700-1757 Russian 9450 SZG 500 kW / 037 deg 1400-1457 Russian, co-ch VOR English in DRM 9440 CER 150 kW / non-dir 0900-0957 Romanian 9435 KAS 100 kW / non-dir 0300-0457 Russian 9435 KAS 100 kW / 209 deg 1500-1557 Urdu 9435 URU 500 kW / 212 deg 1700-1757 Cantonese 7245 BEI 500 kW / 257 deg 1600-1657 Swahili 7240 KAS 100 kW / 209 deg 0100-0157 Urdu 7210 BEI 150 kW / 095 deg 1400-1457 Chinese 7130 CER 150 kW / non-dir 0900-0957 Romanian 7130 CER 150 kW / non-dir 1100-1157 Bulgarian 7130 CER 150 kW / non-dir 1200-1257 Serbian 6110 XIA 500 kW / 292 deg 1900-1957 Russian, co-ch RRI Serbian from 1930 6090 KUN 150 kW / 163 deg 1700-1757 Cantonese, co-ch BBC Persian 6075 KAS 100 kW / 209 deg 1500-1557 Urdu, co-ch DW German 5985 BEI 500 kW / 257 deg 1600-1757 Swahili, co-ch RAI Italian from 1700 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, July 3 via DXLD) Are all these `new` since the beginning of A-06? See 9780 entry which started just a month ago. Otherwise I would suspect, as Observer has done before, this list by ``new`` means compared to B-05 or even A-05 schedules, not just new since the beginning of A-06. Note that all but a few of these entries concern sites inside China (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. 4940, Voice of the Strait, Fuzhou, Fujian province. Full data 'Golden Monkey' series of endangered rare animals series, with station name indicated on the card. This in response of sending a follow-up to CRI requesting confirmation. Three attempts direct failed in getting a reply. Reply in 15 months, after posting a 3rd follow-up to CRI, reply in 47 days. v/s: Ying Lian (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, July 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ying Lian = collective name (gh) ** CUBA [and non]. RHC`s new transmitters and/or antennas are certainly beefing up their already strong signals from only 2 megameters away, but there is no improvement in the spurious output. July 3 at 1330 I heard RHC IS on 11715, which is 11805 leapfrogging 11760. This was pretty weak, but still overriding KJES which had not built up to full strength (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Cubisms: Re 6-096: Interesting. So does this mean 790 will no longer occasionally show up on 793, as in the past? Also, 950 is not nearly the signal it used to be here, daytime, when it would clock in at nearly local level. So much for improved coverage. May the revolution gloriously continue (Terry L. Krueger, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DENMARK [non]. 7230 via Woofferton, 5975 via Rampisham, (via Radio Japan), DSWCI 50th anniversary card in 53 days. Special thank you to Anker Peterson for these attractive design verifications (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, July 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. R. Cairo, 15810, as usual with horribly deficient modulation: audible only at peaks of each word, July 3 at 1339. Scheduled in Indonesian during the 1230 sesquihour. One can only marvel at how this can go on for years without being fixed. Their engineers must be incompetent or powerless (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Cairo, two QSL cards, one with full data and the other blank; post card with personal note; current skeds; station sticker. This for a report on 3/12/06 for English transmission on 7270. Perhaps the blank card is a Do-It-Yourself for my next report! Of the forty reports sent out in late February-early March as a QSL experiment, I've received replies of some sort from just over half of the stations (Jim Ronda, Tulsa OK, NASWA Flashsheet July 2 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. R. Fana 6210 at 0335 in Amharic. Weak. // 6940 but QRM. 3 July (Liz Cameron, MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6940, Radio Fana. 6/27/06, 0332-0346, in Amharic. Man with news. Segment of instrumental music followed by an ID at 0336. Poor to fair but considerable noise near // 6209.9 making the latter frequency awful (Rich D`Angelo, Wyomissing PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** FINLAND. Turning off transmitters: see NORWAY ** GERMANY [non]. RUSSIA(non), Frequency change of Deutsche Welle in Persian: 1730-1930 NF 7270 ARM 200 kW / 132 deg, ex 7375 \\ 13800 WER 500 kW / 090 deg (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, July 3 via DXLD) ** HONDURAS. R Misiones Int'l, 5010 at 0340. Barely audible and overmodulated. Finally determined I was hearing Spanish --- not Madagascar. 3 July (Liz Cameron, MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sesquiharmonic of 3340 (gh) 3340, HRMI - R. Misiones Int., 6/27/06, 0328, in Spanish Gospel songs; presumed ID at 0332. Poor. Better in this time period on 6/28 (Jim Ronda, Tulsa OK, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** INDIA. PRIVATE FM RADIO TO RUN ON SINGLE FREQUENCY ASHISH SINHA & RISHI RAJ Posted online: Monday, July 03, 2006 at 0000 hours IST http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=132588 NEW DELHI, JULY 2: Private FM radio companies holding multi-city licences are set to get one single frequency to operate. According to sources, the wireless planning and co-ordination cell of the department of telecommunication (DoT) is finalising a list of frequencies to be alloted to over 40 companies under phase-II of FM radio privatisation. "Any company holding over 8 licences will be offered one unique frequency and this could be announced shortly," sources told FE. Major beneficiaries will include Adlabs (45 stations), Entertainment Networks (India) Ltd (32 stations), MBPL (20 stations), Kal Radio (40+ stations), Synergy Media (17 stations) and BAG Infotainment (10 stations) among others. The phase I, which started in early 2000, saw 21 FM stations being operated by eight companies, with each using one unique frequency. For example, while Radio City operated all its stations in 91 MHz, Radio Mirchi used 98.3 MHz. This has not been the case under phase-II, which was launched in January this year. Entertainment Network (India) Ltd, which owns Radio Mirchi, has launched three stations so far - Hyderabad (95MHz), Bangalore (93.3 MHz) and Jaipur (105 MHz). But each is on a different frequency. "Once the plan is implemented, it will save considerable marketing and branding expenses for us," Rajiv Mishra, CEO, BAG Infotainment and head of Radio Masti, said. Get Tuned . DoT is finalising a list of frequencies to 40 companies for FM radio privatisation . FM stations being operated by eight companies, with each using one unique frequency . In phase-II, bids were called for 336 frequencies in 90 cities, of which the government has issued LoI for 262 frequencies The DoT cell acted after receiving a written communication on this matter in May from Mishra, who is the convenor of the association of Radio Operators in India. But what will happen to the existing stations of Radio Mirchi, which are already on different frequencies? The cell will offer the frequency to the companies with a choice to switch over to a single frequency. "Since the entire industry made a representation to the cell regarding the issue, I don't think any one will mind switching to one frequency," Mishra said. Under phase-II of the privatisation drive, bids were called for 336 frequencies in 90 cities, of which the government has issued letters of intent (LoI) for 262 frequencies spread among 40 companies. All stations are scheduled to open by March, 2007 (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. VOI, 9525, good signal as usual, July 3 at 1349 with that one-minute ID in English giving website and contact info. O, how we long for a real English program on a time and frequency we can hear it well, such as this. But no! 1350 back to Indonesian for some talk with, ``Under the Double Eagle`` march by Wagner in the background. Or so they thought. This is NOT background music to be talked over. This date, CRI Russian did not come on until about 1358, reducing the overlap (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Just the Facts: Three SETI Myths By Peter Backus, Observing Programs Manager, SETI Institute posted: 22 June 2006 06:15 am ET Many common ideas about SETI just aren’t true, but that doesn't prevent them from popping up in popular articles, blogs, books, and even movies. Here are three of my favorite fallacies about SETI. Myth #1: The "National SETI Agency" Myth #2: "All radio telescopes do SETI, all the time" Myth #3: "SETI has been listening for nearly 50 years". . . http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_three_myths_060622.html (via RadioIntel.com via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non]. Cape Radio has been up on 5711.0 USB and 10780.0 USB on/off since 1410 working booster recovery ships Liberty Star and Freedom Star. Tried once to go to a discrete working frequency (9132.0) but ended up back on 5711 where they are weak and ships unheard here. This is in support of launch of shuttle for STS- 121. At some point, Cape normally assigns the HF working frequency for range safety and booster recovery. 9043.0 USB has been popular for last few daytime launches. It appears launch will be scrubbed due to weather though. (Rick "RD" Baker, Ohio Monitor, July 2, UDXF yg via Pim Ripken, BDX via DXLD) It is Sunday 10:09 am EDT (1409z). The NASA SRB recovery vessels "Liberty Star" and "Freedom Star" are up on 5711 kHz USB, in comms with Cape Radio. Cape Radio tried to QSY them to HF freq 9132, but even though I heard both sides well, Cape Radio could not hear them. It seemed like the vessels could hear Cape Radio, however. Unfortunately with the weather here so bad, it is doubtful the STS-121 launch will take place today, so the Liberty Star and Freedom Star will have to wait another day to retrieve solid rocket boosters. They feel like The Butcher does when I toss his frisbee and it gets caught high in a tree (AL STERN Satellite Beach FL http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FloridaMilcom/ UDXF via Pim Ripken, BDX via DXLD) All, the next Space Shuttle launch is due on Sunday 2nd July, so here is some information for those wishing/hoping to hear the launch on HF. This is the second flight/launch since the disaster in February 2003 and NASA are keen to get maximum interest in this flight, so they have released details of the exact launch time. Of course, you're not going to hear the Shuttle on HF, as it is not equipped with HF equipment. However, you can hear the various support aircraft and ships involved in the launch. And there is a lot to hear! There are usually two USAF MC-130 aircraft orbiting in the eastern Atlantic, using the callsigns 'King 1' and 'King 2'; and there may be other 'King' callsigns either waiting in reserve or orbiting in the mid or western Atlantic. There is usually a USN Frigate patrolling the waters off the Atlantic coast of Florida, and also the SRB recovery vessels, M/V Liberty Star and/or M/V Freedom Star. A USN E-2C Hawkeye aircraft usually patrols the same area, on the lookout for aircraft and ships straying into the launch area - this uses the callsign 'Clearance 1'. Finally, there are a few Ground Stations to consider - 'Cape Radio' and 'Cape Osborne'. The launch of STS-121 is due at 15.26 EDT (19.26 UTC, 20.26 BST) on Sunday 2nd July. This is another ISS mission, so the launch window is only 5 minutes long - if it doesn't launch on-time, it will have to wait until the following day for the next suitable window. If it does not launch today, it can launch any time in the next 19 days to achieve its planned orbit and rendezvous with ISS Since this is a trip to the ISS the flight will be using a '51 degree orbit' so there is a good chance that it will be visible from the UK. For HF listeners, the best place to start is 10780 kHz about 3-4 hours before the launch. At some point most of the aircraft and ships involved will check in with 'Cape Radio' to find out which other HF frequencies they are using for the launch. Keep listening until you hear them mention this frequency, as most of the signals will be on this other frequency rather than 10780. Once you find the other frequency, keep switching between it and 10.780 in case other aircraft/ships are sent to other frequencies. Amateur HF frequencies The amateur station WA3NAN from the Goddard Amateur Radio Club usually do a 're-broadcast' of various signals from the launch. They can be found on the following HF freqs (all +/- 5KHz due to interference): 3860 KHz LSB 7185 KHz LSB 14295 KHz USB 21395 KHz USB 28650 KHz USB UHF About 15-20 minutes after launch the shuttle will pass over/near the UK, and it is possible to hear them on UHF airband. The comms are quite short, but it is definitely them! Tune to 259.7 MHz AM, but don't expect to hear too much if you're just using a set-top rubber- ducky. They are only 'in range' for a few minutes, so don't expect to hear too much! - however, some listeners have reported hearing brief comms on this freq using simple equipment, so please try to listen just in case, you may be surprised (from personal experience, I have heard them using just a small telescopic aerial on my Yupi MVT- 7100 - so it can be done!) A secondary freq of 296.8 MHz AM is also available, if necessary. SATCOM If you have a good enough external aerial, ideally a beam, and maybe a pre-amp, it is possible to hear the MC-130s orbiting in the eastern Atlantic as they maintain contact with the Cape using satellite comms in the UHF airband. Tune to 261.75 MHz NFM or 263.625 MHz NFM (the commonest 2 freqs) and listen for 'King' callsigns. They have also been known to use 261.8 MHz, so check that freq too. These guys seem to spend most of their time doing radio-checks with Cape. They provide a kind of 'emergency service' for the Shuttle launch, so don't expect to hear much else unless it all goes very pear-shaped in the launch. INMARSAT I do not personally have the ability to listen to these signals, but I know that some do There is a TAL site pre-launch briefing held sometime in the 24 hours prior to the launch, which should pop up in the range 1535 to 1545 MHz on AOR east. The European Space Agency may arrange a video feed of the launch via satellite into Europe as they did for the previous launch, and there should also be a relay of NASA TV for Reuters. Both will be carried on NSS K at 21 degrees west in digital format. I would recommend checking emails from John Locker, as he usually provides some good clues as to launch frequencies SHF NASA TV usually cover the launch in-depth, and I am sure that John Locker can give details of what frequencies to listen to. Live TV coverage Don't forget Sky Newsdigital (now with 8 interactive screens) and also BBC interactive news. The great thing about the interactive news channels is that they can carry a shuttle launch for much longer by using one of their sub channels, so it's well worth keeping an eye on those two. For those of you with access to IRC (Internet Relay Chat), a number of us meet on channel #SATCOM, and you're welcome to join us. This is usually from about 1 hour before the planned launch time, until about 30 minutes afterwards. With people all over Europe receiving signals from different stations, most frequencies are quickly reported when anything happens (Graham Tanner, London, UK, July 2, SWM_readers yg via DXLD) See NASA website http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html for current updates re weather or other showstoppers!! (Simon Butterworth, Bugbrooke, Northants, ibid.) ** IRAN. Additional transmission for VOIROI / IRIB in Hebrew to ME from July 1: 1200-1227 on 13685 SIR 500 kW / 282 deg and 15260 KAM 500 kW / 259 deg (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, July 3 via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. July 3 at 0515 landed on 9865 which was playing a version of ``Mr. Lonely`` I had never heard before: a duet between a real voice and a sped-up Chipmunk voice. Really weird, but sure to win us friends in Iran, the song, yes, in English, for this was R. Farda, per ID which followed a few minutes later. HFCC says Morocco site. Hmm, does R. Farda publish a playlist? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [non]. Propagation had improved enough to make V. of Africa in English audible weakly via France, July 3 at 1405 on 17850 when they were still announcing a 21 MHz frequency, tho for the summer they are on 17850 and 17725 instead, where also audible but even weaker (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [and non]. Propagation conditions had improved quite a bit July 3, as checking at 1317 I was again hearing the lively Arab music on 17665; Arabic talk on 17695, with a SAH indicating some other station also on frequency; and R. Solh music on 17700; but by 1338 recheck these had all almost faded out (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Solar-terrestrial indices for 02 July follow. Solar flux 87 and mid- latitude A-index 1. The mid-latitude K-index at 1200 UTC on 03 July was 2 (10 nT). The mid-latitude K-index at 1500 UTC on 03 July was 1 (5 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours (SEC via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RADIO NEW ZEALAND CHANGES SCHEDULE AGAIN Radio New Zealand International has posted the following information on its website: Radio New Zealand International is changing frequency schedules overnight tonight as we have corrected an antenna switching problem. The schedule includes the new DRM digital service. The full schedule is as follows: AM mode: 1300 – 1650 7145 kHz to All Pacific 1650 – 1850 6095 kHz to All Pacific 1851 – 1950 9630 kHz to All Pacific 1951 - 2235 15720 kHz to All Pacific 2236 - 0458 13730 kHz to All Pacific 0459 – 0658 9615 kHz to All Pacific 0659 - 1059 7145 kHz to All Pacific 1100 - 1259 9870 kHz to Solomon Islands, PNG, Timor DRM mode: 1300 – 1650 6095 kHz to All Pacific, Fiji, Niue, Samoa, Cook Isl 1651 – 1850 7145 kHz to All Pacific, Fiji, Niue, Samoa, Cook Isl 1851 – 1950 9440 kHz to All Pacific 1951 - 2235 13730 kHz to All Pacific 2236 - 0458 15720 kHz to All Pacific 0459 – 0658 9440 kHz to All Pacific 0659 - 1300 6095 kHz to All Pacific (July 3rd, 2006, 09:24 UT by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. Voice of Nigeria: yesterday a new E-Mail address was given: englishvon "at" yahoo.com Also the French service announced that there will be a new schedule by July 10, French from 1800 to 1900 on 7255 instead of 2100-2200, but the English service didn't announce any new times or frequencies so far. 73 (Thorsten Hallmann, Germany, July 3, dxing.info via DXLD) ** NORWAY [and non]. Just Spanish signals with an echo left behind (Steve Whitt, UK, shortly after 1314 closed, July 1, MWC via DXLD) Here in the middle of Europe it seems the channel will be mostly occupied by Romania. They have 30 kW on 1314 kHz and the transmitter was clearly dominating on the frequency last night. Unfortunately no silent period during the night (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia), AOR AR-7030 80 m LW, ibid.) Here in Germany (Lünen near Dortmund) I monitoring last night Romania. The transmitter was dominating on the frequency. In the background Radio Nacional 5 España (10 - 20 kw in Salamanca, Tarragona, Cuenca). 73, (Friedhelm Wittlieb, ibid.) I recorded 1310 overnight, now that NRK is gone. SS audible at various times during the night - 2 SS stations mixing around 0300 One station good strength by 0340 with mentions of Venezuela an President Chavez in political talk, interviews. ID at 0400 "....Radio Nacional en la Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela" followed by National Anthem 1310 YVSM Radio Nacional, 3 sites listed ( Barcelona, Guri, Santa Elena); First night without 1314 NRK ``Radio Nacional en la República Bolivariana de Venezuela`` then National Anthem W/F 0400 01/07 PC (Paul Crankshaw, Troon, ibid.) What will happen with Kvitsøy now when NRK together with Norkring as switched of this power house? Any other broadcasting company that may be interested in relay broadcast? Kvitsøy still remains as a transmitter on website of Norking. Strange? Now only the Swedish "power house" on 1179 kHz remains here in Scandinavia with its 2000 kW output (600 kW input) but for how long? Kalundborg in Denmark will be none too secure. I hope DRM will come as a saviour before it's too late. Vy 73 de (Christian SM6VPU Stödberg, July 2, HCDX via DXLD) A fate worse than death? (gh, DXLD) This seems to be a fashion in Scandinavia. Our YLE just some weeks ago announced that they have decided to close down the 600 kW AM station 963 kHz + all SW-transmissions at the Pori AM/SW station in 2007. There has been some discussion in Finland what will then happen to the Pori transmitter site. No press releases, however. If you look at any map you can imagine that there are several broadcasters who might be interested in using the Pori tx site for broadcasts beamed towards east and south-east. BTW, do you really want Kvitsøy to use 1200 kW with DRM mode on 1314 kHz? (Jorma Mantyla, Kangasala, Finland http://www.kaapeli.fi/~jmantyla/index2.htm ibid.) With the energy prices of today, it is not surprising that the power houses will die one after another, and I also think there are better alternatives than to use Pori for broadcasts east and south, cf. the Baltic countries and Russia. POS (Per-Ole Stenman, Finland, ibid.) You can't mean this: "I hope DRM will come as a saviour before it's too late." The problems DX'ers in Scandinavia have experienced with the Kvitsøy powerhouse until now will be minor compared to a 1200 kW DRM signal from Kvitsøy in the future. Lets hope (and pray) this will never happen! (Arnstein Bue, DX'ing from Kongsfjord, Smøla and Lista in Norway, http://www.kongsfjord.no HCDX via DXLD) It won't. Even if Kvitsøy were to go DRM, it would need to use considerably less power than 1200 kW :-) But I see no reason why it would be reactivated. It was put into operation specifically to reach the Norwegian fishing fleet. It is no longer needed for that purpose, so it's being closed down. End of story - and end of major drain on NRK's resources :-) (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) ** PERU. 4790, R. Visión. 6/27/06, 0242-0320 in Spanish. Phone-in program; preaching; songs, including a Spanish version of "When The Roll is Called Up Yonder I'll Be There," R. Visión ID at 0300; tough going at 0340 recheck but still there. Fair ­ poor (Jim Ronda, Tulsa OK, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 15140, Deutsche Welle via Petropavlosk. F/D (with site) 'World Cup 2006' Card with sticker. This for posted follow-up on their web site. Reply in 7 1/2 months, 101 days after f/up. v/s: Horst Scholz. 11895, Deutsche Welle via Vladivostok. F/D (with site) 'World Cup 2006' QSL card in the same time frame as above (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, July 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SEALAND. Re 6-096: Re: The bit about R. Essex was from East Anglian Daily Times via Media Network, as in 6-091 (gh, DXLD) Actually, I don't think the East Anglian Daily Times did say that Radio Essex had broadcast from the fort; that was something I added to put the story in context - but Dave is quite right, it was from a different fort! I apologise for the error (Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. Frequency change for Radio Sweden in Russian from July 7: 1700-1730 NF 7475 HBY 500 kW / 085 deg, ex 7465 to avoid BBC WS in DRM (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, July 3 via DXLD) Good idea ** SWEDEN. SAQ 17.2 kHz test: In ieder geval heb ik nihil gehoord of gezien. Ik heb dus Spectrum Lab gebruikt om te kijken en geluisterd op de NRD545. Ik denk dat ik toch te veel tussen de huizen met al hun storing zit. En dat ondanks de ALA1530. Ik had wel een vercijferde telex uitzending op 18.1 kHz. Ik ben benieuwd of er nog meer mensen zijn die SAG ontvangen Hebben. Want eigenlijk was het helemaal geen radiobinnenzitweer. Ieder geval bedankt voor je reactie. Groeten, (Pim Ripken, Netherlands, July 2, BDX via DXLD) Hallo Pim, Ik zat ook niet binnen hoor. Ik had een hele hoop radioapparatuur meegesleept (en dat ondanks de waarschuwingen dat de ozon drempel overschreden was en het beter is geen zware inspanningen te leveren :-) ) . Op de ALA was SAQ hier ook niet te horen. Op de AOR AR7030 lukte het ook niet. Audiobestanje in bijlage. 73, (Guido Schotmans, Belgium, ibid.) Hi, SAQ - Grimeton Radio active at 0810 UT on 17.2 kHz in CW mode: VVV VVV VVV DE SAQ SAQ SAQ 73 (Costas Krallis SV1XV July 2, UDXF via DXLD) Maybe were already off by 0830, when scheduled to start (gh, DXLD) WD4NGG and AA4RM went on a Dxpedition to Hunting Island State Park, near Beaufort, SC. Beautiful location far away from power lines! SAQ heard RST 249-269 at 1215-1237 UT. QRN levels running S6-S9, not too bad for a July summer morning on South Carolina Coast. Receiver FRG- 100, antenna Hagan Ferrite Loop with converter. 73 (WD4NGG, Todd, Longwave Message Board via DXLD) ** SYRIA. SÍRIA - A programação em espanhol da Rádio Damasco informa seu novo endereço eletrônico para contatos dos ouvintes. É o seguinte: radiodamasco@yahoo.com A informação é da apresentadora daquela seção Marian Galindo, em mensagem enviada a Sandra Fernandes, de Belo Horizonte (MG). (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX July 2 via DXLD) ** TIBET [non]. CLANDESTINE (Tibet). 17525, Voice of Tibet, full-data (except site) card showing two photos from their website [reporter at demonstration and monk-? in studio) and soldiers on wall, in two months for a report to Narthang Building, Gangchen Kyishong, Dharamsala-17625, H.P., India. EiC signature not legible. No response for report to Oslo. Pleased with this one. Over the past few years I`ve sent a number of reports for loggings from Kansas with no response, but this was for a logging nearer the VoT target: Bao Loc, Vietnam (Wendel Craighead, KS, DX-plorer via DXLD) ** U K. TINKER, TAILOR, BROADCASTER, SPY - BBC HAD MI5 WATCH ITS STAFF http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2006/07/02/1151778811129.html (via Dan Say, BC, DXLD) BBC DECLINES TO COMMENT ON REPORT THAT MI5 USED TO VET ITS STAFF The BBC has chosen, at least for the moment, not to comment on a report in today’s Sunday Telegraph which claims that nearly one third of its total workforce were vetted by the security service MI5 prior to the late 1980’s. The Sunday Telegraph report is based on previously confidential government papers which have been released into the public domain under the Freedom of Information Act. The Sunday Telegraph says that the BBC allowed MI5 to investigate the backgrounds and political affiliations of thousands of its employees, including newsreaders, reporters and continuity announcers. The papers confirm, says the Telegraph, that the corporation held a list of ``subversive organisations`` and that evidence of certain kinds of political activity could be a bar to appointment or promotion. It says the BBC`s reliance on MI5 reached a peak in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The papers released under the Freedom of Information Act quote an internal BBC document, dated 1983, as saying: ``We supply personal details to the Security Service. If there is any adverse information known, we receive this information and also, where necessary, an assessment based upon the involvement of the individual. This is presented to us as advice; line management then make the decision as to action.`` In 1983, according to the Telegraph, 5,728 BBC jobs were subjected to this second kind of scrutiny known as ``counter- subversion vetting``. The vetting system covered all types of employees, both full-time and feelancers. In many cases, their partners were also subjected to scrutiny. The vetting system was phased out in the late 1980’s, but the revelation that it even existed will come as some embarrassment to the BBC. Andy Sennitt comments: This is of particular interest to me, as in 1974-1978 I worked at BBC Monitoring. I had come from a degree course in Russian and Soviet Studies, which included a summer course at the Kuban State University in Krasnodar. I always imagined I would be on a list of individuals to be vetted, but it`s surprising to learn that this vetting procedure was so widespread (July 2nd, 2006, 18:05 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U K. For those of you who enjoy BBC comedy: A new series of Just a Minute launched this evening on BBC Radio 4. I just listened to the first one, and the opening topic was Greenwich Mean Time (as the programmme [sic] was recorded in the Greenwich Theatre). The web page hasn't been updated yet (still refers to previous series), but I imagine it will be available shortly via Listen Again. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/justaminute.shtml (Andy Sennitt, July 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Already there as of 2033 UT. Original airing is 1730 UT Mondays. Good to have this back! Stereo adds a lot (Glenn, ibid.) ** U K [non]. GERMANY(non) Additional transmissions via DTK T-Systems: Bible Voice Broadcasting Network (BVBN) from July 1: 0500-0530 on 13810 NAU 125 kW / 140 deg Sat to EaAf in Amharic (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, July 3 via DXLD) ** U K. RadioCentre, the radio industry trade body, has called for more government help to crack down on pirate radio stations following a Commons debate highlighting the problems they cause (via Mike Terry, BDXC via DXLD) The commercial radio trade body should look more closely at themselves. They blame the pirates for stealing their listeners, (how can you steal someone who was not your property by right in the first place). They claim the pirates are not paying royalties...well (PRS don't knowingly accept fees from illegal activities as it makes them an accomplice to crime). The threat to interfere with airport communications does exist, though considering the number of pirates using the FM band this problem is in fact rare. The real problem is that unlike legal radio a pirate TX operator can't easily be contacted to remedy the matter. They say some pirates support a drug culture, well so do very many night clubs. We all know of high profile people in the legitimate radio, TV and entertainment business that have criminal records including being prosecuted for drug offences. So in fact the so-called RadioCentre are beating the same old drum to the same old tune with the same old words. My questions to them would be: Why do you think these pirates are so popular? Is it perhaps their listeners feel they are not accommodated by existing commercial or BBC radio stations? The commercial radio lobby was (and is) very much opposed to the introduction of the new legal 'Community Radio' stations and has succeeded in preventing them from competing with commercial radio by having draconian funding restrictions attached to their licences. The RadioCentre pretend they have the public's welfare at heart: Don't kid yourself, it's all about greater profitability in what are for them difficult trading circumstances. This is partly due to large numbers of people now using MP3 players (Andy Cadier, ibid.) ** U S A [non]. VOA English to Africa on new 6080 between 20 and 21, clashing with Shepparton, but on top around 2045 (Chris Hambly, Victoria, July 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not sure how new this is, but not in HFCC A-06: just in the local mornings from São Tomé. 6080 is in the VOA online schedule now by language at 03-07 and 14-21, i.e. the entire span of the service (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WBCQ Schedule Update, July 3, 2006 Cut The Crap With A.J. is switching schedule slots with the EVM Jewish Radio Network. Cut The Crap will now be Tuesdays at 7 PM ET (2300 UT) and EVM Jewish Radio Network will be Tuesdays at 8 PM ET (Wednesday 0000 UT). The EVM Jewish Radio Network will take the Thursday 8 PM ET (Friday 0000 UT) slot, making available Thursday at 6 PM ET (2200 UT). Old Goat's Treat For Children has a two week trial run 5 PM Wednesdays (2100 UT) on 7415. Timtron's The Real Amateur Radio Show/Piss and Moan Net is now an hour long, Fridays at 5 PM ET (2100 UT). The Pab Subgenus Project moves to Fridays at 6 PM ET (2200 UT). The time slot Fridays at 7 PM ET (2300 UT) is now available. Dezert Owl's two shows "The Forbidden History.." (was Tuesday 5 PM) and "The Oxygen Hour" (was Friday 7 PM) have both been cancelled (Larry Will, July 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Checked WINB, 13570, July 3 at 1318 for the début of The Power Hour on this station. Discussing blood pressure, celery. Is somewhat undermodulated and somewhat distorted, also marred by CODAR swishes, which I found ranged all the way from 13430 to 13605. No doubt the paranoid GCN will conclude this is a new government conspiracy to interfere with getting their message out. At 1324 I compared it to fully modulated and very strong WWCR 7465, and found that 13570 was running two seconds behind 7465 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9840, Special WWL Relay via WHRI Cypress Creek Transmitter. Full data QSL card with notation of this special relay. Reply in 9 months time. v/s: L.W. Vehom (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, July 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. GERMANY(non) Additional transmissions via DTK T- Systems: Pan American Broadcasting (PAB) from July 2: 1930-2000 on 9430 WER 250 kW / non-dir Sun to NoAf in English (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, July 3 via DXLD) PAB has no programming of its own, but brokers. So what is this, really? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. RUSSIA(non) Frequency changes for WYFR Family Radio: 1800-1900 NF 5925 SAM 250 kW / 284 deg, ex 5810 in Polish 1800-1900 NF 7240 SAM 250 kW / 188 deg, ex 7435 in English 1900-2000 NF 7240 SAM 250 kW / 188 deg, ex 7435 in Arabic 1900-2000 NF 7340 SAM 250 kW / 284 deg, ex 7370 in German (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, July 3 via DXLD) ** U S A. WCRB MOVE NEARS COMPLETION --- It's still not completely official - and won't be until sometime after the holiday, at the earliest - but it's now abundantly clear that the WCRB calls and the classical music format will survive in eastern MASSACHUSETTS after Greater Media buys the existing WCRB (102.5 Waltham) facility from Charles River Broadcasting. Nassau acknowledged last week that it's negotiating with Greater Media to acquire the "intellectual property" - calls, format and staff - of WCRB, as well as the license to what's now country WKLB (99.5 Lowell), which will end up with the WCRB calls and classical format when country moves to 102.5. We don't yet know a price tag for either end of the deal - the 102.5 sale to Greater or the 99.5 sale to Nassau - but we can make some educated guesses. On the Greater Media side of the ledger, trading 99.5 for 102.5 moves WKLB's signal coverage over a more central part of the Boston market. While 99.5, like 102.5, is a full class B (50 kW/492' equivalent) signal, its transmitter location on Wood Hill in Andover is too far north to reach much of the south shore or even Boston proper, where the high signal levels from the FMs on the Pru (including Greater's other four signals) keep almost anything from out of town from penetrating. With an antenna on the "FM128" tower in Newton, 102.5 will give WKLB full Boston-market coverage for the first time since the calls and country format were on 105.7 almost a decade ago. For Nassau, the new WCRB on 99.5 will mesh nicely with its existing network of four "W-Bach" classical signals that stretches all the way up from the New Hampshire seacoast to down east Maine. And since those "W-Bach" signals get their programming from WCRB's World Classical Network, the Nassau purchase of WCRB will also bring the programming source in-house. (Nassau is already making noises about rolling the classical format out in some of its other markets, in fact.) It's almost a given that the move of WCRB to 99.5 will prompt complaints from loyal listeners in Boston, Brookline, the western suburbs and the south shore - all areas where the 99.5 signal is either weak or overwhelmed by stronger nearby FM transmitters. (There's a parallel to be found in Cleveland, where longtime classical voice WCLV sold its full-market class B signal on 95.5 five summers ago, trading down to a rimshot class A on 104.9 that was located on the other side of the market from most of the station's listener base.) But compared to the alternative - no WCRB at all, or one reduced to an HD-2 simulcast - it's not as bad as it could have been, and we're sure that will be the party line once the deals are complete. [102.5 logo:] http://www.fybush.com/images/2006/wcrb-sm.jpg (And of course it's always possible that some piece of this complex chess game could yet fall apart, so we're eager to see the official word of this deal before we speculate too much more.) (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch July 3 via DXLD) ** U S A. SAY WATT? CLEAR CHANNEL THROTTLES LIBERAL TALK RADIO By Rick Bird, Post staff reporter, Saturday, July 1, 2006 http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060701/LIFE/607010322/1005 The "revolution of talk radio" and "Homer: The Sports Animal" are trading places. Clear Channel Cincinnati, which owns eight stations locally, announced Friday it is swapping the dial positions of its liberal talk and sports talk stations. Effective July 7, the liberal talker, which carries Jerry Springer's 9 a.m.-noon "Springer on the Radio," will move from WCKY-AM (1530) to the significantly less powerful WSAI-AM (1360). Homer, meanwhile is moving from WSAI to the WCKY frequency. For tri-state fans of each station, the move doesn't mean much except having to perhaps reset some car radio buttons. But it is significant in that it indicates local Clear Channel officials feel the sports talk format is more marketable than the progressive talk genre and deserves the more powerful frequency. WCKY, the new Homer home, has a 50,000-watt signal that can be heard over much of the eastern seaboard and into the Deep South. It is the second most powerful radio signal out of Cincinnati behind WLW's 50,000-watt clear channel signal. WSAI is classified as a regional 5,000-watt signal that adequately covers the tri-state, but not much more. "Homer is a format and brand that over the last number of years has showed ratings success, showed revenue success," said Darryl Parks, operations managers for Clear Channel's Cincinnati AM stations. "On 1530, we felt we could increase the ratings and increase the revenue." The decision to make the frequency flip perhaps reflects the ratings fortunes of the two stations in the past year. Since launching the progressive talk format in January of 2005, WCKY has not made much of a ratings splash, barely cracking the top 20 stations out of some 30 rated in the Cincinnati market. In the latest Arbitron survey covering the first quarter of 2006, the station had just a .09 share in total audience, the lowest since the format launched. Meanwhile, Homer found its total audience double last fall to a 2.4 share and triple among 25-54-year olds, likely driven by the resurgence of the Bengals. With the Reds now seemingly on the rise, too, Clear Channel officials figured that the sports talk format showed the greater potential for growth and therefore deserved a more powerful signal. The future of the liberal talk genre, still struggling in many markets, remains in doubt. Most of the programming comes from New York-based Air America, now in more than 80 markets since launching in April of 2004. Even in major markets, its affiliates are often on the lower-powered stations. WCKY was one of the bigger signals carrying Air America shows, such as Al Franken and Randy Rhodes. Those involved here with selling Springer's show say the dial switch doesn't mean that much. "It's no big deal to Jerry. He's still just excited to be on," said Pat Barry, the former DJ, TV weather personality and talk host who is in charge of marketing "Springer on the Radio." The signal strength won't affect local sales efforts, he said. "Where can't you hear 1360? Remember when it was No. 1?" he said referring to the WSAI glory days in the '60s when it was a top-40 pioneer commanding shares that sometimes amounted to 40 percent of the local radio audience. Parks said, for now, Cincinnati Clear Channel is still committed to the liberal talk format, although he thinks it could use some tinkering. "I think in all of progressive talk - there is shrillness to it. I think there needs to be much more of a humanistic angle to it. Do I see it succeeding in the long run? Yeah." Clear Channel has slowly built its Homer sports talk brand since August of 2000 when the station landed the rights to carry Bengals games. It has a developed a strong local sports talk cast that features the morning drive "Two Angry Guys" of Richard Skinner and Tom Gamble (both former Post sports reporters), Jeff Piecoro from 9 a.m. to noon and Lance McAllister in the afternoon drive slot. "Homer was created as an anchor station built around the Bengals. It's become much more over the years with the local hosts," Parks said. "They have done a wonderful job as talk hosts and bringing breaking sports news to the station and talking topical Cincinnati sports." Putting the sports talker on a more powerful dial position also raises the issue of whether it might regionally compete and cut into ratings of Clear Channel's top-rated WLW, which also is a prominent sports talk outlet as the home for the Reds and Andy Furman's high-profile evening talk show. Parks noted Clear Channel already competes with itself in the market with conservative talker WKRC, often a direct competitor of WLW with conservative daytime talk hosts Mike McConnell and Bill Cunningham. "There is no reason for us not to take a viable product and put it on the best delivery system," Parks said about the Homer move. "A lot of people might say we are going to dig into ourselves. I look at it as growing the pie bigger." Clear Channel owns eight stations in the Cincinnati market: AM outlets WCKY, WKRC, WLW, WSAI and FM stations WEBN, WOFX, WKFS and WVMK (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) So will the calls on 1360 and 1530 also swap again? I believe I saw another post somewhere, that yes, this will happen (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. An article in the April 20 Seattle Post Intelligencer said KKOL's new 50 kW transmitter site "should be ready by June". It sounds like the inevitable has been delayed a bit longer. I assume they're still broadcasting from the ship near Alki Point (Bruce Portzer, WA, July 3, IRCA via DXLD) 1300 ** U S A. I've noticed KMPH-840 Modesto has been running Urban/Hip Hop/BLK music. No ads; just shuffle the CD player with quick KMPH Modesto IDs inserted. Signal strength has varied, so likely testing day/night facilities. There have been some silent periods (Rich Toebe, Vacaville CA, July 3, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. Noted format change at KUTR 820AM, Taylorsville, UT. Looks like Bonneville gave up on the "women's talk programming" thing and is going for just an LDS-based music format now. This was confirmed by a friend I have that works for Bonneville. KUTR runs IBOC during the day. Not sure if the audio bandwidth opens up at night or if it's still chopped at 5 kHz (Michael n Wyo Richard, July 3, ABDX via DXLD) Was big ballyhoo over all-women format (gh, DXLD) Programming change today at KUTR-820, now "Soft Sounds." See all at http://www.utaham820.com (Art Blair, Folsom, CA, July 3, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. LPFM GAINS IN SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE Low power FM (LPFM) proponents gained a victory on Capitol Hill as lawmakers debated amendments to the Telecom Act. Members of the Senate Commerce Committee have passed by 14-7 an amendment to drop third- channel protections of full-power FMs in order to squeeze more low- power stations into markets. Full-power non-comms that carry radio reading subcarriers would be exempt and would receive third-adjacent channel protections, as would the entire state of New Jersey (are the laws of physics any different there?), under the Commerce Committee's plan. Radio World has more: http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=9274 (CGC Communicator July 3, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. SHORTWAVE TO BE REPLACED BY FM TRANSMITTERS More rural Zambians can watch TV program: report http://english.people.com.cn/200607/03/eng20060703_279547.html The Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) has set aside over 10 gigakwacha (about 2.94 million U.S. dollars) to implement phase two rural TV project, Times of Zambia reported Monday. ZNBC public relations manager Mirriam Tonga was quoted as saying that money is available and all the tender procedure has been completed. "The installation of new transmission equipment is set but we are being delayed because suppliers are not delivering on time," she said. She said that phase one of the rural TV product covering 26 districts was completed a few months ago at the cost of 4.2 billion kwacha (about 1.24 million dollars). Phase two will cover 17 districts less than phase one. It will cost more than double the amount of money spent on phase one as it involves the installation of new transmitters, down link decoders and transmitter shelters among others, she said. After the completion of the rural TV project, the ZNBC will replace radio transmitters in most parts of the country which receive the signals using the short wave band. The state-run ZNBC is replacing short-wave band with FM band transmitters, she said. Source: Xinhua (People`s Daily Online via Kim Elliott, DXLD) 4910, R. Zambia, 6/26/06, 0254. Bouncy Afro-pop vocals. Fair-poor (Jim Ronda, Tulsa OK, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ EAS "CIVIL EMERGENCY MESSAGE" BROADCAST BY ACCIDENT TO SANTA BARBARA AND VENTURA COUNTIES ON JUNE 27, 2006 What should have been an innocent closed circuit test of new equipment being installed at the LP-1 EAS station in Santa Barbara, CA was instead broadcast as a Civil Emergency Message (CEM) with no details provided to an alarmed public, and no End of Message (EOM) cue. The CEM was carried by almost all participating radio, television and cable TV companies in Santa Bárbara and Ventura counties, and the public flooded 911 lines with inquiries. Since there was no audio (other than the old EBS tones), presumably the public's concern was triggered by the cryptic "Civil Emergency" TV scrolls. The erroneous CEM was broadcast from the LP-1 at 2:29 PM PDST on Tuesday, June 27, 2006. Laura Hernández, Manager, Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services for Ventura County, wasted no time in getting to the bottom of the matter, and at 2:56 PM PDST issued the following e-mail to key community officials - and that action brought the 911 calls to an almost immediate halt: "A civil emergency management message was inadvertently sent out this afternoon while engineers were working at a Santa Bárbara radio station. Phones at local dispatch centers have been flooded with phone calls. Please advise your public that this was an accidental test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and there is no civil emergency in progress." For the inside story on what caused the faulty CEM message to be broadcast, visit the URLs below. The first web address takes you to various e-mails prepared by J D Strahler, Santa Bárbara LECC Chair, acting in the heat of the battle on the day of the event. The second web address links to a reflective letter by J D two days after the event occurred. According to subsequent info from J D, California should never use CEM codes for testing, and the new CapCom EDIS decoder box being tested (the device that caused the problem) should not have been interfaced to the LP-1's live EAS equipment at the time of testing (the CapCom installer goofed). This unintended test of the EAS system did identify some weaknesses with EAS distribution in the Santa Bárbara and Ventura areas, and perhaps someone will prepare a step-by-step "lessons learned" report. We can all profit from that kind of information. Similar bugs undoubtedly exist in other EAS systems, and this was a unique opportunity to flush them out. http://earthsignals.com/add_CGC/Accidental_EAS.htm http://earthsignals.com/add_CGC/Letters/EAS_Incident_JD.htm PRESIDENT BUSH ORDERS EAS OVERHAUL The day before the Sánta Barbara/Venture EAS snafu (story above), President Bush issued an Executive Order for a complete make-over for the nation's Emergency Alert System (EAS). Of course, even a total redesign will not stop occasional human errors as the above story illustrates. http://tinyurl.com/jucum (CGC Communicator July 3, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) WiFi ``RADIO`` FROM CRANE Here it is - WiFi Radio. My posting this URL does not represent an endorsement and is placed here strictly for educational purposes. http://www.ccrane.com/radios/internet-radios/acoustic-energy-wi-fi-internet-radio.aspx Anyway, I don't recall anyone talking about this radio. Has anyone had experience with this receiver? (Bill Harms, MD, July 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) $300 It seems to me that this is a more viable option than IBOC. This is a case of a technology superseding digital on AM. I did a search for radio stations and there are over 1000 listed for just the USA. I don't think they are all audible in any one location, but the idea of WiFi is intriguing (Harms, IRCA via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM RADIOS [see also CHINA; NEW ZEALAND; NORWAY; SWEDEN] Re 6-096: ``This radio is already being advertised on the http://thiecom.de site at a price of 299 Euros.`` Glenn: the original text just said thiecom.de site; I should have put www.thiecom.de site. The full link is: http://www.thiecom.de/drm40.htm (Mike Barraclough, UK, July 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DTV POWER INCREASES Until yesterday I had only seen KTAJ-DT on channel 21 from St. Joseph, Missouri one time. Now it is in full-time with 5 multicast programs. I'm not sure but I think they also moved their transmitter as I am getting them with the antenna pointed toward Kansas City and not directed to St. Joseph. They now ID as "St. Joseph-Kansas City" instead of just St. Joseph as they did before. The analog (channel 16) has always used St. Joseph-Kansas City. At the same time I began getting KSMO-DT steady on DTV channel 47. They had been hit and miss. Perhaps the two are sharing a new tower in the KC area. They are operated by KCTV (analog 5; digital 24) which uses a self-supporting tower in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. I don't think there is room on that tower (built in 1953) for additional antennas. Even KCPT (analog 19 and digital 18) which is in the old KCTV building at the base of the tower uses a tower on the east side of Kansas City (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, July 2, WTFDA via DXLD) As I understand it, yesterday was the deadline for stations to implement the DTV facilities that will be protected from interference. Stations still running reduced power will not be protected in the area not covered by the smaller facilities. (that said, if nobody bothers to file for facilities that a power increase will interfere with, then yesterday's deadline will have no effect on any given station) KTAJ had a STA to operate with 400 watts at 107 meters from their analog site. They have a CP (presumably activated yesterday) for 1000 kW/316 m from a community tower shared by a number of stations, most prominently KPXE-50.* This tower is a considerable distance southeast of their analog tower. At 400 watts, I'm very impressed that Dave ever saw KTAJ-DT on their STA facilities at all! KSMO had a STA to operate with 9 kW at 356 m from their analog site. (only other broadcast station I can find on this stick if KCKC-102.1) They have a CP, presumably implemented yesterday, to increase power to 1000kw on the same antenna/site. * other stations on this tower: K45IO KCDN-LP 43 (CP to move from a different channel and site) KPXE analog 50 and DTV 51 KUKC-LP 40 KRBZ-96.5 KYYS-99.7 KCMO-FM 94.9 backup (main is elsewhere) -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, http://www.w9wi.com ibid.) IBOC Hi Bill - Agree with you. iPods, advanced cellphones and doubtless eight new marvels arriving before typing is finished render HD yet again long obsolete and serially superseded. Peter Lynch advised clients to invest in busiest stores at the mall. They prospered. Stores well larded with iPods, XM, Sirius, lo-price hi-quality analog AM/FMs & accessories. Where's HD? No one knows of it. No one cares. Patrick doesn't see public subscribing to HD. Nor do I. Why does GangBLOC see things so differently? Do they remind you of old Anacin (?) ads with the skull X-ray? You remember. Hammer bangs anvil and springs boing endlessly inside of one's skull? Does TeamBLOC seem like a monomaniac, forever boinging "HD" in reply to all questions? We try to see matters with common sense and decency. Does TeamBLIGHT see us as having more dollars than sense? Do they really believe they'll jam us into foolishly discarding good assets in favor of high priced problematic ones? TeamBLIGHT might consider the outrage over Kelo. Homeowners at long last objected to the taking of their property by either fiat or - as HD will surely do - rendering it worthless. Even thieves know better than to tell those from whom they steal it's 'for their own good'. Why does TeamSLOP believe itself to be above the law? =Z.= (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manasota Key, FL, BT, July 1, IRCA via DXLD) Right, It's painfully obvious. People don't know why we're even debating HD. It's forever obsolete and serially superseded by far superior devices, more of which arrive each day. So why the lies and coercion from TeamBOC? They're 90s retro-turkey is DOA. All it does is jam. It does nothing that fifty new improved systems do better. Or do they just want to completely usurp the public's airwaves? These gluttons will inevitably outsmart themselves. =Z.= (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manasota Key, FL BT, ibid.) TeamBLIGHT insiders refer to the proprietary code as Stroobleberry Jam. What's it taste like? Vainglorious avarice in search of a physic. "Paul V. Zecchino has been appointed Professor of Stereotactic Journalism at Gambier Village's presitigious Francois X. 'Papa Doc' Duvalier College of Medicine." - http://www.etherzone.com byline =Z.= (Paul Vincent Zecchino Manasota Key, FL BT, ibid.) In the early fifties television was supposed to be the death of AM radio but it came back better than ever. In the seventies people started listening to FM in droves and there wasn't going to be anyone left to listen to AM radio. AM radio adapted and even to this day many AM stations give FM stations a tussle for ratings. Wouldn't it be ironic if AM radio finally kills itself? (Tom Dimeo, ibid.) I think a little bit of enthusiastic IBOC talk fosters solidarity among those effected by the QRM and those, not yet familiar with this alarming new trend. You know what they say about the Universe and a vacuum. My long view is simple. The IBOC cheerleaders will make a small fortune on pushing this product. The concept will not catch on with end consumers. Why? All those reasons have been discussed already (and I am limiting myself to how much I stir this up). Finally, the North American AM marketplace may well wither and die - and although we may be bereft of this loss, the ultimate reward will be for those who still cherish the long haul AM reception from across the ocean or across the continents. TV did not kill radio. Video did NOT kill the radio star. And IBOC will not kill DXers. We are too strong. Editor/Creator - http://www.dxer.ca - The DX Podcast West Coast edition (Colin Newell, Editor/Creator, http://www.coffeecrew.com Victoria - B.C. Canada, ibid.) DX Podcast has been dormant for 3 months now (gh, DXLD) Colin - Right. The Mandarins of the era solemnly pronounced radio to be dead - at the hands of silent films. Then it was Talkies - Talkies were supposed to kill radio - for good, this time. Along came TV. Radio surely was moribund now. =Z.= (pvz mk fl bt, ibid.) I didn't realize that WFAN/WABC/WCBS went IBOC until I seen Scott's report. Was wondering why WCBS sounded like crap on the car radio. WABC kept their IBOC going full blast last night all night apparently. And noted WINS running promos that they are HD but must be a new version as I haven't noticed any HD sidebands so far. I could just imagine what the dial sounds like in the Jersey Meadowlands/Manhattan with six 50 kilowatters running IBOC (Joe Fela, July 3, WTFDA via DXLD) Remember me begging you to comment on 99-325 when the time was open. Not many would listen nor comment. Now due to the lack of outcry, we get to see those who did not comment whine about what is happening. I told you so (Kevin Redding, AZ, IRCA via DXLD) Kevin - Why fall into the 'all is lost' trap? No one invited me to write re 99-325 prior to year or so ago. Invited, I wrote. Remember, initial comment period expired several years ago after which no comments counted as evidence. Convenient. Shouldn't that at least arouse our curiosity if not ire? Isn't it customary to gather evidence through the trial? Suppose Bin Laden were captured, tried, and the sole evidence introduced was a '58 Buick? Suppose prosecutors excused their perfidy by claiming the period for introducing evidence expired in 1973. Would Bin Laden skate? Probably. Would all be outraged? Hopefully. Isn't this identical? Engineers formerly too scared to speak now do so. They admit iBLOC's allegedly objective 'lab tests' are self- serving and false. Shouldn't this encourage us? Do I write bilious trash merely to upset others? Of course. Do I also write in hope others will reflect upon their upset and direct it towards those who will stop this? Yes. This is not a done deal. Why do you think TeamBLOC is so cagey about telling the public? If they knew they'd got away with this, they'd tell everyone - and laugh. Instead, they deny, lie, dissemble and do anything but tell the truth. They are far more vulnerable than anyone believes. Kevin, give yourself and others credit. You foresaw the debacle - and acted. Until recently, many were unaware. TeamBLOC hopes the majority remains so. Could we kindly advise citizens of their impending loss? Let's. Can you think one worthy product kept secret from citizens - until their alternatives were larcenously jammed from beneath them? Virtually everyone with whom I've spoken - not a DX'er among them - is upset to learn of this. They're not shy about writing congress, city councils, disaster planners, anyone. Natural disasters are on the public's mind. Will iBLOC jam emergency info? Tell everyone. TeamBLOC is a small gaggle of cheap lice holed up at the tip of the dog's tail. They live in perpetual fear of getting bit. Bite back. Our influence counts. Let's use it. =Z.= (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manasota Key, FL, ibid.) HD SURROUND SOUND?? While enjoying commercial free oldies on XM the other night, a brief technology update item by "Lazlo"(?) spoke about Surround Sound now on some FM and AM IBOC stations -- or HD as he called it. What is this all about? Or has he just convoluted his concepts? He said surround sound more than once. I have to wonder if someone is now using the term "surround sound" to mean something altogether different than what it really does. Maybe with proper Dolby processing equipment the received hiss can be isolated on back channels and sold as surround. A new slogan for IBOC: "Soothing white noise to augment your listening experience." Anyone know what this latest IBOCism is about? (W. Curt Deegan, Boca Ratón, (southeast) Florida http://ScooterHound.com/WWWR/radio/sefliboc.html July 3, IRCA via DXLD) LISTEN UP: HD RADIO STRUGGLING TO BE HEARD By Heather V. Eng Monday, July 3, 2006 - Updated: 11:51 AM EST http://theedge.bostonherald.com/musicNews/view.bg?articleid=146655 Video never killed the radio star. The medium is still alive, and it¹s getting a technological overhaul that will help it compete and survive in the digital age. High-definition radio, better known as ``HD radio,`` is taking over the airwaves. With stations - including 21 in Boston - switching over to the digital format, FM stations can deliver CD-quality sound and AM stations sound like FM. The technology also allows stations to ``multicast`` and offer free side channels - called HD2 channels - with additional, commercial-free programming. Boston`s WJMN-FM (Jam`n 94.5), for example, plays ``blazin`` hip-hop and r & b, while its HD side channel offers old-school hip-hop by such artists as A Tribe Called Quest and Run-DMC. Unlike subscription satellite radio, such as XM and Sirius, HD radio is free. Sounds like a good deal. So why aren¹t more people listening? There`s no data yet that tracks HD radio listeners. But industry professionals admit HD2 channels could stand to gain a few listeners. ``We`ll take anyone who likes it,`` said Cadillac Jack, program director for Jam`n 94.5, WXKS-FM (Kiss 108) and their respective HD2 channels. HD radio faces several obstacles, according to Pat Walsh, senior vice president of iBiquity Digital Corporation, the chief developers of HD technology. First on the HD radio agenda: letting people know it exists. ``In this age of so many different digital devices, it`s breaking through all this digital clutter and getting out awareness of HD radio`s existence,`` Walsh said. The HD Radio Alliance, a consortium of radio broadcasters, has launched a $200 million advertising campaign. The second hurdle is getting people to buy an HD radio receiver - your everyday clock or car radio isn`t able to pick up the improved reception or side channels. HD radios, manufactured by such companies as Boston Acoustics and Yamaha, have price tags in the $300 range. And the only cars that come equipped with HD radios are high-end BMWs. Not surprisingly, the cost has stunted HD radio`s growth. A recent Arbitron/Edison Media Research study found that more than one-third of Americans are interested in HD radio, but nearly half said they would only purchase an HD radio if it cost $100 or less. The price is expected to fall into that range beginning this winter, when the radios become available in more retail stores. Said Walsh, ``2007 is a tipping point year for HD radio.`` (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) USEFUL BROADCAST DATA Brian Beezley, an extraordinarily talented developer of antenna patterning software, has assembled a page of useful data for broadcast engineers. On it are detailed theoretical patterns for various types of receiving antennas, and papers on useful circuits, instrumentation and software. There is even a small collection of HD Radio papers including one entitled, "HD Radio self-noise...." where the presence of HD sidebands is shown to deteriorate the signal-to-noise ratio on analog FM receivers. http://users.tns.net/~bb (CGC Communicator July 3, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ NAB 2006 I was fortunate to visit NAB 2006 in Las Vegas in April along with another 105,045 registered participants. This is an annual zoo of technicians and sales folk who populate most of the humongous LV Convention Centre. I haven’t been for a while and it struck me that the whole focus of the show was shifting rapidly. The buzz was clearly in the two multimedia halls, built on top of each other. The lean and mean companies were smiling, dishing out cool (and useful) stuff to passers by. The larger companies were visibly doing less well – it is much harder to get an overview of what they are up to because few people on the stand have an overview. They also radiate the words ``expensive`` and ``hype`` – especially when they have commissioned artistic ads with misty-eyed models jumping around in Kansas corn fields to symbolize how producers using their stuff will be liberated from routine. Since most editors and producers in TV work in permanent darkness in sound-proofed worlds often void of any daylight, the reality gap between the commercial and reality was made even worse. In short, I think the days of the 1000+ media equipment company may be drawing to a close. They are simply too big to adapt to the trends. Their traditional customer (Heads of Engineering and/ Operations) are going away, to be replaced by CFO’s, CIO’s and occasionally an editor in chief with a grasp of things like workflow. The traditional radio and TV halls at NAB were noticeably quieter – neither were radiating the feeling of ``innovation``, it was more a case of replacing what had to be replaced. I thought the HD-Radio camp was clever to put a HD-Radio in the press room with an invitation to ``Twiddle the knobs``. The HD FM sounded great – the HD AM, however, had some strange artifacts on the talk station, KXNT 840 kHz, I was listening to. It sounded tinny. The news of HD Radio is only just getting out to the retail trade - I checked with Frys, an electronics chain on the US West Coast on the way back to the airport. The salespeople there hadn’t heard of HD radio – only Sirius satellite radio. And that’s the key to any new technology – getting the salespeople in stores to sell your concept. Without retail support, your idea will never be mass-market. . . http://www.xs4all.nl/~jmarks/Critical%20Distance%20Newsletter8.pdf (Jonathan Marks, Critical Distance Gossip E-zine, July via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ Re: AM STATION PATTERNS ON USA MAP I have an older version - a few months ago - will the new version simply install over the old one? (Russ Edmunds, NRC-AM via DXLD) Yes, and while you are at it, download/install 208. Now (after a chat with Barry) it shows distance not only as "rings" but also you can see bearing and distance; new button is GetDistance. The feedback is from your home location to latitude and longitude you enter, or to a city, or to a "K" call or to a "W" call. For those who might have missed the link: http://tonnesoftware.com/bcmap.html (Jim Tonne, ibid.) Everyone: Looking carefully at the FCC database I see in the area where the licensing category is displayed four different descriptions. One is Application, a second is Construction Permit, a third is Licensed, a fourth is Planned. And for other than the USA I always see a blank. Any suggestions as to how to handle "other than licensed"? A blank there for a Canadian station would mean Licensed. Should I look for Application, Construction Permit, Planned and "blank" and consider such a blank as Licensed? (I think the answer is yes.) - (Jim Tonne, NRC-AM via DXLD) Mike and all: ``Is there a way to turn off display of CPs?`` BCmap 209 now has a new button: "Licensed" By default the program shows everything in terms of Licensed, Applied-for, Construction Permits and Planned (whatever that is). This was cluttering the display. Now you can click on "Licensed" and only licensed (i.e., current) patterns will be shown. This is a toggling item and it is interesting to see the applied-for and CP patterns turn on and off while viewing the map showing a given channel. Unfortunately all stations outside the USA are considered licensed so Canadian, Mexican and Cuban stations all show all of their patterns all the time. Things fell into place much more quickly than I had originally thought. This is because that 217 MB of already-downloaded HTML simply had to be reprocessed by a newly-modified "reader" program, this time extracting the licensing info. Have fun! Feedback, corrections, problem reports welcome. In case anyone missed the link: http://tonnesoftware.com/bcmap.html The download files have the revision number in their name. Be sure to use a Save option so that if a problem is encountered you can go back to an earlier version (Jim Tonne, ibid.) Re: DXLATEST NOT THE LATEST Regarding users not seeing the current file [of DXLD at http://www.w4uvh.net/dxlatest.txt ---] ... I see that the inquiry came from an AOL user. One of AOL's many bugs is that sometimes even refreshing the page in the browser fails to bring up the current page. When that happens, the user has to clear the browser cache, using instructions provided by AOL. (I think they are found under "Services" and "Internet" but I did away with my AOL subscription long ago and don't have a way to verify that.) If I had to guess, I'd say that the others who reported the problem were also AOL users. If not, I'm way off base and don't have a clue as to why only certain users would have this problem (Dave White, W4UVH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ METEOR TRAILS CAPTURED ON WEATHER RADAR? While looking at a weather radar scan tonight, I saw what looked to be some meteor scatter trails. There are four that I can see, two at the northern Maine and Canadian border, and two more distinct ones crossing from upstate NY into Canada. There's more over Virginia and North Carolina as well, all from the same general SE direction. I captured the .gif file and posted it on one of my web sites: http://emlis.pair.com/emond/Graphics/northeast_loop.gif It would be interesting if someone caught some Ms DX at that time that could have been off those trails. See what you think. I don't ever recall seeing that before (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, July 2, WTFDA via DXLD) After more close looking, there's a series that goes through SE New England as well. I would have suspected a glitch, had it been only one. These go from Maine to North Carolina across many radar sites. I do know when the Space Shuttle disintegrated it did show up as a similar radar trail. I have seen glitches, but they seem to show as radial streaks from the radar site itself. The site on Long Island has these frequently. The radar may well catch a meteor, as the height would allow a greater echo distance. Whatever it is, it's certainly interesting. Maybe Bill Hepburn has some thoughts? Out of further curiosity, I checked the other zonal radars. These same type trails were across the whole eastern half of the US, past the Mississippi River. They seemed to progress as if a cloud of meteors was striking in a path from east to west. I captured the .gif files, if anyone is interested. Yes, there's a whole slew of them, and further west. Here's a link to the site, and there are links to others including a whole-US picture. http://radar.weather.gov/ridge/Conus/northeast_loop.php I just spent some time looking at the whole-US picture. There's an obvious east to west progression of this. So, the western US may be in for some Ms activity shortly, if there are more up there. The whole-US link: http://radar.weather.gov/ridge/Conus/full_loop.php It's large, so don't click without a broadband connection (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) FYI. I pulled out my old Radar Systems Textbook, and it addresses Radar Detection of the Sun, Meteors, Planets, Moon, Auroras, and of course the Ionosphere and Space Vehicles/Earth Satellites. Much engineering development went into the radar and its signal processors to get a handle on "anomalous propagation" (tropo to us DXers), which distorted the radars` detection parameters. So these weather radars can see a lot of clutter which you may see on the weather maps (Fred Nordquist, Moncks Corner, SC, ibid.) If you look at these, notice how all of them are running parallel to one another! In fact they all seem to be emanating at an angle of about 300 degrees from... the radar sites themselves. I'll leave it to Mr. Hepburn, who is more well versed than I in operational issues (never took radar meteorology in school) with NEXRAD for a better explanation, but they're definitely not meteors. My theory: these seem to move east to west (see the national radar quickly before it gets too late) at: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ridge/Conus/full_loop.php I think, since they're all running identical, is that this is some kind of spurious 'reception' when the radar beam is pointed exactly at the setting sun... when the angle of the radar is something like 0.5 degrees and 'sees' the sun at that same level on the horizon (assuming clear air between radar and solar disc). So what you're seeing is not meteors, but the setting sun! (Matt Sittel, NE, ibid.) I hate to burst anyone's bubble :) but those are commonly seen. Without going into too much detail as the sun reaches a certain point on the horizon those radar "glitches" show as an overload of energy coming back to the radar site. If you happen to see that other times though, there are other explanations. Many times trop ducts will show as streaks of "clutter" in clear air mode. Most times I've found that they even help show where an opening is going. Finally, if they're seen near the Canadian border (Or in the SW US) chances are it`s Chaff. Here's an example Sunset streaks off NOAA's photo library: http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/noaa_products/noaa0189.htm No meteors ;-) (Michael Temme-Soifer, Egg Harbor City, NJ, Yamaha T-80, ibid.) Michael wins the prize as the first one to figure it out --- this was the setting sun. You can spot this almost every day. (Prize is a free week of NJ-CA tropo DX on UHF Channel 83). This site has a bit more of an explanation of Michael's photo link: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/coolimg/radssets.htm Chaff (thin bits of aluminum or tin) is a different radar echo sent out by some military sites. It is an anti-radar measure. It looks like a skinny swiggly rope that moves between radar images. On the echo top height image, you will see it initially at a high height --- and then it slowly drops to lower heights as the chaff descends. Meteorologists can tell it is chaff because the look of the echo top images does not look right. Normally showers and thunderstorms have concentric rings from weak to stronger colours showing light to heavy rain - chaff usually has no weak rings - just the strong ones because the whole thing is a good reflector. Oscoda, MI used to be a prolific source until it shut down. I beleive Sawyer (Marquette) is still a source of chaff, and possibly Trenton, ON as well. "AP" clutter (random colours somewhat following topography) is common during low-level tropo. This is above & beyond the normal "Ground clutter" (buildings, mountains, etc). The echo tops are also full of random colours and vivid - giving meteorologists a clue that the echoes are fake. However --- I have seen the odd thunderstorm develop in the early morning hours and meander through AP - those are tough to catch! With AP, the radar beams are bent downwards until they hit the ground. Unfortunately, AP doesn't always appear during super long distance ducts - at least in Ontario - it just seems to co-incide with semi-local (100-200 mile) signal strength. Depends on the exact radar location and especially elevation. Some coastal radar sites may be useful for detecting elevated ocean ducts but I have no experience in that regard. I'm sure that somewhere there is a good radar site for this. A few times in my career I have seen elevated ducts on radar - usually along a front. These showed up as a long echo in a cloudless sky and had similar characteristics as chaff (with echo height indicating the height of the inversion), except these were stationary and the echoes were more smoothed. Because these are rare and hard to distinguish from regular echoes, they are not much use for DXers, including myself (Bill Hepburn, ON, ibid.) And, I'm sorry for bringing this up. I'd never noticed it before. The use of the weather radar for DX purposes has been a question mark for quite a while to me. I guess this ends that. Ah well. On to something more productive. Lessee.. Partly cloudy, mid-80's (F) and a day off. Beach, perhaps (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) Don`t be sorry! I for one learned something interesting (gh, DXLD) ###