DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-010, January 24, 2007 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 2007 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html For restrixions and searchable 2006 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid6.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 FIRST SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1344: Wed 2300 WBCQ 7415 Thu 0000 WBCQ 18910-CLSB Thu 1430 WRMI 7385 Fri 2130 WWCR 7465 Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS Jan 23: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS [and non]. 4760.0, 1410-1602, INDIA, 04- 01, AIR Port Blair, Vernacular/English talks, choir singing, 1530 news in English from Delhi heard // 4775, 4820, 4910, 4940 and 5010, 1545 Hindi also from New Delhi // 5010, 1600 local programme 24333 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) See also KASHMIR for the other AIR on 4760 ** ARMENIA. New 4810.08, 0242-0305, Sunday 21-01, Armenia National R, Yerevan in Kurdish, new programme, native songs a cappella, 0253 flute, 0259 ID several times: "Dangi... (Kurdi ?)-stan", piano played "Für Elise", followed by usual relay of Home Service in Armenian with folksongs from 0303, 34343 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) It`s not new unless being 80 Hz off frequency makes it new (gh, DXLD) ** ASIA [non]. Thanks to A. J. Janitschek, Director - Production Support at Radio Free Asia (``RFA``), we learn that RFA`s Technical Operations Division announced the release of its thirteenth QSL card commemorating 2007 as the Year of the Pig. On 18 February 2007 one fourth of the world's population will celebrate the Chinese New Year; with that, it will usher in the Year of the Pig based upon the Chinese calendar. This QSL will be issued for all valid RFA reception reports from January 1 ­ February 28, 2007. RFA encourages listeners to submit reception reports. Reception reports are valuable to RFA as they help them evaluate the signal strength and quality of the station`s transmissions. RFA welcomes all reception report submissions at http://www.techweb.rfa.org (follow the QSL REPORTS link) not only from DX'ers, but also from its general listening audience. Reception reports are also accepted by email at qsl @ rfa.org and for anyone without Internet access, reception reports can be mailed to Reception Reports, Radio Free Asia, 2025 M. Street NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036, USA (NASWA Flashsheet Jan 21 via DXLD) ** BAHRAIN. 6010.1, 0255-0305 11-01, R Bahrain, Ras Hayan, English talk, pop music 23432 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4694.91, Radio San Miguel, Riberalta 1000 to 1030 with music, OM locator [¿locutor?]. A very weak signal compared to the signal when on 4901 variable. The transmitter seems more stable fluctuating from 4694 to 4695.5. When on 4900 drifted up to 4904. 17, 18, 19, 20 January (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Florida, 746 Pro, R75 Kiwa Modified, Sony 2010XA Modified by Dallas Lankford, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 6080, BRASIL: R. Marumby, Florianópolis - SC, PP, 1414, 17/01, ``...os irmãos que visitaram aqui a Marumby...``, 54454 A captação da Rádio Marumby em 6080 foi para mim uma coisa estranha, pois ela não consta no WRTH 2006 nesta frequência. Poderia ser a Rádio Novas de Paz de Curitiba retransmitindo a Marumby ? Fui no site da Marumby no endereço http://www.gmuh.com.br/radio/sintonia.htm e verifiquei que ela, em Ondas Curtas, como foi noticiado pelo Célio Romais, opera em 9665 e 11750 sob propriedade dos Gideões MIssionários da última Hora; sòmente a freqüência de OM continua com o proprietário antigo. E nenhuma menção à freqüência de 6080 que me chegou muito bem aqui em Barbace (ADALBERTO MARQUES DE AZEVEDO, BARBACENA-MG, BRASIL, SONY ICF-SW 7600 GR, ANTENA: DUAS LW DE 25 METROS MONTADAS UMA N-S E OUTRA L-O E INTERLIGADAS AO CENTRO. A LW DIRECIONADA NO SENTIDO L-O FICOU NO FORMATO DE “U” DEVIDO AS DIMENSÕES DO TERRENO, @tividade DX Jan 21 via DXLD) Both 2006 and 2007y WRTHs show two Brazilians on 6080, Novas de Paz, and CBN Anhanguera, Goiânia. Keeping track of all the gospel huxter broadcasters in Brazil and how they interrelate makes me yawn widely (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL [and non]. 4865.03, R. Verdes Florestas, Cruzeiro do Sul, Brasil. Full ID with mentions of 940 kHz AM and "Fundação Verdes Florestas" at 0025 then avisos in Portuguese. Finally caught after years and years! Fine and readable signal. The previously reported unID in German (?) Afrikaans (?) was heard few minutes before. 5014.5, tent. R. Altura, Perú, 4925.07, R. Educação Rural, Tefé, Brasil and 5035.1 R. Educação Rural Coari (which was missing here since a lot), were also heard. Full log available at http://www.radioascolto.org/html/index.php (Renato Bruni, Parma, Italy, HCDX via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. New 7200, 2223-0105, Sun-Mon, 07/08-01, R Varna, Varna Bulgarian relay of HS programme "Zdravei More", ex 7600. Bulgarian and international pop songs and short talks about new Bulgarian membership of the EU and about tourism, 45444 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** BULGARIA [non]. Bulgarian Folklore Orgy® 26 / 27 January 2007 WHRB : Harvard Radio Broadcasting 95.3 FM : http://whrb.org Friday 26 January: 10p - 9a EST [UTC -5h] [UT Sat 27 Jan 0300-1400] Saturday 27 January: 10p - 11a EST [UTC -5h] [UT Sun 28 Jan 0300-1600] Produced by WHRB [Cambridge, MA] --- Supported by GEGA New [Sofia, Bulgaria] Check back soon for links, information, and full playlist. http://www.BulgarianFolkOrgy.com (Producer Myke Weiskopf, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. CRI test series via Noblejas Spain ? SPAIN, 11810 [tentatively via Noblejas Spain?] Test series of CRI via Spain continues? Thanks to a tip of Noel Green-UK of Jan 22nd, CRI Beijing in French language heard again from 0800 UT today Jan 23rd. Is a test series of CRI via Noblejas-Spain relay underway? Maybe CRI will use the Spain facility in coming A07 season too? From Dec 28th onwards CRI has been heard regularly on 6125 kHz in our night at 2100-2200, some days [Mo-Fr] also extended up to 2300 UT. Audio feed bandwidth via satellite feeder is very limited, like an old army field phone line. 11810 - heard a Chinese program already around 0730-0745 UT, when underneath Jordan Radio Arabic co-channel. So the Spanish[?] technician switched on the transmitter already 30 minutes before program start. From 0745to 0759 UT only the Spanish carrier noted underneath Jordan Radio. 0800 UT, CRI French ID and IS, into newscast. Small audio width like night service on 6125 kHz. S=7 signal, not as strong as CRI Cerrik-ALB (11785 and 11855 at this time) S=9+10dB, or Noblejas-ESP S=9+20dB. But equal signal level like Noblejas-ESP on 11945 towards SoAM in 230 degrees, S=7. So, CRI 11810 kHz target could be as towards NoAF/NoWeAF/WeAF at 130 to 200 degrees from Spain. Co-channel Jordan close-down at 0810 UT. Did put all three channels on three neighbouring E1 Radio memory channels, in order to check signal strength very easily. Then fiddled very fast between these three Noblejas frequencies on the memory channels. At 0820 UT: 11810 S=9 up to +10dB 11945 S=9+20 dB 12035 S09+30dB up to +40dB Transmitter switch off at 0855:41 UT. (Wolfgang Büschel, Jan 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 6009.49, LV de tu Conciencia, Puerto Lleras, 0210-0250+ Jan 13, local Spanish ballads, talk. Possible religious talk. Poor, weak with splatter from Cuba on 6000. Must use ECSS-LSB to avoid a strong R. Sweden via Sackville on 6010. Overall, a poor, difficult signal. 5910.05, Marfil Estéreo, Puerto Lleras, 0210-0235+ Jan 13, nice local romantic ballads, Spanish announcements, IDs. Good-strong (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Now I'm listening to R. Líder, Colombia, which has appeared again on 6139.78 kHz. Poor receiving conditions in Japan. As for my all information it is for all people. 73 & FB DXing! -- (Kenji Takasaki in Mie pref, JAPAN, w/JRC NRD-545/535D/525/515, 0952 UT Jan 23, HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1344, DXLD) 1225-1235 UT, 6140 kHz, presumed R. Líder, continuous instrumental music, featuring acoustic guitar (beautiful). No positive ID found. Fair-poor, starting to suffer from noise 5 mins into me tuning in, and starting to fade a little. Anybody else getting this station? (Ray Kelly, Eastern Passage, Canada, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Altho R. Líder has just been reported reactivated, see above, it`s unlikely to be heard as late as 1235 in North America. See CUBA [non] below, report of R. República on 6140, and previous schedule of BBCWS in Spanish until 1230 via Greenville on 6140. It seems someone is testing with this or that, and I suspect Greenville is still the transmitter site, whatever programming is involved. Líder is habitually off-frequency as above, which should be another way to rule it in or out. I looked for it around 0610 Jan 24, but no trace of it then. 73, (Glenn, ibid.) ** CUBA. RHC on new 15190, Jan 22 at 1445, ex-15230 which is now clear for CRI via Canada, after many months of collision, in the B-seasons. However, 15370 was missing; no loss here, as it has been so extremely strong that it desensitizes the receiver for a good many myriahertz to either side. 15190, aimed to SSAm is nowhere near as strong. RHC was back on 15370 one day later, Jan 23 at 1459 // much weaker new 15190 and a reverb/echo between them indicating different feed routing and/or transmitter sites (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1344, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Radio Rebelde. Tuned in to 17735 to hear a very strong signal from R. Rebelde today, Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 1740 UT. ID at 1800. Still on after 1800 as I type this. Parallel to the recent new frequency of 17555 (still clashing with WYFR English), 15570 and 11655. R. Rebelde also on 15370 1700 to 1900 UT. That makes five frequencies (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, Jan 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. Just heard, can anyone comment on what I heard.... ???? 1620, Radio República - 2300-UT Jan 22, 07; OM in Spanish giving station call letters and address in Miami before slow fade. Still recording this so cannot play it back as yet. Who is the Spanish interpreter on this site? Can send mp3 - but I'm sure someone will send the details before I can find anythin' on the 'net? (Konnie Rychalsky, Connecticut, IRCA & HCDX via DXLD) This has been pinned on relay via WDHP in US Virgin Islands. See if you can catch a local ID at hourtop. Or compare to their webstream via WRRA site. 73, (Glenn Hauser, OK, ibid.) That's how I pos IDed it by using their streaming website; it is out of phase with their radio audio by a 5-10 seconds though, forget whether it's ahead or behind (Bob Young, Millbury, MA, ibid.) Thanks Glen[n], I recall hearing Radio Miami International in the address - and RR is listed on their webpage... still checking (Konnie, ibid.) RMI (WRMI 9955) is Radio Republica`s original, main, and `local` outlet, and IDs are primarily for it, tho the programming (not parallel, it seems) is also carried on SW transmitters in Germany, UK, Canada, and MW in USVI. Could be WDHP gets it from the WRMI stream with the usual delay, however (Glenn, ibid.) At 0000 after a "Radio República" announcement, WDHP took over (Paul Crankshaw, Troon, Scotland, HCDX via DXLD) Thanks Glenn Hauser, Bill Harms & Paul Crankshaw: Radio República, 1620 was WDHP US Virgin Islands. "R República" is listed on the RMI- Radio Miami International webpage, and was "mentioned" at the top of the hour just before the Miami address. Glenn had a handle on it - must be from WRMI streaming. Signal went English, TOH ID as "WDHP." Wow, this has been a regular this year during this DX season, better than I can remember. Thanks guys, (Konnie, ibid.) Glenn: I'm not aware that WDHP takes RR from our Internet stream, but of course it's always possible. I would imagine RR feeds audio files to them directly (Jeff White, WRMI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jeff, does RR ever mention the other transmitters carrying their programs, or just WRMI? (Glenn to Jeff White, via DXLD) Glenn: Not in the ID's, I don't think. But they do mention the times and frequencies of the overseas relays in frequency announcements that they air every so often (maybe once an hour or so). However, I haven't heard them mention 1620 yet. They do still mention the two Miami MW frequencies, which I think are on the air one hour per week on Saturday night (// on both frequencies). (Jeff White, RMI, Jan 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. Radio República, 6140, 1/23/07, 1157-1230. Short poem, "piano" ID, about 30 seconds of dead air, program "A Su, A Cuba" started. This is very much like U.S. morning FM radio programs with male and female sounding announcers with banter and English pop. Silly at times. ID sequence at 1227-1230. This stream was not running // WRMI on 9955, which their web site does indicate having RR at this time. Had to get going at 1230, so I could not get details on the next program. A talk going at 1244 when I returned. I wasn't able to find a transmitter location or reference to this broadcast goinG back to Nov. DXLDs. Might this be a new relay? (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1344, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBCWS in Spanish has been running on 6140 via Greenville until 1230. Are you sure of the República ID? See also COLOMBIA: Líder back on 6140v, but surely only a coincidence and would not be involved in this later log (Glenn, ibid.) I just reviewed the recordings of ToH and BoH. There were multiple ``Radio República`` IDs both before and after the program. Before the dead air break at ToH, was the typical ``Esta es Radio República. La voz del Directorio Democrático Cubano. Transmitendo a Cuba. (?) Victoria.`` over distinctive piano tune. (The ? is my beginning Spanish ear`s not picking up the word even on multiple tries.) Then dead air. I might have thought that it switched to a different broadcaster at that point, but at 1227 there was another ID sequence with many slogans and mentions of Radio República. Nothing to lead me to believe that the BBC was doing a program on Radio República since the programming was clearly not documentary in form. The ToH break would have been just right for a station to insert a legal station identification in the U.S. BTW, no bubble jamming audible (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, ibid.) Glenn: I could only guess that this might be another Merlin relay (Jeff White, RMI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Updated B-06 schedule of Radio Cairo: 0030-0430 on 11950 ABZ 500 kW / 330 deg Arabic NoAmEa 0045-0200 on 7270 ABZ 500 kW / 330 deg Spanish NoAm 0045-0200 on 9360 ABZ 500 kW / 270 deg Spanish CeAm 0045-0200 on 9415 ABS 250 kW / 241 deg Spanish SoAm 0200-0330 on 7270 ABZ 500 kW / 330 deg English NoAm 0700-1100 on 15115 ABZ 100 kW / 250 deg Arabic GS WeAf 1015-1215 on 17775 ABZ 500 kW / 090 deg Arabic ME/AFG 1100-2300 on 12050 ABS 500 kW / 315 deg Arabic GS WeEu 1215-1330 on 17835 ABZ 500 kW / 090 deg English SoAs 1230-1400 on 15810 ABS 250 kW / 106 deg Indonesian SoEaAs 1300-1600 on 15365 ABS 250 kW / 241 deg Arabic WeAf 1330-1345 on 17835 ABZ 500 kW / 090 deg Bengali SoAs 1330-1530 on 15490 ABZ 100 kW / 070 deg Farsi TJK 1400-1530 on 11655 ABS 250 kW / 061 deg Azeri AZE 1430-1600 on 9975 ABS 250 kW / 061 deg Pashto AFG 1500-1600 on 9990 ABS 250 kW / 325 deg Albanian ALB 1500-1600 on 11530 ABZ 100 kW / 070 deg Uzbek UZB 1500-1600 on 13660 ABZ 500 kW / 090 deg Hindi SoAs 1530-1730 on 17810 ABZ 100 kW / 170 deg Swahili CeEaAf 1600-1700 on 15155 ABZ 100 kW / 160 deg Afar EaCeAf 1600-1800 on 6230 ABS 250 kW / 005 deg Turkish TUR 1600-1800 on 9365 ABZ 500 kW / 090 deg Urdu SoAs 1600-1900 on 11740 ABS 250 kW / 196 deg English CeSoAf 1700-1730 on 15155 ABZ 100 kW / 160 deg Somali EaCeAf 1730-1900 on 15155 ABZ 100 kW / 160 deg Amharic EaCeAf 1800-1900 on 7460 ABS 250 kW / 005 deg Russian WeRUS 1800-1900 on 9988 ABS 250 kW / 325 deg Italian WeEu 1800-2100 on 9420 ABS 250 kW / 241 deg Hausa WeAf 1900-1930 on 15375 ABZ 100 kW / 250 deg Wolof WeAf 1900-2000 on 9990 ABS 250 kW / 325 deg German WeEu 1900-0030 on 11665 ABZ 100 kW / 160 deg V of Arabs CeEaAf 1930-2000 on 15375 ABZ 100 kW / 250 deg Bambara WeAf 2000-2030 on 15375 ABZ 100 kW / 250 deg English WeAf 2000-2115 on 9990 ABS 250 kW / 325 deg French WeEu 2000-2200 on 7210 ABZ 500 kW / 090 deg Arabic AUS 2030-2230 on 9470 ABS 250 kW / 241 deg French WeAf 2115-2245 on 9990 ABS 250 kW / 325 deg English WeEu 2215-2330 on 9360 ABZ 500 kW / 241 deg Portuguese SoAm 2300-0030 on 11950 ABZ 500 kW / 330 deg English NoAmEa 2300-0300 on 12050 ABS 250 kW / 325 deg Arabic GS NoAm 2330-0045 on 9360 ABZ 500 kW / 270 deg Arabic SoAm 2330-0045 on 9735 ABS 250 kW / 241 deg Arabic SoAm (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Jan 22, via DXLD) Of note is that the ENAm service in English at 2300-2430 is back on 11950, where it may have a chance of getting thru, rather than colliding with WYFR on 11885 since the beginning of B-06 (and also B- 05). However, Italian at 18 is still shown on 9988, tho we had one report that it had adjusted to 9990 like the other European language services; was this a one-time mistake? [Later:] So is anyone further east hearing Cairo in English on 11950 at 2300-2430? Checked here at 2310, I could but detect the weakest of carriers on 11950, and if it were still under WYFR on 11885 could not tell. 12050 in Arabic not propagating either. 25m is really too high, or should I say, short in wavelength (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1344, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, the only channel which carries a program from Cairo is 9360 kHz in Arabic, S=8 at 2350-0010 UT, Jan 22/23. Location south-west GER. Nothing on 11885, 11950 kHz, nor on 12050 at this time of the night. Lousy condition tonight. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Another check UT Jan 24 at 0005 in the icy yard with portable DX-398, found nothing on 11950 or 12050, but something mixing with WYFR in Portuguese on 11885, and then overcoming it --- in English. But wait! The modulation is too good, and the news is about China. Yes, another ubiquitous CRI frequency, another good reason for Cairo to have abandoned 11885. EiBi says it`s Xian to SE Asia; HFCC says it`s at 200 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, I tried for Egypt last night on 11950 only and not a tinkle. Will keep trying, tho; I`m on the Eastern Passage, eastern coast of Canada (Ray Kelly, ODXA via DXLD) EGIPTO. Hoy 23 de Enero a las 2045, Radio Cairo en su emisión en árabe por los 9470 con muy buena señal y con graves problemas en la emisión; se aprecia el audio entrecortado, a pesar de llegar con una señal de 5, libre de interferencias, ruido y fading, no se escucha prácticamente nada. ¿Problemas de modulación? Una pena. Sin embargo el servicio en francés por 9990 sin problemas (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. New 5100, 1557-1630* 14 & 15-01, R Bana - new station. Vernacular talks, native song with drums 25232. On 15-01 drifted to 5099.21 and weaker: 14221 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. V. of Tigray Revolution on new 5980 and 9650 Many thanks to Mauno Ritola who alerted me yesterday to an unidentified Horn of Africa station on 9650 at 1500-1730. I can confirm that this is Voice of the Tigray Revolution, also on new 5980. This is a move from 5500 and 6350. Presumably, like Radio Fana (now 6110/7210, ex 6210/6940), it has been forced to go in-band by the new licensing arrangements in Ethiopia. Although it is a pity that we have lost these out-of-band frequencies, the use of 9650 might mean that the station will propagate a bit further at certain times of year (Chris Greenway, UK, Jan 22, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1344, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just need to add that it was first noticed by Vlad Titarev. They seem to have some difficulties in keeping the 9650 kHz transmitter on the air, signing on & off times are highly variable. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) Thanks for confirming this, Chris. I checked it yesterday, 21 Jan, at 1530, thanks to Mauno Ritola and Vlad Titarev tip, but the reception wasn't too good. Today 22nd they signed on around 1457 with tuner melody. Frequency was clear for at least an hour (some side splatters of course noted). Programming and propagation was pointing to V of Tigray Revolution but hard to pull out an ID from this one. They have been away from former 5500 and 6350 for some time (from beginning of January?) and it was expected that they'll pop up somewhere in-band like R Fana. I was a bit surprised that they've chosen so high frequency if they want to serve local Tigray areas. 5980 might be difficult here in the evening/afternoon due to lot of DRM etc. We'll see (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Riallocazione onde corte in Ethiopia --- Potrebbe esserci qualcosa di più di semplici spostamenti di frequenza dietro le ultime allocazioni delle emittenti etiopi. Tutti i canali sono infatti rientrati nelle normali bande di radio diffusione, infatti dopo Radio Fana che ha recentemente a 6110 e 7210 gli storici 6210 e 6940 Khz anche la Voice of the Tigray Revolution ha riallocato gli altrettanto storici 5500 e 6350 rispettivamente a 5980 e 9650 Khz. Non molto felice la scelta delle frequenze soprattutto per i 5980 Khz che soffrono di pesantissime interferenze da parte dei numerosi segnali DRM presenti in quella porzione di banda. (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, Jan 23, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) Bad move due to DRM around 5980 ** ETHIOPIA [non]. BELGIUM(non), New station via TDP - Andanet Le Democracy in Amharic: 1700-1800 on 7280*SAM 250 kW / 188 deg to EaAf Tue/Thu/Sun * co-ch Voice of Vietnam in Vietnamese (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Jan 22 via DXLD) ** EUROPE. UnID, 6220, Mistery Radio, 0219-0235 Jan 23. Noted Rock/Rap music. At 0221 canned ID as "Mistery Radio. This is probably a pirate. Signal was good (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Chuck, It`s believed to be in southern Europe. 73, (Glenn, ibid.) Glenn, Wow! Really good condx tonight then. That station is really booming here in Florida (Chuck, ibid.) ** EUROPE. Saludos cordiales, una selección de vídeos de emisoras Piratas en youtube, gracias a Álvaro López de Osuna desde Granada. Cupido Radio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkSXbcK-GLc Radio Scotland http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnn3zBautRk&NR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnn3zBautRk&mode=related&search= Pirate radio Alfa Lima International http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JSDY9jilTc&mode=related&search= Radio Ramona pirate shortwave radio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzExiybAETg&mode=related&search= Que los disfruten. 73 (José Miguel Romero, dxldyg via DXLD) ** FRANCE [and non]. Re 7-009: Here is an original item from France on the possible demise of RFI German, pointed out by Andreas Augner: http://www.telesatellite.com/actu/tp.asp/tp/21628 It could affect RFI's FM allocations in Berlin and Saxonia if they really axe German. In the case of Saxonia it could become especially interesting: This is a common allocation with the BBC, with the special "Sachsenmagazin" aired there probably being a condition of this common licence, no matter that it's entirely produced by RFI. At least this appears to be the case, since nobody is aware of actual editors at Leipzig, broadcasting from an actual studio (this Sachsenmagazin is indeed sort of the big mystery in the broadcasting scene in Saxonia). Anyway the website of RFI German now consists only of single page http://www.rfi.fr/langues/statiques/rfi_allemand.asp I think it used to be a bit more comprehensive not too long ago (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GABON. 4777, R. Gabon, *0458-0510+ Jan 12, sign-on with Afro-pop music, 0500 ID and French talk. Many IDs. 0508 Afro-pop music. F-G but did notice a slight very weak hum in audio (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GABON. Afropop music distraxion, Jan 23 at 1500 check was on 17650; no sign of 2 x 9580 = 19160 Africa N. Un harmonic at this time, nor for several days now (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1344, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And Jan 24 at 1446 Afropop was on 17660 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. DW`s A World of Music show was very enjoyable, Monday Jan 22 at 2130-2200 on 11690 via Rwanda – tune high to avoid RTTY. This week was about the tango; next week, Philip Glass. Also ondemand but for only one week? Via http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,2142,4703,00.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1344, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Re: DW DX Meeting going to stop. Dear Mr Hari, I too also came to know that. We must send the mail to DW for do not stop the program. For that complaint, best contact is the director of the Deutsche Welle German/English Programme, Herr Marco Vollmar, under Marco.Vollmar @ dw-world.de So all of the Dxers must send the mail to him as requested (Sakhti Vel, India, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1344, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Something strange about this situation. The DX Meeting has only been a program-with-a-program (Mailbag), and one suspects the Mailbag people resent having 10+ minutes of their time taken away once a month (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1344, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Glenn, I sent my protest mail against discontinuation of DW monthly dx prog. Here is the reply from Mrs. Margot Forbes (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Jan 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Dear Swopan, I acknowledge receipt of your e-mail and thank you for your comments. I cannot give you any information about the situation at the moment but hope to be able to give an explanation in the near future. I hope you will continue "tuning in" to our programmes and getting in touch with us. Regards, (Margot Forbes, English Service, DEUTSCHE WELLE RADIO, DW-WORLD:DE, via Swopan, Jan 23, DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. Some changes of Deutsche Welle: 1500-1600 NF 9800*KIG 250 kW / 265 deg, ex 12025 in Swahili 1600-1800 NF 12080 SIN 250 kW / 060 deg, add.freq in Russian * strong co-ch RAI International in Turkish/Greek/Bulgarian (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Jan 22 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. 5965, *1300-1400* Sunday 21-01, European Music R, via Juelich English/French Special broadcast with oldies from R Caroline and R London, ID: "EMR - From Europe to Europe", e-mail address: studio @ emr.org.uk Mentioned reports e.g. from Erik Køie and Vladimir Boshkov. 55544. 5965, *1400-1530* Sunday 21-01, R Traumland, Belgium, via Juelich, German tips about travelling in Austria, pop music, splashed from RNW on 5955 54544 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** GREECE. Re 7-009, VOG antenna for 6 MHz band? Glenn: I just looked at my Voice of Greece B04 Shortwave Transmission Schedule and Avlis 1 had 5865 listed at 0000-0650 UT to Europe, Atlantic Ocean, and North America at 292 degrees. Don't know how it would do now. (John Babbis, MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, of course, used not so long ago; I was not sure whether that was Avlis or Kavala (gh, DXLD) The show I present every Saturday in English is entitled: "Hellenes Around the World. Our web page has it as Greeks Everywhere, but it is wrong. I always announce the program with the correct title in the opening of the show. Filika, (Katerina Thanasoula, VOG, via John Babbis, MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. Me permito saludarles con muuuuucho goooozo. Ahora ya tenemos dos estaciones de Radio Verdad en Internet: "Radio Verdad Int. 1" y "Radio Verdad Int. 2". Radio Verdad Int. 1 es lo que ya hemos tenido en Internet mediante Shout Cast y Winamp. Radio Verdad Int. 2 es una nueva que comenzó a funcionar anteayer (se suspendió ayer por causa de un virus maligno) y salimos al aire otra vez hoy por la noche a través de Windows Media Player con mucha más capacidad. Probablemente mañana agregaremos el nuevo link en nuestra página Web, pero para mientras, hoy, usted puede sintonizarnos en el siguiente link: mms://200.6.219.230:8080 May I greet you with muuuuuch joooooy. We have two radio stations for "Radio Truth" on Internet: "Radio Verdad Int. 1" and "Radio Verdad Int. 2". Radio Verdad Int. 1, is the one we already had through Shout Cast and Winamp. Radio Verdad Int. 2, is a new one that went on Internet the day before yesterday (we suspended it yesterday, because a very bad virus) and came out again tonight using Windows Media Player and with much more capacity than the other one. Probably tomorrow, we'll add the new link on our Web Site, but you can tune us tonight using the following link: mms://200.6.219.230:8080 (Édgar Amílcar Madrid, R. Verdad, Jan 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) He gave the link both times as ``mmm``, but of course it`s mms, confirmed (gh, DXLD) ** GUIANA FRENCH. 17875 DRM, Radio France International, 1953, 1/15/07, in French, news. Talk at 2000, ID at end of one actuality by reporter, mentions of French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, football club Paris St. Germain, ID at 2010 with web address http://www.rfi.fr off in mid-sentence at 2018, two minutes before scheduled end of transmission; test transmission from Montsinéry to New York City, today only, very very strong; 25 dB S/N ratio, only 14.56 kbps, which is a pity, as the transmission would support much higher bitrate and better sound; down to 20 dB at 2013, but still solid reception, 17 dB at 2017 (Brandi-NJ) 17875D, Radio France International, 1401, 1/18/07, in Spanish. News IDs and RFI stingers, Spanish programming to 1430, then into French with French news, talk about music, time pips at 1500, time check for Brasilia, into Portuguese program; test transmission to Dallas. Previous days' (1/16, 1/17) tests on 21620 to Dallas heard much more poorly if at all (Ralph Brandi, Middletown, New Jersey, United States. Equipment: AOR AR-7030 Plus +DRM, Drake R8, Etón E1, T2FD and 300' mini-Beverage antennas, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) DRM test on 21615-21620-21625 inaudible Jan 22 at 1605, so perhaps they left it early as had been speculated; instead quite strong on 17870-17875-17880; 13m propagation was not very good, with 21570 Spain JBA, no BBC Ascension 21470 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUIANA FRENCH. Again Jan 23 at 1502 check, no sign of DRM test on 21615-21620-21625; however no analog signals were audible on 13m either. DRM was quite strong at same time on 17870-17875-17880. According to the DRM schedule at http://www.baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/drmdx/main&sort=kHz,UTC this is the final day of these tests: 1300-2020 01/19-01/23 17875 295 Mexico 150 TDF test F various Montsinery French Guiana (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Do you know any email address to send reports to this transmission? Today, the 21st, I'm receiving the "big DRM buzz" very strong at 1820 UT, from 21610 to 21630 here in the south part of Mexico City, using a Yupiteru MVT-7100 (scanner) and a 7m phone wire as antenna ! Sincerely, (XE1/F-14314 op. Thierry, SAT, SW & BC Listener, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thierry, I doubt they would be interested unless you are actually receiving it in DRM. Don`t know of address, but if you are interested in DRM, you could try the DRM NA yahoogroup where your message would reach those responsible. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/drmna/ You can read the messages first without joining. 73, (Glenn, DXLD) ** GUYANA. Tropical Latin Report 21 January --- Guyana remains silent on 3291 (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Florida, 746 Pro, R75 Kiwa Modified, Sony 2010XA Modified by Dallas Lankford, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** HUNGARY. Re 7-009: Hungary is testing on 1188 kHz (probably Marcali) at this moment with test tones (22 JAN 2007, 0930 UT) . They intend to use this frequency for minority languages. This is the first short message only as I have no sufficient details at hand at this moment (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia), mwdx yg via DXLD) Changes in Hungary from 1 February 2007 Hungarian Radio launches its new domestic program MR4 (Magyar Radio 4) focused on national minorities from 1 February 2007. Frequencies (kHz): 873 Budapest (100 kW) 873 Pecs (100 kW) 1188 Marcali (500 kW) 1188 Szolnok (300 kW) Schedule (8:00 - 20:00 local time = 0700-1900 UTC): Times UTC 0700-0900 Croatian (daily) 0900-1100 German (daily) 1200-1230 Slovenian (Mon), Russian (Tue), Bulgarian (Wed), Greek (Thu), Ukrainian (Fri), Armenian (Sat) 1230-1300 Roma (=Gypsy) (Mon-Fri), Polish (Sun) 1300-1500 Serbian (daily) 1500-1700 Romanian (daily) 1700-1900 Slovak (daily) Also on HotBird satelite on 13 degrees - 12.149 GHz. Hungarian Radio closes all its transmitters (Kossuth Radio program) in the CCIR FM band (66 - 73 MHz) on 31 January 2007 (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia), Jan 23, HCDX via DXLD) ** INDIA. See ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS [and non]; and KASHMIR ** INTERNATIONAL. It's really depressing; I can remember back in the 1960s, 1970s, and most of the 1980s when 60 meters was packed until 0500 to 0600 UT with stations from Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Brazil, etc. Stations like Radio Rumbos, Ecos del Torbes, Radio Barquisimeto, Radio Brasil Central, Ondas del Meta, etc., were nightly powerhouses with entertaining local music and programming. And now? Here is all I managed last night (January 21, in UT): 4800, Radio Buenas Nuevas, Guatemala, with Spanish religious music on guitars, etc., and female announcer 0422, Fair signals with fading. 4810, Radio Transcontinental, Mexico City, female announcer and talk in Spanish, fair signals but rhythmic, "ocean waves" fading pattern 0436. 5000, WWVH, Hawaii, time signals with female announcer under WWV 0441. 5025, Radio Rebelde, Cuba, killer signal with female talking over musical background 0443. Receiver was Sony ICF-2010 using its whip antenna. It's hard to believe how barren this band has become; it's like visiting a ghost town and trying to imagine what it was like as a vital, thriving community. If anyone doubts the era of shortwave broadcasting is passing into history, just tune 60 meters! (Harry Helms W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19, http://topsecrettourism.com Jan 22 ABDX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. VOA Talk to America on Jan 23, tune-in 1432 on 11655 via Lampertheim, Germany, was a rerun from November 1, complete with promos for upcoming elexion coverage. But it was a good one, about the New Seven Wonders of the World, http://www.new7wonders.com whereupon one may vote (once; how do they control that? It`s all in the FAQ --- you have to register, free, as a member first, etc., etc.) from 21 finalists, all to be revealed on 7/7/07 in a ceremony from Lisboa. Here`s another story about it: 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD UP FOR DEBATE Eliane Engeler & Alexander G Higgins, Associated Press Article Launched: 12/24/2006 12:00:53 AM PST http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/europe/ci_4879532 The VOA show is available OD via http://www.voanews.com/english/NewsAnalysis/TTA-New-Past-Shows.cfm for Jan 23, and also still for Nov 1 --- I see that the archive now only goes back thru October (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR. 4760, 0238-0250, India, 11-01, AIR Leh, Ledakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Urdu/English/Laddakhi news, ad, talks, 0245 English news from New Delhi, 0300 Laddakhi announcement, folksongs. They just verified my e-mail report! 35343 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) See also ANDAMAN for the other AIR on 4760 ** KURDISTAN. New 3930.04, 0317-0340, Clandestine, 11-01, Voice of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in Kurdish. New station with non-stop Kurdish songs until 0330 45434. It had not signed on when checking at 0230. At 0330 abrupt stop of a song and IDs by man and woman: "Erah Radyoy Dengi Kurdistana", Kurdish National hymn, fanfare, 0334 ID once more and political talk about Kurdistan, martial music, 0337 another ID, Call to Prayer. A few seconds of bubble jamming at 0323, but continuous jamming began at 0334 43433 AP-DNK New 3935, 0359-0435, Clandestine, 14-01, Voice of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, in Kurdish. ID: "Erah Radyoy Dengi Kurdistana", music and talk, 0318 martial song about Iranian Kurdistan, 0430 Farsi programme, all jammed 43433 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. Re item Kurdistan in DXLD 7-009: "At 1425 a carrier came on 3970 and 4870 (and jammers a moment later). At 1430 very low modulated audio, but I guess this is the Voice of Iranian Kurdistan. Hopping 3960-3980 and 4845-4895. Off around 1630". I can confirm it's V. of Iranian Kurdistan. 21 Jan at 1457 on 4850 announcement "Era Denge Kurdistana Irane" was heard. Modulation was OK here; the 3970v transmitter had still practically no audio. The reason BBCM says they've not traced this station since mid-January is possibly due to transmitter (or rather modulator) problems of this station during past weeks (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 13620 DRM, Radio Kuwait, 1320, 1/19/07, in Arabic. Techno music, talk by YL, off at 1329; marginal, about 50% copy on this 11 kbps signal at about 11-14 dB S/N; surprisingly good given QRM from Family Radio in analog Spanish on 13615 (Ralph Brandi, Middletown, New Jersey, United States. Equipment: AOR AR-7030 Plus +DRM, Drake R8, Etón E1, T2FD and 300' mini-Beverage antennas, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. 17725, V. of Africa, via France, 1400-1557* Jan 13; tune-in to Arabic programming. 1402 into English with opening ID announcements mentioning 21695 and 17850 still. Afro-pop music. Program about human rights in Libya. 1433 news. At 1400 fair signal but with slight hum. By 1500, lower modulation and stronger hum. By 1540, barely audible due to low modulation. Threshold // signal on 21695 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. A Lithuanian source confirmed that the Dutch KBC Radio will broadcast via Sitkunai 6255 kHz (100 kW, 259 degrees beam) every Saturday 2200-2300 UT, starting 27 January. The frequency may be changed at a later time, depending on the propagation situation. The transmissions are in parallel to MW (Sitkunai 1386 kHz, 500 kW). (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: -- From #09: "Funny enough there is another KBC on 1386 kHz - Kenya Broadcasting Corporation - but I think the risk for confusion is almost non-existing!" Not for this Moron! Heard "KBC Radio", upbeat DJ w/unknown Pop music in a weak 1386 signal via the Folkeston/DX Tuners rig, SAH atop someone much quieter, 1/20 around 2253 UTC. Which???????? 73z – (GREG HARDISON, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. R. Educación, XEPPM, 6185, again active in the daytime, Jan 22 at 1507 with arts magazine, discussing guitar music, 1508 ID in passing, obit for a movie producer, etc. S9 +15 and quite listenable, best signal on band at the time. Altho I can`t say I have looked for it every morning, the last time I heard 6185 during this time period was on the previous Monday, Jan 15. XEXQ, 6045, classical music fading S9 to S7, Jan 22 at 1506, no ACI, much weaker than 6185. XEYU, 9599.2 approx., Jan 22 at 1602 with classical music. Frequency is slipping downwards from previous 9599.4 area, instead of upwards to land on 9600.0 where it should really be to avoid hets (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1344, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9599.25, R. UNAM (Presumed), 0830-1030, 1/21/07, in Spanish. With a decent signal. All classical music except for a few brief talking breaks when a man and woman held forth about the music being played, but no ID that I could make out, and rough audio didn't help. But a better signal than I would have expected until around 1000 when things deteriorated a bit. LSB needed to avoid high-side QRM, and the channel was blocked by RHC at 1110 re-check (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** MEXICO. XEYU, 9599.2, best heard yet, Jan 23 at 0620 with classical piano music, good modulation and better signal than e.g. Gabon on 9580. Never heard any announcements thru classical guitar piece at 0704; not so good during my other usual morning check at 1505. 24 hours after Monday Jan 22 log, XEPPM, 6185, was not on the air at 1505 UT check Tuesday Jan 23. XEXQ, 6045, was audible. Traces of XEOI 6010 also. Another check on Jan 24 at 0610 did not find 9599 on the air, but 6045 was mixing with KBSWR via Sackville with usual fluxuating SAH, and in clear after 0628 with classical (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOLDOVA. (Pridnestrovie) Hi Glenn, I know that across the pond it is difficult hearing Radio PMR from Pridnestrovie, which broadcasts from Tiraspol on 6235 kHz at 1700 M-F for 20 minutes. I posted a live broadcast captured on my ICF 77 on my new blog http://www.shortwavescatter.blogspot.com (via You Tube) Cheers (Marty Delfin, Madrid, Spain, Jan 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. Revised RNW Dutch schedule due to winter conditions in parts of Europe --- A special one-off Dutch-language programme with information about the unexpectedly severe winter conditions with heavy snow in the Alps and the surrounding region has just started on RNW. This is part of our service to Dutch truckers, as well as Dutch people on winter breaks in the affected areas. The following revised shortwave frequency schedule via Flevo is in effect today: 5955: 1300-1600 UT to Germany, Central France, Switzerland and Austria 6120: 1300-1600 UT to Central France and Northern Italy 9895: 1300-1500 UT to Southern France, Italy and Austria (January 24th, 2007, 13:13 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Radio New Zealand International heard on 17675 at 2245 UT tune in. It was in the clear with good reception on Tuesday, Jan. 23. Relay of National Radio [sic] with a discussion on the Oscar nominations. It is usually obliterated by CVC La Voz on 17680 but it was missing at this time. RNZI was off 17675 at 2258 and back on 15720 at 2300 with poor reception (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER. 9705, La Voix du Sahel (Niamey), 2054-2150, 1/18/2007, Arabic sounding vernacular and French. 2054 Talk by woman in vernacular. 2100 Talk by man, more like a lecture than news or a discussion. 2126 Local music. 2141 talk by man in apparent French followed by more music. 2150 Drums and flute, then talk by man. Moderate signal at tune in (SINPO 34222), with strength slowly deteriorating (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, RX-340, R8B, 90' random wire, LFE H-800, 65' PAR EF-SWL, LFE H-800, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 15120, V. of Nigeria, *1700-1830+ Jan 13, sign-on with Afro-pop music. 1704 ID and English news. Fair signal strength but typical VON audio with some programs giving very good audio and other programs with poor, muffled audio and low modulation (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. Re 7-009: Giampiero Bernardini confirms that his log of FRCN Abuja on 7255 was a typo; was really on 7275 (gh, DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. USA Pirates: 6925-USB, WTCR, 0040-0115+ Jan 13, IDs as ``WTCR`` and ``Twentieth Century Radio``. Music by James Brown, Peter Gabriel, Edie Brickell and others. Fair but some noise. 6925-USB, Lazer Hot Hits, 0800-0840+ Jan 14. I assume this Euro-pirate is being relayed by someone here in the USA. Weak to fair with pop music by Madonna, Michael Jackson and others. Some 60s music, IDs, Merlin, Ontario mail drop. Gave phone and fax numbers, E-mail address. Acknowledged several listeners` reports from Europe (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. 15140, R. Sultanate of Oman, 1433-1502+ Jan 13, tune-in to English news to 1440 ID, Arabic talk and pop music. 1459 Kor`an. F-G. Sked change? In the past English was at 1400-1500 with news at 1400 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 3172.65, Radio Municipal, Panao once again heard on this frequency at 1000 to 1023 on 19 January after an absence of two weeks. 3329.53, Ondas del Huallaga, Huánuco 1003 with poor quality signal, music; very weak for last week. 19 January. 4746.754, Radio Huanta 2000, Huanta, 0950-1005 with OM ID as such, change from two frequencies used in last few weeks. 4890.38, Radio Chota possibly, but no ID 1050 to 1110 17 January. 4855.39, Radio La Hora, Cusco, 1000 to 1100, 17 to 20 January. Rapid transmitter drift noted in ECSS, very noticeable transmitter drift. (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, South Florida, 746 Pro, R75 Kiwa Modified, Sony 2010XA Modified by Dallas Lankford, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** PERU. Glenn, Have you noticed that Radio Visión from Perú on 4790.2 has been off the air since last week? I was wondering why I can't hear Radio Atlántida either? (Chuck Bolland, FL, Jan 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4855.23, Radio La Hora, 1050-1105 Jan 24. Huaynos type music until 1058 when canned Spanish language promos and ads presented. Canned ID on the hour. Live Spanish comments at 1103. Signal was poor. 4890.34, Radio Chota, (presumed) 1105-1115 Jan 24. Music and Spanish comments. At 1114 ads and promos. At 1116 Huaynos music presented. Signal was poor to threshold (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 5014.39, R. Altura, Cerro de Pasco, 0120-0205+ Jan 13, Spanish talk, 0129 ID. Ads, promos, variety of OA music, Spanish pops/ballads. Weak in noisy conditions. Must use ECSS-LSB [sic] to avoid unID broadcast station on 5010 [sic] (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 6047.19, R. Santa Rosa (presumed), 1138 Jan 24, church service (Rosary/prayers?), weak, been a while since I last heard this one (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Following on from Kai's links to the Kurovskaya masts, I have just Google Earth'd the site. Several towers are at 55 35 34N, 39 07 58E. 73's (Dan Goldfarb, Brentwood, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAIPAN. 11650, Tentatively KFBS Saipan noted here at 0740 UT. Normally scheduled from 0900 UT. Phone in Christian program "Dialogue" in Russian. S=2-3. Scheduled 0900-1400 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Jan 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. Re 7-009: Well, it seems that the repair didn't last for too much. On 11715 I noticed it was OK around 2000 UT, when I posted, but was again with terrible buzz by 2230. Also today 21460 was terrible. I can`t understand why a supposedly rich country doesn't care about the quality of the transmissions coming out from their National Radio... 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. REE, 17595, at 1607 Jan 22 opening El Vestuario program. When I saw it on the schedule I figured it was about the theatre, or politics (dressing room, literally, or cloakroom), but no! It`s about silly ballgames, so in this sense it must mean locker room. If there is any doubt, their motto is ``toda la actualidad deportiva, al desnudo.`` Too bad it`s just on radio (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CRI relay tests: see CHINA [non] ** SYRIA. 12085, R. Damascus (Adhra), 1803-1815, 1/19/2007, German(?). 1803 Traditional Arabic music. 1805 Identification as "Radio Damascus" by woman followed by talk. Poor signal with utility interference, made much worse by low audio with excessive bass (SINPO 22322). Per schedule, language should have been German, but bad audio made it impossible to determine (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, RX-340, R8B, 90' random wire, LFE H-800, 65', PAR EF-SWL, LFE H-800, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** THAILAND. Hoy 23 de enero Radio Thailand en su servicio en idiomas extranjeros para Europa por 9535 desde las 2030 hasta más allá de las 2100 emitiendo sólo música pop internacional y local, buena señal, SINPO 45544. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) THAILANDIA. Hoy 24 de enero se aprecia que Radio Thailand está emitiendo por 9725 sin problemas su servicio en inglés a las 1400, desde Valencia con SINPO 34333. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, ibid.) ** TURKEY. I avoided the special characters, but perhaps it's worth a try if the word will really get garbled as I feared: Çakirlar. Yes, i without dot; Unicode number for that is i And one Çakirlar transmission slipped through my fingers: There's also Bosnian 1900- 1930 on 6110. Good night, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As soon as I copied this item onto MS Word for editing, the dots reappeared on the I; thinx it knows best, just as it thinx I meant to write a capital I just now and before the previous semicolon. BTW, in proper Turkish you also put dots on capital 9th-letters-of-the-English- alfabet (or not) (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Google Earth sightings for Emirler --- Closely matching the HFCC coordinates I have found a very lonely trio of matrix lattice masts at 39 30 06N, 32 51 40E. Not sure where the other masts are - possibly a few MW type masts further East - nor where the transmitter block is. (Dan Goldfarb, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. MORE LICENCE FEE 'SLICING' POSSIBLE Mark Sweney, Monday January 22, 2007 MediaGuardian.co.uk http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,1994636,00.html SOMETHING HAS GOT TO GO Monday January 22, 2007, The Guardian How can the BBC overcome the reported £2bn deficit it faces after the licence fee settlement? Maggie Brown asks leading industry figures to suggest where the cuts could be made . . . http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,,1995266,00.html MEDIA FAQ --- WHAT REALLY MATTERS ABOUT THE BBC LICENCE FEE DEAL? Steve Hewlett, Monday January 22, 2007, The Guardian http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,,1995264,00.html (all 3 via Dan Say, DXLD) ** U K. The British Internet radio station 'Offshore Music Radio' is to close down at 9 pm on Sunday 25th February 2007 (UK time) unless a buyer can be found before 16th February 2007. Full details on their website http://www.offshoremusicradio.com/ OMR is a tribute station to the old AM pirate stations that broadcast to the UK from ships and wartime sea forts around Britain's coastline between 1964 to 1968. (Andy Cadier, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Frequency changes for Voice of America with kW / deg.: 0000-0300 NF 9825 DL 250 / 105, ex 9725 in Spanish Radio Martí 0300-0330 on 13815 IRA 250 / 291 & 15610 IRA 250 / 303 in Amharic 0400-0430 on 13815 IRA 250 / 291 & 15610 IRA 250 / 303 in Amharic 0500-0600 NF 9690 BIB 100 / 105, ex 11855 in Kurdish 1530-1600 NF 11630 IRA 250 / 340, ex 12005 in Georgian 1930-2000 NF 9680 MOR 250 / 059, ex 9570 in Turkish Mon-Fri 2030-2100 NF 6040 MOR 250 / 043, ex 5955 in Serbian 2330-2400 NF 7430 IRA 250 / 049, ex 9720 in Burmese (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Jan 22 via DXLD) Martí is not VOA, BTW (gh) See also INTERNATIONAL for a VOA Talk to America show ** U S A [non]. Additional transmission of WYFR Family Radio from Jan. 4 15: 1500-1600 on 9460 ARM 300 kW / 110 deg to SoAs in Malay (tent.) 73! (DX Mix News Bulgaria, Jan 22 via DXLD) ** U S A. I think WYFR is the only US station using 49m all day long; Jan 22 at 1555 very weak music I could not // to higher WYFR frequencies, so was not sure what it was, but at 1559 usual frequency announcements by YL dutifully in English. This is aimed due south, so not surprising it`s barely audible here. Scheduled until 1945 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWCR-4, Jan 23 at 1510 was still on 5765 with Power Hower, instead of 7465, which is scheduled to start at 1400. Possibly to do with avoiding the pesky mixing product with WNQM which lands on 8765 when 7465 is on (7465 + 1300). At 1620 recheck, was on 9985 as scheduled after 1600. So WWCR could be avoiding use of 7465 for the time being, at least from #4, where it has been scheduled at 14-16 and 00-02; the situation may or may not be different when WWCR-1 is using 7465 at 21-23. 5765 still holding up here with very strong signal at 1510. Once again on Jan 24 at 1445 check, 5765 was on instead of 7465 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WTJC notable by its absence from 9370, Jan 23 at 0625 and again at 1457 check; however, at the latter time, WBOH 5920v was audible as usual. 9370 is normally occupied 24 hours. Is there anything about the outage at their website http://www.fbnradio.com/homepage.htm ? Of course not! Still missing from 9370 at 1444 check Jan 24 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WETA/DC TO GO CLASSICAL AS WGMS ADOPTS 'GEORGE' BONNEVILLE INTERNATIONAL -- owner of Classical WGMS/WASHINGTON -- and Public Broadcasting station WETA/WASHINGTON announced that the latter will switch to a Classical music format tonight at 8p and become the exclusive provider of the music in the area. "We're thrilled to partner with WETA to keep Classical music alive in the WASHINGTON area," said BONNEVILLE CEO BRUCE REESE. "We think this agreement will be great for WGMS fans, because a public radio station is more conducive to Classical music than commercial radio." "This is a wonderful gift for Public broadcasting and Classical music lovers in the WASHINGTON community," said WETA Pres./CEO SHARON ROCKEFELLER. "We thank BONNEVILLE for its generosity in donating its classical musical catalog to WETA. We are proud to carry forward the tradition of WGMS, and we are committed to creating a new classical music era in WASHINGTON through our on-air programming and community involvement." WGMS's Future --- Meanwhile, WGMS flipped today to an Adult Hits format as "GEORGE 104 -- '70s, '80s And Whatever We Want." Listen to the stream at http://www.george104.com (allaccess.com via Brock Whaley, GA, DXLD) viz.: CLASSICAL WETA 90.9 FM LAUNCHES --- For Immediate Release: 01/22/2007 Public Broadcaster Becomes Exclusive Radio Home of Classical Music in Greater Washington Area Washington, D.C. - WETA 90.9 FM is changing to a classical music format tonight at 8 p.m. [0100 UT January 23] and will become the exclusive provider of classical music on the Greater Washington area radio airwaves through a cooperative agreement with Bonneville International Corporation, owner of WGMS. "Classical music, in all its power and beauty, is an essential part of the cultural life of this city," said Sharon Percy Rockefeller, president and CEO of WETA. "As the exclusive home for classical music on local radio, Classical WETA 90.9 FM will celebrate classical music through our on-air programming and community involvement. I am pleased to work with our colleagues at Bonneville to ensure a home for classical music in the nation’s capital.” “We’re thrilled to partner with WETA to keep classical music alive in the Washington area and create a new music station that will energize many music fans,” added Bruce Reese, president and CEO of Bonneville. With more than 35 years of experience broadcasting classical music, WETA is uniquely positioned to expand this rich tradition of service to the community. Classical WETA 90.9 FM launches with a long-term professional on-air classical music staff, exclusive WETA recordings of orchestral performances, long-standing ties to area cultural institutions, and a powerful broadcast signal reaching throughout the region. Bonneville is donating the WGMS classical music library of 15,000 CDs, augmenting WETA’s extensive collection. Classical WETA 90.9 FM has an all-classical music format. The station continues to be the exclusive broadcast home in this market for the Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcasts Saturday afternoons. The local WETA arts and entertainment preview program Out & About with 90.9 airs as short features throughout the schedule, highlighting cultural news and events in the region. Bonneville is also transferring use of the WGMS call letters for WETA to use on its 89.1 FM Hagerstown simulcast frequency, pending an application in process with the FCC. Once the transfer is approved, the WETA call signal will be “Classical WETA 90.9 FM Washington and WGMS 89.1 FM Hagerstown.” WETA changed to the classical format with the strong approval of the WETA Board of Trustees, which met December 14 to consider the changing marketplace for radio in the region. Rockefeller noted that the decision required choosing between two strong options. “We are exceedingly proud of our current format and the staff who have implemented it. However, given the dramatic changes in the D.C. radio market, we had to consider how we should best meet the needs of our community.” Classical WETA 90.9 FM and WETA TV 26 are member-supported public broadcasting stations serving Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia with educational, cultural and public affairs programming and related services. Classical WETA broadcasts programming 24 hours each day on WETA 90.9 FM in Arlington, Virginia and WETH 89.1 FM in Hagerstown, Maryland. WETA HD broadcasts 24 hours each day on HD 90.9 (WETA via DXLD) This is rather vague about what the exact program schedule will be. Surely they have had time to work it out, but the schedule page on WETA website just goes to the big news of the day. If they have a full-time professional classical staff, we may assume it will not just be carrying one of the syndicated satellite-fed classical services. Until it is updated, here the PublicRadioFan page of selected shows on WETA http://www.publicradiofan.com/cgi-bin/station.pl?stationid=1486 Many of the talk shows and other non-classical we assume will be gone; will WAMU in turn pick some of them up it has not already been duplicating?? What about BBC overnight? Within a few hours, hundreds of messages had piled up on the just-established listeners`s blog on the WETA website (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1344, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Unfortunately the Listen link on the WGMS website doesn't appear to work. I note the website promises 104 days of commercial free music, asking listeners what they think (PAUL DAVID, Wembley Park, United Kingdom, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I assume that was the old WGMS website when they had just moved to two frequencies in the 104 MHz area. [no: that`s the new `George FM` gimmick as in the Washington Post story below --- ``Bonneville said it will air George 104 without commercials for its first 104 days to try to establish the station among listeners.`` --- gh] Now at 2330 UT I find that http://www.wgms.com forwards to WETA website, but the audio linx don`t work. There used to be no problem with this station; probably getting overloaded with all the publicity currently. 73, (Glenn Hauser 2333 UT Jan 22, ibid.) There was some thinking that WGMS was going to switch to a sports-talk format. The press release from WETA promises streaming...hopefully it will be at a broadband-friendly bandwidth. Otherwise I fear it will be "me-too" as an online offering (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, swprograms via DXLD) Afraid not. Real stream is maxed out, but WM via winamp shows 20 kbps, 16 kHz. The opening Vivaldi trumpet fanfare didn`t sound bad, but Bernstein`s Candide Overture which follows isn`t done justice. Conversation between GM and host inaugurating new format, still lacking any details about program schedule. They did say Beethoven`s 9th will be in the 02-03 UT hour (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) RADIO STATIONS HARMONIZE ON CLASSICAL MUSIC --- WGMS DITCHES ITS OLD FORMAT BUT HELPS ORCHESTRATE ITS REVIVAL ON WETA By Paul Farhi, Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, January 23, 2007; C01 Washington radio station WGMS dropped the music of Mozart and Tchaikovsky yesterday after nearly six decades and replaced its classical format with tunes by Cheap Trick, Elton John and the Bee Gees in a two-part shake-up. Last night, WETA dropped its news and talk programming and became a classical station again in a coordinated move with Bonneville International Corp., which owns WGMS (103.9 and 104.1 FM). WETA (90.9 FM) was a classical station for 35 years until dropping the format in February 2005. Bonneville said it struck the unusual agreement with noncommercial WETA to prevent classical music from disappearing from local airwaves. Such an alliance between for-profit and a nonprofit radio stations is almost unheard of. But the deal, hammered out over the past several weeks, creates something for both sides, executives from the stations said. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/22/AR2007012200579_pf.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) I noticed this morning that WETA 90.9 has indeed dropped all news/talk and switched to classical, and that the former WGMS 103.9//104.1 has adopted a Jack-like format called 'George' and is playing nonstop crappy pop hits from the eighties and nineties. There's no sign of change on WAMU 88.5 as yet. However the shuffle has only just started, since a number of people lost their jobs at both 103.9 // 104.1 and WETA yesterday. WGMS's owners had been in talks with upcoming media mogul and Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder recently. Snyder's Red Zebra sports network has gobbled up a number of lower powered AMers with weak DC metro signal coverage and Snyder is seeking to expand this drivel onto the FM band. However word is that WGMS gummed up the deal by asking too much money for WGMS and blabbing to the Washington Post as negotiations continued. So the new 'George' format may only be a temporary stunt while the real goal is to further destroy the FM band here with non-stop meaningless testosterone talk about the intricacies of professional sports bordered by commercials for all sorts of junk. After all, we already have a classic-rock station in WARW 94.7, a pop-leaning classic rock WBIG 100.3, and a "hot AC" WRQX 107.3, all which would appear to compete in some way with the new WXGG. All this gossip is documented on the very fine http://dcrtv.com website. I'm glad to see classical survive on WETA. I was always baffled at why WETA switched to exactly the same news/talk format as WAMU, especially since we also have WCSP 90.1 doing non-stop "public affairs" programming as C-Span Radio on 90.1 (not to mention the liberals on Pacifica's WPFW 89.3). However the realization that a stupid sports network may take up all that bandwidth on the FM dial is very disillusioning, and such an outcome makes sense only for the megabucks corporations that own the public airwaves here. Oh, and I thought WETA was a public broadcasting station. Sure, they don't run "commercials," but they're engaging in "cross-promotion" with the former WGMS? I guess you need to consult a lawyer as to the definition of what constitutes a "commercial" on a "non-commercial" radio station (Larry Will, MD, Jan 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The fickle world of FM rebroadcasting. In Washington, D.C., noncommercial WETA FM has switched to a classical music format to fill the void left when commercial WGMS FM abandoned that format. This means, however, that BBC World Service has lost its most important FM outlet in the U.S. capital. Programs no longer heard include World Briefing, Business Daily, Science in Action, and From Our Own Correspondent. Some BBC programming remains on noncommercial WAMU in Washington. It's possible that BBC World Service might end up on a subchannel of an FM "HD" digital station in Washington, though HD receiver are still scarce. Meanwhile: In Memphis, BBC World Service programming, evicted from FM stations sold to a Christian organization, have found a "temporary" home on Memphis Public Library's WYPL-FM. "Memphis Commercial Appeal, 22 January 2007 Posted 23 Jan 2007 (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com via WORLD OF RADIO 1344, DXLD) ** U S A. LIVE AND LOCAL TAKES A HIT IN TAMPA, TNX TO CC An interesting and troubling development in Tampa radio tonight, as Mark Beiro, who has hosted part-time on WFLA 970 for over a dozen years, teased an "important announcement" to be made by him at 9 tonight. The announcement was not hard to pre-guess. As I suspected, Mark announced his "retirement" from his three-hour Sunday evening show, one of the very few liberal voices (Lionel, Saturdays, another) on FLA. The "choice" of retirement was "offered" to him over lunch on Tuesday, and came via Gabe Hobbs, a high ranking local exec in the CC managerial lineup. Beiro, always the gentleman, simply said that Hobbs merely had to leave him a voicemail, and that doing lunch was a decent touch. The three words in quotes above are my editorial license, BTW. Beiro, incidentally, suffers from diabetic blindness and his future employment options are subject to speculation, as his vision is somewhat degraded. The bottom line, briefly is that the edict came from San Antonio, and is part of a "zero budget" initiative now forming throughout the CC organization. This means that, unlike shows such as Cigar Dave (on Saturday daytime) which bring in revenue, this kind of show does not pay its way. It will probably be replaced with another repeat of Hannity or Limbaugh, which apparently create zero additional expense, compared to paying a local air talent. And they DID have a number of ads on Beiro's time slot. None of those stupid HD promos are heard any more. This is unfortunate as such syndie shows add nil to local content. Beiro, being live and local, always had local content, but this is not important to the CC org, unless it can find a way to yield profit, always a very tall order on Sunday evenings. Beiro took calls during the last half hour, and I called in (this is while the Pats-Colts thriller was playing out the 3rd and 4th quarter). The switchboard was jammed. I finally got a free line about 9.52 and got on at about 9:57. I made the point that I believed we "need more local content, the way that 1040 is doing", and I also said it was happening while CC was "spending millions to implement the failed technology that is HD radio on AM". I have little doubt that Mr. Hobbs was listening. It is to Beiro's credit that he was allowed to do his last show after being cut. Maybe at the staff meeting tomorrow, when they plan whether to give us the 2nd repeat of Limbaugh or the next repeat of Hannity, someone will mention that "a listener mentioned HD on Beiro. What's that?" Live and Local. What a concept. It even works when the HD signal is turned off !! (Bob Foxworth, Tampa FL, sent 2258 est Jan 21, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. AIR AMERICA REPORTED SOLD --- According to AllAccess, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that subject to bankruptcy court approval, Air America will likely be sold to the French family, the owners of a Kingston NY based TV station. The article says that Richard French would have a show on the liberal talk network if the deal goes through. He is said to be someone who is active in NY State Democratic party politics, and has a program on WRNN TV (Posted by Barry on the New York Radio Board via Pete Kemp, NRC-AM via DXLD) WRNN is a peanut whistle TV station that claims to be the Regional News Network. Their primary programming is infomercials. The news segments rate up there with a high school broadcasting class (Pete Kemp, NRC-AM via DXLD) Viz.: AIR AMERICA NEARS SALE TO GROUP LED BY THE FRENCH FAMILY By SARAH MCBRIDE January 22, 2007; Page B4 http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116942647872883236-bfvarMIX_ZRVW73BNquCTG2QJqE_20070129.html?mod=blogs Air America radio's parent company may have found a new rescuer: the French family of Westchester County, N.Y., which owns New York City- area television concern WRNN. A consortium of investors led by the French family is on the verge of signing a deal to purchase the assets of Piquant LLC, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York in October, according to people familiar with the situation. An agreement could be announced as early as today, these people said. Any agreement would need to be approved by the bankruptcy court. If the deal doesn't go through, it increases the likelihood that Piquant could face imminent liquidation. If the acquisition does go through, it could lead to several programming changes at the liberal talk-radio network. Richard French, son of WRNN owner Dick French, will likely get his own show in prime time on Air America. Richard French, formerly a New York State Democratic Party official, already has a nightly show on WRNN, "Richard French Live," where he has hosted guests including Sen. Hillary Clinton (D., N.Y.). Richard French couldn't be reached to comment. Currently Air America runs a political show hosted by David Bender at 8 p.m. EST and an environmental show hosted by Betsy Rosenberg at 9 p.m. Air America's most famous host, Al Franken, could soon leave if he decides to run for a U.S. Senate seat from Minnesota, a move he is now evaluating. A spokesman for Mr. Franken referred questions to Air America, which through a spokeswoman said it had no announcements on the status of Mr. Franken's show. But a popular former morning host on the network, Mark Maron of "Morning Sedition," could soon return to Air America. Mr. Maron says Air America executives have been in touch with him to discuss a possible show, pending the signed deal with the Frenches. Air America launched with fanfare in March 2004, signing up high- profile hosts like Mr. Franken and movie star Janeane Garofalo, who has since left the network. Clear Channel Communications Inc. put the company's programming on many of its "Progressive Talk" stations but lately has been pulling the plug on some of those stations as it replaces the liberal format with other programming. In its October bankruptcy filing, Air America said it had assets of $7.8 million and short-term liabilities of $19.8 million. A number of individuals have invested in the company, including RealNetworks Inc. Chief Executive Rob Glaser, who is the company's largest secured creditor with $9.8 million in claims. Other claimants include Citigroup Inc.'s Citibank, with $2.5 million in unsecured debt, and Clear Channel, with $558,333 in unsecured claims (via Craig Seufert, DXLD) ** U S A. Will the operators of the "Touch 106.1" pirate FM station in Roxbury regret the publicity they got in Saturday's Boston Globe? A lengthy feature on the front page of the Living/Arts section praised the station's focus on Boston's black community - and acknowledged that "WTCH" is operating without a license. Its operators claim they can operate legally without one, since they run less than 100 watts. How long until the FCC proves them wrong? (And we wonder what the "real" WTCH - on AM 960 in bucolic Shawano, Wisconsin - would think about its Boston doppelganger?) Our promised NERW Mini-Rant: As we headed back home from the WOR tower demolition last weekend, we did what we often do on a long drive - dialing around, listening to what's changed since our last trip along that route, and trying to collect IDs for our even more radio-obsessed pals at TopHour.com. It's often a recipe for finding some really bad radio, and this trip didn't disappoint. There was the little AM station that had dropped its simulcast partner a month earlier, still ID'ing with both frequencies at every break. There was the "Radio Gets Results" promo, all about the value of radio advertising, tagged out with the nicknames of two FM sister stations, and not a word about the AM signal on which it was airing. There was another AM, not too far up the road, running the same segment of a syndicated Broadway show over and over again - then dumping to its usual weekend automation, a few minutes before the top of the hour, and of course running right through the top of the hour with no ID. (This was, I think, the very same station running a painfully overblown anti-satellite-radio ad that painted the satellite services as expensive, unreliable purveyors of nothing but shock talk.) Did I mention that this same station also had network news audio playing right over the automated music for most of the end of that hour? An hour or two later and a few more miles up the road, there was another AM station with a recently-changed talk format, one whose clock clearly didn't match the automation, which was dumping local IDs in the middle of network talk segments and leaving the appropriate local breaks (including, yep, the top of the hour) in dead air. Is it any wonder that the rest of the trip home was accompanied by the sweet sounds of the NERW-mobile's CD changer? Sadly, this sort of "nobody's home" style of broadcasting has become par for the course for many AM signals, not just in the smallest of markets (at least one of these stations was in a top-50 market) and not just on a Sunday afternoon. . . [much more] http://www.fybush.com/NERW/2007/070122/nerw.html#rant (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch Jan 22 via DXLD) ** U S A. NEW BILL MAY IMPACT MEDIA Rep. believes Democratic media reform bill may prevent possible 'fascist' takeover of US media === Rep. Hinchey: New bill would break up media monopolies and restore fairness doctrine Warns media reform critical to prevent 'end of democratic republic' Concerns about monopolies and fears of a possible "fascist" takeover of the US media have prompted a Democratic congressman to push to restore the Fairness Doctrine, RAW STORY has learned. "Media reform is the most important issue confronting our democratic republic and the people of our country," Representative Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) said at the Free Press National Media Reform Conference held in Memphis, Tennessee last weekend. "This is a critical moment in history that may determine the future of our country…maybe forever." Hinchey told RAW STORY he plans to reintroduce the Media Ownership Reform Act (MORA) that would break up media monopolies and restore the Fairness Doctrine, which was eliminated by the Federal Communications Commission under the Reagan administration. “If Rush shoots his mouth off, he must give equal access to our side,” Hinchey said. “The American public will begin to get both sides or all sides of an issue. That is basic – fundamental to a democracy.” Last year, Hinchey introduced H.R. 3302 (MORA), but Republicans blocked the measure in committee. He also founded the Future of American Media Caucus in Congress in 2005. With Democrats now in control of Congress, a new media reform measure is expected to be assigned to the House Energy and Commerce Committee within the next couple of weeks, Hinchey’s staff confirmed. complete story at: http://www.rawstory.com:80/news/2007/Rep._believes_Democratic_media_reform_bill_0121.html (via Bob Young, MA, NRC-AM via DXLD) This led to a long, contentious thread about whether the Fairness Doctrine was a good idea, which we don`t propose to get into here, except to say that its repeal opened the floodgates for Rush Limbaugh and his ilk. Keep an eye on Rep. Hinchey`s webpage about this, http://www.house.gov/hinchey/issues/mora.shtml which so far has very little information: ``Media Ownership Reform Act of 2005 (MORA) --- The Media Ownership Reform Act, H.R. 3302, seeks to restore integrity and diversity to America's media system by lowering the number of media outlets that one company is permitted to own in a single market. The bill also reinstates the Fairness Doctrine to protect fairness and accuracy in journalism.`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [and non]. VUELVE ALÓ PRESIDENTE CON EL IMPULSO DE LOS CINCO MOTORES REVOLUCIONARIOS. El tradicional espacio radiotelevisivo, moderado por el presidente Hugo Chávez, reinicia su nueva etapa este domingo 21 de enero, abordando la esencia de los cinco motores constituyentes que impulsarán la era socialista en la Venezuela bolivariana del siglo XXI. Luego de mantenerse fuera del aire por aproximadamente cuatro meses, este domingo 21 de enero de 2007 el programa Aló Presidente vuelve a la televisión y la radio venezolanas. La edición número 263 del popular programa conducido por el presidente Hugo Chávez, se lleva a cabo desde el salón Ayacucho del Palacio de Miraflores. El reinicio del espacio rediotelevisivo coincide con el arranque de una nueva etapa política y social en la nación, marcada por acontecimientos como la reciente reelección del jefe de Estado bolivariano y la puesta en marcha de un conjunto de estrategias orientadas a la construcción del socialismo del siglo XXI en Venezuela. En tal sentido, se abordarán en el programa los cinco grandes motores que ha anunciado el presidente Chávez, conformados por la aprobación de una nueva Ley Habilitante; la reforma socialista constitucional; el impulso de la educación popular; la nueva geometría del poder y la explosión revolucionaria del poder comunal. El primer Aló Presidente del año 2007 tendrá como siempre espacios abiertos para la expresión cultural e interacción con el soberano, mediante la recepción de llamadas telefónicas y los contactos televisivos. En esta oportunidad está previsto que el presidente Chávez converse con el vicepresidente ejecutivo de la República, Jorge Rodríguez, quien se encuentra en Tucupita, estado Delta Amacuro, acompañado por miembros del Gabinete Ejecutivo y habitantes de la zona para hablar del desarrollo de los consejos comunales. - PRENSA PRESIDENCIAL - José Manuel Blanco Díaz - Venezuela - Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Comunicación y la Información (via José Alba Z., México, condig list via DXLD) Full of propaganda; says Aló Presidente was to resume Jan 21 after a 4-month break. AFAIK, RHC has been on the air every Sunday morning in the meantime, but I guess filling the entire few hours with stuff other than Hugo (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. New 6485.93, 2110-2400* Clandestine, 18-01, National R of RASD, Algeria Arabic/Spanish political talks with shouting, native songs, 2158 four IDs in Arabic, 2300 Spanish programme, ex 6458, 45434 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) 6485.3, CLANDESTINE from ALGERIA. R. Nacional de la RASD (Rabuni), 2150-2210, 1/19/2007, Arabic. 2150 Local pop music. 2155 Talk by man and woman followed by speech by man. 2159 Short Kor`an recitation by man. 2200 Short music bridge followed by talk by man. Moderate signal on new frequency (SINPO 34333). (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, RX-340, R8B, 90' random wire, LFE H-800, 65' PAR EF-SWL, LFE H-800, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ARGELIA, 6480, Radio Nacional Saharaui, 1855-1900, escuchada el 23 de enero en idioma árabe a locutor con comentarios en programa de música pop, despedida “..Salam alecum..”, ligeramente interferida por estación utilitaria de fondo, locutora con cuña de identificación “Idahat arabia Democratía”, comentarios y música folklórica local, referencias al Sahara, SINPO 34443. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Unstable - Inestable --- ALGERIA José, RASD is wandering during 2025 - 2035 UT time span about 60 Hertz up, from 6478.71 to 6478.77 kHz. S=1- 2 and hit by maritime QRM like RTTY and others. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Saludos Wolfgang, se aprecia esta noche a la RASD con frecuencia variable; ha estado emitiendo en 6478 y 6479. Cuando son las 2235 se aprecia que está emitiendo en 6481. 73 (José Miguel, ibid.) Radio Nacional de la RASD. Heard in Arabic after 1900 UT on the newly reported (in DXLD) frequency of 6458 (ex 6485) on Monday, Jan. 22. Moved again today, Tuesday, Jan. 23 to 6480. Poor reception initially today but gradually improved to good after 2130 then deteriorated after 2200 for a while but good again by 2300 for Spanish (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. ESTADOS UNIDOS, 7490 kHz, WHRA World Harvest R.5, 21-01- 07, 1222-1224 UTC. Locutor con comentarios religiosos, en inglés, SINPO 34333 (Javier Robledillo Jaén - Elche (Alicante), España, RX: Sangean ATS909, ANT: Telescópica. EA5-1028, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) I put this in unID since WHRA is scheduled on 15665 at this hour (and no other WHR transmitters are scheduled on 7490 at this time, tho WHRI does use it at other times). If one went by HFCC or FCC one would conclude that it could only be WJIE, but AFAIK they are totally inactive, and if they were on would hardly put a 3-level signal into Spain at midday! So what was it, really? Or could WHRA have made a schedule change not yet on their website? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ CRUISE DX'ING??? Just wondering if any of you out there have any experience taking portable receivers on a cruise? In April, my wife and I are taking a cruise leaving Tampa, FL. The cruise will cross the Atlantic, first stop being the Azores. Then on to Spain, Monaco, Croatia and Italy. About 16 days worth. I am planning on taking my Sony ICF-7600GR. Still trying to figure out how to do some recording. Only antenna will be the Sony's built-in antennas and the longwire (reel out) that comes with the radio. Figure I might be able to record from the speaker using one of my handheld digital point/shoot cameras in movie mode. I carry a portable card-to- cd burner for backing up photos. 73, (Jim Nall - N4FXC, Jan 23, IRCA via DXLD) I have DXed twice from cruise ships and loved it. Over New Years 1990- 1991, we sailed from LA to Puerto Vallarta. I took my Sony ICF2010 and Radio West Loop. Reception was fantastic. I remember getting armchair copy of WSB from the west coast of Mexico plus a handful of GYDX records that stand to this day. In September 2003, we cruised from Seattle to Juneau (one way) on a sternwheeler. I took my ICF2010 with me, and shipped my big Kiwa Loop to the cruise ship (for the trip home, I stopped at the post office in Juneau and mailed it back to my house). Reception was great after midnight (this was a small ship, and there was a really nice lounge on the top deck at the stern of the boat, which had canvas "walls" with plastic "windows" - enough to shield me from the elements without interfering with the DX at all). I remember hearing good signals from XECU-1450 and KVNS-1700 on the way to Skagway. I think I set 41 GYDX records on that trip. For recording, you might want to get one of those inexpensive digital recorders (I have an RCA that cost about $39 about 2 years ago). They're worthless in the low-fidelity mode but quite serviceable in the high-fidelity mode (I get about 2 1/2 hours on my little recorder, usually enough to record ToH IDs and tape loops from the TIS stations I encounter). I keep this recorder with me on car trips. I find I can get decent recordings of TIS stations while I'm driving, just by holding the recorder near the car speaker. That reminds me, I have about 50 TIS recordings I still need to extract and post to my web page. I would expect you would have fascinating reception from the mid-Atlantic. I stayed on the Atlantic coast of Barbados in 1986 and had a great time listening to S America in the evenings, N America after midnight, Europe at sunrise and sunset, and the occasional African. Enjoy! 73, (Tim Hall, ibid.) Jim, I've done this several times bringing my Kaito/Degen 1103 with good results. You pretty much need to have a balcony suite to get decent reception, although when in Tahiti, I was able to put the receiver right up to our window with OK results. No DX, but fine for FM and strong AM signals. In the Caribbean a year ago, I strung up about 20' outside along the balcony with decent results too. I'd love to try a pocket loop (à la Kiwa) or even the ALA 100 from Wellbrook; bet they'd work just fine. For recording, I take along the no longer available iRiver 795T, a wonderful tiny little mp3 recorder, about the size of a Bic lighter (do they still make these?) and able to record up to 70 hours of mp3 recordings at a low but adequate for DXing bit rate. A lot easier than your plan for using the digital camera! If you don't have a balcony, have a chair on the promenade deck at night and relax with the receiver. I found that there would rarely be anyone wondering about at that hour and results were also quite good (Walt Salmaniw, BC, IRCA via DXLD) What a beautiful trip. You'll likely slide along Cuba's north coast at pull Cubano locals the length of the island then enjoy Atlantic activity. I can't think of a single reason why anyone would take a cruise without at least one portable am/fm/hf receiver, and a backup, and a good handheld scanner. Or three.... Drag as many radios, scanners, charts, logbooks, WRTH's, notes, frequency counters, fountain pens, GPS units, FRS radios, binoculars, spare batteries, wire, and anything else related you can. I use NiMH batteries and quick chargers wherever possible. An outlet strip is a must. You'll generally find one or two outlets at most by the dresser in your cabin. Strips make life easy. Different from air travel, you'll suffer no rudeness from staff or passengers simply because you have a receiver. Cruise staffs are invariably polite and well realize radio is an integral part of their environment. Cruise ships are wonderful places from which to DX. There are actually people who live aboard them and when you add it up, it's cheaper than shoreside life what with its usurious property taxes, extortionate insurance, and other fine post-90s 'services'...... Have you considered the Crane or Terk AM loop? You'll notice the difference. Stations leap forth from static and light up ten outa ten on your Sony. My lash-up is a 2010 shoved within Radio Shack loop. Radio is balanced by a couple plastic containers which contain spare wire, etc., but drink cups will do same. Whole mess is plopped Rubbermaid turntable from the grocery store (fantastic idea courtesy Mr. T. Krueger, GrupoDX Florida). Turntable allows you to spin set & loop and zero in on target station, null others. Recording, I use old, lo-tech cheapaxx Sony handheld pocket cassette recorder jacked into radio's Line Out orifice. Runs good. Don't know why a digital recorder wouldn't work equally well or better. What ship you taking? E-mail me privately if you wish, some are noisy in terms of RF, some quiet; usually even on an RF-noisy ship you can find a quiet spot. What fun.... Dr. Zecchino (PV Zecchino, T.D., Manoverboard Key, FL, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM TRANSMITTER SITES [DRM: see also ETHIOPIA; GUIANA FRENCH; KUWAIT] The DRM UK website has short features and photographs of the following DRM transmitter sites: Crystal Palace, Rampisham, Woofferton, Beidwilder, Ismaning, Junglinster, Marnach, Moosbrunn, Santa Maria de Galeria, Sines, Taldom http://www.drmradio.co.uk/html/tx_sites.html http://www.drmradio.co.uk/html/tx_sites_uk.html (Mike Barraclough, UK, Jan 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ANOTHER NAIL IN THE ANALOG COFFIN For as long as anyone in broadcasting can remember, the industry standard for recording tape has been Ampex. But technological changes have forced Ampex out of the magnetic tape business. Quantegy Recording Solutions / Ampex Recording Media will take orders for both audio and video tape through February 28, for delivery by the end of April, before discontinuing production. If you use Ampex tape, you`re encouraged to place your final orders as soon as possible. Quantegy will continue to serve customers with a line of products to meet new platforms (From TV Business Confidential via Brock Whaley, GA, DXLD) BROADCASTERS, CABLE COMPANIES HAGGLE OVER HD SIGNALS By Jerri Stroud ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Sunday, Jan. 21 2007 http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/F4C70EF104681D498625726900167B5D?OpenDocument&highlight=2%2C%22high-definition%22 Bob Buchanan of Chesterfield went shopping for a high-definition television tuner and antenna as soon as he learned that Charter Communications Inc. was going to stop carrying KMOV's HD signal earlier this month. "I had already invited my father-in-law over from Ohio to see the Super Bowl in HD," Buchanan said. "I'm not going to let my father-in- law down." The dispute between Charter, which is based in Town and Country, and Channel 4's parent, Belo Corp. of Dallas, has sports fans and other high-definition enthusiasts fuming because the Super Bowl is two weeks away and the dispute is far from resolved. The situation here isn't unique. Stations around the country — especially those owned by Belo and Sinclair Broadcasting Group Inc. of Baltimore — are starting to ask cable companies to pay for the privilege of passing their signals on to cable subscribers. Belo has blocked Charter from passing on its HD signal in five markets. In the past, most stations have passed their signals to cable companies without asking for fees based on the number of cable subscribers who get the signal. In some cases, the stations made reciprocal advertising deals with cable companies or offered other economic considerations for permission to carry the signal. The stations are asking for payment now because many media companies have made costly investments in high-definition recording and transmission equipment. They'd like to recoup their investment, which can total millions of dollars. KMOV's statement about the dispute here, for example, said Belo was "asking Charter to share some of the value that it gets from our HD investment. They pay national channels for HDTV services, so they should also pay local channels." Cable companies generally oppose paying for broadcast signals because they're available over the air at no cost. Although most cable companies charge extra for HD programming, that typically includes networks that aren't broadcast, such as HDNet and ESPN HD, and that the cable companies pay to carry. The fee also may reflect the customer's cost of renting a high-definition cable box. "It's just ridiculous," said Mark Cooper, a telecommunications analyst with the Consumer Federation of America. "Broadcasters were given the spectrum and they couldn't figure out how to monetize it. They couldn't charge advertisers for prettier pictures — that would be a hard sell." However, asking consumers to pay for signals is unreasonable because the airwaves technically belong to the public, Cooper said. "In the end, what everybody forgets is that they're failing to deliver the benefits of new technology to the public," he said. In St. Louis, Charter carried KMOV's HD signal for nearly three years before talks with Belo bogged down before Christmas. Then Belo demanded that Charter stop carrying it Jan. 4, a month before the Super Bowl. Little progress in talks Although talks are continuing, there appears to be little progress. The dispute affects Charter customers in five markets, including St. Louis and Fort Worth, Texas. "It's frustrating," said Anita Lamont, a spokeswoman for Charter. "We don't charge for" local HD channels, she added. Any payment to Belo or Sinclair would have to be passed on to customers. Belo has been asking for payment only for HD signals in most of its markets. However, Sinclair, which owns KDNL (Channel 30), has asked some cable companies for payment to carry both the analog signal and the digital HD signal. That's the case in Sinclair's dispute with Mediacom Communications Corp. of Middletown, N.Y., which serves some customers in Maryland Heights. In Iowa, where Mediacom serves 22 markets affected by the dispute with Sinclair, the broadcaster has been offering a $150 rebate to Mediacom customers if they switch to DirecTV, a satellite provider. Mediacom has been offering its customers free antennas so they can get Sinclair's HD signal over the air. In St. Louis, Mediacom hasn't been carrying KDNL because of the dispute. Mediacom's antenna offer also applies here. Charter lacks an agreement to carry KDNL's HD signals but does offer the analog version of the ABC affiliate, Lamont said. Tom Larsen, vice president for legal affairs at Mediacom, said Sinclair is demanding "a pretty hefty sum" for each subscriber for carrying the signal. He declined to disclose an amount, citing confidentiality agreements. Satellite companies pay Sinclair for its signals In a recorded conference call, Sinclair's Barry M. Faber, vice president and general counsel, said the amount was 50 cents a month or less for each subscriber. "We expect retransmission fees in all of our markets," he said. He did not return a call about KDNL. In the call, Faber said Sinclair receives payment for its signals from the satellite companies. He also criticized Mediacom for asking the Federal Communications Commission to intervene in the dispute. The FCC's media bureau ruled against Mediacom late last year and urged the parties to submit to arbitration. Sinclair refused, and Mediacom is considering an appeal to the full commission. Larsen said if Mediacom agreed to pay Sinclair a fee for each subscriber, other stations would demand payment, too. The result, he said could be an increase in cable bills of up to $60 a year. He said such an increase would be "virtually a $60 tax on consumers for the spectrum they already own." St. Louis-based Suddenlink Communications recently concluded negotiations with Sinclair and also has resolved its Belo carriage agreements in most markets, said Pete Abel, a spokesman. Suddenlink refused to pay Sinclair a fee for each subscriber, but "mutually agreeable economic consideration" was given. He declined to be specific. Abel called Sinclair's demands "a tax on cable customers that we don't think is fair." Buchanan, the Chesterfield resident, says his new antenna brings almost all of the local HD signals into his home theater, which cost him $8,000 to equip and $20,000 to remodel. "It's just a much better experience," said Buchanan. "You can see the grass and see the brand on the beer bottle" a fan is holding in the stands (via Will Martin, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ The geomagnetic field was disturbed during the period due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream. Field activity varied from quiet to major storm levels during 15 – 18 January and quiet to minor storm levels during 19 – 21 January (a brief period of severe storm occurred at high latitudes on 15 January). ACE solar wind data indicated the high-speed stream commenced early on 15 January and continued through the period with a peak velocity of 721 km/sec observed at 17/0431Z. Maximum IMF Bz variability occurred during 15 January with a minimum reading of -10.9 nT observed at 15/1412Z. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 24 JAN - 19 FEB 2007 Solar activity is expected to be at very low to low levels through the entire forecast period. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels during 24 January – 10 February and 14 – 19 February. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet levels through 28 January. Unsettled to minor storm levels are expected during 29 – 31 January due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream. Quiet to unsettled conditions are expected during 01 – 10 February. Unsettled to minor storm levels are expected during 11 – 15 February due to another recurrent coronal hole high speed stream. Quiet to unsettled conditions are expected during 16 – 19 February. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2007 Jan 23 2254 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2007 Jan 23 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2007 Jan 24 80 5 2 2007 Jan 25 80 5 2 2007 Jan 26 80 5 2 2007 Jan 27 80 5 2 2007 Jan 28 80 5 2 2007 Jan 29 85 20 4 2007 Jan 30 85 25 5 2007 Jan 31 85 20 4 2007 Feb 01 85 10 3 2007 Feb 02 85 5 2 2007 Feb 03 85 5 2 2007 Feb 04 85 5 2 2007 Feb 05 85 5 2 2007 Feb 06 85 8 3 2007 Feb 07 85 5 2 2007 Feb 08 85 5 2 2007 Feb 09 80 5 2 2007 Feb 10 80 5 2 2007 Feb 11 80 15 3 2007 Feb 12 75 15 3 2007 Feb 13 75 20 4 2007 Feb 14 75 15 3 2007 Feb 15 75 12 3 2007 Feb 16 75 8 3 2007 Feb 17 75 5 2 2007 Feb 18 75 5 2 2007 Feb 19 75 10 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1344, DXLD) ###