DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-099, July 7, 2006 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2006 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1321: Sat 0500 WRMI 9955 Sat 0800 WRN 13865 DRM via Bulgaria Sat 1230 WRMI 9955 Sat 1430 WRMI 7385 Sat 1600 WWCR3 12160 Sat 1732 WRMI 9955 [from WRN] Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 [start varies 0225-0235] Sun 0530 WRMI 9955 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 2230 WRMI 9955 Mon 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 Mon 0500 WRMI 9955 Wed 0930 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 CONTINENT OF MEDIA 06-06 available from July 7: (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0605.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0606.rm ** ALASKA [non]. KNLS via Khabarovsk, 11970 kHz. Usual 'Top Of The World' card and brief letter from v/s Paul Ladd at Anchor Point, for this August 1993 reception! Last follow-up report was sent back in January 2002 to WCBC HQ in Franklin TN. So, the veri only took a month short of 13 years to finally arrive. Never give up!! (David Martin-USA [sic], DXplorer July 4 via BCDX July 7 via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. I got an email from my friend Drita Cico, the head of shortwave broadcasting and technical director with Radio Tirana in Albania (I get it on 6115 and 7445 in my part of North America, FYI) and she bemoans the lack of reception reports. So if you can get Radio Tirana, give it a go and send her a report, to dcico @ abcom-al.com She`d appreciate it – here`s what she sent me. ``I can number with fingers all reception reports that I have received from USA as below, since as Head of Radio Tirana Monitoring Center I could finally start International Cooperation on HF band in April 1995!!! The same, even worse, I can say for the British DX listeners!!! ``Though my female smelling tells that there are so many HF listeners of Radio Tirana there and elsewhere. The German listeners are much more active and regular! Any comment on that...?`` Offer your thoughts and send `em to me or better yet to Drita. The broadcasts aren`t long but they can be interesting and play some good Albanian music (Sue Hickey, Grand Falls-Windsor, NF A2A 1K2, CIDX Forum, July Messenger via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. ARTV-VOA / Fllaka story: I asked today at mid-day our Technical Director Arben Mehilli, if the requested cancellations of Fllaka services for VOA effective 01 July 2006 are postponed. Nothing was postponed, but Fllaka radiostation continues up today to broadcast for VOA according to A06 Schedule as before 1 July 2006. Then Mr Mehilli called up to the head of Fllaka and gave the orders to delete from today in the evening the following services for VOA: Durres/DUR 0430-0500 UTC 1458 KHz 500 kW Croatian Durres/DUR 0500-0530 UTC 1215 KHz 500 kW Albanian Durres/DUR 1830-1900 UTC 1458 KHz 500 kW Albanian and to continue the transmission of VOA: Durres/DUR 0530-0545 UTC 1458 KHz 500 kW Serbian (Drita Cico, ARTV- Head of Monitoring Center, RADIO TIRANA, July 7, BCDX via DXLD) ** AZERBAIJAN. Radio Voice of Azerbaijan has not closed down as reported and continues to broadcast. It was received in Sofia on June 29 between 17 and 18 hours with a program in English and Russian on 6110 kHz. The QSL address is: Voice of Azerbaijan, English Service, Medhi Huseyin 1, 370011 Baku, Azerbaijan (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX July 7 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) Who said it closed? Closer to 6111; also reported recently on 2nd harmonic and previously on third (gh, DXLD) ** BELIZE. FM Es Belize to SC --- Many local Belize ads in English on 98.5 at 1122 EDT [1522 UT July 7], either Orange Walk (1172 mi) or Independence (Love FM most likely?)(1268 mi) mixing with unID Spanish (Fred Nordquist, Moncks Corner, SC 33.21756N 79.95798W, WTFDA via DXLD) See also HONDURAS ** BOLIVIA. An unknown station from Bolivia was received in Sofia on July 4 between 0030 and 0130 hours on 4680 kHz with a program in Spanish. Three other adjacent stations from Bolivia, often changing their frequencies, have been reported recently: Radio Santa Ana on 4680 [sic], Radio Paitití on 4685 kHz and Radio Yura on 4715 kHz (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX July 7 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) 5-169 last September had R. Virgen de Remedios varying to 4679+ (gh) ** BOLIVIA. 5952.5, Radio Pio XII, Siglo XX, 2217-2240, canciones bolivianas, música de flauta, locutor, quechua y español, identificación: Transmitimos para toda la comunidad, Radio Pio XII, 6 de la tarde con 25 minutos", anuncios comerciales. 24322. También 2228-2255, 05-07, locutor y locutora, quechua y español, programa dedicado al municipio de San Pedro de Buenavista, música andina, anuncios: "Complejo Nacional de Educación, es un mensaje de la municipalidad de Llallagua", identificación con canción: "Pio XII, Pio XII". Buena señal. 34333. (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Escuchas realizadas en Camping de Reinante, costa del Mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N de Lugo. Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. TAIWAN/CHINA SOH & CNR-1 unofficial frequency is added on June 13. June 29 14260 & 17350 / 18180 / 17310 30 14260 & 18160 / 17310 July 1 14260 / 14230 (0605 UT-) & 17330 2 14310 & 18200 / 17330 / 18160 3 18180 & 17350 / 17310 (S. Aoki, Japan, ndxc-hq via S. Hasegawa, July 3, wwdxc BC-DX July 7 via DXLD) 7310, Sound of Hope? 1258-1400* Jul 6. Assorted Chinese talks by man & woman; occasional music. Jammed by the traditional music jammer, which was dominant at first, but later, the other station took over; transmitter left air at exactly 1400. No clues as to ID; Xinjiang is listed here too (John Wilkins, CO-USA, DXplorer July 6 via BCDX July 7 via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. WIA July 7: Intruder Watch-New HF Broadcast Intruder [follow-up] INTRUDER WATCH - ENFORCEMENT ZONE --- New HF Broadcast Intruder A new intrusion has been detected in the 20 and 17 metre bands and Felix VK4FUQ brought us those details last week here on VK1WIA. [See DXLD 6-095.] Identified as Radio China, intrusions are characterised by strong AM signals, either carrier or program in Chinese dialects on or around 14180 and 18160 kHz and can be heard the world over. But remember 17 meters is NOT exclusive to our hobby. WIA National Intruder Watch Co-ordinator Glenn VK4DU has been liaising with other national radio society interference monitoring services to build up an operational profile of the broadcast intruder, and joins us now with a further reminder. ``We reported that Radio China International was using our 18 MHz band for international broadcasts. It seems that they have decided to open up a service on 14 MHz well. Radio China International has been observed around 14200 kHz. The signals last for many hours and are very strong into Australia and Europe. The German and UK radio authorities have lodged formal complaints with the Chinese authorities and the ITU. However, the more reports we get, the more ammunition we have to shift this intruder. Thanks to those of you who have sent in reports, if you haven`t sent a report, please do.`` In further news on these intruders, Paul VR2BBC, a member of the IARU World Wide Intruder Watch Network, notes it would appear transmitters operating from within the Peoples Republic of China are deliberately retransmitting program material from Radio China Commercial on amateur bands with the intention of jamming another non-amateur ``pirate broadcasting`` transmissions on the same frequencies. Regional Amateur Radio Societies do not know if these jamming transmissions are carried out by Radio China Commercial or by another organization using their audio feed, or re-transmitting Radio China Commercial. They also do not know if the National Radiocommunications authority in the Peoples Republic of China allows this or not. Paul VR2BBC also appeals to Amateur Radio operators in the regions affected by the intruding signals to co-ordinate with their National Intruder Watch Co-ordinators and IARU members to provide further information that will lead to locating the transmitters intruding onto the Amateur Radio bands. In Australia, you should send your information, including times in UTC, signal strengths, programme content description and if possible a bearing on to the WIA National Intruder Watch Co-ordinator Glenn Dunstan VK4DU on email vk4du @ wia.org.au (Wireless Institute of Australia National News July 9 posted July 7 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) Unfortunately, the WIA have a distorted view of what is going on, and apparently the IARU as well, because they are not well-informed SWLs. First of all, there is no such station named ``Radio China International`` or ``Radio China Commercial``. The transmissions in question are not deliberate international broadcasts, but the domestic service China National Radio program 1. And they are being used to jam clandestine broadcasts, presumably Sound of Hope. This is exactly the same thing China does against countless other broadcasts from abroad it wants to block, including BBC, VOA, Radio Free Asia, and even All India Radio, on many other frequencies which do not happen to be in the ham bands. It is SOH which chooses to operate on the ham bands, thus forcing the Chicom to jam them in the ham bands. SOH is not a pirate, but a clandestine. (SOH is probably aware of the international condemnation this will bring down upon China, but nevertheless, SOH bears the majority responsibility for this situation.) Damage to the ham bands, and to any listeners outside China is purely a by-product of this situation. Of course the Chinese authorities allow this: they are doing it. The latest from the ARRL, however, is more accurate (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) "INTRUDERS" SPOTTED IN SEVERAL AMATEUR RADIO HF BANDS (quotes DXLD!) http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/07/05/102/?nc=1 NEWINGTON, CT, July 5, 2006 -- An apparent "intruder" signal spotted on 20 and 17 meters -- possibly originating from a Chinese HF broadcast station -- has sparked a slew of reports and complaints from around the globe. In addition, those who volunteer to monitor the bands for out-of-place signals cite reports of so-called Russian "single-letter beacon" stations on 40 meters. As the League's liaison with the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 2 Monitoring System (IARUMS) http://www.iaru.org/iarums/ -- also known as "Intruder Watch" -- ARRL Field and Regulatory Correspondent Chuck Skolaut, K0BOG, is often the first to hear about strange signals that suddenly pop up on the bands. "It was still on 18160 as of July 2," Skolaut said, citing radio amateurs' reports of a "Chinese broadcaster" on 17 meters. "I haven't received any more recent 20 meter reports since June 30, when it was heard on 14260." The signal has been heard on one band or the other in the US from the Northeast to Hawaii, as well as in Toronto, Canada, Sri Lanka, the UK, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong and India. IARU Region 2 Monitoring System Coordinator Bill Zellers, WA4FKI, says Intruder Watch is a lot like the neighborhood watch programs many communities set up with local law enforcement. "The concerned members of the Amateur Radio community organize and form their own neighborhood watch program called Intruder Watch." Zellers stresses that monitors are not "frequency police." They can only report what they hear. Regarding the apparent Chinese intruder, monitors in Connecticut and Pennsylvania reported a strong signal from the apparent AM broadcaster on 18160 on July 2 at 1100 UTC and 1300 to 1400 UT. The 20-meter signal has been heard on 14180 as well. Several listeners say their bearings put the source of the signal in central or southern China. Chris Cummings, G4BOH, says he's been able to match the audio to transmissions appearing on 15495, 11665 and 12025. He filed a report with Ofcom, the UK's telecoms regulatory agency. Jammers? Reports filed with DX Listening Digest suggested that the 14180 and 18160 broadcasts are intended to jam the clandestine "Sound of Hope" transmission from Taiwan. July 2 DX Listening Digest reports put the Chinese-language broadcasts appearing on 14310 -- QRMing the Medical Amateur Radio Council (MARCO) net on 14308 -- as well as on 18160. Short wave listeners (SWLs) say the AM carrier occasionally drops at the top of the hour for a monitoring check, only to reappear five minutes later. Skolaut has shared reports and updates with the FCC, although as he and Zellers point out, the Commission has no authority to make intruder stations outside the US stop transmitting on Amateur Radio frequencies. Such situations typically are dealt with through diplomatic channels. Allocation Complications One thing that complicates intruder watching on HF is that Amateur Radio allocations vary from one ITU region to another and even within regions. Intruder Watchers can only concern themselves with exclusive allocations. Some domestic Amateur Radio HF allocations, such as 7.1 to 7.3 MHz outside Region 2, are shared with other services or unavailable to hams, while only 7.0 to 7.1 MHz currently is allocated exclusively to the Amateur Radio Service worldwide. On other ham radio HF allocations, such as the 30-meter band, Amateur Radio is secondary to other users. The 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10-meter bands are allocated exclusively to the Amateur Radio Service worldwide. Russian Beacon Stations For several years now, monitors around the world have reported the presence of "single-letter markers" or "single-letter beacons" apparently emanating from Russia. The so-called "C" beacon has again been reported active on 7039. Those familiar with the beacons -- believed to be Russian Navy channel markers -- say there has been a "beacon cluster" on and around 7039 kHz in the past. These stations identify with a single letter in conventional Morse code. A station in Oregon recently reported hearing the "M" beacon on or about 7039. That transmission reportedly comes from Asiatic Russia. Invitation to Join Zellers invites other radio amateurs or SWLs in IARU Region 2 (the Americas and some eastern Pacific Islands) to become part of the Intruder Watch program. He explains that IARUMS volunteers listen on the bands for intruders. IARU monitors have no legal authority but act only as band monitors, he points out. Zellers recently noted that Over the Horizon Radar (OTHR) stations operating within Amateur Radio HF bands between 3 and 30 MHz sometimes make it difficult to work DX from some parts of the US. Monitors in other parts of the world have logged "drift net buoys" on 160 meters, international broadcasters on 80 and 40 meters, fishing trawlers and pirates, paramilitary stations from India on 17 meters as well as something called "the Havana Gurgle" -- the third harmonic of a broadcast on 6030. In 2001, transmissions from a Coastal Ocean Dynamics Applications Radar (CODAR) -- an ocean current-mapping technology used in meteorological and commercial applications -- caused QRM on 12 meters. The CODAR site, in Honduras, was notified, and the problem ceased. "To survive, the Amateur Radio community needs clean frequencies that are free of intruders," Zellers says. "Take a few minutes to join the Intruder Watch program and help us take care of our Amateur Radio neighborhood." Contact Zellers wa4fki @ nc.rr.com for more information (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) A sweep of the 20m band around 1300 UT July 7 did not turn up any CNR jamming; nor the day before (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Curious that it would broadcast on a frequency where shortwave listeners would not typically listen for broadcast stations. And the frequency may be outside the broadcast bands tunable by many Chinese- built shortwave radios. It might be a spurious signal from a defective transmitter. Posted: 06 Jul 2006 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Very unlikely; like I said, for one thing, frequencies always end in 0.0, surely deliberate; and see first item above (gh, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5910, Marfil Estereo, Puerto Lleras, 0630-0705, 03-07, bonitas canciones colombianas y rancheras mexicanas, identificación por locutor: "Desde Puerto Lleras, departamento del Meta, transmite Marfil Estereo". "Marfil Estereo, ondas de paz." La mejor hora para escuchar esta emisora en Europa es a partir de las 0630, que cierra la Deutsche Welle en la misma frecuencia; antes está bastante interferida por la emisora internacional alemana. 34333 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Escuchas realizadas en Camping de Reinante, costa del Mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N de Lugo. Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR [and non]. Reporters without Borders said it was "profoundly disappointed" by the decision of Congolese authorities to order RFI correspondent Ghislaine Dupont out of the country, the French Associated Press reported July 4. Dupont, who has covered the Democratic Republic of the Congo for many years, was put on a plane for Brussels after police notified her of expulsion. She was the target several months ago of a letter from the country's Minister of Press and Information that "compared RFI to the Radiotelevision libre des mille collines (RTLM)," the Rwandan radio station that promoted genocide. (Mike Cooper, GA, July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST). ** CUBA. CUBAVISION --- There is a 24-hour satellite feed of Cubavisión, which parallels the domestic part of the schedule some of the time. It is available on PanAmSat 9, C-band digital (meaning you need a 10-foot dish and an MPEG receiver to get it). Schedule can be found at: http://www.cubavision.cubaweb.cu/satelite.asp?Texto=3 Cubavisión is readily available on domestic "little dish" satellite services in Europe and on Caribbean cable systems. I'm unaware of any availability in the U.S. (other than aforementioned satellite). Cuban radio services are piggybacked with Cubavisión on satellites elsewhere, but not on PAS-9, which is the only sat feed that can be picked up in U.S. Yes, they have scratchy old cartoons, but nothing beats watching Fidel pull an all-nighter with the military-weather guy when a hurricane hits the island. (Makes you wonder what happens if the forecaster makes a bad prediction...) (Mike Cooper, GA, Jul 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Google Earth coordinates: RHC Bauta - Now I looked to the map again and I see some masts 3.66 kilometers south of Bauta. Exact location is Latitude: 22N57 00, Longitude: 82W32 45. RHC Quivicán is another - new - 250 kW site south of Habana. Exact location is Latitude: 22N49 33, Longitude: 82W17 33. I guess Quivicán is the main site of RHC; there are a lot of masts installed. 21 x SW tall masts seen, also 2 x 4 mast MW arrays, and a small two mast director/reflector for MW too (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX July 4 via DXLD) ** CYPRUS. A month and more Radio "Sawa" on 990 kHz is not heard here. From 990, 1260, 1431 and 1548 kHz, now are heard but with reduced level of the signal only 1431 (DJI) and 1548 (KWT). June 29 (Rumen Pankov-BUL, wwdxc BC-DX July 4 via DXLD) Still scheduled 24 hours 600 kW at 134 degrees (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. I just found the web page for the group which is producing the Voice of Oromia Independence. It is: http://www.awofio.com They say they should soon have something on the web page about the radio program. There is no e-mail address, but there is a contact form on the web page to send messages to them. An update. I now have an e-mail for reception reports and comments for the Voice of Oromia Independence: ganamo @ hotmail.com I hope this is some help. All the best (Jeff White, July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15650, V. of Oromia Independence via DTK Jun 24 *1500-1518 33432- 22432, English and Oromo? 1500 sign on with R. Miami International`s ID, 1500 ID of V. of Oromia Independence successively, Opening announce, Talk, QRM from V. of Delina on co-channel (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan Premium June 30 via BCDX via DXLD) Sat only ** FRANCE [and non?]. RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONALE TO BROADCAST IN HAUSA LANGUAGE | Text of press release from Radio France Internationale on 6 July The president of RFI [Radio France Internationale], Antoine Schwarz, and the managing director of Voice of Nigeria [VON], Mr Aboubakar Jijiwa, signed an agreement of cooperation this morning [6 July] in Paris which will allow RFI to broadcast new daily programmes in Hausa. The broadcast will come into effect in autumn via the different short- wave and FM transmitters which RFI has in Nigeria, Niger, Ghana, Cameroon, Sudan . . . [press release ellipsis]. [shortwave? It`s news to us that RFI has ANY SW transmitters in any of those countries; WTFK?! --- gh] This region represents an audience pool of some 100m Africans, since Hausa is the prevalent language in sub-Sahara Africa. The new Hausa editorial team will operate from Voice of Nigeria’s premises in Lagos. The team will consist of five trilingual journalists (Hausa, French, English) and two technicians, led by a coordinator assigned from RFI`s editorial office. RFI`s programmes, initially scheduled to last two hours, will focus both on African and international news as well as on news in the Hausa-speaking world, with reports from RFI’s correspondents in Niger, Cameroon, Ghana and Chad. Re-broadcast agreements with private or public radio stations, particularly in Niger, are currently being negotiated. The agreement between RFI and VON also allows for a joint project to adapt into Hausa (and later into other languages in Nigeria) a training method to learn French, which will be broadcast on the two stations. Voice of Nigeria and RFI, which have entertained excellent relations for several years, welcome this agreement which will produce programmes close to their listeners’ interests, in total synergy with RFI`s other editorial offices. With Hausa, RFI will now broadcast in 21 languages (Source: Radio France Internationale press release, Paris, in French 6 Jul 06 via BBC Monitoring) (July 6th, 2006, 14:03 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) see also CONGO DR; MONACO ** GERMANY. Re 6-098, phantom signal on 1359: This signal can be heard also in locations north-east of Brno, the Czech Republic, what is almost 300 km easterly of my location. The signal comes with fair level at peaks, but it keeps its chaotic character. Time of reception: 0400 UT (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia), July 7, MWC via DXLD) Re 6-098: Now finally I have the ominous VOR German signal on 1359, cycling about every two seconds as described by Karel Honzik. Signal strength is here (50 km north of Dresden) on a par with 603, the 20 kW from Zehlendorf. The strange cycling suggests that is this some kind of spurious radiation rather than a fundamental, and probably indeed Wilsdruff is the culprit, considering that the signal has been reported as being rather strong in the Czech Republic. But how does it arise? No idea how a mix of 1044 and 1431 can land on 1359. (1044 is a 20 kW Thomcast, 1431 a 250 kW Telefunken, both diplexed into the same antenna, a 153-metre-tall pipe mast.) Right now Burg is testing on 1575 with open carrier, probably the 500 kW transmitter since the 10 kW daytime transmitter used during the Megaradio days was basically inaudible here. A related posting at http://forum.mysnip.de/read.php?8773,425997 says that around 1030 UT they shortly put unID modulation on air. 1575 is licenced to Oldiestar, a small FM station from Berlin, otherwise on air via a Zehlendorf (the LW/MW site east of Oranienburg, not the district of Berlin) transmitter on FM 104.9, cf. http://www.oldiestar.de Earlier Oldiestar announced that they will launch a DRM signal on 1575 with 100 kW in January 2006, afterwards talking to book author Gerd Klawitter about a "small delay". Wonder if they will really start to burn their money now? (Or probably fire up 1575 in AM instead, with at least a theoretical possibility to reach real-world listeners?) (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Google Earth coordinates: IBB Kavalla Xanthi Station. Exact location is Latitude: 40N88 41 91, Longitude: 24E83 12 62. Ex- IBB Thessaloniki Perea: Exact location is Latitude: 40N30 55 34, Longitude: 22E27 38 67. May you can tell me the old VoA MW 792 and SW site at Perea, now used by ERA on MW 1044 kHz now. G.C. on the ITU for 1044 kHz is 22E56 40N30 instead. Formerly home of the famous 35 kW Collins transmitters, which were also erected at Ismaning, Rhodes and Tangiers, Monrovia sites around 1950. Used from THE on 9935 kHz for instance in 4 decades I guess, towards Greeks abroad in western Europe (Wolfgang Büschel to Zacharias Liangas, Greece, wwdxc BC-DX July 3 via DXLD) ** GUYANA. THE TREATMENT OF BROADCASTING HOUSE AND ITS CONTENTS IS AN INDICATION OF HOW LITTLE NATIONAL TREASURES AND HISTORY ARE VALUED --- Thursday, July 6th 2006 . . .The Guyana government's approach to radio broadcasting has been shabby, irresponsible and despicable. Not only a historical edifice in the annals of local and regional broadcasting has been brought to near ruins and part of our oral/audio history has been relegated to the dustbin but the programming and reach of the station leave much to be desired. Had the government been sincere about improving radio, the internationally recognised cheapest medium of communication, it would have expended resources on improving the shortwave capacity of the radio station. Instead, we are exposed to the limited capacity and mismanagement of certain newcomers to the broadcasting scene who bask in the so-called achievement that NCN is being heard on the Internet. To this I say that significant segments of Guyanese in Guyana are being deprived of listening to the radio. . . . [much more] http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article_letters?id=56498762 (letter to the editor from Denis Chabrol, Former Broadcaster, Guyana Broadcasting Corporation, via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** HONDURAS. FM Es, Radio América, Honduras to SC --- What a lucky catch! Clear audio ID in Spanish 94.7 "Radio América" at 1038 EDT [1438 UT July 7], either Tegucigalpa (1396 mi) or Olanchito (which I'll log since it is closer at 1291 miles) Honduras (Fred Nordquist, Moncks Corner, SC, WTFDA via DXLD) ** INDIA. 15770, All India Radio, Aligarh, 1113-1155, 02-07, programa en Tamil, programa DX entre las 1137 y las 1150, con algunos comentarios en inglés. Anuncian QSL especial commemorativa del 25 programa DX, "The World Smallest QSL card". 44444 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Escuchas realizadas en Camping de Reinante, costa del Mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N de Lugo. Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) World`s smallest QSL card --- I have now received the card together with a printed letter and a copy of the AIR GOS schedule. The card measures 6 x 3.5 cm, which is less than some business card-size QSLs I have received in the past. The letter is signed N. C. Gnanaprakasam, Pex (Program Executive), All India Radio, Chennai - 600004, India. The DX program "Vaanoli Ulagam" (Radio World) usually starts a few minutes prior to a 5-minute newscast in Tamil at 1155, sometimes it goes one for a while after 1200. In Europe, 15050, which is beamed to Sri Lanka, seems to be the best frequency, although 17860 is also heard. 13695, 15770 and 17810, all beamed to SEA, do not provide a useful signal (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, July 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) But how thick is it? Get out your calipers. And how much does it weigh? Depends on the humidity (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR has the local music service called "FM RAINBOW" since beginning of the year on more than 12 FM stations all over India. At the moment they run this service also on SW on 10330 kHz. In Europe this SW transmission has been heard in excellent signal in the afternoon until 2300 UT! Before this week on 10330 kHz there was listed the AIR Bangalore Hindi program by several DXers. For the Hindi Program, Indian pop music, Jingles "FM Rainbow", "Music Station", "FM Music --- All the time on All India Radio", "FM Rainbow 103,6", "FM also on 101,9 and 103,6", also e-mail address given and postal address A.I.R. Rainbow, P. O. Box 463, Akashwani Pawan, Parliament Street, New Delhi - 110001 India. For the English program they play international pop music from the 50s until today. On 28.06 they played Elvis Presley, the Beach Boys, Pink Floyd and also Brittney Spears in the Playlist, with comments from the speaker, interrupted by jingles and advertisements for Indian Tea. F M Rainbow channels have already been started this year at Aligarh (UP), Bhatinda (Punjab), Goa, and Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The announced frequencies of the mentioned SW-BC are not in the Homepage of AIR FM Rainbow Channel http://www.allindiaradio.org/schedule/fm_rain.html 103,6 FM 101,9 FM 10330 AM Therefore the situated transmitter is not clear at Bangalore as reported from some DXers, and the local service is not really identified, could be also Delhi? Reception reports can be send over the allwell known Homepage via e- mail: http://www.allindiaradio.org/recepfdk.html (Harald Suess, Austria, wwdxc BC-DX June 30 via DXLD) 10330 is registered at 0845-1740, and 0015-0435 via BGL 500 kW 335 degrees towards northern 41N zone, like northern part of zone 41 Pakistan, India, Bangladesh (wb, ibid.) ** IRAQ. Google Earth coordinates: Nothing found at SED Salah El Deen IRQ 33N58 044E10 site. But rather an unID radio tower field near 33N49 044E19. Or is that object an ammunition object, protected by thunderstorm tall metal masts? (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 4) SAL Salman Pack IRQ at 33N09 044E35 location. At least 4 x MW mast installations or remaining (partly destroyed) masts. Also SW curtains on two \\ row lines. On the upper left seemingly an older part of the site, the foot base fundaments mostly destroyed and rotten (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 4) TX Abu Ghraib (Bagdadh) IRQ Latitude: 33N19 Longitude: 044E15 exact on this location. From western side: 19 various tall masts, like curtains, another 5 mast row line for curtains. Two single tall MW masts. 1 remaining (of original three) MW masts two MW mast on the bottom of the area (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 4) Abu Ghraib location better known as US American gagging concentration camp (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, BCDX July 7 via DXLD) ** ISRAEL [and non]. There are now a few more side-effects of the removal of the Kol Israel domestic transmitters from the Shalom Tower in Tel-Aviv, due to construction. As of earlier this week, the Jerusalem relay of Israel Radio International (Reshet Hey/REKA relay), on 88.2 FM, has been shut down. This is due to interference between 88.2 FM and 88.0 FM (the 88 FM network). 88 FM, is now transmitting from Eitanim, to cover both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, due to the construction. The two stations have been adjacent channel for years, but the 88 FM transmitter move to Eitanim is causing more of an issue. The 88.2 FM transmitter is located in Bayit Vegan, Jerusalem. I have no word on if or when this 88.2 FM transmitter may be turned back on. They are still working on how to best deal with the loss of the transmitters on the Shalom Tower in Tel- Aviv. The 88.2 FM feed, i.e. Israel Radio International (Reshet Hey/REKA relay), is now on the Amos satellite -Middle East beam- in analog at 10.968 GHz subcarrier 7.20 MHz. The "88.2 FM" (Israel Radio International) live webstream on israelradio.org and HotBird 3 satellite, both use that feed now, instead of 88.2 FM itself. (Not related to the transmitter changes: Note that the 'overnight' music on the "88.2FM"/IRI feed, no longer exists.) For domestic listeners, this means that the REKA foreign language broadcasts are still available via the REKA network, but the international foreign language broadcasts, such as the 10 PM (Israel Time) English broadcast, are not available on local radio. The broadcasts now missing on domestic radio in Israel, are the ones highlighted in purple in top table on this webpage: http://www.israelradio.org/livestream.htm http://www.israelradio.org/ has a blurb about, "Elihu Ben-Onn Host of `The Israel Connection' Receives B'nai B'rith World Center Award for Journalism for 2006". 'The Israel Connection' is an international call in show, mostly intended for Israelis abroad. It's broadcast domestically and around the world on Reshet Bet, the Second Network (Doni Rosenzweig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Google Earth coordinates. RAI Rome SW site Prato Smeraldo, 41N48.11 / 12E31.17 MW 846/1332 kHz location is 41N42 12E35 Santa Palomba, exact 41N42.15, 12E34.55. 846 kHz, tall mast, and a small reflector on western side. 1332 kHz, three masts on the right side. New MW site outside Rome, 90 kilometers away PLANNED: at 42N13 11E59 at ITU registration entry. and Milano superpower 900 kHz is exact at 45N19.49.8 09E11.59. Two tall masts, and a small reserve mast next to the transmitter building. 999 Rimini Viserba, 2 mast east-west direction. Exact location is Latitude: 44N05.43, Longitude: 12E30.30 (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 4 via DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. Hi Glenn! Tonight at 0200 UT I tried to listen to Moj Them Radio on 15260 kHz. But nothing from them heard. Instead I logged on 15260 at 0158 China Radio International with sign-on and ID in Chinese, and from 0200 in Tamil with lots of talk and announce of webpage chinaradio.cn // 13600 kHz. So this may be the unID stations reported in some of the last DXLD editions with programs not only on Fri. 73, (Patrick Robic, Austria, July 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. See SLOVAKIA [non] ** MALDIVE ISLANDS. MALDIVES TO LICENCE PRIVATE BROADCASTERS ``WITHIN A COUPLE OF MONTHS`` - Minister The Minister of Information and Arts of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, says that 38 private parties have requested for broadcasting permits in Maldives. Speaking in a meeting held to discuss establishing a media association in Maldives, Nasheed said that within a couple of months those who are interested in investing in broadcasting will be licenced. ``We are in the last stage of preparations to allow private parties to broadcast in Maldives. A bill on broadcasting has been drafted. Before the end of October the bill will enter the Majlis [General Assembly]. In the roadmap of reforms of President Gayoom regulating the sector was set as a goal that will be achieved before October 31`` said Nasheed (Source: Haama Daily)( July 6th, 2006, 13:03 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) Not including Minivan, I bet (gh) ** MALI. Google Earth coordinates: TX Bamako Latitude: 12N41.21; Longitude: 08W01.39. Seemingly the combined Chinese/Malinese transmitter site. And another single MW mast at 12N41 08W00 location. (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 4, via DXLD) ** MEXICO. X-Band Scans: Near Manila UT; DX-398 + 100 ft. RW; 18-June, 9:30-10:16 PM MDT: 1700, XEPE, Tecate BCN (See Wheat Ridge scan): Cash 1700 slogan; Lake Elsinore CA Storm minor league BB. Solid From Wheat Ridge CO; R8 + 4 ft. box loop; 26-June, 8:56-10:08 PM MDT: 1700, XEPE, Tecate BCN: Cash 1700, where money talks; all English except for one Spanish Call/QTH ID -- sounded like either XESN or XECN, definitely not XEPE (Harold Frodge, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. W Radio Affiliates --- This list looks pretty good, but the person who put it together must have been geographically challenged. The Phoenix, AZ affiliate is listed under Colombia. Mexico (and El Paso): http://www.wradio.com.mx/dial.asp Colombia (and Phoenix, New York, Orlando...): http://www.wradio.com.co/dial.asp Miami: http://www.caracolusa.com/dial.asp (Tim Hall, CA, July 6, IRCA via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 4810 , XERTA, Radio Transcontinental de América, 0516-0610, 07-07, locutor, español, programa religioso: "Vamos a hablar hoy de la ascensión del Señor", canciones religiosas, respondiendo preguntas telefónicas de los oyentes, comentario de Adán y Eva. Sólo audible en LSB. 24222 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Escuchas realizadas en Camping de Reinante, costa del Mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N de Lugo. Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONACO [non]. / FRANCE Google Earth coordinates. Latitude: 43N45 Longitude: 07E25 RMC site of 1947y: LW 218 and MW 1466 and two poor 25 kW SWs. Also used for TWR/ERF SW and MW 1466 from 1954/1958 onwards, when TWR left Tangiers, Morocco. Is located just four kilometers north of Monte Carlo - outside the Monaco state soil - on French territory. Expanded that site in 1967 til 1988? with two more/other mast installations, further north on the mountain top hill. But feederline from old Nazi WWII building (brown roof) towards the northern mountain area, I suggest, that the transmitters are still put into the transmitter building, and MW masts are fed by long 2-3 kilometers feeder lines. I've been there in April 1972 (at the very same day when CDU man Rainer Barzel just did lose the voting against chancellor Willy Brandt in German parliament Bundestag), visited that steep mountain street just outside the MCO territory. Yellow line is the border line between Monaco and France. 216 / 1467 In \\ a second transmitter site at Roumoules on French territory, just 110 kilometres further north-west of Monaco has been erected, that contains the 2000 kW beast of now LW 216 and MW 1467 kHz. Google Earth coordinates. G.C. Roumoules 06E09 43N47. Some Direction Mast arrays at Roumoules for various MW directions - like at Fllaka-Albania in 4 to 6 directions, - and screening in other directions, as well as the 3 x LW Antenna masts. See other RMC description websites (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX July 2 via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. Google Earth coordinates: Nador: Latitude: 35N04334 Longitude: 02W907670 This dark brown area belongs to Nador LW/SW site. LW 171 is directed in 87 degrees, and minor in 242 degrees. These fed into the central mast, and reflected by the northern and southern mast. 15345/15340 and 9575 are registered at 110 degrees. But the 19 mb [between center and right mast] and the 31 mb [between left and central mast] curtain should be slewed, looks like 75 to 80 degrees. 15345 0900-2200 28S,37-39,47N,48,52E,53NE NAD 250 110 degrees MRC The left antenna curtain seems a 31 mb 9575 kHz one. Or is that three mast installation of different height antenna on far most right side a log-periodic towards ALG, TUN, LIB, EGY? Looks like in a direction of rather 75 to 80, but not 110 degrees. Makes me meditate ... (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX July 3 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Re 6-098: ``while Flevo does not beam toward NAm at all; unsure if they even have any old backup antennas suitable for NAm`` Here is an aerial picture of the site, but it remains unclear from which angle: http://www.novecbv.nl/inhoud/masten/Paspoort/zeewoldekg.html (Zeewolde a town nearby the station while Flevoland is the polder northeast of Utrecht and, not to forget, Hilversum where Zeewolde and the RNW as well as 747/1008 transmitters are located, not less than 40 km long, so ``Flevo`` is actually a rather unspecific designation.) I seem to recall that Flevo took over a transmission to NAm on 9895 when Bonaire was down? So probably they can beam to NAm, but not on frequencies below 9 MHz due to lack of a low band antenna for this bearing? By the way, I did not note down the details for all the recent football specials, but looking at the picture made me wonder if on one occasion the schedule showed 6035 (or 6015) as ND from Flevo? If so, probably the first ever transmission via the 6 MHz HQ on another frequency than 5955? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORWAY. Kvitsoy, 1314 kHz signed off last night at 2200:27 without any special ceremony. A good frequency calibrating station is gone. Although it was a big source of interference here in northern Europe, I am not sure if I am happy or sad about this; it feels unreal to lose this station, which has been a landmark for decades. I recorded the sign-off, I have it as a mp3-clip if anyone is interested (Mauno Ritola, Finland, mwoffsets July 1 via BCDX via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Radio Pakistan was heard with news in English on June 30 from 16 to 1615 hours on the new frequency of 9380 and on the old 11570 but not on the announced 12105 and 15725 kHz (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX July 7 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** PERU. 6173.8, Radio Tawantinsuyo, Cuzco, 0000-0008, 04-07, locutor, comentarios en español. Señal muy débil hoy. Se escucha a partir de las 2358, que cierra China Radio Internacional con programa en español en 6175. 14321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Escuchas realizadas en Camping de Reinante, costa del Mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N de Lugo. Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. See the former Polish external Radio MW superpower 300 kW site of 1503 kHz Stargard Szcecinski at Google Earth coordinates 15E07 53N18; the two tower masts are now scrapped. See the former MW superpower 300 kW site of 819 kHz Warsaw II at 21E17 52N27, low picture solution (wb, wwdxc BC-DX July 1) Hi Wolfy, a couple of questions from Ian Baxter: I suppose Leszczynka (SW site of Polish Radio, wb) refers to the same place as ? Where is the 198 kHz [LW] mast. "... name for Radio Polonia's SW transmitter site, i.e. Leszcynka. I had this listed as 'Raszyn' (where-ever that is?) I did look at the Radio Polonia WRTH co-ordinates last week with Google Earth & found a site south of Warsaw, but site looked to have curtain arrays; maybe there's both log periodics & curtain arrays on site & I didn't see the log periodics?? (Ian Baxter via Mauno Ritola, Finland, June 30, BCDX via DXLD) Google Earth coordinates: Latitude / Longitude LW Warsaw II Raszyn site: 52N04 20E53 SW WWA Warszawa Leszcynka POL 52N04 20E52 Yes, exact coordinates, as seen on Google Earth. Both installations nearby, seen clearly on the snap-1. Longwave transmitter installation right inside a small wooden area, on the upper left side of the picture snap. You will see also the mast in the installation center and three rope cable holding fitting rows inside the wooden area. And the Leszcynka curtain antennas into direction of 40, 47, 65, 72, 90, 105, 130, 180, 248, 270, 285, 310, 347 degrees you will see more southerly on the below side of the picture. Leszcynka snap-2: Around the transmitter hall - on the right site of the area - you see a 'half circle' of curtain antennas, two other curtain installations, and also - supposedly - three log-periodic arrays on the left side of the building, each inside a separate wooden area. C Curtains, L-P Log- periodics (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX June 30 via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Transmitter RRI Saftica site on Google Earth. Latitude: 44N640067; Longitude: 26E070884 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX July 4 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. RUSSIA'S SIGNAL TO STATIONS IS CLEAR: CUT U.S. RADIO --- By Peter Finn Washington Post Foreign Service Friday, July 7, 2006; Page A01 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/06/AR2006070601760.html MOSCOW, July 6 -- Russian regulators have forced more than 60 radio stations to stop broadcasting news reports produced by Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, according to radio managers and Russian officials. The regulators cited license violations and unauthorized changes in programming format. But senior executives at the U.S.-government- funded broadcast services and at the stations blame the Kremlin for the crackdown, which has knocked the reports off stations from St. Petersburg in western Russia to Vladivostok in the Far East. "We focus primarily on domestic developments, and those are exactly the things the Kremlin has problems with," said Jeffrey N. Trimble, acting president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty -- commonly known as Radio Liberty. "This really hurts our ability to reach today's decision-makers." The two services' straight-up reporting, often by journalists on the ground in Russian communities, has at times challenged the political establishment here. In a country where the news media increasingly avoid controversial subjects, millions of Russians had made the broadcasts a listening staple. U.S. diplomats, managers at the two news services and their board of governors have held repeated discussions with Russian officials in recent months seeking a compromise, to no avail. "We've tried to be collegial, tried to work within the system, but this is a most unfortunate development," said Kenneth Y. Tomlinson, chairman of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees both services. Later this month, the leaders of the Group of Eight leading industrialized countries will gather for a summit hosted by Russia in St. Petersburg. The meeting has prompted increased scrutiny here and abroad of the Kremlin's steps to consolidate power since the late 1990s. Control of the mass media, particularly news and debate on national television channels, is a critical part of the Kremlin's management of political discourse in advance of parliamentary elections in 2007 and presidential elections in 2008. After Vladimir Putin became president in 2000, the country's major TV channels, the most important media because of their reach, were quickly brought under state control or shut down. State-controlled or state-friendly businesses have been buying up newspapers and radio stations. Outside Moscow and St. Petersburg, media outlets routinely come under the sway of local governors, most of whom are loyal to the Kremlin. Independent newspapers and radio stations continue to operate. But with their largest audiences in the country's two largest cities, their influence in national politics and voting is marginal. Radio Liberty and Voice of America are underwritten by the U.S. government but produce independent journalism in many languages, including Russian, though the White House has proposed ending Voice of America's Russian-language content. Both services developed a network of media partners across Russia after the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. Those stations had been airing about an hour of news from the services in the morning and evening, along with some shorter bulletins. Of the 30 affiliate stations Radio Liberty had in Russia in 2005, it now has only four, according to Trimble. Of the 42 stations that rebroadcast material from Voice of America in 2005, only five are still working with the organization, according to the board of governors. Russian stations in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where there is much greater official tolerance for media diversity, continue to broadcast programming from the organizations. Radio Liberty also operates its own frequency in Moscow. "But elections are won and lost in the provinces," said a manager at Radio Liberty. The first sign of the change came last September, when the Culture Ministry, which handles the licensing of broadcasters, began a series of audits of these stations and others. In interviews, officials at the ministry characterized the audits as a normal and legal part of the ministry's mission and said there was no targeted attempt to force the American radio services off the air. Rather, they said, officials were ensuring compliance with Russian law, which states that when broadcasters obtain their licenses they must indicate whether they intend to re-broadcast material from other entities. None of the affected stations had followed the law, officials said. "We do not have any problem with Radio Liberty or Voice of America," said Yevgeny Strelchik, an adviser to the Culture Ministry's top mass media official. "But if our radio stations change their concept, they should say so, and then the commission will decide whether to approve it or not. They can't broadcast somebody else's product without having the license for it. . . . This is the law." He also said: "You should ask the general director of Radio Russia how hard it is to get a license to broadcast in the U.S. He tried many times. Their requirements are much stricter." Russian partners of the U.S. services said in interviews that they valued the American programming but feared they would lose their licenses if they continued to carry it. Managers and journalists at Russian stations said they felt clear pressure from bureaucrats to drop the programming and to make no attempt to get a license that would allow the American material to remain on the air. Two stations that did apply for revised licenses to broadcast Radio Liberty were denied, according to U.S. and Russian officials. One radio manager said: "Of course, I felt the pressure. . . . They never tell you anything directly. Instead they come up with numerous complaints trying to find faults, they start their checkups, they would be looking at your license over and over again. But the message is clear." Management and employees at the station spoke on condition that they and their stations not be identified, because they feared that if they commented publicly, their stations would be shut down. "It's sad because the programs were very popular," said a manager at another station. "The owners decided that they would rather have their license, because if they kept the programming they would have been in trouble." Radio Liberty, with about 60 staff journalists in Russia and nearly 200 freelance contributors, is one of largest news organizations in the country. Last year Radio Liberty journalist Andrei Babitsky interviewed Shamil Basayev, the Chechen warlord who asserts responsibility for the hostage-taking at a school in Beslan, which ended with the deaths of 331 people, most of them schoolchildren. Radio Liberty opted not to run the material, but it was later broadcast on ABC's "Nightline." The Russian government was outraged and decided not to renew the accreditations of ABC journalists. Staff and management at Radio Liberty, Voice of America and their board of governors suspect that the dispute led the ministry to act against the news organizations (via Ken Kopp, dxldyg and via Bill Westenhaver, Mike Cooper, DXLD) Russian media official calls Post article "politically motivated." http://en.rian.ru/world/20060707/51056445.html (RIA Novosti, 7 July 2006 via kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) "Russian radio station owners have informed Radio Liberty officials that they were under strong pressure to drop the programming." http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/local/14989423.htm (AP, 7 July 2006, ibid.) I am told that VOA programs are still rebroadcast on Russian television stations. But this development recalls what I wrote for Radio Netherlands Media Network on 16 February: http://www.radionetherlands.nl/features/media/voa060216.html?version=1 "If VOA services such as Indonesian, Russian, or Swahili should find themselves evicted from their local rebroadcasting outlets, or their satellite links down, or their Internet access blocked, the (shortwave) transmitters and frequencies used for the VOA global English service would be available for VOA language services suddenly needing to get back in touch with their audiences." One of the best relay sites to reach Russia would have been Kavala, Greece, but that was closed earlier this year by the Broadcasting Board of Governors. The most important task for international broadcasting is to deliver information to places where that information is denied. As the least interdictable medium of international broadcasting, shortwave is an essential tool for this purpose. Unless decision makers of U.S. international broadcasting grasp this fact, there will be dour consequences (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com POSTED 6 JULY 2006 via DXLD) Who needs shortwave? The beancounters got it right, save big bucks by shutting down your HF transmitters and using local relays and the Internet --- Oh, never thought of this! (Dale Rothert, KA8KOD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. See GERMANY ** SAUDI ARABIA. Google Earth coordinates: TX Jeddah: Latitude: 21N14.33; Longitude: 39E09.39 Two tall MW masts 1512 and 648 kHz, on the left side of the building, and right below other masts. White colored feeder lines seen. But make me wondering, where are the SW installations of 2 x 31 / 25 mb dipoles located?? ITU SW 21N32 39E10. And Riyadh 4 MW masts at coordinates 24N29.15 46E24.18 for MW 585 kHz. SW transmitter location couldn't be traced yet, at 24N30 46E23 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX July 4 via DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA [non]. Media Alert --- Today, 6 July, will be the last day of RTI being on 1350 AM. The digital satellite service of RTI, even in areas where 1350 can be heard, is already out performing the 1350 AM service. RTI is committed to the digital age and will be announcing further digital offerings soon and/or services that will transform from analogue to digital in a suitable time frame. To assist listeners, RTI has opened a new e-mail service simple called: godigital @ rti.fm Anyone e-mailing that address will receive updates connected to RTI becoming the digital force of the future. Leading car manufacturers are already stating that they will be fitting digital radios as standard from 2007. Leading portable radio manufacturers are releasing there new digital receivers within the next two months. Best regards (Eric N Wiltsher, Radio Tatras International, July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) He doesn`t even mention what country 1350 is from (gh, DXLD) LATVIA --- The transmitter network owner LVRTC (Latvijas Valsts Radijas un Televizijas Centrs) will shut down the Kuldiga transmitter on 1350 by midnight today on 6 July. The transmitter has been leased by Krebs TV for relays of Radio Tatras International since last summer (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, mwdx yg via DXLD) So will they turn it on again if they have another client? Did LVRTC initiate this shutdown, or RTI, or Krebs? (gh, DXLD) Bernd Trutenau reported that the transmissions were to cease at local midnight, i.e. 2100 UT. After 2230 nothing but Radio Orient from France could be heard on 1350, alongside lots of thunderstorm crackling (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. Radio Chan Troi Moi: 1503. Full-data [except site] CTM logo card with personal note apologizing for the delay in responding. This is identical to cards received for reports of RCTM SW broadcasts in 2001 & 2002. And, like the SW reports, this one was sent to Correspondence Section, Radio CTM, PO Box 48, Nishi Yodogawa, Osaka 555, Japan, and the card was postmarked at Spokane, Washington. This is for a logging at Bao Loc, Vietnam. This is only my third QSL for a MW clandestine-type broadcast. The others are for Radio Americas and Radio Cuba Libre (Wendel Craighead, KS, DXplorer July 3 via BCDX via DXLD) ** U K. RADIO 1 AND 2 DISTINCT FROM COMMERCIAL SECTOR SAYS THOMPSON by Mark Banham Brand Republic 4 July 2006 London http://www.brandrepublic.com/bulletins/br/article/567541/radio-1-2-distinct-commercial-sector-says-thompson/ Director general of the BBC Mark Thompson said that commercial sector critics calling for the privatisation of publicly funded radio networks "really need their heads examined". Thompson, addressing critics of the BBC in a speech to the Cambridge Radio Festival last night, insisted that Radio 1 and Radio 2 have achieved 'distinctiveness' from the commercial radio sector, despite claims to the contrary from commercial radio networks. He said he was now looking to make the brands more distinctive by introducing comedy programming to the scheduling of both stations. [BDXC Moderator: what's 'more distinctive' about this? Radio Two has had comedy programming since the days of the light programme and Radio One's The Mary Whitehouse Experience was an eighties hit. I guess he must mean "more" comedy programming] To cool the ire of the commercial sector, Thompson insisted that part of the remit from the BBC governors, which are soon to be replaced by a Trust, was to commission independent monitoring of the corporation's two popular music-orientated stations, making sure that they did not overstep their public service remit, and that they stayed distinct from commercial radio brands. "Distinctiveness should be the goal for every BBC service on every medium," he said. "For the past few years we've been on a path of greater distinctiveness." Thompson challenged dissenters demanding the privatisation of the two stations because of perceived competition against the commercial sector, saying that the introduction into the market of two new commercially funded national stations would not help commercial radio's cause. Yesterday, local radio firm UKRD said in a letter it had sent to the director-general that the BBC was damaging small commercial stations so much through competition that it should compensate them by funding their public service broadcasting. In the letter, dated June 30, UKRD chief executive William Rogers attacked the BBC's "growing commercial approach" and accused it of being determined to "dominate local markets by ruthlessly cross- promoting its services using public money". The letter was another addition to the chorus of disapproval from the commercial sector in the run-up to negotiations between the BBC and government over the level of the licence fee from 2007. The BBC has submitted a licence-fee bid for an increase of inflation plus 2.3%. The BBC now takes a 55.4% share of listening according to the first quarter results from official radio measurement body Rajar (via Mike Terry, BDXC via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. MOSCOW, July 6 -- Russian regulators have forced more than 60 radio stations to stop broadcasting news reports produced by Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, according to radio managers and Russian officials. . . [see RUSSIA] ** U S A. Re 6-098, WWCR crosstalk from 15825 on 12160 during WOR, Sat 1600+: Hi, Glenn! I checked my note when I got home. The really noticeable crosstalk was on the June 3 airing. On June 17 & 24, the signal was weaker but I didn't hear the crosstalk then. I hadn't tuned in that transmission since the 24th (Will Martin, MO, July 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Around 1330 July 7, 13845 with DGS was still heavy-laden with crackling on the main channel and sidebands; unlistenable, disregarding the content (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. EXECUTIVE ORDER: PUBLIC ALERT AND WARNING SYSTEM For Immediate Release, Office of the Press Secretary, June 26, 2006 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/06/20060626.html By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), and the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.), it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to have an effective, reliable, integrated, flexible, and comprehensive system to alert and warn the American people in situations of war, terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other hazards to public safety and well- being (public alert and warning system), taking appropriate account of the functions, capabilities, and needs of the private sector and of all levels of government in our Federal system, and to ensure that under all conditions the President can communicate with the American people. Sec. 2. Functions of the Secretary of Homeland Security. (a) To implement the policy set forth in section 1 of this order, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall: (i) inventory, evaluate, and assess the capabilities and integration with the public alert and warning system of Federal, State, territorial, tribal, and local public alert and warning resources; (ii) establish or adopt, as appropriate, common alerting and warning protocols, standards, terminology, and operating procedures for the public alert and warning system to enable interoperability and the secure delivery of coordinated messages to the American people through as many communication pathways as practicable, taking account of Federal Communications Commission rules as provided by law; (iii) ensure the capability to adapt the distribution and content of communications on the basis of geographic location, risks, or personal user preferences, as appropriate; (iv) include in the public alert and warning system the capability to alert and warn all Americans, including those with disabilities and those without an understanding of the English language; (v) through cooperation with the owners and operators of communication facilities, maintain, protect, and, if necessary, restore communications facilities and capabilities necessary for the public alert and warning system; (vi) ensure the conduct of training, tests, and exercises for the public alert and warning system; (vii) ensure the conduct of public education efforts so that State, territorial, tribal, and local governments, the private sector, and the American people understand the functions of the public alert and warning system and how to access, use, and respond to information from the public alert and warning system; (viii) consult, coordinate, and cooperate with the private sector, including communications media organizations, and Federal, State, territorial, tribal, and local governmental authorities, including emergency response providers, as appropriate; (ix) administer the Emergency Alert System (EAS) as a critical component of the public alert and warning system; and (x) ensure that under all conditions the President of the United States can alert and warn the American people. (b) In performing the functions set forth in subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall coordinate with the Secretary of Commerce, the heads of other departments and agencies of the executive branch (agencies), and other officers of the United States, as appropriate, and the Federal Communications Commission. (c) The Secretary of Homeland Security may issue guidance to implement this order. Sec. 3. Duties of Heads of Departments and Agencies. (a) The heads of agencies shall provide such assistance and information as the Secretary of Homeland Security may request to implement this order. (b) In addition to performing the duties specified under subsection (a) of this section: (i) the Secretary of Commerce shall make available to the Secretary of Homeland Security, to assist in implementing this order, the capabilities and expertise of the Department of Commerce relating to standards, technology, telecom-munications, dissemination systems, and weather; (ii) the Secretary of Defense shall provide to the Secretary of Homeland Security requirements for the public alert and warning system necessary to ensure proper coordination of the functions of the Department of Defense with the use of such system; (iii) the Federal Communications Commission shall, as provided by law, adopt rules to ensure that communications systems have the capacity to transmit alerts and warnings to the public as part of the public alert and warning system; and (iv) the heads of agencies with capabilities for public alert and warning shall comply with guidance issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security under subsection 2(c) of this order, and shall develop and maintain such capabilities in a manner consistent and interoperable with the public alert and warning system. Sec. 4. Reports on Implementation. Not later than 90 days after the date of this order, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, a plan for the implementation of this order, and shall thereafter submit reports from time to time, and not less often than once each year, on such implementation, together with any recommendations the Secretary finds appropriate. Sec. 5. Amendment, Revocation, and Transition. (a) Section 3(b)(4) of Executive Order 12472 of April 3, 1984, as amended, is further amended by striking "Emergency Broadcast System" and inserting in lieu thereof "Emergency Alert System". (b) Not later than 120 days after the date of this order, the Secretary of Homeland Security, after consultation with the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, shall issue guidance under section 2(c) of this order that shall address the subject matter of the presidential memorandum of September 15, 1995, for the Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency, on Presidential Communications with the General Public During Periods of National Emergency, and upon issuance of such guidance such memorandum is revoked. (c) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure an orderly and effective transition, without loss of capability, from alert and warning systems available as of the date of this order to the public alert and warning system for which this order provides. Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) This order shall be implemented in a manner consistent with: (i) applicable law and presidential guidance, including Executive Order 12472 of April 3, 1984, as amended, and subject to the availability of appropriations; and (ii) the authorities of agencies, or heads of agencies, vested by law. (b) This order shall not be construed to impair or otherwise affect the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budget, administrative, and legislative proposals. (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any rights or benefits, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its agencies, instrumentalities, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. GEORGE W. BUSH, THE WHITE HOUSE, June 26, 2006. # # # (via Kevin Redding, July 6, ABDX via DXLD) Richard Rudman's personal comments on same are posted at http://tinyurl.com/f24tn o J D Strahler believes that the CapCom equipment installer in Santa Barbara "was very professional and thorough" and should not be blamed for the false EAS Civil Emergency Message that was broadcast to the public on Tuesday of last week (CGC #746, lead story). (CGC Communicator July 5 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Ham Radio Scout Camp Calling Protocol Established (July 6, 2006) --- A group of radio amateurs active with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has established an HF calling plan for scouting camps. Dubbed the ``Scout Camps Calling Protocol,`` (SCCP), the plan aim to make it easier for scouts in the US and around the world to contact other scouts for Radio merit badge requirements, Amateur Radio demonstrations, emergency preparedness, passing traffic or to just get acquainted. The SCCP stemmed from a challenge ham- scouter Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, posed to members of the Scout Radio Yahoo discussion group to launch a summer camp net, so scouts could talk to one another. Full story at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/07/06/102/?nc=1 (ARRL via John Norfolk, dxldyg) Eventually leads to scout frequencies ** U S A. The CE of Columbus Radio Group tells me that contrary to the report in 6-096, the towers of silent WVKO 1580 have not yet been demolished, and will not be until August or September when a new tower is up for its successor (Artie Bigley, OH, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re 6-057, 450W X-Banders authorized? --- Hi, I happened to stumble across this; doing a search for "Rick Collette" showed that there was a chance you were a "tad suspicious" - with good reason. This was our April 1 joke. There were no 300-page novels. Just an April fool joke, nothing more. :) Thought I'd go ahead and confirm what you suspected (Rick Collette, July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1640.12, WKSH, Sussex WI (presumed); 0403, 4-July; Radio Disney off frequency (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) 1690, WRLL, Berwyn IL; 2-5 PM CDT, 1-July; Real Oldies 16-90, Real Oldies for Chicago; they have Larry Lujack and Tommy Edwards for DJs! AND...they also run Animal Stories weekday mornings! Wonder if they're new ones? Now that's a station that knows what radio is all about. They were solid along I-80 in IL/IN and until about mile 40 on I-94 in MI, then the sig got steadily scratchier (Harold Frodge, IL/IN/MI, ibid.) ** U S A. UNIDENTIFIED. While I was in TX (Port Aransas, near Corpus Christi) I was hearing classical music on 1690 kHz most nights. I'm a little behind in my DX bulletins and e-mails right now. Has one of the existing 1690 stations changed to classical, or is a new station testing? For what it's worth, the station seemed to loop roughly WNW/ESE but it's hard to be sure (I have a small compass mounted to the base of my Radio West Loop). 73, (Tim Hall back in Chula Vista, CA, July 5, ABDX via DXLD) Tim, Atlanta 1690 bought by the guy that owns 1160 and put his eclectic format there which includes classical (Powell E. Way III, SC, ibid.) Tim, As Powell mentioned, the Atlanta, GA, station (WMLB) has switched to classical music. They ID as "The Voice of the Arts." Here's a frequently-updated X-Band list that I use a lot ... http://www.dxing.info/lists/x_na.dx (Stephen Ponder N5WBI Southeast TX DXer http://setxdxer.blogspot.com/ Houston TX USA, ibid.) Atlanta on 1690: Thanks guys! I was wondering if it might be Atlanta, since I had no trace of Air America on 1690. 73, (Tim Hall, CA, ABDX via DXLD) He canned Air America some time after the purchase. Unfortunately the signal at 1000 watts isn't good enough to listen to. It really wouldn't be very good at 10,000 watts, for music (Powell E. Way III, SC, ibid.) Atlanta is a really odd market. I used to travel to Atlanta frequently when I worked for Home Depot. Hardly any of the local stations have a night signal that covers a decent portion of the metro area. It's a pretty good DX location for such a large market. I used to stay in Norcross, and hardly any of the Atlanta locals could be considered pests at night... 73, (Tim Hall, ibid.) Isn't Air America airing on 1160 now? (Bert New, Watkinsville, Georgia Proudly Serving You Since 1964!, ibid.) Nope - it didn't survive the format shifts. 1160 is now WCFO and it's doing business news. (It's also in the 2007 Tower Site Calendar - hey, that's the very first hint I've dropped about next year's photo lineup! An ABDX EXCLUSIVE! :-) s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) Supposedly just kept Al Franken on 1690 (gh, DXLD) I can't hear them at all, but the guy that owns 1690 also owns 1160. You are in their sights compared to me. WSB is the only one that has ANY night coverage on groundwave. That said, Atlanta has some of THE worst soil conductivity in the world. It's as close to ZERO as you can get it. Granite, is, not a V E R Y good conductor. What do you think Stone Mountain is made of --- G R A N I T E --- yup. The chart says 0.5, but it's more realistic to say less than 0.1! UGH! And that's just THAT part of it. (Powell (200 miles east of Atlanta) E. Way III, Columbia SC, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. Picture of KRSN control board --- I popped into the KRSN studio today and took this picture of their old Ampro control board. It probably dates to the 70's. You can see it at http://gentoo.net/mike/radio/mwdx/krsn-control_board.jpg (Mike Westfall, N6KUY, WDX6O, Los Álamos, NM (DM65uv), ABDX via DXLD) An AMPRO? EEEEEEEEEKKKKKK! GAAAGG! WKDK had a blue Ampro with the RCA name. What a POS! (Powell E. Way, III, SC, ibid.) ** U S A. Interference to WWL on 870 kHz --- Besides the usual interference from a Spanish language station, for a number of nights during the wee small hours Eastern, there has been a dead carrier on 870 kHz interfering with WWL. That is, the carrier is dead for 55 minutes, then some automation unit switches to a network newscast for five minutes at the top of the hour, then dead air resumes for another 55 minutes. Can anyone identify the source? Any station owner who would allow such a flagrant violation deserves to have his license lifted. There, I said it, and will now step down from the soapbox. Thanks for letting me vent (Bob Smoak, Bamberg, S. C., July 6, ABDX via DXLD) The interference on 870 I posted earlier is not there tonight. WWL is coming in quite clearly. Chances are, however, the offending station will do it again particularly if its operation is unattended (Bob Smoak, Bamberg, S. C., July 7, ibid.) ** U S A. Re `KRTS 93.5 Marfa TX` --- Those call letters used to belong to a classical station on 92.1 in the Houston area before it changed to Spanish music under a new owner. What format is this public station running? (Robert M. Bratcher, Jr., TX, ABDX via DXLD) I`m sure it has no connexion with the ex-Houston station. ``KRTS`` (for the callsign isn`t any more official than the station itself) has yet to put up a complete program schedule, but I don`t see any sign of classical at http://www.marfapublicradio.org/programs.php 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Why would they pick call letters that could stand for K Arts? In other words Arts Radio? Just looked at the web page. Are we sure they aren't licensed? Seems to be a mix of NPR & other stuff on the web page. Maybe they applied for the KRTS call letters & are waiting for approval before they can transmit (Bratcher, ibid.) We're sure they're not licensed. Here's what today's check of the various FCC databases turns up: The callsign database http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/callsign/prod/mainch.pl shows that the KRTS calls are "not available" - which is only partially true. They're in use by KRTS-LP in Victoria TX, so any full- power FM that wanted to use them would need the permission of KRTS- LP's owner, John Powley. The FM Query http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/fmq.html shows no licensed FM operations for Marfa, Texas. There's a construction permit for a translator on 98.9, and for 93.5 there's a "RSV" record, showing that a class C1 allocation on the channel exists at Marfa, and two "APP" records with no callsign associated, showing that construction permits have been applied for but not yet granted. So whatever it is that's on the air out there - and has been reported on various web postings and, tentatively, in at least one Es reception this season - is operating at fairly high power without benefit of license. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) ** VIETNAM. Ho Chi Min City, Exact location is Latitude: 10N50 50, Longitude: 106E37 39. Tall MW mast near the building. also some more 6 ... 8 masts seen. Sontay exact location is Latitude: 21N12, Longitude: 105E22, according to ITU. Unfortunately location in mountain area, low Google picture resolution. I see some installation 1.64 kilometers north of that location coordination point, looks like a big transmitter site. New 100 kW US made transmitter installed there (Harris or Continental? type) (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX July 4 via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [and non]. Jamming of radio stations extended to VOA / Voice of America et SW Radio Africa brouillées en ondes moyennes à Harare : Le sabotage d'Etat des radios indépendantes continue Reporters Without Borders Press release 6 July 2006 The sabotaging of broadcasts by radio stations based abroad is continuing in Zimbabwe, Reporters Without Borders said today after learning that programmes of the US government radio station Voice of America (VOA) have become the latest target of the jamming carried out by the Harare government with Chinese complicity. "This new case of jamming shows how the Zimbabwean government despises its own people, blocking their ears to the news outlets it dislikes," the press freedom organisation said. "It would be useful if United Nations mediator Benjamin M'Kapa, the former president of Tanzania, would demand an end to this perverse campaign. The UN and the African Union should realise that Chinese penetration of African markets brings more sophisticated means of repression and censorship in its wake." The broadcasts of Studio 7, a VOA programme targeted at Zimbabwe, have been jammed since mid-June by the same shrill noise that have been blotting out the short wave broadcasts of the privately-owned, London- based SW Radio Africa since February 2005 and the broadcasts of the Amsterdam-based Voice of the People since September 2005. Reporters Without Borders has obtained a recording of the SW Radio Africa jamming and has posted it on its site http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18218 --- [specifically] http://www.rsf.org/IMG/rm/jamming_SWRA-2.rm VOA director David S. Jackson said: "There has been some jamming of our broadcasts of Studio 7, but so far the interference appears to be limited to medium wave broadcasts to Harare, so many of our loyal listeners throughout Zimbabwe have been able to hear our shows on short wave and in other locations of the country without any problem." Jackson added: "We take any interference seriously, however, and we will continue to monitor the situation." Produced by Zimbabwean journalists who have gone into exile, Studio 7 aims to be an alternative source of news for the people of Zimbabwe, where there are no privately-owned radio or TV stations. Broadcast Monday to Friday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. (1700 to 1830 GMT), it is divided into three 30-minute segments in English and the two leading local languages, Shona and Ndebele. Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official with Zimbabwe's Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) told the South Africa-based news site Zim Online on 26 June: "There has been marked improvement on trying to block the US propaganda from reaching us since the beginning of this month. The team is now aiming to look for ways to completely block the signal coming via a transmitter in Botswana." SW Radio Africa's morning medium wave broadcasts have been jammed since 26 June, the station's director, Gerry Jackson, said. "The jamming appears to be quite localised and focused on Harare," she said. "We can still be heard in other parts of the country. This seems to follow the same pattern and began at the same time as the jamming of VOA's Studio 7 broadcasts on medium wave in the evening." Jamming of SW Radio Africa's short wave broadcasts began in February 2005, a few weeks before controversial legislative elections. Zimbabwean presidential spokesman George Charamba publicly hailed the interference on 29 March while refusing to acknowledge that the government was responsible. "If the Zimbabwe government is jamming SW Radio Africa, kudos to them," he said. "If they are not and do not have the equipment (to jam), then it is time they look for that equipment." The broadcasts of the privately-owned Voice of the People (VOP) from a Madagascar-based relay station belonging to the Dutch public radio corporation began being jammed in September 2005 by the same noise as SW Radio Africa, making its programmes inaudible. VOP was created in June 2000 by former employees of the state-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) with help from the Soros foundation and a Dutch NGO, the Hivos foundation. The police raided its studio in Harare on 4 July 2002 and took away equipment. It was subsequently the target of a bombing on 29 August 2002 which wrecked the entire studio. It was nonetheless able to resume broadcasting. All of its staff in Zimbabwe was detained for several days in December 2005 and charged with practising journalism without permission from the government-controlled Media and Information Commission. They were supposed to be tried last month, but the trial was postponed. The VOP management and staff face up to five years in prison. According to sources in Zimbabwe, the jamming of Zimbabwean exile radio stations began after a group of Chinese technicians arrived in Harare in January 2005 under a trade accord between China and Zimbabwe. Housed at the Sheraton Hotel for three months, they reportedly carried out a number of installations including a radio jamming system using a ZBC transmitter in Gweru, in the centre of the country, and the ZBC Pockets Hill broadcasting centre in Highlands, a suburb of Harare. These illegal practices, which violate international regulations governing telecommunications, are one of the specialities of the Chinese government. Jamming is standard practice in China, especially the jamming of Tibetan radio stations and foreign radio stations beaming programmes to the west of the country. A Reporters Without Borders release described this policy as the "Great Wall of the airwaves." (via David Pringle-Wood, Harare, DXLD) The MW jamming is localised to Harare and has perhaps a 100 km radius coverage. Both the VOA Studio 7 evening casts from Botswana & the SWRA morning casts from Lesotho get totally wiped out here in Harare. 73 (David Pringle-Wood, July 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Russian spy numbers: First transmission Wednesdays at 0730 UT on 7335, repeat at 0740 UT on 11830 kHz. Ich vermute mal, dass Du die Station am einem Mittwoch gehoert hast. 11830 ist die Wdh um 0740 UT. Die erste Ausstrahlung erfolgt um 0730 auf 7335. Im Winter kommt alles eine Stunde spaeter (Hans-Friedrich Dumrese-D, wwdxc BC-DX July 3 via DXLD) Wdh? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ CLASHMORE RADIO ARCHIVE [MW DX in northern Scotland] To make life rather simpler, now I'm connected to the internet via broadband, I've transferred the Clashmore Radio Archive to the following location: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/clashmoreradio/index.html Whilst doing so I've taken the opportunity to update the Clashmore Summary Log to end June 2006 - this lists every station heard in Clashmore since 1966 by frequency and year (July-June). I've also made some other minor amendments. Please let me know if any parts of the site appear not to work, if there are any broken links, or if you spot any errors. Many thanks! The Supanet website that used to hold the Clashmore Radio Archive will no longer be updated. 73s (Martin A. Hall, Clashmore, Scotland. NRD- 545, RPA-1 preamp, beverages: 513m at 240 degrees, terminated; 506m at 290 degrees, terminated, MWC via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ AMERICAN ANALOG TV AFTER 02/17/09 I found a website with a timeline for the DTV transition, including a reference that LPTV's transition will be dealt with after the 02/17/09 shut off date: http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/1257 With all the analog full power stations off, this could provide for years of interesting low power TV DX reception (Curtis Sadowski, IL, WTFDA via DXLD) End of AM (MW) may be near Date posted: 2006-07-06 --- FCC TO ACT ON DIGITAL RADIO RULES Rules to formalize IBOC authorization are on the FCC's agenda for its monthly meeting next Thursday, July 13. The commission will consider a Second Report and Order and a First Order on Reconsideration. But it's also going to consider a Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding digital audio broadcasting. Odds are that multicasting and AM nighttime will be included in commission action. http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=9322 (via Norbert Here, July 7, ABDX via DXLD) This is why I have been trying to get people interested in HF and LF. Once IBOC gets to rippin at night, DX will be over until there are digital radios out on the market (Kevin Redding, AZ, ABDX via DXLD) Also expect an end to ANY protection of AM stations past the city grade coverage. The FCC has to do this if they allow night IBOC (Powell E. Way, ibid.) HD RADIO RULES ON FCC AGENDA The FCC has added the long-pending issue of final rules for digital radio to its July 13 open meeting agenda. While it's unclear if the agency will actually adopt rules for the service, the agency is set to consider two final orders for the service. However, it is also going to launch a further notice of proposed rulemaking, indicating there are still some questions to be answered. One of those questions could be how to handle nighttime AM digital broadcasts, which has been a thorny issue since the service's inception. http://www.radioink.com/HeadlineEntry.asp?hid=134216&pt=todaysnews (via Kevin Redding, ibid.) DRM: see GERMANY; PROPAGATION PROPAGATION +++++++++++ HIGH-END RECEPTION I've just been tuning the 11 metre band c 1500 on July 6 and found three - or maybe four - DRM signals audible. 25994 - 26007 spread I assume is London - Croydon 26000 25789 - 25801 spread I assume is Junglister 25795 25759 - 25781 spread could be two French stations - Paris 25765 and Rennes 25775 Signals are fading up/down and sound louder than the S meter suggests they actually are. There is no trace of the Italian station Radio Maria (26000). On 13 metres the following are audible around 1515 --- 21460 ARS Holy Koran poor and 21600 fair in French 21470 BBC via ASC fair - Focus on Africa etc then SBG (Wimbledon) 21570 and 21610 REE both strong 21630 NHK via ASC in Japanese - fair 21660 BBC via CYP good to strong Sporadic E might account for the strong Spanish signals, but the rest? (Noel R. Green (NW England), July 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) THE KN4LF DAILY LF/MF/HF RADIO PROPAGATION OUTLOOK #2006-009 has been published on 1800 UTC Thursday July 06, 2006 at http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf6.htm This propagation outlook is very large and it might run into trouble getting posted on eLists/Groups, so I direct you to my website above where it has been published. --... ...--, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Retired Meteorologist & Space Plasma Physicist, Lakeland, FL, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Including: NOTE !!! A moderate sized M2.5 class solar flare erupted from geo- effective (Earth facing) sunspot group #10898 beginning at 0813 UTC today. It also appears that a partially geoeffective full halo Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) was also expelled, with a speed of approximately 500km/s. An excessive number of energetic protons >10 MeV were also ejected and began arriving here at Earth this morning. It’s is difficult to predict how much of an impact this partially geoeffective CME may have on Earth’s magnetic field but minor (Kp-5) to moderate (Kp-6) geomagnetic storming conditions may occur beginning on 07/09/2006. HAVE YOU HEARD THE SUN? The increased geomagnetic activity was due to a high-speed solar wind stream from a coronal hole on the sun beginning July 4. Earth was vulnerable, due to a south-pointing interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). When the IMF points north, Earth is less vulnerable. The IMF is again pointing south on July 7. The next increase in geomagnetic activity is predicted for July 9. The current prediction for the planetary A index for July 7-10 is 8, 10, 25 and 18. Solar flux for those days is predicted at about 85. When the solar wind stream hit earlier this week, a radio burst from giant sunspot 898 was recorded July 5 at 1743 UTC by Thomas Ashcraft of Lamy, New Mexico. He used receivers tuned just above 17 meters and just above 15 meters to produce a binaural audio recording [via http://www.heliotown.com/Radio_Sun_Introduction.html leading to http://www.heliotown.com/SunJuly5_06_1743ut18_22B.mp3 ] --- best appreciated with stereo headphones (thanks to Don Mayhall, N5DM for the tip). . . [much more] http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2006/07/07/101/?nc=1 (K7RA Solar Update via John Norfolk, Steve Lare, dxldyg via DXLD) SUNSPOT BREAKUP Big sunspot 898 is breaking apart, sending shock waves through the sun's atmosphere and radio bursts toward Earth. You can listen to some of the radio sounds at http://spaceweather.com The breakup does not herald a major solar storm, but it does offer an opportunity to watch a sunspot in its death throes -- very entertaining (via Emily Keene, July 6, ABDX via DXLD) ###