DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-129, August 27, 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 1326: Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WOR WBCQ 7415 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 MUNDO RADIAL, AGOSTO: (corriente) http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0608.ram (descargar) http://www.w4uvh.net/mr0608.rm (texto) http://www.worldofradio.com/mr0608.html ** ALBANIA. 6115, R. Albania [sic] with tail end of a tourist program talking about seaside resorts in Albania. They even managed to make a seaside vacation sound dull with reports of the average rainfall and sea water temperatures in the resort area. Replace it with cow methane production in collective farms, and you have what the old Tirana did. Sigh, there are STILL some constants in the world! :) IDs and "good- bye from Albania" by YL all in English. IS from 0159 to 0203 and then open carrier. SIO 343 4/August 0156-0203* (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI, MARE Tipsheet Aug 26 via DXLD) I, for one, would like to know the seawater temps at a resort (gh, DXLD) ** ALGERIA [non non]. See WESTERN SAHARA [non] ** ANGOLA. 4950, RNA-"Canal A", Mulenvos, 2208-2224, 25 AUG, talks, infos, IDs, African songs, refs to the Basketball World Championship; new 25 kW transmitter? 45232, so just spoiled by noise (Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I doubt the new transmitter has had time to arrive and be installed yet (gh, DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. Hello Glenn, You can hear my recording of R. Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel at http://tinyurl.com/puuak It was made last Wednesday Aug 23 at 1940 UT and yes indeed, there was no trace of it on LSB. Today, Friday Aug 25 it looks like they are not on air at all. It looks like they not on air every weekday anymore 73, (Guido Schotmans, Antwerp, Belgium - AOR AR7030 and ALA1530, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello Glenn, LRA-36 heard here on 24 AUG from around 1905 UT on 15476 USB (reduced carrier) with music, followed by a march or anthem, and full canned SP ID by female, with frequencies, sked, and addresses. Weak to fair signal with deep fades; Argentine music followed. At some time around 1945 the signal left the air; no trace of carrier. May have come back on briefly after 2000. Must be having transmitter problems; not heard at all on 25 AUG. 73 (John Cobb, Roswell, GA, R-75 and dual 16/10 m. dipole, still DXing and reading DX LISTENING DIGEST!) And reporting originally in Georgia font! (gh) ** AUSTRALIA. Re 6-128, RA 13670 colliding with RFA and Chinese jamming: Ask Bernd Friedewald, the RA ABC registration manager. 13670 is an IBB Tinian registration entry for many seasons. RA was NOT on 13670 in A05 season! 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Aug 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WB attaches jpg maps from Geoclock of the 303 degree beam from Tinian, which crosses Taibei and then directly into central China, and the 353 degree beam from Shepparton aimed just west of Tokyo. The two intersect somewhere NW of Tinian. Pace Andy, I concede I have no standing whatsoever, far from either target area to complain about the collision here. I can however, postulate that the collision is bound to be a problem in the real targets, China, the western Pacific, and Japan --- or it would be if 13670 were not a throwaway frequency subject to Chicom jamming anyway. Beyond the respective skip zones from Tinian (over water), and the Chinese jammers, the collision is bound to be a severe interference problem for RA, and it is still senseless for RA to subject itself to that. But then its frequency manager is far away in Europe (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. R. Tupi, Curitiba, 9565.02, 0620-0635+ Aug 20, Portuguese preacher; F-G. // 6060 weak under Cuba. R. Record, São Paulo, 9505, 2340-2355+ Aug 19, Portuguese announcements, ads, jingles, local pop music. // 6150, both poor and weak. R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo, 9645.14, 2245-2400+ Aug 19, Portuguese talk, announcements, ads, jingles. Good but // 11925.19 very weak. R. Marumby, Florianópolis, 9665, 0215-0240+ Aug 20, Portuguese talk, short breaks of lite music. Fair; weaker on // 11749.84. R. Guarujá Paulista, Guarujá (SP), 5940.24, 0550-0615+ Aug 20, US pop tune by Lou Rawls. Brazilian pops/ballads. Portuguese announcements, 0612 ID. // 3384.95, 5045 --- all frequencies weak but readable (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4915, R. Difª, Macapá AP, 0832-fadeout 0930, 23 AUG, talking to listeners, LA music, infos, ads, program announcements; 25342 (Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Rádio Guarujá de Floripa [short for Florianópolis, Santa Catarina] espalha harmônicos? O "sucateado" TX da Guarujá de Floripa em 49m 5980 kHz, continua espalhando harmônicos pelas frequências adjacentes atrapalhando outras emissoras. Se alguém de Florianópolis ler esta mensagem, favor entrar em contato com a emissora e alertá-la sobre o fato. Se eu tivesse o e- mail da emissora eu teria entrado em contato com eles. 73 (Luiz Chaine Neto, Limeira -sp-, Aug 26, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Luiz, É o que se percebe aqui por São Bernardo também. O espalhamento de sinal em vários pontos dos 49 m é sentido. Já chegou a descer para os 5080 kHz, numa outra banda. 73, (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo, SP, ibid.) Espalhar = splatter. These are NOT harmonics. An harmonic is an integral multiple of the fundamental frequency, as I have had to point out over and over for sesquidecades. Since fundamental is 5980, surely 5080 is just a receiver-produced image at -900 kHz (2 x 450 IF) as I have also had to explain repeatedly for sesquidecades; despite the fact it is really splattering around 5980. Sucateado = not in my Langenscheidt dixionary, and it stumps Babelfish too, unless sucateado is also an English word as it claims (gh, DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. Radio Free Asia adds Shan language. News for the ethnic group of Burma will be broadcast "towards the end" of the RFA Burmese transmission every Friday evening. Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, 25 August 2006. Posted: 25 Aug 2006 http://www.unpo.org/article.php?id=5243 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Viz.: Shan: News in Shan Language. Aired at Radio Free Burma [sic] 2006-08-25 US-based Radio Free Asia Burmese program is reporting in ethnic languages including Shan beginning this week, according to Soe Thinn, head of the program. News in Shan language will be aired towards the end of the program every Friday evening, 19:00-20:00, Burma standard time [=UT +6:30]. Each non-Burman language is given a 5 minute air time. The weekly news in Shan will be read out by Sai Yi Hpong and Nang Ye Hawm, S.H.A.N.'s newest members. The other Shan program from Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) can be heard every Wednesday at 06:45-07:00 and 21:45-22:00. In addition, there are more than 10 community radio stations in northern Thailand with Shan sections, 6 in Mae Ai, Fang and Chaiprakarn alone. For further information, please contact S.H.A.N. at: Shan Herald Agency for News [to match the initialism and name] P. O. Box 15 Nonghoi P.O Chiangmai 50007 Thailand http://www.mongloi.org/shanland (tested : not working!!) e-mail: http://shanland.org (after googling: the correct address -ZL) S.H.A.N. is an independent Shan media group, not affiliated to any political or armed organization (via Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DXLD) Democratic Voice of Burma: 9490 2330-0030 41,49 WER 125 kW 75 degr D DVB DTK 15480 1430-1530 41,49 ERV 300 kW 100 degr ARM DVB GFC [Yerevan] 17625 1430-1527 49,50,51,54 MDC 250 kW 55d degr MDG DVB RNW (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX via DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. [Cf. USA, WBBR 1130 off the air] I believe I just picked up CKWX-1130 Vancouver. At 0124 EDT [0525 UT Aug 27]. Ad by female for " ...fireworks September 19 at the Westin Seashore and Marina (?)" followed by man with "News1130.com, your news radio." This briefly surfaced over YVRL, R. Ideal. In the morning I will send the audio clip to a couple of WA/BC DXers. If confirmed, would be BC #1 in 44 years of DX and a major thrill!! (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, IRCA via DXLD) Marc: My fingers are crossed. I hope tonight was the night to remember. When you go back to listen to the recording, see if it doesn't say "Bayshore" not "Seashore" - the Westin Bayshore is a well- known place, at least to us Seattleites (Chuck Hutton, WA, ibid.) Chuck, Thanks for the quick response. Just replayed tape. "Westin Bayshore and Marina" it is! Yikes! I'm so excited! I'll post the audio clip on Real DX in the morning. Time to get some sleep - almost 2 am here (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, MA, ibid.) Way to go Marc, Although conditions looked to be good, with low index numbers and no T-storm activity, I was getting a little worried tuning around in advance of the WBBR shutdown. LW was underwhelming and not much going on but some Spain on 999 and France on 1206. At the local midnight shutdown, Spanish was dominant. I was anticipating YVRL R. Ideal, Maiguetía, Venezuela to make an appearance as it is right at the Northern coast, and I got their ID at 0416 UT, with "Radio E - D - AHL and one thousand one hundred thirty in Spanish" (I can say it but not spell it). It was pretty much dueling SS for the next half hour with another station on top for awhile that I am surmising was "HJVA, Vida AM, Bogotá, only from the announcing style and choice of music, but no ID. WRTH shows another Colombian and a Cuban on at that time, but no IDs. I was surprised as I switched around between antennas that I didn't get any of the powerhouses like KWKH, Shreveport, WDFN, Detroit, FFAN, Minneapolis, or WISN, Milwaukee. The big surprise for me was a CKWX ID at 0452 with a definite "News 1130" ID and mentions of their "News1130.com" web site. I hope others had some good results. I definitely need some more nights like this to get in training for Grayland next month! (Chris Black, Cape Cod, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) Chris, Hey, we both heard it! Of course I AM one mile further East than you, hi! I'm about to send in my audio clip to Real DX so that the West Coasters can confirm it 100%. BC #1 and Province #10 (finally) heard here (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, MA, ibid.) Nice catch, guys !! Good to see western conditions picking up. I never had BC when I lived in RI 25 years ago. News 1130 is Vancouver's ID and they can get eastward extremely well. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, Barrington IL, ibid.) See also USA ** CANADA. Nice listing of CBC main stations and respective repeaters: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2006/db2006-409.htm (William Hepburn, ON, WTFDA via DXLD) Nice, except no frequencies or powers or networks or languages -- can`t have everything. Nor do the calls line up with the towns, on my browser anyway [depends on sizing]. But something odd under Edmonton (assuming all the stations on the list are really CBC/SRC). CHFA, which I have to look up in the NRC AM Log to find is on 680, with Première Chaîne. That must mean CBC, tho not stated. Yet its relays are on FM, including in Calgary. So SRC has no FM outlet in Edmonton? No, FM Atlas has something in French on 90.1, CBCX-1 and it is not low power. With a CB call that must be CBC, but this reference is otherwise of no help as to networks. So how does 680 relate to 90.1, different French networks? Has CHFA 680 been CBC-French for Edmonton all along, or a more recent change/addition? I suspect the latter, or it would have had a CB call, such as (would this make too much sense?) CBXF. Or why didn`t they change it when acquired? Already assigned somewhere else? Yes, I know, a number of CBC stations retain their pre-CBC calls, notably CJBC Toronto, and quite a few others. A sense of history in play? The list also reaffirms what an absolutely disorganized mess the CBC callsign system is, with some but not necessarily all callsigns of the relays matching the originating station. Some also include numbers, some don`t. Since most of them don`t announce callsigns anyway, maybe they should start over and make some sense out of the lineups. I wonder if a map or organizational chart would help. 73, (Glenn Hauser, WTFDA via DXLD) It's a nice list in that it's hard to find that type of information anywhere that is up-to-date. Yes, you have to connect the dots to get frequencies, etc. I agree, Glenn, that the CBC call sign system is in disarray and needs an overhaul. This is what happens when the CBC downsizes and things like "looking after" call sign assignments become low priority and fall off the wagon. Most Canadian broadcasters don't even ID on the hour with call letters as they are required to but there is zero enforcement of the rule by Industry Canada or the CRTC. A symptom of an overly liberal "we have laws but don't actually enforce them" type of society I guess. As you know, there are 4 networks - 2 English (CBC-1 + CBC-2), 2 French (SRC Première Chaîne + SRC Espace Musique). CBC-1 and SRC-PC used to mostly be AM, but that is no longer the case, though they are both still mono. CBC-2 and SRC-EM and on FM only and in stereo. 680 Edmonton is SRC-PC while 90.1 is SRC-EM. The CBC/SRC has been putting more of the CBC-2 and SRC-EM stations on the air recently because the CRTC is insisting that the CBC build stations that they have licences for but have yet to build, or lose the licence. Some stations have been in hiatus for over a decade! Not sure how many listeners there are of the French networks in some parts of Canada. I'm sure there are repeaters out there with zero listeners at times. (What a waste of taxpayer's money - I would rather see them spend the money to convert TV repeaters to HD instead). There are some grandfathered calls used by the CBC. These calls were the ones of the private stations that the CBC took over. Normally the CBC changed the calls to CB.. calls when they took the stations over (CKLW -> CBET, etc). Why some didn't change I don't know. They are: English: CFPR Prince Rupert, BC CHFC Churchill, MB CFGB Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL CFWH Whitehorse, YT CHAK Inuvik, NT CFYK Yellowknife, NT CFFB Iqaluit, NU French: CHFA Edmonton, AB (TV is CBXFT) CKSB Winnipeg, MB (TV is CBWFT) CJBC Toronto, ON (TV is CBLFT) CHLM Rouyn-Noranda, QC CJBR Rimouski, QC Also, there are no CB calls on Shortwave.. CKZU Vancouver, BC CKCX Sackville, NB CKZN St John's, NL (CB calls not authorized by ITU for use on shortwave since CB calls belong to Chile. They are only used on the domestic bands). Hope this sheds some light on the subject. Cheers, (William Hepburn, Grimsby, ON, CAN http://www.dxinfocentre.com ibid.) Yes, indeed. BTW, CKZU was known as CBUX and CKZN as CBNX for many years until the Chile conflict was reconsidered. And the CBC IS/RCI Sackville SW plant used to have different calls (not with CB- tho) for each frequency. I seem to recall CKCX was 15190, and apparently CKCX is still on the books as the overall callsign for the facility? Yes, I believe this was already discussed some years ago in DXLD, but have not looked it up (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yip --- they simplified things by assigning CKCX to all frequencies. Try typing in CKCX into this website. http://sd.ic.gc.ca/pls/eng_alpha/web_search.call_sign_input Rgds, (Bill Hepburn, ibid.) That gets you 154 frequencies for Sackville, most of which, of course are not currently in use, yet it omits long active frequencies such as 13655. Could RCI`s use of that frequency be unauthorised? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Seems like none of the 13 MHz frequencies show up. Technically, I guess they are unauthorized (!) (Bill Hepburn, ibid.) You can download the engineering database from the Industry Canada website & open it in Microsoft Excel. This contains some of the additional information in question. (It tags stations as "CBC English" or "CBC French" without saying whether that means Radio 1 or Radio 2 for English, nor whether it's "Première Chaîne" or "Chaîne Culturelle" in French.) [renamed as Bill says above to Espace Musique] It's my understanding CHFA is indeed Première Chaîne, a.k.a. "French CBC". CBCX-FM-1 is Chaîne Culturelle, the French analog to English CBC Radio 2 (it's a high-powered relay of CBCX-FM Calgary). In their last license renewal, the CBC committed to extend Chaîne Culturelle to all provincial capitals and have licensed a number of new FMs over the last two years towards that goal (a similar commitment to extend English Radio Two also resulted in some new stations.) If I recall properly, an FM relay of CHFA was recently authorized in Edmonton city centre. The intent being to overcome computer interference that plagues AM signals in major office buildings. This is a relatively recent permit and may not be on the air yet. This, too, has happened in other cities in Western Canada - definitely Winnipeg and Calgary and I think in one or two places in Saskatchewan as well. (I'll verify this & provide calls & frequencies when I get home) ``A sense of history in play?`` I believe this is the case - CHFA was originally a private French-language station (probably a private affiliate of "CBC French") acquired by the CBC in, IIRC, the 1970s. You'll find other stations in that CBC list with other-than-CB calls; CKSB/Winnipeg and CJBR/Rimouski come to mind, there's another more recent entry in Quebec (Doug Smith, TN, ibid.) Tnx, Bill, and also Doug for your comments. I just noticed that the renewals are for only 2 years until 2008 (or 1 year for most of them not expiring until next year.) Is this out of the ordinary? I`d think the routine renewals would be for a longer period (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) I think what's going on is that the CRTC is not ready to hold the hearing they would normally have before renewing a license, and doesn't expect to be ready until after the licenses have expired. So they're issuing a short-term renewal to bridge the gap. http://spectrum.ic.gc.ca/engineering/engdec/baserad.zip Unzip it, and see if you can open AMSTATIO.DBF and FMSTATIO.DBF in your spreadsheet program. Most recent programs can. The frequencies, powers, and languages are in here. ("CBCE" = English, "CBCF" = French. Unfortunately it doesn't say whether Radio 1 or Radio 2.) I started typing frequencies & powers & networks into additional columns in that table but it looked like way too big of a project ! Yes, "Première Chaîne" is the new name for Radio Canada's first French-language network. The second (cultural) network is "Chaîne Culturelle". I'm darned glad I don't have to pronounce either one . The difference between the two networks is similar to that between CBC Radio One and CBC Radio Two in English. Première Chaîne does now have an FM outlet in Edmonton, CHFA-10-FM on 101.1. (3,931w/123.7m on the same tower as the CBX-AM relay on 93.9; this is probably a downtown building.) Both FMs are very new - authorized just a month or two ago - so I suppose they aren't in the FM Atlas yet. They may not be on the air yet either. CBCX-FM-1 on 90.1 is Chaîne Culturelle. It's a relay of 89.7 Calgary. I believe the five CBP- stations (CBPN, CBPI, CBPJ, CBPQ, CBPS) are tourist-information stations, operated by the CBC on behalf of ?? (local governments, probably). Note that CBPN is listed twice . They don't seem to bother changing them. Not in the Edmonton case nor anywhere else; CKLW-TV => CBET seems to be a bit of an anomaly. Maybe because there continued to be a privately-owned CKLW radio. Best I can tell there is no CBXF. My information is that CHFA went on the air in November 1949 as a private station. It was sold to the CBC in April 1974. In 1966 its ownership was listed as "Radio Edmonton Ltee." which leads me to believe it was French at that time - and quite likely all the way back to 1949. I suspect it was a Radio-Canada *affiliate* station well before 1974. Interestingly, in 1991 CHFA is listed as having a Sales Manager?? -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com ibid.) Doug, Chaîne Culturelle is now Espace Musique... http://www.src.ca/radio2/frequences.shtml ``I believe the five CBP- stations (CBPN, CBPI, CBPJ, CBPQ, CBPS) are tourist-information stations, operated by the CBC on behalf of ?? (local governments, probably). Note that CBPN is listed twice.`` That is correct, except the CBC operates them for other federal government departments (Parks Canada, Environment Canada) that by law cannot hold broadcast licences on their own (as CBC is the only licenced government broadcaster). A twist to this --- new rules allow low power FMs to be owned by anyone, so I managed to obtain our own licence at Environment Canada for CHBI-FM 102.5 Britt, ON which will be our weather station serving the highway between Sudbury and Parry Sound. If we bump the power up beyond 50 watts, we will have to have the CBC take over the licence. It's about 50/50 these days. All of the recent new CBLT and CBKT relayers had their private calls changed to CBLT- or CBKT- including several ES targets (CKOS, CJIC, CFCL, etc) - except for some reason CKBI-TV-4 (Bill Hepburn, ibid.) ** CANADA. Strong DRM Signals from Sackville --- 11900 kHz, English Techno-Pop in DRM from TDP Radio, Sackville, NB between 1600-1800 UT Aug 26. S9+ Signal Software Defined Radio [SDR 1000 from Flex-Radio], Hustler 5BTV Antenna. Software = Dream v 1.61 (Brian Crow, PA, K3VR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Re 6-128, RIP, Yaroslav Harchun --- Thanks, Bill, for alerting us to Yaroslav Harchun's passing. Though I tried NOT to listen to the Ukrainian service to avoid adding to the pan-Slavic babel in my head (Russian/Polish/Czech -- jack of all trades...), I can hear his pleasant voice in my mind's ear and am saddened by the news. Guess this is yet another example of the personal touch inherent in radio, often absent in other modes. Very 73 de (Anne Fanelli in Elma, NY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Guaranteed confusion on 103.1 --- If you hear "California 103" on 103.1, don't be so sure of what state you've actually logged: http://www.california103.com/index.asp?CP=BBAR_1 (Doug Smith, W9WI Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com WTFDA via DXLD) Website based in Calgary, Alberta. Also promotes an event in Inglewood! Is there an Inglewood around Calgary too? Or do they think they have a huge web audience in Los Ángeles? Lasts year`s FM Atlas shows CIQX, ``The Breeze`` 103.1 in Calgary (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 6155, CNR-2/CBR, Aug 27, 1330-1355, ``Advanced Studio Classroom``, which is a segment of ``English Evening``; Bill, Phil and Naomi talk about VOIC technology, making calls over the internet; 1355 ``This is English Evening, on China Business Radio, with Alan and Joy``, fair reception. Studio Classroom is produced in Taiwan and is a regular segment of English Evening. Website: http://studioclassroom.com/ (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yet it is feared that the Mainland will bomb Taiwan? (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. Haven`t listened much the last few days, but did check a bit for Firedrake against Sound of Hope. Sat Aug 26 at 1318 it was weakly audible on 17330 but not on 14050; Sun Aug 27 at 1358 it was poor on 14050 but not on 17330, and 14050 went off 4 seconds after 1400. It was on again when rechecked at 1416 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. Once, back in about 1977, was looking to measure the frequency of the Costa Rican on 1525. It was there, and about 500 Hz high. But I started hearing some carriers on 1521 (this wasn't long after LSS EDT) and, to my great astonishment I heard weakly but clearly the bars of "East is Red!" I believe I measured it as 1,520,981 Hz; the same as I'd measured back in the Philippines in 1973. And the other carriers were the usual USSR jammers, same as I'd hear nightly in the Philippines. If ONLY I'd been taping IDs then. I knew for sure it was Xin Jiang, but nothing to show for it. Many years later, 2001-2003, at VOA Delano, one of my colleague techs had worked for Continental Electronics until he got his 5 years for US citizenship (He'd been a transmitter tech at VOA Tinang, Philippines) before coming aboard VOA Greenville and then transferring to VOA Delano. While at Continental, he'd been sent to Xin Jiang to direct overhaul of some Continental HFBC transmitters (which, he was certain, were used at times to jam VOA). He described the four-in-line tower array for the 1521 operation, though I don't remember who built the transmitter. What a strange world. Pretty close to over the North Pole, I'd think Chuck (Charles A Taylor, WD9INP/4 Greenville, North Carolina, Aug 24, IRCA via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Marfil Estéreo, Puerto Lleras, 5909.99, 0550-0630+ Aug 19, Spanish ballads, rancheras, Spanish announcements, ID; fair-good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See MEXICO ** CUBA. GMT 0130, August 26: "And now a news update from Habana..." read by Arnaldo Coro Antich on 6000 kHz, English service. I'm tellin' ya, he's being pressed into service more these days, despite nobody believing me (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Coro just stated that you can "...hear RHC live from 0500 to 0700 GMT at http://www.radiohc.cu " Huh? Goofy, but guess so, as I just went there, and opened the audio stream link. It defaults to WinAmp, but dead on streaming right now (0140). Attached JPEG ripped from said site. Anyone care to alter it? (Terry Krueger, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s the Fidel 80 birthday logo. O, Fidel looks so sad. Terry, I do not not believe you about Coro. I`ve heard him announce that before, but apparently he is wrong about that too (the hours). They`ve been streaming for quite a while (when it works). 73, (Glenn to Terry, via DXLD) Who knows. I foolishly waste my free time monitoring all things Cuban, including RHC, and it seems I'm stumbling into Arnie more often than in the past on the English and Spanish services of RHC. Maybe it is just my timing? BTW, Fidel looked pretty *uckin* sharp in that one official still photo where he was wearing an ancient Adidas logo polo shirt. Great marketing for Adidas! They should be so proud to have a free dictator as their spokesperson (Krueger, ibid.) Per RHC, today is the 35th anniversary of the death of George Jackson, a political activist (unheard of to me). Here's the funny part: reader "Ed Newman" stated that Jackson "...somehow smuggled a handgun in his Afro into prison." He ain't heavy, that's his hairdo? Afro Sheen -- the best lubricant for your .357? The jokes are endless here. RHC is the most entertaining source available (TV, radio, newsprint...) (Terry L Krueger, ibid.) No joke -- it was really claimed that the gun was smuggled in under an Afro... CHARLES GARRY OPENING STATEMENT AT S.Q.6 TRIAL: "GEORGE JACKSON SET-UP SPARKED SAN QUENTIN DEATHS" The prosecution in the case of the San Quentin 6 was dealt a severe setback last week. Under intensive cross-examination by noted attorney Charles R. Garry, former San Quentin prison guard McCray testified that, in truth, he did not know where the gun came from that allegedly ignited the August 21, 1971, incident in which Black Panther Party Field Marshal George Jackson was assassinated and five others died. McCray, a former sergeant who was in charge of the Adjustment Center on August 21, testified that he saw George Jackson both as he left and re-entered the area following a visit and that he did not see anything unusual about Brother George's hair; that George was not wearing an Afro-wig; that George did not pull a 9mm gun from under an Afro-wig or from his hair: and that "to this day" he does not know where the gun came from (via Mike Cooper via Terry Krueger, DXLD) Clearly, I should never question RHC's script! Thanks, Mike (Krueger, ibid.) ** CUBA. RHC runup to Aló Presidente, Sunday Aug 27 at 1403 on 13750, again, much stronger than // 13680, mentioned that they would start live hurricane coverage at 6 pm = 22 UT. Check the usual, other, frequencies (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. 7110, WRMI (presumed) with Radio República program. 26 Aug 0325. Presumed broadcast via WRMI. Several ID's in Spanish with mentions of Cuba and North America. Comments by OM announcer about Mr. Castro. Numerous breaks throughout the broadcast with a cock crowing. Good (Joe Wood, TN, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) This broadcast has nothing to do with WRMI, which could not possibly be broadcasting on the 40m hamband. It is not even brokered by WRMI, which is the case on 5910 via Germany. It is a relay via VT Rampisham UK, as first revealed months ago in DXLD (gh) ** CUBA [and non]. US VIRGIN ISLANDS, Radio Martí (via WDHP, Frederiksted), 1620 kHz, 0035-0100+ 27 August, 2006. Fair on peaks over WNRP, Gulf Breeze, FL (Pensacola Pelicans vs. Louisiana). Spanish baseball coverage, parallel jammed 6030, etc. Still no trace of the buzzmitter jammer, gone for about a week now and presume broken. EC- 130J (airborne) Radio Martí on 530 kHz was a no-show at 2300 GMT 26 August (Saturday), so they must be under strict budget and operating protocol to indeed broadcast only 1 X per week, this after appearing on Friday, 25 August (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DIEGO GARCIA. DIOGO GARCIA, 4319, AFN, Diogo Garcia, 2132-2145, 18 AUG, English, NPR news+infos program in All Things Considered; 54343, adjacent utility QRM (Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DJIBOUTI. RTD Djibouti, 4780, *0300-0320+ Aug 19. Sign-on with local Horn of Africa music. 0301 vernacular talk, 0303 Kor`an. 0308 more vernacular talk, 0309 HOA music. Fair but with some weak ute QRM (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 9560, R. Ethiopia, Aug 17, *1600-1605, 23432, English, 1600 IS, ID, Talk and Ethiopian pop music. 9559.85, R. Ethiopia, Aug 20, 1400-1412, 23442, Arabic, 1400 IS, Three gongs, Talk and Ethiopian pop music (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) Since the first log is not specified as 9560.00, we would assume he did not bother to measure it more closely, and it could actually have also been 9559.85 (gh, DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. NEW AM TRANSMITTERS FOR ETHIOPIA http://www.broadcast.harris.com/news/view_pressrelease.asp?act=lookup&pr_id=1944 Harris Corporation (NYSE: HRS) today announced a turnkey radio transmission sale to Radio Ethiopia, a segment of the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency (ERTA). Harris will deliver high-power AM transmitters to stations in Harar (3DX^(TM)-D100, 100 kW) and Mekele (DX^® -D200, 200 kW) this fall through Technology Systems and Solutions, a Harris dealer representative based in Ethiopia. The transmitters, which are ready for DRM and HD Radio^(TM) conversion, will deliver a higher quality signal to a large part of the country -- - highly important for a population that relies on radio for news and information in addition to entertainment. The new transmission system will dramatically improve the quality of AM radio transmissions throughout the country by the end of 2006 (From a Harris Corp. press release via Bruce Portzer, HCDX via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 7210, R. Fana, Addis Ababa, 0310-0350 fade out, Aug 24, new frequency replacing 6940 (not heard), Amharic news and comment about Israel/Lebanon crisis, QRM BBC in Swahili on 7210 (heard \\ 6050), 33332. R. Fana was heard \\ new 6110 (x6210 not heard) , 43333 with QRM by TWR Manzini 6110 in Swahili (presumed) until 0330*. Thanks to Savolainen for info about the R. Fana permanent frequency changes (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DXplorer Aug 24 via BCDX via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. I heard Voice of Oromiya Independence via Juelich on 15650 from 1500 until 1530 today, Saturday, 19 August, in presumed Oromo. At 1500 Radio Miami International announcement by Jeff White; then instrumental theme music. Most of the broadcast was a man speaking, with many mentions of Oromo, Oromoto, Oromiya, etc. Theme music again at 1525 began as instrumental but soon added a male singer who mentioned Oromiya many times. Transmitter off at 1530. Fair signal throughout the broadcast (Wendel Craighead, KS, DXplorer Aug 20 via BCDX via DXLD) ** EUROPE. Offshore Radio Special Today at 14-19 UT also on Shortwave! Hello, A quick and short update about the Offshore Radio Special who's gonna be broadcasted this afternoon [Sunday Aug 27] from 04:00 PM until 09:00 PM CE[S]T on webradio http://www.enterprise103.com I've received just a message that the special gonna be broadcasted by somebody on Shortwave on the frequency 3907 kHz SW. This is a special surprise for myself and I hope that the die hard fans gonna enjoy even more the annual special "this" year :-) For details about the contents of the special see my weblog at this link http://djmcharry.web-log.nl/djmcharry/2006/07/the_offshore_ra.html Philippe Derluyn aka harry - Belgium +32495 / 76 35 84 skype - philbelgium (coming soon) homepage : http://users.pandora.be/meet_harry/ flash : http://users.pandora.be/meet_harry/PhilippeDerluyn.htm weblog : http://harry.enterprise103.com (via dxldyg before it was over, via DXLD) ** GABON. R. Gabon, 4777, *0459-0520+ Aug 19, sign-on with NA, 0501 opening French ID, news IDs, hi-life music; fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Conical monopole of Rhode & Schwarz was formerly also used as reserve antenna at SWF/SWR Rohrdorf Germany site, on 7265 kHz. But was not much effective in nearby neighbouring European target, rather much striking as DX antenna on low horizontal angle. Main SW antenna at Rohrdorf of HQ quadrant antenna type was mostly used to feed target up to 1500 kilometers in Mediterranean basin (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, BCDX Aug 26 via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. Rwanda: DW on 15205 at 2100z in English to W Af. // 11865. If you're looking for an afternoon newscast from Europe, one of these channels is usually open. At 2000z 15205 is from Wertachtal but reception is not so good (beamed wrong). (Jerry Lenamon, Waco TX, Drake R8B, sloper at 45 degrees, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. Illegal station (FM pirate in Guyana) http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56502286 I was glad to see the frequency (98.3 FM) mentioned in the article -- most reports of pirate operations seem to omit that vital bit of information. I'll be going to Guyana in October on a medical mission trip and will pass thru the community (Linden) mentioned in the article on the way to a hospital in the small mining town of Kwakwani. National elections will be held in Guyana on Monday 8/28 and there will certainly be some unrest and potential violence regardless of the results. I plan on taking my DX-398 on the trip and possibly do some AM DXing from Kwakwani (about 100 miles inland from the coast along the Berbice River). I'm not sure how much time I'll have to listen as I'm one of two co-leaders on the trip and will probably be "up to my knees in alligators" dealing with details and the inevitable problems/issues that arise on such a trip. I doubt the Linden FM pirate will still be broadcasting two months after the election (it may depend on the outcome!) but I'll try to listen for him anyway (Bruce Winkelman AA5CO, Tulsa, OK, ABDX via DXLD) He`s a pharmacist, with the Fellowship Lutheran Church (gh) ** INDONESIA. 3987.04, RRI Manokwari (presumed), 1218-1300 Aug 22. Short speeches before a live audience; after each speaker, a YL announcer talked briefly with comment or analysis; this ended at 1238, followed by a M briefly, then 18 minutes of Arabic-sounding music; SCI and Jak program at 1300. Good signal today (John Wilkins-CO-USA, DXplorer Aug 23 via BCDX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3987.05, RRI-Manokwari, Aug 18, 1053-1105, 35232 Indonesian, Music, 1059 chime, 1100 News. 3987.05, RRI-Manokwari, Aug 19, 1053-1103, 35232, Indonesian, Talk and music, 1058 chime, 1100 News. 7289.86, RRI-Nabire, Aug 16, 0817-0828, 25342, Indonesian, Jakarta news relay, ID at 0819, Music. 15150, V. of Indonesia, Aug 18, 0748-0805, 43443-44444, English, Repetition of IS and ID, 0800 Opening music, opening announce, News (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non]. NASA have cancelled today's launch of the Space Shuttle because of bad weather and lightning strikes on Saturday. They have re-scheduled the launch for Monday 28th at 2004 UT. 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 10780 in case other aircraft/ships are sent to other frequencies. For the attempted launch of the previous flight in July, the NASA SRB recovery vessels "Liberty Star" and "Freedom Star" were using 5711 USB, in comms with Cape Radio. Cape Radio tried to QSY them to HF 9132, but Cape Radio could not hear them. They may use the same frequencies today, only time will tell! (Graham Tanner, London, UK, Aug 27, monitoringmonthly yg via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. Hurricane Watch Net - Activation Plans --- http://www.hwn.org/home/activationplans.html (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, Aug 27, dxldyg via DXLD) See also CUBA ** ISLE OF MAN. It takes long to set up a longwave station ;-) Just found this at http://www.iomib.com/news.html Isle of Man International Broadcasting plc International commercial radio Covering the entire UK and Ireland and the near continent, on existing radios plus digital satellite and the internet NEWS RELEASES Press Statement The Company has experienced several problems this year, mostly resulting from the previous delays encountered by the project. These have manifested themselves in further delays which have been explained to our regulator and which are now being resolved. One fundamental change currently underway is the strengthening and expansion of the team and our Board of Directors. Rumours of resignations from the Board are inaccurate; specifically, the founder of the project, Paul Rusling, has not left the Company. The misunderstanding may be the result of a posting error. For the avoidance of doubt, the Board has neither received nor accepted any resignations. Indeed, the converse is happening with the appointment of a Station Director / General Manager and a Finance Director. As it is a condition of our licence that Board changes be first notified to the regulator (the Communications Commission) and a matter of courtesy that these be approved by shareholders before making them public, a more detailed announcement will be made once compliance matters are duly completed. ENDS Issued by Rodney Collins on behalf of Isle of Man International Broadcasting plc. Ric @ longwaveradio.com 11th August 2006 (via Harald Kuhl, Germany, MWC via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Re 6-128: Kol Israel 11590 at 0330z in English. Usable signal with occasional short, deep fades. Other channels not heard here tonight. Daytime channels are irregular here but I would expect that they are well heard in Europe. N Am and Europe are on roughly the same beam (Jerry Lenamon, Waco Texas, Icom R-75, fan sloper, UT Aug 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR. Dear friends, A station from Kashmir is now noted on 4765.8 kHz, probably Radio Kashmir, Leh/Jammu from tune in around 1415 UT. 4830 Jammu is absent and 4950 is heard well now. The program at 1430 is not parallel to Jammu 990 kHz MW. Leh is always difficult to hear on 4760 at my end. Anyway look out on 4765.8 --- 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Hyderabad 500082, India, Aug 25, dx_india via DXLD) ** LIBERIA [non]. ASCENSION: Star Radio 9525 at 0739-0800 s/off 8/26. Some talk, mostly African music. Began weak, ended moderate. First time heard and latest I've ever heard Africa. First time I've heard a late African signal get stronger. Occasionally insomnia pays off. 73/Liz (Cameron, Michigan, dxldyg via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. Voice of Africa from the Great Jamahiriya in English 1500 UT, August 25, 2006 on 17725 and 17850 kHz. Both frequencies had transmitter buzz/hum. SIO 453 for both. 17725 quickly faded away. Listened to 17850 until 1522 UT. IDs by male and female announcers. Songs. Program on the strategic improvements of the African Union. Eibi indicates transmitter is in Issoudun, France. 73, (Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, Manassas, VA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. [SARAWAK] RTM/Wai FM 1206-1321+ Aug 18. Man with odd chanting/talking/singing, accompanied by droning string instrument from 1206 to 1258 with no interruptions (have heard this program before on this frequency around this time); 1258 YL spoke briefly, followed by a bit of music; 1300 two pips and then presumed news. No IDs so don't know whether these programs were from RTM or Wai FM relay, or a combination of both. Similar program noted next day (19 Aug). A station has appeared recently on 7270.15 causing a high-side het; don't know who this is. Otherwise, a fair/good signal from the Malaysian (John Wilkins-CO-USA, DXplorer Aug 20 via BCDX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6010, Radio Mil (Mexico City) 08/04 0549-0600. OM preaching in English with Spanish translations after a few words. Mentions of the Gospel of St. John. ID at 0600. Poor (Joe Wood, TN, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) Unlikely R. Mil would be programming like that, but LV de tu Conciencia, Colombia might, even if you heard a Mil ID on the hour. Were you not getting both of them with a het? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: MÉXICO, 6010, Radio Mil, 0555-0605, 26 Agosto 2006, programa "Buenos días México" canción melódica, comentarios de locutores desde un restaurante, hablan de la artesanía del cuero, comentan de Costa Rica, canción ranchera, varias identificaciones, en español, 22332 (José Bueno, Spain, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Re 6-128: Yo no he podido sintonzar radio Planton en 88.5; según informaron en El Imparcial del 21 de agosto arrancaban transmisiones. ¿Alguien ha podido sintoizarlo aquí en el DF, o cerca de Reforma? (Héctor García Bojorge, DF, Aug 24, condig list via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. AUDIO OF THE NW42 PILOT IN CONVERSATION WITH SCHIPHOL AVAILABLE ONLINE Jonathan Marks drew my attention to this Dutch scanning website http://fmc.dotnet-services.nl/qra_monitor.htm where you can listen to a 12 minute edited version of the conversation between the pilot of NW42 and Schiphol Air Traffic Control yesterday. The Dutch military police have arrested 12 passengers of this Northwest Airlines flight that was escorted back to Amsterdam Schiphol airport by two F-16 fighter jets. No further details have been released, but Northwest Airlines says a number of passengers were acting suspiciously. The plane was on its way to Mumbai in India. Shortly after take-off, when it was over Germany, the pilot requested to return to Amsterdam for security reasons. Click on the speaker icon at the bottom of the item ‘F-16’s begeleiden toestel VS terug naar Schiphol’ to listen to the recording. The conversation is, of course, in English (August 24th, 2006, 08:23 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) Loud tease audio autolaunches; beware (gh) ** NEW ZEALAND. I noticed presumed Levin to be on about 3935.065 kHz. Are there any NZ MW stations even slightly off the nominal frequency? 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, mwoffsets Aug 24 via BCDX via DXLD) Last time I checked ZLXA (20 August at 1945 UT) it was on usual 3935.07 for me. I can only estimate to 2 decimal places. Am not aware of any NZ MW stations off-frequency. But quite a few off-channel Latin hets audible evenings of late. Will report in on my observations later (Bryan Clark, mwoffsets Aug 24 via BCDX via DXLD) ** NIGER. La Voix du Sahel, 9705 off at 2301z after reading from the Kor`an and an anthem. I listened in occasionally from about 2015z until sign off (Jerry Lenamon, Waco Texas, Aug 26, Drake R8B, T2FD at 0 degrees, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. CRYSTAL SHIP LOGGING RESPONSE This is what I received in response to my e-mail reception report (which I had noted here a few days ago): From: John Poet tcsshortwave @ yahoo.com To: William Martin Subject: Re: Crystal Ship logging Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2006 19:22:49 -0700 (PDT) Will, Thank you for your report! We have quite a few confirmed listeners in Missouri now. I guess it`s a good direction for our antenna and our signal comes down well there. (Should be better come winter, but with an indoor whip – hey -- I find that amazing by itself!) During the summer we generally broadcast between 0000-0400 on 6876 kHz as our primary frequency. During the winter that frequency, or 6854 kHz, will be used 2 hours plus/minus local sunset --- so quite a bit earlier depending on the month. But we will also use 90 meter frequencies later at night (3.2-3.4 MHz) during the dead of winter. We are adding you to our Emailing list if you have no objection -- and we'll thereby notify you about some of our broadcasts and frequencies in use. (Email notices will come from tcsshortwave @ gmail.com) Sunday evenings are our most predictable broadcast time, although we sometimes show up during the weeknights also. The 'typical pirate nights' of Friday and Saturday we generally can't do due to schedule conflicts.... but it seems Sunday night has become much more of a 'pirate night' also since we started using it two years ago. I did run later than usual last night, as I started later than usual, but in this season we typically run through 0300 --- if no big internationals are scheduled to preempt our frequencies before then. We are currently using a Johnson Viking 2 with 100 watts AM carrier output for transmissions. Soon we will have 1-2 Johnson Valiants back in service with 150-200 watts AM carrier, and may start using parallel frequencies again in late fall/winter. Your report is sufficient for a QSL, if we can get your mailing address. [I sent it to him -WM] Hey, thanks for the details about the logging on the show. That's pretty cool, I wasn't aware of that program. (I guess I'm often on the air when it is on, Sundays anyway...) [The above referred to my mentioning the "DXing with Cumbre" report of other peoples' loggings of The Crystal Ship. I sent him a pointer to the "DX Programs" file for a list of DXw/C times and frequencies - WM] Pirate broadcasting times are determined partly by propagation conditions, and partly because listener response tapers off radically after about 11 pm eastern time. During the few hours before 11/10 pm, during the winter, you are unlikely to find much pirate activity around 40 meters, because transmissions in the east would "go long" over the bulk of pirate listeners on the east coast and northeast. That's why we started using much lower frequencies during that season later at night -- works out well if we can avoid interference. (Not easy when restricted to crystal frequencies in that range.) ***END*** (via Will Martin, dxldyg via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. Tulsa IBOC --- This past week I've been scanning the AM band during my morning drive time (roughly 0730-0745 CDT [1230-1245 UT]) and noted KAKC-1300 has not been running IBOC as heard earlier this summer. Both 1380 KMUS R. Disney and 1430 KTBZ The Buzz are still IBOCing away. KFAB-1110 IBOC noise covers 1100 and 1120 during the time and WOAI-1200 IBOC usually clobbers KGYN-1210 (Bruce Winkelman, AA5CO, Tulsa, OK, Aug 25, IRCA mailing list via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. At 1259 UT Aug 27, KWTV-9 OKC inserted some breaking news about the plane crash near Lexington. Lexington where? Yes, we soon found out it was KY, but there`s a Lexington in just about every state including some signfiicant ones besides KY. No, the announcer was not European where they seem to think any place in America is sufficiently identified as ``USA`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN [non]. RADIO VERITAS ASIA URDU SERVICE MAKES A DIFFERENCE FOR LISTENERS --- August 24, 2006 http://www.theindiancatholic.com/newsread.asp?nid=3083 LAHORE, Pakistan (UCAN) -- The Urdu-language broadcast service of the Asian Catholic bishops' shortwave radio station attributes its achievements during 19 years of service to both its devoted staff and its listeners. Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), based just outside Manila, is a project of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences. It started its Urdu service on Aug. 14, 1987, mainly for listeners in Pakistan, India and West Asia. A Mass on Aug. 12 at Rabita Manzil, the office of the Pakistani Catholic bishops' social communication commission in Lahore, 270 kilometers southeast of Islamabad, officially marked the Urdu service's 19th anniversary. The service is diverse, with offerings that range from programs on Urdu literature and Urdu movie reviews to comedies and programs tailored for women and youth. But there are no specifically religious programs. This year the programs were produced with a thematic focus on "Culture of Forgiveness." Next year's programming theme has been set as "Human Dignity." About 50 people attended the Lahore event, including Rabita Manzil staff members, and board members and producers of the Urdu service. During Mass, Father Khalid Yousaf, former coordinator of the service, said radio is still an important means of conveying "the message of God in regions where we cannot reach or talk in person." The priest then described how RVA programs have made a difference in the lives of listeners. He cited a woman who, after listening to RVA programs, started sending her children to school instead of putting them to work. Citing another example, he said a Hindu from India "contacted us saying that he was about to commit suicide but got new encouragement (from an RVA program) to renew his life." Father Yousaf also said many people have started asking about Jesus Christ after listening to the radio programs. He mentioned that he has received positive comments even from listeners in Germany. During the offertory of the anniversary Mass, a radio and two cassettes produced by WAVE (Workshop on Audio-Visual Education) studio, the Church's national audiovisual center, were blessed. The studio is at Rabita Manzil. Afterward, Archbishop Lawrence John Saldanha of Lahore, chairman of the Pakistani bishops' social communication commission, lit a "jubilee candle" to start the 20th year of the Urdu service. The archbishop, who formerly directed the Urdu service for 10 years, asked it to produce good-quality, light "fast-food-type programs" for indirect evangelization. He also urged its workers to dialogue with its listeners. Father Nadeem John Shakir, current Urdu service director, told UCA News he stresses interreligious dialogue. He noted that he sometimes engages Muslim performers to play Christian compositions. "Together we say common prayers before starting a program or recording. We dine together. Professional Muslim singers sing duets with Christians," he said. The Urdu service plays a model role in the mission and vocation of the Church in Pakistan, he stated, but "nobody has claimed that we preach Christianity." Nonetheless, he cited a request from some Muslims for psalms. Earlier, the Urdu service held a "listeners conference" to evaluate its 2006 programs and plan for next year. About 25 listeners from various regions of Punjab province participated in the July 9 meeting. They suggested continuing current programs alongside new ones on general information and current issues. At that meeting, Gul Zaib Abbasi, a Muslim teacher, called RVA a "messenger of peace, brotherhood and friendship." Abbasi told UCA News he has listened to RVA Urdu programs for 12 years and they are "far above the debate of religion." He also praised them for "promoting classical Urdu literature." Rebecca Amanat, a student and regular listener for six years, told UCA News she has been running a "shortwave listeners club" since Aug. 14, 2000. She said the club's members now number 35 and include college friends, laborers and schoolchildren. They gather at her home in Sangla Hill, 225 kilometers south of Islamabad, to listen to RVA broadcasts. Archbishop Saldanha praised such initiatives. "Listeners are the backbone of Radio Veritas Asia. Their opinion shapes its programs," he said before distributing certificates of participation to the listeners. At the end of the conference, Father Shakir announced a three-point resolution, according to which the magazine Dosti (friendship), which has been published annually, would be replaced by a thrice-yearly newsletter, Veritas Dosti, beginning in 2007. The priest also announced that listeners meetings would be held in all four of Pakistan's provinces. Younas Sunny, RVA Urdu service producer, who has worked with the service since 1989, described his work as "not a job" but "a commitment and a vocation that changes lives, since it preaches nothing but peace." (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dxldyg via DXLD) Catholics in Pakistan? World Almanac 2002 says Pak is 97% Moslem (77% Sunni, 20% Shi`a), which means everything else from Atheist to Catholic to Hindu to whatever amounts to only 3% of the population. RVA has its work cut out for it. O, the tactic is ``indirect evangelization`` -- we call it stealth (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALAU. 9965, (Presumed) T8BZ, *1000(?)-1030+, Aug.25-27, Mandarin. I think this is signing on earlier than listed *1030. Noted at 1020, Aug. 25, with ballads and usual piano music/announcement at 1030; Aug. 26, 1004-1016 with Mandarin ballads and Aug. 27 with carrier at 1000. No audio detected but I wasn't hearing much else on the bands that morning either (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverages, MLB-1, DTS-4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. R. Visión, Ortiz, Chiclayo, 4790.19, 0355-0410+ Aug 20. Spanish religious talk; 0358, 0404 IDs. Talk over OA style music. 0404 preacher and prayers. Fair level but slightly wobbly, unstable carrier (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. RVA evangelizes PAKISTAN: q.v. ** RUSSIA [and non]. Meteo stations: 2941, 6617, 8939, 11297 kHz Pulkovo (RUS) xx.05-xx.15, xx.25-xx.45 Russian. Rostov (RUS) xx.25-xx.30, xx.55-xx.00 Russian. 10090 kHz Tashkent meteo (UZB). English. [on what sked?] 2869, 6693, 8888, 11318 kHz Syktyvkar xx.00-xx.05, xx.30-xx.35 Russian Samara xx.15-xx.20, xx.45-xx.50 Russian Tyumen xx.20-xx.25, xx.50-xx.55 Russian Novosibirsk xx.10-xx.15, xx.40-xx.45 Russian 4645 kHz Tallinn (EST) [on what sked?] (Albert Grabarenko, Dubna, Moskovskaya oblast, Rus-DX via DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5019.87, SIBC, 1104-1205+ Aug 22. Apparent news to 1113, then a ten-minute religious program, followed by ads or announcements mentioning Solomon Islands; a program of local vocal music followed, with frequent mentions of "Happy Islands" and Solomon Islands; 1200 YL with closedown announcement: "You've been listening to Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Happy Isles..." and announced frequencies of 1035 and 5020 kHz; said they'd return "tomorrow morning at 6:00"; at 1201 they joined BBCWS in progress. Pretty good signal and enjoyable listening to an hour of local programming (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer Aug 23 via BCDX via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. SLBC, 15745 evening --- Dear Friends, noted today 27 Aug on 15745 for evening Service to Asia in Indian languages at 0800-1530, parallel to 11905 and 7301.5. Must check up in the coming days if it`s a permanent addition. The MW HS frequency of 855 is not heard also for a long time (Jose Jacob, India, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. (Presumed): 11905 at 0210z in Hindi (I think). Listed as only 30 kW. Sri Lanka is almost directly over the pole from central USA so a transmission beamed to central India would be aimed at us also. Sri Lanka (Certain): SLBC 15745 at 0215z in English with morning show to the subcontinent. Included Bible study but I didn't catch the name of the program. I've previously heard "Back to the Bible" on SLBC but I'm not sure if that is what was on at this time. Listed as only 30 kW. India on 11620 and 10330 were also audible Friday evening (Jerry Lenamon, Waco Texas Drake R8B, sloper at 45 degrees, UT Aug 26, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN. 9505, R. Omdurman, Aug 19, 1622-1629, 43443, Arabic, Talk, ID at 1627. Also Aug 21, 1620-1632, 43443, Arabic, Talk, ID at 1625 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. R. Nile, via Madagascar, 9905, *0359-0457* Aug 19, sign-on with English ID announcements followed by English program about people returning to Cuba from Sudan and The Congo. 0407 ID, talk in vernacular and English about Sudanese refugees; local music. Sign- off with local music. // 12060, both good. UT Sat-Tue only. I`m back. I had a great time traveling around the country again this summer but the drum & bugle corps season is now over and it`s back to the real world. ESPN2 will feature drum corps highlights on Sept 5 at 8 pm ET [UT Wed Sept 6 0000]. (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [by P-mail, retyped and edited by gh; Welcome back to Brian, and his regular weekly reports, the only ones we reliably get by P-mail any more; but I suspect he somehow manages to read DXLD] MADAGASCAR, Radio Nile QSL. After no response to reports to Kampala, Utrecht, and e-mail addresses --- although I had previously received both postal and e-mail QSLs from predecessor Radio Voice of Hope ---, I sent reports [to] Talata. I received a full-data, except program name, large color Madagascar map card for 12060 and 9905 in 11 weeks. The letter was signed by Rahamefy Eddy, Technical Department, whose ham callsign is 5R8FT. The address is Radio Nederland, P. O. Box 404, Antananarivo - 101, Madagascar (Wendel Craighead, KS, DXplorer Aug 22 via BCDX via DXLD) ** U K [non]. North America, 9660, Aug 27 1100-1300, USA: Tentative: BBC World Service - relay. Tune in at 1246 with talk about Premiership TV Broadcasts; ID at 1256 as "BBC World Service"; Off air at 1300 followed without pause by this comment: "send your reception report to South Bend Indiana" cut off in mid air. Checking World Harvest Radio schedule it shows Angel 2 transmitter for 1100-1300 on 9660 kHz (Joe VA3EOJ Karthaus, Toronto, Canada, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ? There is nothing tentative about it. As first reported in DXLD, this schedule went into effect August 1. I just searched on WHR website for BBC as a program, however, and found that it is on WHRI not only at 11-13 on 9660 and 21-23 on 13765, but also at 03-04 on 6110 --- that would be Spanish, previously unnoticed. 6110 started the A-06 season via French Guiana, and I think previously was from Ascension, Antigua or UK itself. BTW, I guess this also means we can listen to BBCWS during these hours via the WHR audio stream, tho I have not tried (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for the update; wasn't sure if it was via USA because signal was on the weak side while nevertheless clear with good audio. 73 (Joe Karthaus, ibid.) Yes, the WHRI relay signals as heard in the US are certainly not outstanding, which I`m sure is just the way BBC likes it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Commercial Radio Pocket Book 2006 (interim edition) If, like me, the Radio Centre are failing to respond to phone and email requests for the Commercial Radio Pocket Book 2006, despite it being clearly advertised on their site, I came across this link by chance when googling for something else. It is the pdf (1.37 MB) of the interim version of the book which was on the old CRCA site with a request for stations to check their details before final publication: http://www.crca.co.uk/documents/PocketBook06TrialEditiononline.pdf (via Mike Barraclough, Aug 25, BDXC via DXLD) 122 pages. Somehow, non- commercial stations like VOA and WRN are included; awful lot of info (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. D.C. POLICE MAINTAIN FOCUS ON HOUSE WHERE LAWYER WAS MURDERED --- Emma Schwartz, Legal Times, August 24, 2006 In the 2 1/2 weeks since D.C. attorney Robert Wone was found stabbed in the Dupont Circle home of his friend of 14 years, police haven't made an arrest. Nor have they identified a suspect in the murder of the 32-year-old general counsel of Radio Free Asia. Without any further statements from the three residents of 1509 Swann St. N.W., all of whom were home the night of Aug. 2 when Wone was killed, police have focused on the one thing they have: the house where he was found. . . http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1156340415182 (via kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. Checked WWCR 12160 at 1605 UT Sat Aug 26 to see if I could hear the crosstalk from 15825 others have complained of. No, but I did find the 12160 signal quite weak, unlike WWCR`s other three frequencies 9985, 13845 and 15825 at that time --- 9985 was inbooming, so the same should be true on 12160. 13845 was good and strong, and 15825 good too, indicating some sporadic E in effect, as it can be virtually inaudible here. Furthermore, WWRB 12180, not far away geographically, was also inbooming. Therefore I must conclude that WWCR 12160 was running at much reduced power. How would others compare these? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Received in today's mail, a combined QSL for stations KPH and KSM in Bolinas California for the Night of Night VII special morse code transmissions, which were signed by D A Stoops. Form is a reprint of an RCA Radiogram from the 1960's, roughly 2/3rds the size of the standard business sheet, and printed by a teletype printer. Listed frequencies were circled on the back side, and a personal apology to send only one QSL as there were 120 to do. My report was for loggings of July 13, 2006 at 0245-0330 (approx.) for the following frequencies: KPH 6477.5, 8642, 12808.5, & 17016.8; KSM 12993 & 16914 (Joe Miller, Troy MI, MARE Tipsheet Aug 26 via DXLD) ** U S A. KMPH 840 Modesto CA --- I may have read here, some weeks or months ago, that this station is on the air. But if I did, I don't recall many postings on the subject. Well, today's FCC actions indicate that an application to augment both the day and night patterns has been filed. Usually that means that alignment of the DAs and proofs of performance have been underway for some time and the grant of a license to cover is not far off. As many of you know, KMPH, whose CP originally used the call sign KPMP, is the replacement for KTRB 860, which holds a CP to move to San Francisco with 50 kW DA-2 from dual sites (three half-wave towers days; four short towers nights), and is now dark pending completion of the move. Through some clever engineering, KMPH will operate day and night from KTRB's former site using 5 kW-U DA-2 (four towers days; five towers nights). The towers are the same ones that KTRB used to use. The application specifies two augmentations to the day pattern (directed mainly southeast) and four augmentations to the night pattern (directed mainly west). Earlier proposals had specified two sites and, I believe, lower power by day than by night (Dan Strassberg, Aug 25, IRCA via DXLD) O yes, KMPH 840 has been heard and QSLed already by Richard Wood in Hawaii (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. GOD FM?: WLIB RADIO TURNS FROM POLITICS TO THE PULPIT by KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO, Special to the AmNews, Originally posted 8/24/2006 Most people think great God will come from the sky Take away ev`rything, and make ev`rybody feel high But if you know what life is worth You would look for yours on earth And now you see the light You stand up for your right, yeah! --- from ``Get up, Stand Up`` by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh In a shocking new development, WLIB-AM will turn from broadcasting Air America and will become a 24-hour gospel station as of September 1, 2006. . . http://www.amsterdamnews.com/news/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=72067&sID=4 (Amsterdam News via DXLD) ** U S A. TRAIL TO AIR AMERICA KIDS CLUB http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/_trail_to_air_america_kids_club_regionalnews_murray_weiss.htm August 26, 2006 -- The indictment of state Sen. Efraín González is the tip of a massive corruption probe into taxpayer-funded programs, including the scandal-scarred youth group that lent $875,000 to launch liberal radio network Air America, The Post has learned. Federal prosecutors and the city Department of Investigation are zeroing in on ties between the West Bronx Neighborhood Association - which González is accused of using as his piggy bank - and the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club and its affiliate, Pathways for Youth. The Co-op City-based Gloria Wise, with an annual budget of $10 million, was one of the largest social-service providers in The Bronx before its city contracts for youth and elderly services were terminated when the astonishing Air America loan was disclosed in July 2005. Gloria Wise also made a mysterious $112,500 payout to González's West Bronx Neighborhood Association in 2001, writing the cash off for "consultant" fees, according to Internal Revenue Service records. Probers want to know why Gloria Wise needed to use "consultants" at the West Bronx association, located in the same Grand Concourse building as González's office. The Air America "loan" was arranged by one of the station's founding partners, Evan Montevel-Cohen, who was at the same time a $74,000-a- year development director at Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club. Montevel- Cohen has since resigned both posts. The scandal forced Gloria Wise founder and $227,000-a-year director Charles Rosen to resign, and the network agreed to pay back the money (via Craig Seufert, DXLD) So as far as A.A. is concerned, this is old news (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WBBR Maintenance --- Transmitter Supervisor Bob Janney at WBBR, 1130, New York City, 50 kW, DA-N, has sent word along that WBBR will be off the air as of 12:01 AM Eastern Time, Sunday morning, August 27 [0401 UT]. When they bring the transmitter back online they will be doing an audio proof of performance so look for a lot of tones once they come back up. 73, (Rene' F. Tetro, Lansdale, PA, USA, W2FIL, WPXG816, WPXU288, Aug 25, dxhub yg via DXLD) WBBR-1130 NYC OFF the air for transmitter maintenance 0002 EDT. Definite Spanish ID on 1130 0017 EDT from YVRL Radio Ideal (pronounced "E - D - AHL") Maiquetía (near Caracas) - battling 2nd unID SS (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, MA, Aug 27, NRC-AM via DXLD) See CANADA! With WBBR-1130 off the air, I think they are installing IBOC. At 0320 while trying to hear KMOX there was a_VERY_ strong signal that came on top of KMOX. It covered 1120 to 1140, sounded just like IBOC hash and cover my George Burns and Gracie Allen show on KMOX. At 0330 there is now an open carrier on 1130. Lord help us all now that WBBR is going IBOC!!! (Willis Monk, Old Fort TN, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) Many folks don't care for the fare on WBBR, but I'll give them this: they have one of the better NYC signals up this way at night, and it's probably one of the best processed stations on the dial period. Superb audio quality (Andrew MacKenzie, Greenville (Greene Co.) NY but working in beautiful downtown Albany tonite, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. High school sports skeds: I have permission from all concerned, and the first batch of sports stations are here: http://www.am-dx.com/fblist.htm This is the High School lists as sent by Art in the past month. I will work on the others soon. Hope it's useful! (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, IRCA mailing list, via DXLD) Stations, frequencies, locations, times, dates, teams playing; expected to be useful in identification when many MW stations cheat on Friday nites operating illegally high power day facilities. Also pro and collegiate sports broadcast schedules to be added (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This site is serious --- I like it! This is exactly the kind of format all this hard assembly work deserves, and it is now bookmarked here. Thanks, Art and Craig! (Saul Chernos, Ont., IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. CBS News Sunday Morning appears to have been in reruns all month long, including Aug 27 a theme-show about women guest-hosted by Leslie Stahl (can you imagine them doing one about men only?). Yet it`s flagged as `new` in TV Guide online listing, which doesn`t even mention today`s theme, just generic info on the show! Well, the brief news segment at the beginning had to be new, for which they switched to Russ Mitchell, a male! But not the rest of it. Enough is enough (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VANUATU. 3944.77, R. Vanuatu, 1008-1032, Aug. 21, English/ vernacular, English news at tune-in mentioning "Prime Minister" and "Labor Party". Drums/wind instruments at 1015; OM in language with ID and presumed news and weather. Pop ballads and talk. Program intro; 2 OM at 1029. Fair! Of course, not a peep here since! (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, Aug 27, R75, 200' Beverages, MLB-1, DTS-4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. 1130 heard in MA with WBBR off: see U S A ** VIRGIN ISLANDS US. WDHP with R. Martí: see CUBA [non] ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. 700 kHz, Polisario Front was noted on the same day I sent my other report, i.e. 22 AUG, viz. 2141-2345, Arabic, talks, songs, chantings, exhalted shoutings, news (tentatively) 2300; 54444, adjacent QRM de Algeria 702. DF with both my Beverages & K9AY show really different bearings between ALG 702 and Polisario 700, the latter being more westwards, so probably Tindouf. 1550 remains off. By the way, the Moroccan jammer remains on [1550] (Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7460, ALGERIA, Radio Nacional de la RASD, 8/18 0634, Arabic music interspersed with brief news items by OM in Arabic, full ID at 0700, into news bulletin (Ralph Brandi, NJ, DXplorer Aug 20 via BCDX Aug 26 via DXLD) I've been trying for 7460 from Algeria (Western Sahara) since reading about it in DXLD but no luck yet. Today I could zero beat the carrier underneath the splatter from 7465 but no audio. Is this the only SW station now operating from Algeria? (Jerry Lenamon, Waco Texas, Drake R8B, sloper at 45 degrees, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes. Rdf TV Algerienne has been long gone from the airwaves. They were a fairly easy catch. I haven't heard 7460 lately, either. 73/Liz (Cameron, MI, ibid.) ** ZAMBIA. (?) Following Anker Petersen's tip, this is what I could observe: 5915 kHz ZNBC (tentative, but most probably ZMB), Lusaka, 2114-2203*, Vernacular, phone-ins, African pops and western songs too, national anthem 2200 when rated 54333 (!); 33331, adjacent QRM de 5910, and as for co-channel Israel, Arabic program, well, it was hardly heard, so the disturbing QRM was actually from 5910. I got better signals the following days (Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5915, Zambia Nat. B.C., Aug 19, 1556-1612, 33333-32332, Vernacular, Talk, IS from 1558, ID at 1600, Drums, Local music, (ex: 4910 kHz) Also Aug 20, 1555-1606, 33333-32332, Vernacular, Afro pops music, IS from 1558, 1600 Repeated blows of a drum, Talk and local music (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. TANZANIA, 11735 V. of Tanzania-Zanzibar, Aug 19, 1612- 1622, 45444, Swahili, News, ID at 1615. Also Aug 21, 1633-1650, 45333, Swahili, Music and talk, ID at 1649, Kor`an. And Spice FM via V. of Tanzania-Zanzibar, Aug 22, 1800-1810, 35333, English, News, ID at 1805 and 1809 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. 6045, 26/08 0055, ZBC Harare, Zimbabwe, nice afro music, talk mentioning Zimbabwe, ID 0103, vernacular, fair. Ant T2FD, Ciao (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italy, bclnews.it via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ IRCA Slogans List 2006-2007 - NOW READY!!! This new edition includes slogans from the US, Canada and Mexico and has over 3900 slogans. Prices: IRCA/NRC members - $6.00 (US/Canada/Mexico/ sea mail), $8.00 (rest of the Americas/ Europe airmail), $8.50 (Australia/Japan/New Zealand airmail). Non-IRCA/ NRC members - add $1.50. To order, send your funds to: IRCA Bookstore, 9705 Mary Ave NW, Seattle WA 98117-2334. (Make checks out to Phil Bytheway - funds not made out to Phil Bytheway will be returned)... or use PayPal to: fokker_d8 @ yahoo.com (please include an extra $0.50 to cover the service charge). (Bytheway, Aug 24, IRCA via DXLD) I am wondering how it is organized and/or cross referenced. You don`t give any details of that unlike the other [Mexican] list. 73, (Glenn to Phil, via DXLD) Glenn, By frequency... with Canadian, Mexican and US alphabetized by location within each frequency. Guess I better add that info to the plug. And, bytheway, thanks for mentioning it in your Digest... great!!! (Phil Bytheway, DX LISTENING DIGEST) HERMAN BOEL`S QSLs AND DX RECORDINGS I have added a DX chapter to my personal web site. You can view a selection of QSL cards as well as listen to a few audio recordings. Address: http://www.hermanboel.eu/dx-en.htm I will try to add new items to the DX part of my web site in the coming days and weeks... Cheers, (Herman Boel, MWC via DXLD) GRAPHIC GAFFES ++++++++++++++ I could not believe my eyes when I spied the caption to the cover photo on the Aug 25-27 issue of USA Weekend, many millions of copies no doubt distributed, and received here as a supplement to the Enid Eagle: ``Setting Sail in the South Pacific`s Leeward Islands``. The cover can be seen here but the text in the lower right corner is probably too small to be legible: http://www.usaweekend.com/06_issues/060827/060827cruises.html and the photo credit says ``Cover photograph by Sylvain Grandadam, age fotostock``. I expect Sylvain knew where he was when he took the photo, but that info did not survive until publication. The Leeward Islands are in the Caribbean! They are next to the Windward Islands, AAMOF. Now ``leeward`` can also generically describe the relative positions of any islands or other objects in terms of prevailing winds, but as the capitalized name of a geographical entity (not a country in this case), USA Weekend are a few megameters off. Glancing thru the text inside, I find no mention of the Leewards one way or another (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ ``OVER`` IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES Hi all, It would be quite an useful tool to produce a document that lists the way (professionally trained) radio operators in each country and language would say "Over" at the end of a radio transmission. This could be something that is quite useful to UDXF members, especially for identifying unidentified languages. For example, the English and in Dutch say "Over", but in Spanish and Italian it is "Cambio", in French it is "? vous" and in Russian it is "Pryom". Additions are greatly appreciated. Thanks for your help. 73, (Ary Boender, BDX via DXLD) Was that French supposed to read ``à vous`` ? (gh, DXLD) RADIO PHILATELY +++++++++++++++ Re: Old-style International Reply Coupons - still valid? It`s a bit complicated as there are now three types of IRCs in circulation: 1) The large CN01 IRCs which were on sale until the end of July 2006 have an expiry date of 31 December 2006 and must be redeemed by then. These state "A exchanger jusqu'au 31.12.2006" on the RH side. I've seen reports suggesting that these may still be valid after 31 December 2006 but according to post office counter staff in the UK they expire at the end of the year. 2) The older, smaller yellow CN01 which were sold in the 1980s and 1990s have no printed expiry date and in theory remain valid indefinitely. But it is possible post offices will stop accepting them at the end of this year so I would recommend using them up by then. The older blue one (C22) are probably no longer valid. 3) New style IRCs also numbered CN01 have been on sale since 1 August 2006 and these have an expiry date of 31 December 2009. They now cost 95p at post offices in the UK. The club sometimes receives IRCs which have been incorrectly stamped by the issuing office and although we were able to exchange these in the past, I find that these are always rejected now. They should be postmarked or printed with the country name only on the left hand side (where it says "pays d'origine") NOT in the box marked "timbre de bureau qui effectu l'echange"! (Dave Kenny, BDXC via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ Re: Himalaya/Sangean DRM receivers For those who can make out something from German: http://forum.mysnip.de/read.php?8773,438796 This thread starts with a link to a Morphy Richards branded receiver being offered by an online shop for 199 Euro, with a picture marked as not representative ("illustration similar"), availability of the product remains unclear. Further on somebody says that the Sangean receiver will not appear before yearend, claiming that he got this in print from the company. Re Himalaya: "Demonstrating" does not mean that these sets will be available either. And so the story goes on and on and on (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM: CANADA; ETHIOPIA RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ ETON E1XM RECALLED FOR BATTERY FIRES, MONTHS AGO On the heels of flaming Dell computer batteries, and Apple power-book batteries melting before people's eyes, Larry Russell provides news that Etón portable radios have been recalled because their batteries pose a fire hazard. This apparently affects Etón E1XM radios serial numbers 3067-5642. see http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PREREL/prhtml06/06180.html for details. What is the deal with batteries these days? Hummmmm terrorists have infiltrated the battery manufacturers and are trying to use this as a way to bring down western civilization! Must be! :) (Ken Zichi, MARE Tipsheet Aug 26 via DXLD) Viz.: NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 7, 2006 Release #06-180 Firm’s Recall Hotline: (800) 872-2228 CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772 CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908 Etón Portable Radios Recalled, Batteries Pose Fire Hazard WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Name of Product: Etón E1XM-Model AM/FM/SW/XM-Ready Radios Units: About 1,700 Manufacturer: Etón Corp., of Palo Alto, Calif. Hazard: The battery in this radio can overheat and possibly rupture when using the AC adapter, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers. Incidents/Injuries: Etón has received one report of a battery overheating. No injuries have been reported. Description: The E1XM-model AM/FM/SW/XM-ready radios that are included in the recall have serial numbers from 3,067 through 5,642. The serial number is listed underneath the flap on the back of the unit. The Etón logo is located on the bottom left-hand corner of the unit. The XM radio logo and ``e1`` are written in the upper right corner of the radio. The unit is silver, and measures about 13-inches wide by 7.5- inches high by 2.5-inches deep. Sold at: Electronic stores and catalog, and on-line retailers from November 2004 through February 2006 for about $500. Manufactured In: India Remedy: Consumers should stop using the recalled radios immediately, and call Etón Corp. for a refund or replacement product. Consumer Contact: For more information call Etón Corp. at (800) 872- 2228 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. PT Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Website at http://www.etoncorp.com (CPSC via DXLD) REDSUN RP2100 AMAZING MW DX PERFORMANCE FOR A PORTABLE I recently acquired a Redsun RP2100. I think I have to tell this group that it has the most amazing performance on its internal ferrite rod antenna on the MW band. I can sit next to my North facing window and get readable copy of stations 8,000 kilometers away like: BBC Cyprus France Info Nice Saudi Arabia AIR Nagpur and many others Truly amazing for a portable, as it exceeds the performance of my GE SRIII by a wide margin and its excellent rendering of readable far off signals has no match. On its internal rod antenna it is also a performer on the SW bands, but amazingly it can connect to my large antennas and rival my tabletops in performance without overloading. Even my much vaunted Sony 2010 used to badly overload when connected to a large antenna, as do all my other portables. Reviews of the Redsun RP2100 and where to buy it can be found at: http://www.radiointel.com/review-redsunrp2100.htm http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/6055 (John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa South 33 d 47 m 32 s, East 20 d 07 m 32 s RX Icom IC-756 PRO III with MW mods Drake SW8 & ERGO software Sony 7600D, GE SRIII, Redsun RP2100 BW XCR 30, Braun T1000, Sangean 818 & 803A. GE circa 50's radiogram Antenna's RF Systems DX 1 Pro, Datong AD-270 Kiwa MW Loop http://www.dxing.info/about/dxers/plimmer.dx MWDX yg via DXLD) Of course, getting MW stations 8 Mm away is not that unusual in South Africa with its barely populated MW band (gh, DXLD) ICOM R9500-02 WIDEBAND RECEIVER Order #0095 List Price: T.B.A. Your Price: T.B.A. I was wondering if Icom would ever bring out a radio like this. It's not yet on the market but here's a preview at Universal Radio's website: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/widerxvr/0095.html And you can find a preliminary brochure here: http://www.ticon.net/%7En9ewo/ (Dave Pyatt, Burlington, ON NRD 545 + 4 ft box loop, IRCA via DXLD) I like everything except for the price range ICOM has been hinting at: "near the IC-R7800 price". As the 7800 is going for a little over $10,000, I suppose you won't see very many receptions from the 9500 popping up on this list (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) WHO NEEDS *NON-PROFESSIONAL* TRANSMITTER SITE RESEARCH? To all, For up-to-date listings of all official transmitter sites used by the HF broadcasting service, please visit: http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/broadcast/hf/refdata/reftables/site.txt For comprehensive data on sites, current and deleted, showing actual transmitters, please visit http://www.tdp.info/ For global HF transmitter sites, please visit http://www.hfcc.org/data/index.html Noting the public availability of the above engineering orientated data, I am puzzled at why extensive effort is being directed into non- professional research and duplication of such data, and published via this mailing list. The data provided by the ITU (as above) contains frequent updates of transmitter site additions, relocations, and deletions. Regards from Melbourne! (Bob Padula, Aug 26, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Hi Bob, Good to receive your first message to this list. Thank you for your comments, contribution & supplied links. Firstly the referred to links that you have provided are very useful resources. Secondly I must say I am a little surprised to hear that you might consider the Excel files available on this list as some kind of duplication of what is already available. True, a good deal of the TX site names/data is identical to some of those lists - no apologies for that, can't change any actual accurate data. But the differences between the other lists and ours are really quite different and REALLY this should be clearly apparent if you've taken time to have a really good look at the Excel files. You say you are puzzled, so let me enlighten you & anybody else here :-) Firstly any inference (and I know you didn't infer this) that Professional data (e.g. HFCC, ITU) is accurate data is totally wrong. There is a significant amount of old, non existent or inaccurate data in the HFCC & ILG lists. Just in the case of Taiwan alone & I'll highlight just 3 meagre cases of so many for you. 1. PaLi/BaLi site hasn't existed now for over 10 years - still listed in the ITU/HFCC. 2. Co-ordinates for the Minhsiung site are wrong, inaccurate by several minutes. 3. Several Taiwanese SW Txer sites missing in the ITU/HFCC Site lists. I could go on and on and on until the cows come home. Actually more like until Christmas or longer really, if given half a chance... :-P If someone was to equate a "professional publication" or professional organisation with automatic inferred competency or to someone that cares about what they do, (relating to our offering to the ITU/HFCC site list) then all I can say is that I'm glad that our little growing group is a non professional outfit offering to DXers or other radio enthusiasts or professionals what we are providing. The ITU/HFCC site list is a joke - it should be an awful lot better & more detailed & accurate than it is; this really should be obvious. Our list is far from error free, but I have highlighted in red areas that need to be updated & am hoping for more assistance with this. Our lists are still in, what I regard to as "draft status". The WRTH publication has taken time to improve since editorial changes. Changes don't occur overnight & our offering will take time to improve too. I am happy to say that it is improving every month thanks to a small team of committed people. We feed off each other's enthusiasm & another side effect of all this will be an improvement to the next WRTH - that has to be a good thing for the DX community. Also Google Earth is a great new resource tool that can be used to correct factually inaccurate data that might exist in the TDP, ILG, ITU & HFCC lists. We're happy to utilize this resource to the maximum, so now we can obtain accurate TX site names & accurate co- ordinates. Bob I have found some sites listed in some of the references you provided up to 60 km away from where indicated. Google Earth is also a great resource for those folk interested in transmission antennas & seeing where they heard a transmission from. For DXers interested in visiting transmitter sites for pictures & tours, our efforts to locate these sites accurately & record them can help DXers locate these sites for when they wish to visit them. RE TDP. Ludo produces a great resource. I am not sure if it is still being updated; I hope so. TDP list focuses on TXers at known sites. It doesn't primarily focus on actually transmitter sites themselves. Secondly we are the only list that records SW TX sites down to the second in terms of co-ordinate accuracy. This makes it easier to FIND/LOCATE these transmitter sites, which for small domestic broadcasters can be very difficult indeed. Our list also differs in that we have both an extinct site list & a current site list. These lists appear to different people. The extinct lists may have appeal to radio folk with historical interests in radio. Our lists also record data of when sites where commissioned & decommissioned for SW broadcasting. This is of interest to different folk. There are folk with interests in logging & QSLing SW sites & our list provides details for DXers to record there own personal data & use the lists are a target or hit list for logging or QSLing purposes. Apart from general SWLing & DXers, many DXers have a lot of associated & particular interests in shortwave. For example:- Some professional DXers wish to QSL every frequency that a SW broadcaster has ever broadcasted on. Some folk also wish to log new countries Some folk which to collect different QSL cards. Some wish to QSL every broadcaster from a specific TX site Some folk take interest in SW radio electronics Some folk in SW propagation. Some folk in SW EMC/RFI issues Some folk in SW QSL cards, pennant & stickers Some folk with interests also in antenna design testing, construction, collecting TX site pictures Some folk only interested in logging new sites or countries Some folk interested in antique SW radios Some folk also with interests & radio modifications and repairs. We all have different interests in radio. Personally my radio interests as a hobbyist & electronics/telecommunications technician (by trade) is a large one, with interests in: SWL, SW DXing, SW Logging & QSLing, FM DX, Computers for radio hobby, Radio Electronics; which include - radio modifications, projects, EMC- RFI, FM (Aust/NZ Pacific)/SW sticker collecting, SW & FM (Australasia) Transmitter site pictures & of course SW TXer site data records recording. Why all the effort? I have a philosophy if life, Bob. If a job is worth doing, then it is worth doing well. Also some people just take in this world, others give, others do both. With my work & the work of others in this project, I think we are all benefiting & I believe the global SW community will be the better for it. With our site & our database files we are offering a niche product & service that does have appeal to a particular sector or the global shortwave community. If the above organisations/websites that you mentioned could offer a quality product/service of the type that we are providing, then there wouldn't have been a need for me to establish what I have. I hope I have answered your question, Bob, as long winded as it has become and that those frowns on your forehead have now disappeared :-) I would welcome your scrutiny of our Excel file lists with comments, suggestions & corrections at any time. Regards from Sydney! (Ian Baxter, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) SYNCHING-UP -- WOULD ATTEMPTING TO REVIVE THIS 70+ YEAR-OLD TECHNOLOGY MAKE ANY SENSE? Seventy-odd years ago, when crystal oscillators were not nearly as stable as they are today, when AM DAs were in their infancy, and when NARBA had not yet come along to place two or more 50-kW AMs with protected skywave service on approximately half of the US Class I channels, an interesting AM broadcast technology -- synchronized carriers -- was born. It survived for nearly a decade and apparently died on 3/31/1941 with the advent of NARBA, which mandated the use of approximately half of the US Class I channels by two (and occasionally three) powerful stations per channel. These stations, designated Class IB, were granted exclusive use of their channels within their 0.5 mV/m 50% skywave contours and used directional antennas to prevent interference within the co-channel IB station's protected nighttime- skywave service area. Prior to NARBA, a large number of what became Class IB stations used – or attempted to use -- carrier synchronization to minimize co-channel interference. I presume (but don't know) that the implementation was somehow different from that of synchronized operation of stations in the same general area that simulcast the same program. Examples of synchronized simulcasts on nearby transmitters were WBZ Boston/WBZA Springfield MA (on 990 pre-NARBA) and WLLH Lowell and Lawrence MA (on 1370 pre-NARBA). The WLLH synchronized simulcast continues to this day and, of several dozen such simulcasts currently on the air in the US, is to my knowledge the only one that the FCC does not classify as "experimental." Examples of non-simulcast synchronized operations during the 1930s included WBAL Baltimore/WTIC Hartford (probably on 1040 or maybe 1050 pre-NARBA) and KEX Portland OR/KOB Albuquerque (maybe on 1140 or 1150 pre-NARBA). I know that the synchronization of the nearby transmitters was sometimes accomplished by sending the "master" carrier by wire to the "slave" station. That is, at one point, WBZ used coax to send its carrier the roughly 100 miles to Springfield. This arrangement might later have been replaced by the use of frequency dividers to produce an audio-frequency signal that could be sent over commercial voice- grade lines to Springfield, where the signal was used to drive chain of frequency multipliers. From what I can tell, the frequency divider/multiplier scheme must have been problematic and very likely never worked satisfactorily but for stations widely separated geographically (KEX and KOB, for example) may have been the only scheme that could be implemented because long runs of coax must have presented many technical and legal challenges. Today, however, such a scheme, if it had any value, might be implemented with the aid of geosynchronous satellites instead of any sort of wired connection between stations. As I see it, the potential value, if any, would be limited to a few AM stations, on whose channels nearly all co-channel interference comes from one dominant station. Here in the Boston area, I can think of two examples, WBIX 1060, whose only significant co-channel interference comes from KYW and WAMG 890, whose only significant co-channel interference comes from WLS. WBNW 1120 has in the past received more interference from WPRX Bristol CT than from KMOX. The satellite-based scheme should not be extraordinarily expensive to implement. My question is whether it would have any value. Would elimination of the sub-audible heterodyne between the carriers improve the listenability of the signal from stations subject to co-channel interference from a single dominant station? Your thoughts please. – (Dan Strassberg, AC 707, NRC-AM via DXLD) Being a non-engineer, but with great admiration for those with the technological knowledge and skill, I'm wondering about the methodology the European broadcasters have used for at least 50 years to load several synchronized transmitters carrying the same program on the same frequency and defeat the echo effect. In North America, there are two examples I hear occasionally of synchronized programming on the same frequency --- Two Cubans on 1180 and XEW and its Veracruz relay on 900. On each frequency, there is a slight program delay, and an adjustment of the radio shack loop can vary the strengths of the two signals. In Europe, at least in the 1957-58 when I DX'ed extensively from Aschaffenburg, Germany, with a Zenith T-O and later the Grundig- Majestic table model radio I had purchased on behalf of Roy Millar, there was no discernible evidence of more than one transmitter on the frequency (John Callarman, Krum, Texas, ibid.) MUSEA +++++ BRITISH PATHÉ FILMS NOW ON FREE DOWNLOAD British Pathé have now made 128 kbp/s versions of all their archive material available for free download. I searched and found the ones below on Radio Caroline and 2LO, very easy process to download them. Go to http://www.britishpathe.com/ Click on Advanced, put the identification numbers where it says Film ID and press go and download the video: 313.09 Radio Caroline colour, short travelogue along the Thames and then feature on Radio Caroline, 4 minutes 47 seconds, they are looking for help in naming all the DJ's 313.10 The previous feature seems to end abruptly, in fact it goes straight into this which is Unit Four Plus Two singing Concrete and Clay at the Barbican building site, no more offshore footage. 313.11 This is a 9 minute reel of outtakes from the above two, short Radio Caroline outtake at 4 minutes 50 then all Radio Caroline from 5 minutes 40 to end. 315.01 This is another reel of outtakes from the above, Radio Caroline outtakes to 4 minutes 10 and from 9 minutes 45. 1755.21 At Sea Pirate Radio Afloat 1 minute 41 second black and white report of Radio Caroline when it first came on the air 1806.16 50 seconds black and white, Radio Caroline DJ Simon Dee presents its first birthday award to the Beatles on the set of help, John Lennon rings the Caroline bell! If you want to look at the very earliest days of radio: 848.18 1925 3 minute film of 2 LO Putting radio in the basic search engine gives 1259 hits so there is a lot of other radio footage there to find with a more advanced search. (Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DXLD) ###