DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-028, March 4, 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 NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1348 Mon 0400 WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0515 WBCQ 7415 [time varies] Mon 1330 WRMI 7385 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 ** ANTARCTICA. LRA36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel escuchada hoy 27 de febrero desde 1910 UT en 15476 kHz DSB. SINPO 45433, llegando por momentos a 45444. Fading profundo. Música folklórica argentina, esporádicas ID y charlas por YL con contenido de divulgación científica y turística sobre las Cataratas de Iguazú. Luego de las 2000 aproximadamente la recepción fue decayendo. Luego de las 2030 aún se los seguía escuchando. Me llamó la atención la buena recepción, a diferencia de setiembre pasado, cuando los escuché con calidad casi marginal. Seguramente están usando una potencia bastante más alta que en aquella época, ya que en estos días es reportada su escucha desde varias partes del mundo. ¡Sería interesante si algún colega argentino pudiera obtener alguna información de adentro! Yo estimo que la potencia no baja de 10 kW. De mi informe de setiembre no tuve respuesta a pesar de los IRCs; tal vez les envíe otro en esta oportunidad a ver si tengo más suerte. Usé receptores Sony ICF-7600DS con una antena activa TG-34 recién estrenada. También era posible escucharlos bastante bien con el Degen DE-1103 y antena telescópica, siempre dentro de mi casa de Montevideo, lo cual habla muy bien de la recepción! (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, Conexión Digital March 4 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. All three Northern Territory stations are currently on the air. I can hear them here in N.Z. at 0950 UT with a football commentary, on 2310, 2325 & 2485 kHz, in parallel (Barry Hartley, NZ, wwdxc BC-DX Mar 3 via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Now in the Photos - Miscellaneous section of the DXLD yg: David Hermges R.I.P. --- Photo of David Hermges at Radio Austria International, - on the left side. Center, Carlos Arturo del Castillo of Spanish service then, and on right side Wolf Harranth OE1WHC, formerly on ORF Radio Austria International German service. Thanks to German hobby magazine Radio-Kurier 22-2002, page 8, - editor Michael Schmitz, ADDX. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I never forgot how David went out of his way to welcome me to Vienna during my one visit for an EDXC Conference, in the form of a concert ticket at short notice. I was also a contributor to his Austrian SW Panorama for several years (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BIAFRA [non]. V. of Biafra International --- my report was returned by the USPO although it was sent to the DC address in the PWBR (Marlin Field, MI, QSL Report, March NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Datos e historia Radio Pio XII --- Radio Pio XII, que transmite en la frecuencia de 5952.5 kHz es una de las emisoras bolivianas más fáciles de sintonizar aquí en España, especialmente entre las 2300 y las 0030 UT y cuando la interferencia de las emisoras internacionales que transmiten en 5950 y 5955 lo permite. Aquí están sus datos y muy interesante historia, extraídos de su página web. Radio Pío XII (Estación Central), Casilla 434, Oruro, Bolivia Teléfonos: (591 2) 5820250 - 5820747 Fax. (591 2) 5820554 Contactos: rpiodoce @ entelnet.bo PROGRAMACIÓN, HORARIO DE BOLIVIA (UT -4) DE LUNES A VIERNES 04:30 a 05:30 – Rijchary Ñawisitu 06:00 a 07:00 – Pío 12 Noticias (Primera Edición) 07:00 a 08:00 – Bolivia en Contacto (Con Red Erbol) 08:00 a 08:30 – Tome nota 08:30 a 09:30 – Pío 12 Deportes 09:30 a 12:00 – En Directo Por Pío 12 12:00 a 12:20 – Semillas de Esperanza 12:20 a 13:30 – Pío 12 Noticias (Segunda Edición) 13:30 a 14:00 – Usted Tiene la palabra. 14:00 a 15:30 – Música de mi tierra. 15:30 a 17:00 – Hola tarde 17:00 a 17:30 – Tome nota 17:30 a 18:00 – Pío 12 Noticias (Tercera edición) 18:00 a 19:00 – Bolivia en Contacto (Con Red Erbol) 19:00 a 20:00 – K´uychi (Con Red Quechua) 20:00 a 22:00 – Detrás del volante. 22:00 Cierre de emisión. SÁBADOS 04:30 a 05:30 – Rijchary Ñawisitu 06:00 a 07:00 – Pío 12 Noticias (Primera Edición) 07:00 a 08:00 – Bolivia en Contacto (Con Red Erbol) 08:00 a 09:00 – K´uychi (Red Quechua) 09:00 a 10:30 – Que churra es mi tierra. 10:30 a 12:00 – La hora de los mercados. 12:00 a 14:00 – Mesa Redonda Pío 12 14:00 a 17:00 – La movida de fin de semana. 17:00 a 18:00 – La Vida hecha canción. 18:00 a 19:00 – Nuestras provincias 19:00 a 22:00 – Música de nuestra tierra. 22:00 Cierre de emisión. DOMINGOS 06:00 a 07:00 – Semillas de esperanzas. 07:00 a 07:30 – Música con vida. 07:30 a 08:30 – Transmisión de la Misa. 08:30 a 09:00 – Por que vale la pena. 09:00 a 10:00 – Salud, vida y educación 10:00 a 12:00 – Hagamos democracia. 12:00 a 12:30 – Porque vale la pena (Repris) 14:00 a 16:00 – Que Churra es mi tierra. 16:00 a 18:00 – Pío 12 Deportes. 18:00 a 20:00 – El álbum de los recuerdos. 20:00 Cierre de emisión. [much more, background, chronology, etc.]: http://www.radiopio12.org/index.php (via Manuel Méndez, Spain, Noticias DX via DXLD) 23/2, 2232 UT - 5952.4v5 kHz, RADIO PIO XII - Siglo Veinte, Spagnolo, avisos e mx locale. Segnale buono-sufficiente. Ascoltata anche con il DE1103! Il BFO ha un'escursione talmente ampia da consentire una sorta di ECSS manuale sintonizzandosi a +/- 1 kHz dalla frequenza centrale. QRM R. Taiwan Int. relay WYFR 5950 kHz (SWL I1-0799/GE, Luca Botto Fiora, Rapallo (Genova), R7 Drake (R7) Satellit 500 Grundig (S500), 2 DE1103 Degen (DE1103), bclnews.it yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL, 9050, 01/03 1749, R. 95FM, Macaé, RJ, retransmissão em AM inclusive com fading não acentuado, anns do Colégio Barroco Lopes, Expresso Macaeense, etc, ouvida até 1916. A freq. original é 95.3 MHz. A hora informada era a real, o que não indica gravação. A emissora não é sintonizada aqui em FM nem mesmo com antena externa de 5 elementos, PP, 353333 [sic] ?!?!? [jrmo] (Receptor: DEGEN DE1103 (antena dipolo 1/2 onda para 60 metros) (José Ricardo Motta de Oliveira, Rio de Janeiro - RJ Brasil, HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL – A Rádio Educadora, de Limeira (SP), permanece emitindo na faixa de 120 metros. Foi captada, pelo colunista, em Bombinhas (SC), em 10 de fevereiro, às 2335, na freqüência de 2380 kHz. Na oportunidade, a estação transmitia a partida de futebol entre a Inter de Limeira e o União São João de Araras. BRASIL – Nos últimos dias, a Rádio Transmundial, de Santa Maria (RS), vem apresentando problemas técnicos na freqüência de 11735 kHz. Um raio danificou vários equipamentos no parque de transmissores da emissora, conforme informação do diretor técnico, Samuel Matos, dadas a Sérgio Partamian, de Mairiporã (SP). Por isso, em 25 metros, a emissora está operando com potência reduzida. BRASIL – A Rádio Canção Nova, de Cachoeira Paulista (SP), está espalhando espórios por freqüências vizinhas, na faixa de 31 metros. A emissora ocupa 9675 kHz, mas seu sinal aparece até em 9745 kHz. Uma lástima! Durante várias horas do dia, o sinal da Rádio Canção Nova, de Cachoeira Paulista (SP), aparece na freqüência de 6105 kHz, em 49 metros, no Sul do Brasil. A constatação é do colunista, em Porto Alegre (RS). Com isso, quem sai perdendo é o ouvinte da Rádio Cultura Filadélfia, de Foz do Iguaçu (PR). Tal ocorre uma vez que as duas estações ocupam o mesmo canal em praticamente todos os horários e as interferências são inevitáveis. BRASIL - A Rádio Aparecida, de Aparecida (SP), remodelou seu site na Internet. A emissora apresenta a seus ouvintes um portal dedicado especialmente para os ouvintes de ondas curtas, onde podem ser encontradas informações sobre programas, apresentadores, horários e freqüências. Para conferir, acesse http://www.radioaparecida.com.br/aparecidaOC/index.php BRASIL - A Rádio Senado Ondas Curtas, de Brasília (DF), pretende revitalizar algumas antenas da Radiobrás e aumentar suas emissões em ondas curtas. A emissora também está acompanhando de perto os testes digitais no modo Digital Radio Mondiale - DRM, que são feitos pela Universidade de Brasília. Nos sábados, a Rádio Senado Ondas Curtas, de Brasília (DF), permanece no ar entre 0900 e 1200, pela freqüência de 5990 kHz. Já de segundas a sextas-feiras, a programação é transmitida a partir das 0900 até o final da sessão plenária do Senado Federal brasileiro que acontece, geralmente, por volta de 2000. BRASIL - Quer concorrer aos prêmios da Rádio Guarujá Paulista, de Guarujá (SP)? Então sintoniza o programa Nas Ondas Curtas da Guarujá Paulista!, que vai ao ar, nos sábados, às 21h30min, no horário brasileiro de verão [sic, which has expired, so now = 0030 UT Sunday?], em 3385, 5045 e 5940 kHz. Depois é só escrever para a emissora dizendo como está a qualidade da sintonia em sua localidade. Em breve, a emissora vai sortear mais um tradicional kit com material promocional. BRASIL - Mais uma emissora brasileira voltou a ser captada em ondas curtas nos óltimos dias. Trata-se da Rádio Cultura, de Araraquara (SP), pela freqüência de 3365 kHz. A descoberta foi feita pelo Giuseppe Settimi Cysneiros, em Santa Rita do Sapucaí (MG), em 20 de fevereiro a partir de 1952. Ele ouviu a vinheta Cultura, a Rádio da Cidade. O sinal era excelente (Célio Romais, Panorama via Conexión Digital March 4 via DXLD) I think --- hope --- the times in this are UT, u.o.s. (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL [non]. PORTUGAL – A Radiobrás arranjou um jeito interessante e econômico de levar as informações do governo brasileiro aos ouvintes dos países de língua portuguesa: criou um pequeno programa, chamado Brasil Hoje, que é retransmitido pela RDP Internacional. Uma das edições vai ao ar, nas quartas-feiras, às 1725, pela freqüência de 15475 kHz. Foi captado, pelo colunista, em Bombinhas (SC), em sete de fevereiro. Ao final, o locutor avisa: “Brasil Hoje é uma produção da Radiobrás para a RDP Internacional e RDP África”. (Célio Romais, Panorama via Conexión Digital March 4 via DXLD) ** BULGARIA [and non]. Re 7-027, New transmitter in Bulgaria? Already some time ago I noted a quite good audio quality of some Kostinbrod transmissions, especially opposed to Padarsko. It is perhaps a bit harsh to qualify the modulation of Padarsko transmissions (Russian at 1500 on 9500 is one of them) as plain scrap, but the audio quality leaves quite a lot to be desired due to a rather limited audio frequency response and slight distortion. Probably this is a matter of the feed circuits, not so much of the transmitters itself? Hans Werner Lange reports in the German Radio-Kurier magazine the reason for Radio Bulgaria's frequency changes as of January: The German service says that they were ordered by the Bulgarian telcom supervisory body to abandon 5800 and 7500 because using these frequencies is not permissible in the European Union. (??? --- 5800+ is at present in use in Sweden, 7500+ was in use in Lithuania as recently as in the A06 season, so these OOB ranges can hardly be illegal for broadcasting in the European Union.) (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CFRX 6070 is currently not on the air. Apparently the transmitter is broken and the antenna definitely is. It is supposed to be a vertical antenna, but at the moment, it looks like both the top and bottom of the antenna touch the ground. Since CFRX is mainly a labour of love for engineer at CFRB, he can only work on things in his spare time. Expect it to be a while before CFRX is back on the air (Jim Orcheson, March 3, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** CANADA. 1610, CHHA, ON, Toronto - 3/2 2100 - Clear and alone with "Ésta es CHHA, Radio Voces Latinas." Calls given very slowly and distinctly. Long suspected I've had this, but the bits of weak Spanish peeking above the noise level never included anything IDable. That new downtown transmitter WORKS! Ontario #67 and Canada #100 (no call changes!); it took 20 years to get from 90 to 100! (Steve Francis, Alcoa, Tennessee, March 3, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** CHINA. 9200 Firedrake, well heard at 0909, March 3, // 10400 (fair) 9605, Firedrake, poorly heard at 1241, March 3, under two other stations. On top was CNR-1 with Chinese programming and under that was WYFR in Spanish till 1245*. Who is the Firedrake directed at? (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9605 is used by the BBC via Yamata at 1100-1530 for Mandarin - hence the Firedrake et al. 9605 YAM actually starts from 1030 in English, and if I remember correctly they did (still do ?) carry language lessons (Mandarin/English) at one time, so this portion may also be jammed. (parallel 11750SNG and 15545NAK are not audible here either) I can only hear WYFR on 9605 at 1030, but multiple jamming becomes audible during my local afternoon (Noel R. Green (NW England), ibid.) ** CONGO DR. R. Kahuzi, 6210, v/s Barbara Smith, Secretary. Addr.: P O Box 189, Eastanollee, GA 30348 (Sam Barto, QSL Report, March NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** CUBA. 530 kHz, Radio Cadena Habana; 1800-1832 3 March, 2007. Interesting observation: it appears that "Noticiero Nacional de Cuba," the daily 30-minute news, sports and weather program that many stations pick up, actually originates from Radio Rebelde's studios. At the 1830 conclusion, a few seconds of the Rebelde theme aired before Cadena Habana's board (bored?) op abruptly cut and flipped to the Cadena programming. By the way, no trace of Air Martí this day (local Saturday) at 2300 or 0000 checks. I wasn't home on Friday to try for it then (seems they're often up on Fridays instead). (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. RHC March 4 at 2330 with RHC IS and opening Esperanto, Sunday only, on 9600, but heavy CCI from Vatican via SMG in Vietnamese; Commies vs Catholix! There was no het so I assume XEYU was not on the air at the moment. A bit later also found RHC Esperanto on // 5965. Looked up later in EiBi, shows 9600 and 6140, which I had not checked, but 5965 may replace it. He has 5965 in Creole during this semi-hour, and who knows, that may be the case other days of week. Also, Praga Spanish via Canadá 6000 was in the clear at 2334, no CubaRM from RHC or Rebelde or whatever is or was there (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. [Re 7-027, UNIDENTIFIED] CUT NUMBERS STATIONS: Substitute letters for figures probably to reduce transmission time and to reduce errors in reception, prime examples are the Cuban stations often reported in this column. A N D U W R I G M T 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 To send the following numbers 2753 6921 7106 9174 in normal International Morse Code would require: .._ _ _ _ _ ... ..... ..._ _ _.... _ _ _ _. .._ _ _ ._ _ _ _ _ _ ... ._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.... _ _ _ _. ._ _ _ _ _ _... ..._ a total of 80 symbols, whereas using cut numbers _. .. ._ _ _.. ._. _ _ _. ._ .. ._ _ ._. _ _ ._ .. .._ a total of 35 symbols (Allen Fountain, Utility DX Roundup, March ADXN via DXLD) sic, dots and dashes without proper spacing (gh) The Department of Defense did use code in the 80s --- the famed KKN stations. They were true CW. The US mostly relied on voice messages. Now as to why Cuba uses MCW...I don't know. Perhaps someone pops in the tape, goes into the other room, lights a cigar and listens to Hugo Chávez or Gene Scott. 73/Liz (Liz Cameron, MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) R and TV Martí matters: see U S A ** CYPRUS TURKISH NORTHERN. Re: 6150, Radio Bayrak, Cyprus. Program with songs by Bob Marley & W-s [?] "Wailers" -- his backup group (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DODECANESE ISLANDS. "MV Courier" anniversary March 4 --- On this day in 1952, the first seagoing Radio broadcasting station, "Courier", was dedicated by President Harry Truman. http://radio.about.com/library/history/blhistory0304.htm The MV Courier "Project Vagabond" was fitted out for use as a floating Voice of America relay station in 1951. For all of its life it served in the Eastern Mediterranean though it was originally conceived to be able to sail to world troublespots. Some reports say it was possibly docked and coupled into a landbased antenna system whilst others say it was moored off the coast of Rhodes in Greece. It carried a helium balloon to hold its own 5/8's inch antenna wire if required - an idea unsuccessfully adopted by Laser 730/558 on the MV Communicator 30 years later. As well as a water cooled RCA BTA-150A 150kw MW TX, it also had a pair of Collins 207-B1 shortwave transmitters and normally received SSB feeds via HF for rebroadcast. This seems to be the first publicised successful attempt at what we would recognise today as "offshore radio", though the ship only broadcast from within territorial waters with the permission of the Government concerned. The signal was widely received, and was heard as far away as Australia. The ship was approximately 5000 tonnes, ie. five times the size of the Ross Revenge and was reportedly manned by a crew of over 100 men. See the articles in the February 2004 edition of "Medium Wave News", and the September 1952 article in "Electronics" magazine for more details. (are these available online?). It broadcast as an offshore relay in Eastern Mediterranean from 1952 to 1964. The transmitter equipment was eventually gifted to the Greek government. [1259, later 1260 kHz --- gh] http://www.rossrevenge.co.uk/tx/othertx.htm Images at http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/VOLUME02/Pioniers_duimzuigers_mislukkelingen.Shtml (via Mike Terry, MWDX yg via DXLD) See the Google Earth imagery geo. coordinates. Behind the rightmost red-white coloured MW mast, you see GREY coloured lower SW antenna masts for 2 dipole vertical rows of about 30 meters height, 50 kW to NE/ME only. Former first IBB / VOA Rhodes-A 1953y - May 18, 1964y, seaborne relay base "Courier" radio ship MW 1259 kHz 150 kW + SW 15/2 x 35 kW. Harbour at 36 25 03 N 28 13 57 E Former first IBB / VOA Rhodes-A stn in May 19, 1964y - 1985y. MW 1259/1260 kHz 150 kW + [SW 15/2 x 35 kW] Now Greek ERA 1493/1494 kHz 150 kW site. 36 24 50 N 28 13 43 E Former second IBB Rhodes-B stn at Vagia Point, Afandou Beach. SW 2 x 50, 1 x 15 kW in May 19, 1965y til Aug 8, 1998y. 36 17 22 N 28 10 36 E Former second IBB Rhodes-B stn at Vagia Point, Afandou Beach. MW 1260 kHz Harris 500 kW in 1986y til Apr 25, 2006y. 36 17 10 N 28 10 30 E I have been on Rhodes on holiday in May 1987, and visited all IBB/ERA - old and new. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) USCGC Courier was heard regularly on 1260 from various New Zealand DX locations. I have a QSL for reception of the Courier back in the 60's. (Tony Magon, Sydney Australia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 4909.23, R. Chaskis, Otavalo, 0235-0420+ Feb 24, presumed with Spanish religious sermon, religious instrumental music, HC vocals, 0407 rustic HC music. Weak; poor in noise (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Egypt is a unique land where ancient pyramids, tombs, and deserts coexist with the Middle East’s second-largest economy and a booming population (around 75 million). While the predominant religion is Islam, Egyptian law does not permit religious political parties (although this has proven difficult to fully enforce). The country’s media are highly influential throughout the region, and are well represented in print, on television, and via radio. The state broadcaster is ERTU, which operates domestic television and radio services as well as international broadcasts via satellite and radio. Radio Cairo (ERTU): http://www.ertu.org/ Egypt Radio Television Union operates the external services Radio Cairo and Voice of the Arabs. The ERTU website given (as listed in WRTH 2006) does not appear to offer English. WRTH also lists http://www.freewebs.com/overseas-radio/ as an unofficial Radio Cairo website; as such, it is not reviewed here (Paul E. Guise, NL, Click, March ODXA Listening In via DXLD) R. Cairo, 7270 at 0248 UT with info on fishing industry. Fair signal. Mid East tune a few minutes later until 0304, with weakening signal. ID at 0304 UT then talk about ancient Egyptian women. The signal was S9+10 by this time with low audio. At 0315 UT, S7 but barely audible (Liz Cameron, MI, Feb 25, wwdxc BC-DX March 4 via DXLD) That`s the NAm service in English at 0200-0330 (gh) ** ERITREA. QSL Radio Bana 5100. Nach 14 Tagen Laufzeit kam heute eine handgeschriebene Postkarte mit Bestaetigungstext von Bana Radio (so stehts auf der Karte, angesagt wird aber Radio Bana) aus Asmara, Eritrea, 5100 kHz. Unterzeichnerin ist Saada Ahmedin, English Panel. Radio Bana ist morgens ab 0356 UTC s/on ganz ordentlich zu hoeren, es kommt dann ein afrikanischer Musiktitel "Radio Bana" mit IDs in drei lokalen Sprachen, als letztes kommt dann eine englische ID. Ab 0400 UT ist dann Programmbeginn. Adresse: Radio Bana, Adult Education and Media, Ministry of Education, P.O. Box 609, Asmara, Eritrea (Martin Elbe, Germany, A-DX Mar 2 via BCDX via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. RUSSIA - CLANDESTINE to ETHIOPIA. 9445 Andenet LeDemocracy Radio (via Samara) on Feb 25 (Sun) at *1600-1618+ UT. Flute, partial ID in Amharic (..Ledemocracy clearly legible) + frequency "meter band", flute, then 1602 UT longish talk. RAP in (Amharic) at 1610. At first a bit weak, signal increased till 1613 when began to fade again and strong CRI-English splash from 9435 kHz. Local noise put a stop to listening at 1618 UT. The www given on http://www.airtime.be by TDP does not work, but I found the web-site at http://www.andenet.com/ You can supposedly listen to audio stream but I haven`t succeeded yet (still loading after 5 minutes, hi) Says it started broadcasts Feb 9, 2007. Voice of Andenet is a branch of KINIJIT Support Group in the US established in May 2005. Kinijit is a party dedicated to bring Unity, Peace, and Prosperity to the Citizens of Ethiopia through the democratic process. Derived from the merging of All Ethiopian Unity Party (AEUP), United Ethiopian Democratic Party-Medhin (UEDP-Medhin), Kestedamena and Ethiopian Democratic League, acc to party-web http://www.kinijit.org/ (Finn Krone, Denmark, Dxplorer Feb 25 via BCDX March 4 via DXLD) ** EUROPE. 15070.2, pirate, Cupid Radio, 1630-1650+ Feb 25, Euro-pop music, IDs, Netherlands address for reports, acknowledged listeners` reports. Weak but readable (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FALKLAND ISLANDS. Estimados, Parece estar fuera del aire La voz de las Madres [Buenos Aires] en 530 kHz. En su lugar anoche (o sea hoy UT) 0230 UTC en adelante escuché una señal muy débil con modulación en inglés con acento británico. Cuando la señal mejoró un poco pude ver que era la BBC. A las 0300 escuché perfectamente una identificació n del BBC World Service. No se qué emisora puede ser, pero mi ónica apuesta es por Falkland Island Radio Service de las islas Malvinas. La recepción la hice primero con Degen 1103 y luego con Sony ICF-7600DS éste con antena activa TG-34. Girando la antena, la dirección en que se escuchaba mejor parecía ser NW-SE, lo que no coincide exactamente con la dirección esperada (N-S), pero en esto influye también la reducción del ruido eléctrico local, en especial los televisores de mis vecinos La recepción nunca fue buen, apenas daba para un 2 en los mejores momentos. Dado que no tengo información sobre FIRS, la pregunta es si esa escucha sería compatible con el horario de la emisora, o si alguna otra emisora en 530 kHz podría ser escuchada con BBCWS a esa hora. No se cuándo volverá al aire la Voz de las Madres, pero mientras no lo haga vale la pena escuchar en 530 a ver qué se oye. 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, Conexión Digital March 4 via DXLD) Moises: efectivamente, es una emisión de las Islas Malvinas. La FIBS emite en paralelo por 530 y 550 Khz, he tenido oportunidad de escucharla en la costa Patagónica aunque no con muy buena señal. Saludos (Alejandro Álvarez, Neuquén, Argentina, ibid.) Yo tambien estoy convencido que se trata de la emisora de Malvinas. La hemos reportado con programas de la BBC hace un par de años, en ocasión del DX Camp realizado en la localidad de Alberti, provincia de Buenos Aires, junto con Marcelo Cornachioni y Gerardo Choren. Y, coincidentemente con lo que señala Alejandro, la reporte con señal más o menos aceptable pero con mucho desvanecimiento, en distintas ocasiones y en diferentes lugares, desde la Patagonia, tanto en 530 Khz, como en 550 Khz. Ah! La Voz de las Madres, al escribir este mensaje (1130 UT) retorno al aire. 73 (ARNALDO SLAEN, de Villa Urquiza, Buenos Aires, Argentina, ibid.) 550 would actually BFBS Falklands (gh, DXLD) Estimados, En la noche del sábado (local) [UT March 4] en Cuchilla Alta logré escuchar nuevamente al FIRS (identificación tentativa) en 530 kHz, a pesar de la presencia de La Voz de las Madres, Buenos Aires, en la misma frecuencia. Logré separar las señales mediante cuidadosa orientación de las antenas. Lo pode escuchar usando la Degen DE-1103 sola con su antena de ferrite, pero mejores resultados tuve con la Sony ICF-7600DS acoplada a la antena activa de loop TG-34. Realmente con ésta se logran nulos bastante aceptables. La señal llegó a ser bastante intensa por momentos y pude lograr muy buenas grabaciones, aunque lamentablemente se trata de una retransmisión del BBC World Service o de transcripciones de la BBC. A la hora que la escuché (0200 UT del domingo 4/3) el programa consistía en una obra teatral. Aunque no tengo identificación 100% positiva creo que no hay dudas. Hace tiempo que andaba atrás de esta emisora y ahora me puedo considerar satisfecho. Solo faltaría una QSL aunque con esa programación se dificulta hacer un informe indiscutible. 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, condig list via DXLD) ** FRANCE [and non]. Re 7-027: Radio France heard today Sunday March 4 on 15605 at 1642 in parallel with 15160. Good signal on 15160 compared to poor on 15605. Regards (Harry Brooks, North East England, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RFI changes in M-07 season as from Feb 26th, some are azimuth changes only: [I = Issoudun FRANCE; M = Meyerton RSA; G = Montsinéry GUIANA FRENCH] 3965 1900 2100 I 1 0 French DRM 3965 2300 1800 I 1 0 Fr DRM 5905 1900 2000 I 500 55 Russian 5925 0300 0400 M 250 19 French 6175 1130 1200 I 500 270 French 6175 2000 2200 I 500 204 French 7135 0400 0500 I 500 155 French 7135 0500 0600 I 500 190 French 7135 0600 0700 I 500 204 French 7135 1900 2000 I 500 70 Russian 7135 2100 2200 I 500 190 French 7160 2000 2200 M 250 328 French 7220 0600 0630 I 250 170 Haoussa 7315 0400 0430 I 500 135 English 7315 0600 0630 I 500 170 English 7315 1900 2200 I 500 204 French 9730 1600 1700 M 100 5 English 9765 0600 0630 I 250 170 Haoussa 9765 0600 0700 I 250 170 English 9790 0400 0500 I 500 155 French 9790 0500 0600 I 500 185 French 9790 0500 0600 I 500 155 French 9790 0600 0700 I 500 185 French 9790 1900 2000 I 500 155 French 9790 1900 2000 I 500 204 French 9790 2000 2100 I 500 185 French 9800 0100 0130 G 500 295 Spanish 9800 1600 1630 I 500 55 Russian 9805 0400 0430 I 500 135 English 9805 0600 0630 I 250 170 Haoussa 11665 1400 1430 I 500 55 Russian 11670 1600 1630 I 500 80 Russian 11675 1430 1500 I 500 80 Pasthu 11700 0500 0600 I 500 155 French 11700 0600 0700 I 500 185 French 11700 0700 0800 I 500 204 French 11705 1800 1900 I 500 155 French 11705 1900 2000 I 500 155 French 11830 0600 0700 M 250 330 Portuguese 11830 0700 0730 I 250 170 Haoussa 11830 0800 0830 M 250 328 Portuguese 11995 0400 0500 I 500 120 French 11995 0500 0530 I 500 135 English 11995 1700 1900 I 500 204 French 11995 1900 2100 I 500 185 French 13620 0800 0900 I 500 170 Haoussa 13640 1130 1200 G 500 320 French 13675 0800 1600 I 500 204 French 13675 1600 1700 I 500 204 French 13680 0500 0530 I 500 135 English 13680 0600 0630 I 500 135 English 13690 1430 1500 I 500 80 Pashtu 13695 0500 0600 I 500 120 French 13695 0600 0700 I 500 155 French 13695 0700 0800 I 500 195 French 13695 1700 1800 I 500 155 French 13695 1700 1900 I 500 195 French 13695 1900 2000 I 500 185 French 15160 0600 0630 I 500 135 English 15160 0630 0700 I 500 160 French 15160 1200 1400 M 250 328 French 15160 1600 1700 M 250 328 English 15170 0700 0800 M 250 328 French 15300 0600 0700 I 500 155 French 15300 0700 0800 I 500 185 French 15300 0700 0800 I 500 155 French 15300 0800 1700 I 500 190 French 15300 1700 1900 I 500 155 French 15300 1700 1900 I 500 185 French 15315 0700 0730 I 250 170 Haoussa 15315 1600 1700 I 250 170 Haoussa 15515 1200 1230 G 250 295 Spanish 15530 1700 1800 I 500 204 Portuguese 15530 1700 1800 I 500 160 Portugu 15605 0700 0800 I 500 170 English 15605 1400 1430 I 500 80 Russian 15605 1600 1700 I 500 170 English 15605 1600 1700 I 500 135 English 17525 1100 1200 M 250 355 French 17525 1230 1300 M 250 328 French 17610 1130 1200 I 500 270 French 17620 0800 1700 I 500 185 French 17630 1600 1630 G 500 300 Spanish 17630 1800 1830 G 250 295 Spanish 17630 2100 2130 G 250 295 Spanish 17850 0700 1100 I 500 155 French 17850 1500 1600 I 500 155 French 17850 1600 1700 I 500 155 French 17875 1300 2000 G 150 320 Var DRM 21580 0900 1700 I 500 155 Various 21620 1200 1300 I 500 130 English/French RFI delete in M-07 season, from Feb 26: 5925 0400 0500 I 500 155 French 5925 0500 0600 I 500 185 French 5925 0600 0700 I 500 204 French 5995 0100 0130 G 250 295 Spanish 6170 0600 0630 I 250 170 Haoussa 6175 1900 2000 I 500 204 French 7135 0500 0600 I 500 155 French 7135 0600 0700 I 500 190 French 7135 1600 1630 I 500 55 Russian 7315 1900 2000 I 500 155 French 9790 0400 0500 I 500 120 French 9790 0700 0800 I 500 204 French 9790 1700 1900 I 500 204 French 9790 1800 1900 I 500 155 French 9790 1900 2000 I 500 185 French 9800 1600 1630 I 500 80 Russian 9805 0500 0530 I 500 135 English 9805 0700 0730 I 250 170 Haoussa 11615 1600 1700 I 500 170 English 11615 1600 1700 I 500 135 English 11700 0600 0700 I 500 155 French 11700 0700 0800 I 500 185 French 11700 1600 1700 I 250 170 Haoussa 11705 1700 1800 I 500 155 French 11725 0700 0800 I 500 170 English 11995 0600 0630 I 500 135 English 11995 0630 0700 I 500 160 French 11995 1600 1700 I 500 204 French 11995 1700 1900 I 500 185 French 12015 1700 1800 I 500 160 Port. 12015 1700 1800 I 500 204 Portuguese 13675 1600 1700 I 500 185 French 13695 0700 0800 I 500 155 French 15300 1600 1700 I 500 155 French (BCDX March 4 via DXLD) ** FRANCE. Home to over 60 million people, France is a major global power that isn’t afraid to do things in its own way. In addition to playing a founding role in the European Union, France has given the world a major language, some renowned cuisine (note the French word!), much of our modern philosophy, and iconoclastic artists such as Renoir, Monet, Debussy, and Ravel. On a personal note, France deserves a huge merci (thanks!) for providing us with the Tour de France, the greatest sporting event on earth (I write the column, I decide the facts.). Radio France International carries the French voice and viewpoint around the globe, and is one of the world’s largest international broadcasters. Radio France International (RFI): http://www.rfi.fr/ One thing is immediately clear upon entering the RFI website – it’s primarily intended for a French-language audience (and why not?). To get to the English content, click on the tiny english button located near the top, below the big banner ad, and towards the middle (where you’ll find similar links to the RFI site in nineteen different languages). The English page features advertising at the top and along the left and right sides, and most of the buttons will take you back to French-language features. Scrolling down you’ll find two columns; on the right are links to download or listen to audio of RFI’s English to Africa and English to Asia programming, posted in Real Audio and Windows Media formats. In the left column is a featurette on “Mission Paris”, a bilingual radio drama, followed by one paragraph outlining RFI’s English programming, which is itself followed by a list of times, frequencies, and target areas. The RFI website is a treasure trove for those users who are comfortable working in French, but this functionality does not extend to English users (Paul E. Guise, NL, Click, March ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** GABON. Afropop Music Distraxion, 17660, went off much earlier than usual, March 4 at 1445*, just after I had checked it and could already detect the Saudi SAH at 1444; very poor propagation this day. Did not recheck to see if it came back on before usual 1531* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Durchatmen nach dem finanziellen Kahlschlag. Die Deutsche Welle und ihre weltweiten Programme. Von Michael Kuhlmann URL: http://www.dradio.de/dlf/sendungen/hintergrundpolitik/600062/ http://ondemand-mp3.dradio.de/file/dradio/2007/03/01/dlf_200703011840.mp3 oder http://www.dradio.de/aod/?station=3D1&broadcast=3D60444&datum=3D20070301&=playtime=3D1172770819&fileid=3D88349811&sendung=3D60444&beitrag=3D600062& (BCDX 797 March 4 via DXLD) q.v. for long excerpts in German ** GERMANY [and non]. I received a long-awaited letter from T-Systems. They are usually prompt verifiers so I was wondering what happened to my reports. I received a very detailed letter from A. Sabine Gawol, Back-Office Shortwave Sales. She compiled a list of my reports by date, time, transmitter location radio station, frequency, customer and remarks for more than 40 reports! I was quite amazed. They will be listed in the next QSL column. At the same time I received a VOA package containing several QSLs for about 20 reports. Very nice day! (Sam Barto, CT, March NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** GREECE. UTILITARIA, 17359 USB, 3/03/07, Olimpia Radio, ID en inglés y griego, 1245 UT, SIO 333 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. More pirates with strong signals noted at 1600 UT on 4702 and 4869 kHz and the 90 meter band is almost full with demodulated Greek songs and talks; some of those are harmonix. Also at 0600 UT on 6266 kHz Feb 24th. The spur of 6210 kHz [ERA5 15630 minus 9420] goes on (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, wwdxc BC-DX Feb 26 via DXLD) ** GREENLAND. 3815 usb at 2130 to 2210 UT. YL in language with "fog horn ute" in background. OM at 2137+ news item, ments de Jerusalem; alternating with YL now 2139. Music orchestral, at 2140 one time pip. OM 2140 into music briefly, then back 2147 choral music and into pop rock. 2200 one pip on the hour. Interference increased from 2200 to 2210* sign off. "DX Tuner Rommelle" (Bob Wilkner, FL, DXplorer Feb 26 via BCDX via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. Hello and FYI... Radio Verdad of Guatemala informs the following in their recent verification: "It is very good that you got a recording easy to recognize our Station, for by the date you tuned us, our transmitting system had a very bad problem, and the signal was very poor. We have corrected such situation since two weeks ago, and now we have a strong signal again." Best regards, (Vesa-Jussi, Rinkinen, Vantaa, Finland, March 4, HCDX via DXLD) ** GUINEA. 7125, March 24 at 2332 had Conakry ID in French and timecheck, music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. 3291.14, V. of Guyana reactivated? 0420-0430+ Feb 24, fair strength but very low modulation, just too weak to catch any program details; nothing heard next night (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, so reported subsequently by others (gh) ** HUNGARY. REORGANISATION MEANS CUTBACKS AT RADIO BUDAPEST A reorganisation of Regional and Minorities programmes at Hungarian Radio has merged the External Service with the new channel MR4. Radio Budapest, the External Service, is phasing out the use of freelance staff. All the freelance contracts were terminated on 28 February, leading to the immediate closure of the Italian service. The German programme is also affected, and has had to reduce its weekend broadcasts. French and Spanish are expected to suffer cuts in production, leading to more repeats and music fillers. The shortwave airtime released by the closure of the Italian service, and cuts in others, will be filled with Hungarian or musical programmes (Source: Italradio.org) (March 2nd, 2007 - 12:17 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) Whew! Note that English is not mentioned as affected, but I would not break out the champagne just yet (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENINIG DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 4749.96, RRI Makassar at 1345-1402* UT on Feb 24. Some sort of high drama with emotional dialogue; a female announcer intervened with commentary from 1348 to 1357 UT, then back to the drama; suddenly went off in mid-shout at 1402. Good signal. After RRI left the air, noted a couple of stations in the vicinity of 4750 kHz but too weak to read anything (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer Feb 25 via BCDX via DXLD) This will likely be a QRM problem for PMA 4755 in Micronesia (gh) ** INDONESIA. 9526, VOI, 0853-0901, March 4, English segment, pop song, “News in brief”, ID’s, fair. RE: DXLD 7-027 (gh: 11785 just doesn`t make it at all to this part, or any part? of NAm.). Hi Glenn, on Feb 25, from 1722-1729, heard pop songs and ballads on 11785, with ID for “Voice of Indonesia, Jakarta”, fair reception and 9526 was silent. 9680, RRI Jakarta, 1005-1025, March 4, KGRE program in English with Kevin, Cheryl and the KGRE science adviser, Fiona, talking about Steve Irwin, with a song about him (“He Changed Our World”), story about an orangutan being returned from Australia to Sumatra, mostly fair, light QRM/WYFR (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) In Conexión Digital March 4, schedules editor Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Argentina shows all VOI transmissions between 0200 and 2100 on 15150 only. Not sure if he got this from website or assumed it, as he does not clearly specify sources (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRELAND [non]. RTE should be back on SW now, without putting out any effort of its own to make it so, since WRMI has decided to relay WRN once again, including M-F at 2200-2230 on 7385; more under U S A (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. RADIO JAPAN: ITALIAN, GERMAN AND OTHER BROADCASTS CLOSING DOWN IN OCTOBER A letter from NHK confirms the following services of Radio Japan will be discontinued in October, 2007: Japanese language broadcasts to Europe and North America Spanish and French language broadcasts to Europe All Italian, Swedish, German and Malaysian language broadcasts. The International Planning & Broadcasting Department at NHK World explains “changes are taking place within the general policy framework of shifting the focus of international broadcasting from radio to television” and asks for understanding as “these decisions have only been made with the very deepest regret”. (Source: Italradio.org) (March 2nd, 2007 - 12:29 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) Whew! Note that English is not mentioned as closing, but I would not break out the champagne just yet (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA. The Institute of North East Asia Broadcasting is a Korean DX club, established in December 2005 by Sekye Pak, VOA Korean correspondent in Seoul, to focus on broadcasting information in South Korea, North Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, Mongolia and Russia, and also on the Foreign broadcasting to North East Asia. The club has begun publishing the monthly bulletin since January 2007. Each bulletin is available at 10,000 won for foreign readers. Their URL is http://cafe.daum.net/neabi --- E-mail address neabipress @ gmail.com (Takahito Akabayashi, Tokyo, Japan, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. This answers my recent question about QSLing VOK (gh) VOK is becoming a reliable QSLer in North America after many years of poor mail service between the USA and North Korea. The mail now goes through on a regular basis which is good for the verification business (Richard A. D`Angelo, PA, March NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 9950, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze, via Taiwan, *1300, March 3, usual piano IS, programming in Japanese or Korean, very poor/QRM from 9955. Was checking their new schedule (*1300-1400*, ex: *1300-1330*), re-checked at 1353 to still hear them, but too much QRM to be sure just when their new sign-off is (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. TAIWAN [sic] CLANDESTINE, 7390, Open Radio for North Korea (presumed) at *1400- 1500* UT on Feb 24. Opening anmt, then YL talk in Korean to 1420 UT, followed by a mix of music and talk. Music included ABBA's "Waterloo" and Don MacLean's "Vincent," which they played a few days ago. Good signal from presumed Novosibirsk site. Off at 1500 UT, leaving an unID station on the frequency. No idea who the unID is, since the band is on the way out by 1500 at this longitude and copy was not good (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer Feb 25 via BCDX via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. Private Citizens Liberating North Korea with Shortwave Radio --- By Kevin Kane, Intern [2007-03-05 00:45 ] Shortwave Radios in North Korea . . .According to Ha, shortwave radios are growing in popularity in North Korea and more people are acquiring them through China for about US $5.00. Ha went on to point out that if more North Koreans owned shortwave radios, ORNK would be able to reach a larger audience and have a greater impact on North Korean human rights. Ha stated that possessing a shortwave radio is against the law in North Korea; however, those caught with them usually do not serve time in prison. Before the 1980s, a North Korean caught with a radio capable of listening to outside broadcasts could be sentenced to death. However, corruption in North Korea is too widespread for even Kim Jong-il to control. Corruption is a way of life in North Korea. Consequently, the security agents only confiscate the radios as punishment. The agents then turn around and sell them in the black market for their own personal profit. They do not record finding the radio because if they were to report its existence, they would not be able to sell them for their $5.00 value, which is nice boost in income when considering that they earn $1.00 to $2.00 monthly salary. On the other hand, if North Korean security agents happen to catch someone listening to foreign transmissions on a radio, the lawbreaker will likely spend time in a prison camp like Yodok, one of the many Gulags (concentration camps) in North Korea. . . [more] http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00300&num=1740 (via Alokesh Gupta, DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. LIBYA/FRANCE LBJ via Issoudun France M-07 season from Feb 26 schedule: 7205 1900 2200 ISS 185 Arabic 7320 2200 2400 ISS 185 Arabic 9590 1700 1900 ISS 185 Arabic 11860 1800 2000 ISS 153 Various 11965 1600 1700 ISS 204 French 11965 1700 1800 ISS 204 French 15220 1600 1700 ISS 153 French 15220 1700 1800 ISS 153 Haoussa 15660 1600 1700 ISS 185 French 15660 1700 2000 ISS 185 Various 17725 1200 1600 ISS 153 Various 21695 1200 1600 ISS 140 Various LBJ delete in M-07 season, from Febr 26. 500 kW: 7215 1700 1900 ISS 190 Arabic 9885 1700 1800 ISS 204 French 9885 1800 2000 ISS 153 French 11860 1700 1800 ISS 153 Various 11965 1700 2000 ISS 185 Various (BCDX March 4 via DXLD) However, Noel Green in England is convinced that 17725 and 21695, at least have moved back to transmitters axually in Libya. Are any of these relays by France really still on the air? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** LIBYA [and non]. MOLDAVIA, 17637, Sawt al-Amal, 1220-1232, escuchada el 4 de Marzo en árabe a locutor con entrevista a invitado, referencias a Libia y Muanmar, SINPO 43343. 17642, Sawt al-Amal, 1304-1315, escuchada el 2 de Marzo en árabe con sintonía, cuña de identificación, locutora con comentarios, SINPO 55454. 17642, Sawt al-Amal, 1232-1250, escuchada el 4 de Marzo en árabe a locutor con entrevista a invitado, SINPO 45444. Se observa el 4 de Marzo a la emisora afro-pop en 17660; ésta emisión se prolongó hasta las 1445. Se aprecia también unas portadoras sin emisión en 17390, 17420, 17450, 17480, 17510, 17570, 17600, 17663, 17693, 17725 y 17555. Desconozco que relación hay entre todas estas frecuencias (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A- 108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I also noted 17660 Afropop went off at 1445 instead of the usual 1531, tho did not hang around to find if it came back on in meantime. I was already hearing traces of Saudi SAH on 17660 at 1443; did not notice all those carriers, but reception was very poor today. Are the SAA frequencies really 17637.5 and 17642.5? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17637.5 kHz, 04/03/07 1200 UT, Sawt al Amal, iniciando transmisión con marcha. Lengua árabe. Fuertes heterodinos a ambos lados. Se escucha mejor hacia 17635 kHz. 44444. A las 1245 encontrada en 17642.5 kHz. Respecto a las frecuencias usadas por esta emisora debo decir que careciendo de instrumentos de medición (y conocimientos) más avanzados, aún no está claro para mi si están usando frecuencias off- channel como indico aquí o dos canales adyacentes simultáneamente como ha postulado el colega José Miguel Romero. Los valores de frecuencia que indico están basados en el estudio de los heterodinos generados con el BFO en un receptor portátil, pero carezco de la pericia para hacer una afirmación definitiva. Lugar de escucha: Cuchilla Alta, Uruguay. Receptores Sony ICF-7600DS y Degen DE-1103, antenas randomwire 15 m, telescópica del Degen y activa de loop TG-34. 73 (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, condig list via DXLD) Saludos cordiales Moisés, respecto a las frecuencias que está utilizando ahora Sawt al-Amal parece que sí que está utilizando esas frecuencias de 17637.5 y otras parecidas, yo con la Sangean no puedo sintonizar en decimales, el paso que consigo es de 1 kHz, pero se escucha muy bien en AM tanto en 17637 cómo en 17638, por lo tanto es muy probable que esté utilizando frecuencias off-channel. Un saludo, atentamente (José Miguel Romero, Spain, condig list via DXLD) Acabo de explicar (en inglés) exactamente cómo se puede medir frecuencias hasta 0.04 kHz en el mismo receptor, en el caso de XEYU 9599.44; espero que tú (José) lo haría. I recently described (in English) how to measure frequencies with considerable accuracy on the ATS-909, in the case of Mexico`s XEYU, and I wish you would do that (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. 17632.5, MOLDOVA (CLANDESTINE) Sawt al Amal; 1310-1330 4 March, 2007. No trace of this one in the 17620-17680 range, but abruptly up at 1310 here, very good level with Arabic man, ID's, Mideast filler music. No jammer present or at least audible anywhere near. Presumed site (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 6050, Suara Islam (RTM), 1543-1700*, March 3, in vernacular, strong signal but het present, pop and Islamic music, talking about Islam (the acoustics made it sound as if it may have came from a mosque), news, many IDs, off with choral anthem. 7295, Traxx FM (RTM), 1521-1527, March 3, in English, YL DJ with pop/rap songs, ID’s, poor. 15295, Suara Malaysia (RTM), 1700-1710, March 3, in vernacular, ToH choral anthem (same as I just heard on 6050), gives list of languages broadcast (“English, Thai” etc), mentions programs “Voice of Islam” (which is in English) and “Suara Islam FM” (which is in vernacular), pop Middle Eastern type song, YL DJ, fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MICRONESIA. [Re 7-027!] From the beginning of March, many Japanese DXers have noted the new missionary radio station in Pohnpei island on 4755 kHz around 0700-1100. The station called themselves “PMA” (Pacific Missionary Aviation). The programs are in English, consisting of many popular songs and Christian pops, sometimes with ID’s about using frequencies (FM 88.5 MHz and SW 4755 kHz), mail address, and phone number. The transmitter seems to be in adjust, the signal is sometimes interrupted, and modulation level is low. PMA is a Christian evangelical organization serving Guam, Micronesia, and the Philippines, established in 1956. According to their web page http://www.pmapacific.org/projects/radio_station.php the radio station construction project is running in Pohnpei island in Micronesia. The address is PMA Pohnpei is given as P. O. Box 517, Pohnpei, FM 96941, fax +1 691 320 2592, but they recommend all the correspondence should be addressed to PMA Guam, P. O. Box 3209, Hagata, Guam 96932 (Takahito Akabayashi, Tokyo, Japan, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4755.2, Pacific Missionary Aviation, at 0832-0920 UT, f/p on March 3. Test. Mostly non-stop songs. I was very surprised to get ID at 0840 UT as "This is Pacific Missionary Aviation .. Station. We are testing on our FM frequency of 88.5 MHz and our shortwave frequency of 4755 kHz." and announced e-mail address and phone number (Takeshi Sejimo, Japan, DXplorer Mar 4 via BCDX via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. RNW via Sackville-CAN relay in A07: Dutch 9525 2300-2400 250kW 189deg. English 17660 1900-2100 250kW 285deg RNW in English in A07: Irkutsk relay 13710 1000-1100 250kW 152deg Khabarovsk relay 13820 1000-1100 100kW 218deg Petropavlovsk-K. 12065 1000-1100 250kW 244deg Tashkent-UZB 9345 1400-1600 100kW 131deg RNW in Dutch in A07: Grigoriopol-MDA 6040 2000-2200 500kW 275deg Petropavlovsk-K. 5910 1300-1400 250kW 247deg RNW in Dutch language via Teracom Hoerby Sweden relay in A07: 5955 0500-0557; 6035 0800-1000. RNW in Dutch via Al Dhabbaya in A07: 21560 kHz 1100-1200 500kW 95deg RNW DRM mode transmissions in A07 5955 1700-1800 FLE 40 210 Multi 7210 0600-0657 FLE 40 133 Dut 7240 1000-1457 FLE 40 123 Multi 9690 1900-1957 FLE 40 191 Dut 9830 0200-0300 GUF 150 320 Eng 9800 2030-2057 SAC 70 268 Eng 11895 0700-0957 FLE 40 133 Dut 13600 1500-1557 FLE 40 191 Dut 13645 1600-1657 FLE 40 191 Dut June 1 - Sept 1 only 9480 2000-2057 FLE 40 123 Dutch (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX March 4 via DXLD) This is not a complete sked, but odds and ends via various relays I have regrouped here (gh, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. 9870, RNZ National, 0911-0929, March 3, weather (“The next news and weather is at 11”), ID’s for RNZ National, program “Saturday Night Nostalgia”, playing an interesting mix of music and songs (Rachmaninoff music, Viennese folk songs, etc.), good (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER. 9703.98 (correct), La Voix du Sahel, Niamey, 2145-2301* Feb 24, variety of local folk music, local drums, Afropops, talk in vernacular and French, phone talk. 2253-2258 Kor`an. 2259 distinctive fanfare followed by choral NA, short test tone and off. Slightly off nominal 9705; usually on 9705.0. Fair signal but had to use ECSS-LSB after 2237 to avoid India signing on on 9705 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Re 7-027, KOSU 7-second delay: Glenn, We have been transmitting HD-1 since 9-21-2005. Its audio is 7-8 seconds behind real time. About 5 months ago, when we received our first HD receiver, we turned on the analog delay, so that when HD-1 listeners dropped out of digital range, it would fall back to analog and the audio would be perfectly synchronized. We had to wait until we had a receiver that could put out analog audio on the left speaker, and digital audio on the right, in order to confirm the sync. We have been transmitting HD- 2 (digital only) since about Thanksgiving. Our audio offerings for HD- 2 are not yet finalized. For the time being we try to flip-flop classical and news programming on the HD-1 and HD-2 signals (Dan Schroeder, CE KOSU, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It`s availablizing the alt programming on webcast that is not yet in place (gh) ** OKLAHOMA. KLGB-LP *94.3 Enid, fined $7000 for not timely filing, unauthorized operation. License renewed (March FMedia via DXLD) Among hundreds of stations, it seems that have been so fined, altho many were hit for only $1500. Seems to me $7K would be a pretty big hit for this dinky operation; pass the plate. Yes, still on the air checked UT March 5 (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 4890 / 9675 kHz. They are still off air on these frequencies, as is Radio Central 3290 kHz from Port Moresby. This is at 0850 UT 3 Feb [sic] (Barry Hartley, NZ, wwdxc BC-DX Mar 3 via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. Just as I tuned in a good signal on 11820, March 4 at 2327, heard YL ID in English as Radio Veritas Asia, Quezón City, and that next broadcast at 2330 would be in Kachin on 9645; a bit of horn music followed, but off abruptly at 2328 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also U S A [non] ** PORTUGAL. Re 7-027: Rush check of the RCI history data, - RCI was using Sines relay widely in our European morning towards Eastern EUR and NE/Middle East too, at least between 1994 and 2001. That was an exchange arrangement in order to use Sackville relay night hours by DWL transmissions. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RCI was in fact the last other broadcaster besides DW and RDP on the Sines transmitters at all. I can't find a notice about them leaving Sines now, but yes, it must have been in or around 2001. Perhaps they were back then just told that airtime at Sines is no longer available, hence Bill was wondering if Sines hadn't closed down, not confusing it with Antigua as I first suspected? In 1990 the RCI relays via Sines were already on air, alongside with IBRA Radio and AWR. I think the latter ones left Sines just a few years later. At this time IBRA Radio also still used DW's Malta transmitters quite extensively (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) History - Sines items of 1994y: GERMANY DW - Deutsche Welle - Cologne and German Telekom (PTT) signed a long term contract, concerning tx providing by Telekom for DW usage. Annual volume of 75 Mill. German Marks each for comming thirteen years. New total rough paper issued in order to lower tx usage costs. Telekom will extend tx site Nauen, located some 35 kms west of Berlin, with new 500 kW txs and new revolving antenna systems of latest technology. In future DW will use txs of 500 kW power only, concentrate at Nauen and Wertachtal location. So closure of ancient Julich and K"nigs Wusterhausen tx sites may under consideration then. (DW 14 Oct, 1994y) DW has no own tx site within Germany, and complain very high Telekom tx costs here. Relay sites in Sines-POR, Kigali-RRW, Cyclops-MLT, Trincomalee-CLN, and partly on Antigua-ATG island are belonging to DW Technical Departement itself. (ORF) PORTUGAL Paris based religious radio station "Voice of Orthodoxy" in Russian language programme via DW Sines-POR tx, 9670 kHz 1000-1030 UTC Suns only, 250 kW. (AMID; Aug 14, 1994y) UNID Unidentified Polish language programme observed on 9745 kHz at 1700-1715 UTC, two different addresses in Krakow and London given at the end of the programme. Supposed to be an Orthodox Church outlet via Sines-POR.(?) (WB, Jan 1995y) PORTUGAL Voice of the Orthodox in Russian via RTE Sines tx 9670 kHz: Sat 1530-1600, Sun 1000-1030 UTC (Pavel Mikhailov, VoRussia; 30 March 1995y) (all via Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 5960, Radiostantsiya Tikhiy Okean (Radio Pacific Ocean), *0935-1000*, March 3, on with "Govorit Vladivostok", chimes IS, ID with sound of ship’s bell, usual Russian programming, several nice Russian folk songs, good, // 7330 (fair). 7200, R. Rossii - Yakutsk/Tulagino, 0904-0926, March 4, weak, with poor audio (warble), // 5935 - Magadan (Arman) (fair-poor/QRM) // 6075 - Yelizovo? (very good), in Russian, many ID’s for R. Rossii, radio dramatization (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 27/2, 0740 UT - 7200 kHz, RADIO ROSSII - Yakutsk, Tk OM. Modulazione sempre difettosa. Segnale sufficiente-insufficiente. La stagione per questo ascolto -- quasi finita (SWL I1-0799/GE, Luca Botto Fiora, Rapallo (Genova), R7 Drake (R7) Satellit 500 Grundig (S500), 2 DE1103 Degen (DE1103), bclnews.it yg via DXLD) ** SPAIN. Late REE announcer's life part of upcoming documentary Glenn, I am sending you a summary of a fascinating story that appeared in today's Sunday magazine in El País: A documentary about the life of an eccentric American expatriate family, the Modlins, is currently being produced in Madrid. Nelson Modlin (1952-2002) was a model, actor and did voice-overs for Spanish commercials and films. He worked at the English language service of Radio Nacional de España (then-Spanish Foreign Radio) beginning in the 1980s, according to the article published March 4 in El País’s Sunday magazine, which had a long report about his family. His father, Elmer Modlin (1925-2003) was an actor who appeared in films such as “Rosemary’s Baby” and had bit parts on television programs such as “Bewitched” and “Mannix.” His wife Maragaret Marley Modlin (1927-1998) was a surrealist painter. Fed up with the Viet Nam War and the volatile political situation in the United States, the family moved to Madrid in 1970. The Modlins were very close friends of novelist Henry Miller. Trying to find his own identity from his overbearing and eccentric parents, Nelson Modlin finally moved out of his family’s apartment in 1980, according to El Pais. He joined the English staff at Radio Nacional de España where he met his first wife, TVE news anchor Olga Barrio. They married in 1986 but the marriage didn’t last long. In 1993, Nelson met Susana Jarabo, his second wife whom he also separated. Sadly, Nelson Modlin died instantly from a heart attack at the age of 49. A friend found his body near a phone he was trying to reach. A subsequent autopsy showed that his heart had been split from the heart attack, according to El País. His mother had died four years earlier and his father, the year after Nelson died, from alcoholism. With no immediate survivors, hundreds of photographs, manuscripts, artworks and other mementos were rescued from the trash by noted Madrid photographer Paco Gómez who began piecing the Modlin’s life for his upcoming documentary (Marty Delfín, Madrid, Spain, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPRATLY ISLANDS (Update). Spratly Island 9M2SDX DXpedition will take place this week from Pulau Layang Layang (AS-051) in the Spratly Island group, March 10-19th. Operators will include members of the Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitter`s Society (MARTS) and a group of JA operators. Malaysian operators mentioned are: Chow\9M2CF, Kiyohiro\9M2\JH3GCN, Tex\9M2TO and Yasumasa\9M8YY. JA operators mentioned are: Yoshiaki\JA1OCZ, Tack\JE1CKA, Harumi\JF1PJK, Naoyuki\ JK1FNL, Miho\JJ2VLY, Yutaka\JQ2GYU and Takashi\JR7TEQ. They plan to have 2-4 stations up and running for 24 hours on all bands 160-6 meters, and on CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK modes. QSL via 9M2TO, by the bureau or direct to: Tex Izumo, 2C-10-03 Mutiara APT., JLN. SG. EMAS 11100 Batu Ferringhi, Penang, MALAYSIA. Visit the DXpedition`s Web page at http://island.geocities.jp/layang9m4sdx/ (KB8NW\OPDX March 5\BARF-80 posted March 4 on rec.radio.amateur.misc via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SWEDEN [and non]. Interference on 6065 kHz & 11550 Radio Sweden's broadcasts on our European channel of 6065 kHz and our broadcasts on 11550 kHz are suffering interference from broadcasters in Taiwan and Iran. 6065 kHz --- In violation of international custom, Radio Tehran has begun using the frequency we have used to more than 60 years. The interference occurs during the evening, and primarily affects listeners in southern Europe, but parts of central Europe are also affected at time. Since the lower shortwave bands are currently very crowded there are no free frequencies where can broadcast our English programs in parallel with 6065 kHz. Instead, listeners should try our medium wave channel of 1179 kHz, where we broadcast in English at 18:0 [sic] and 22:30 hrs daily and at 20:00 hrs UT daily except Sundays. 11550 kHz --- Radio Sweden is currently negotiating a solution to the interference problem on 11550 kHz. As an interim solution, Radio Sweden is testing an alternative frequency with parallel broadcasts on 12070 kHz. If you can receive Radio Sweden's parallel broadcasts - we'd like to know! Send your reception report to: radiosweden @ sr.se (Source : Radio Sweden website via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, March 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The 6065 matter with Iran has been on their website for months and we have already discussed and debunked that here (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Sweden English Broadcasts to Asia and the Pacific; All times UT Shortwave 0130-0200 11550 ( 50 ) via Madagascar 1330-1400 7420 ( 40 ) 12070 ( 85 ) (NEW from March 5th) 1430-1500 12070 ( 70 ) (NEW from March 5th) 2030-2100 7420 (125 ) via Madagascar (to Australia) Satellite: On Thaicom 3 (78.5º E) 3.640 GHz/H SR 28066 FEC ¾ daily at 1430, weekdays at 1730 and 1830. Also via WRN at 2330 and 0300 on AsiaSat-2 (100.5º E) 4.000 GHZ/V SR 28125 FEC ¾ audio WRN English, and Worldspace AsiaStar channel 305 (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKMENISTAN. News in English observed from 1645 to 1658 UT by "Radio Turkmenistan" (ID by lady who read the news fast) on 4930 kHz but mixed here with talks also in English from VOA [São Tomé] (according to VOA in Russian, maybe all broadcasts in English of VOA will be closed in 2008 year). Turkmen Radio was with common program in Vernacular 1600-1645 UT on both 4930 & 5015 kHz on Feb 24 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, wwdxc BC-DX Feb 26 via DXLD) {Botswana, not S Tome} ** U K. NIKKI CLARKE APPOINTED HEAD OF REGION FOR THE AMERICAS AND EUROPE, WORLD SERVICE http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2007/02_february/28/clarke.shtml (BBC press via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. VOA News Now putting in a fine signal on 11725, March 4 at 2326 when it was my misfortune to tune in during their silly ballgame segment. This is Tinang, Philippines at 150 degrees, nowhere near our direxion. Some problem from WYFR 11720 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re IBB Greenville-A being decommissioned: http://gt.charles.cc/photos/view.php?dir=2001.08.03+Voice+of+America+Transmitter+Site+-+Greenville%2C+NC No comment (Kai Ludwig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nice photo gallery, sob ** U S A. Re: Martí TVDX Reports, please --- Hi Glenn, I was down in Marathon a few years ago. VOA-1180 is apparently run like a military camp or prison. They had cameras watching the closed entrance, then a guard came & wouldn't talk to us for just a minute, just stood there until we were backed up to the highway. We had previously visited the commercial station on 1300. They said they get interference from 1180 & have complained but got no results. We went down another road and found a site that seemed to be something associated with broadcasting. An older man came down the street who knew all about it & was quite willing to talk. He said those *blimps* up there were for broadcasting TV to Cuba, and tracking drug smugglers. I did not have binoculars, so I don't think I could tell much about the antennas. Not being a technical type, I was wondering if the antenna was mounted on the south side of a blimp, would that mostly stop the signal from going north? Or might there be multiple antennas to create a directional effect? That's all I know. 73, (George Sherman, MN, WTFDA via DXLD) I doubt the blimp itself would block signals to the north, but antenna should be designed to spray most of it toward Cuba. However, it`s all such a waste anyway, why not just let it be omnidirexional? Of course a normal ground-based full-power US TV station would be running 5000 kW ERP. Not sure what a typical transmitter power would be for that, but could be nowhere near that much operating from an aerostat, and at that HAAT if it were commercial, would be required to power down anyway to compensate. But we know no such details about the TV Martí operation (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. SHOULD STATE-RUN MEDIA BE BROADCAST IN THE UNITED STATES? A DEBATE ON RADIO AND TV MARTI AIRING IN SOUTH FLORIDA Listen to Segment || Download Show mp3 Watch 128k stream Watch 256k stream Read Transcript Help Printer-friendly version Email to a friend Purchase Video/CD Wednesday, January 10th, 2007--- The Bush administration recently reached deals with two South Florida commercial Spanish-language TV and radio stations to broadcast Radio and TV Marti. The Martis are run by the U.S. government and have historically been beamed into Cuba as part of an effort to overthrow the Castro government. The deal comes despite a U.S law prohibiting broadcasting of propaganda inside the country. We host a debate on the issue... http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/10/151208 (via George Zeller, March NASWA Journal via DXLD) Not only transcript but video available. DN is still basically a radio program and tho you get to see Amy in motion, the guests are on audio telephones only, so that means a lot of static map grafix, etc., to fill up the screen --- rather a waste of bandwidth. For someone who actually wrote a book on Clandestine Radio Broadcasting, John Nichols is shockingly ill-informed about the current state of clandestine broadcasting to Cuba (BTW, he does not classify R/TVM as cland). He says, ``There have been, of course, scores of clandestine stations operated by various exile groups and also by the CIA that are broadcast into Cuba under the similar purpose of trying to overthrow the Castro government, but none of them are currently on the air. They`ve been off the air for some time.`` How about R. República`s major operation via several sites on SW and MW? And several other lesser clients broadcast by WRMI. These are obviously anti-Castro groups who want to overthrow the Cuban government. Are we to pass over them just because we have been able to figure out where they are broadcast from? Also raising eyebrow was this statement by Joe García, ex-director of Cuban American National Foundation, which they might have pointed out was formerly a major player in clandestine broadcasting with La Voz de la Fundación. He said that WAQI Radio Mambí with 50 kW is blocked in Cuba by R. Rebelde with 100 watts, ``the most powerful in Latin America``. That of course was a slip, but nobody corrected it. Even at 100 kW, it`s not really the most powerful in LA. Look at 980 in Brasil, 300 kW. Joe O`Connell, IBB PR man, had an interesting statistic, ``they use something like 8.5 million watts an hour to jam both radio and TV. . . enough to power a small industrialized city.`` Nichols challenged that figure, saying that it takes much less power to jam a signal than to transmit it, referring to TV? But adding up all the jamming on all the frequencies, radio and TV, from all the locations, I wouldn`t be surprised if it amount to 8.5 MWh. But how are we to get anything close to an accurate figure? Ask Arnie? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MORE TALK ABOUT (BUT NO DATE FOR) A HOUSE HEARING ABOUT RADIO/TV MARTÍ "Bill Delahunt, the subcommittee (on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight) chair, 'will likely hold hearings on Radio and TV Marti,' (Rep. Jeff) Flake said. Marti's broadcasts have been jammed by the Cubans from day one. The project isn't working and is an embarrassment, besides being a waste of money. Flake told me that if the subcommittee does take on Marti, it will likely have bi- partisan support from both himself and fellow GOP committeeman Ron Paul." http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/02/with_dems_in_charge_gop_congre.html (Pierre Atlas, Real Clear Politics, 27 February 2007. Posted: 28 Feb 2007, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Google Earth Imagery: IBB Marathon MW site 24 41 57.61 N, 81 05 18.97 W US Navy AFRTS Saddlebunch Keys 24 38 50.60 N, 81 36 09.54 W (BCDX March 4 via DXLD) ** U S A. WBCQ Schedule Update, March 4, 2007 Join WBCQ at the 20th annual SWL Listener Festival in Kulpsville, Pennsylvania, on March 8-10, 2007. We'll be broadcasting several shows live from the fest, including 867-5309, Allan Weiner Worldwide, Radio Timtron Worldwide, The Lost Discs Radio Show, the Radio Operation, and the Lumpy Gravy Radio Show. We look forward catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. Schedule changes from Allan, all affecting programming on 7415: [UT -5, but UT -4 from March 11] Radio Free Truth, was Friday 7-7:30 pm ET, is ending on March 2. Jennifer's music show 867-5309 is moving to Fridays 7-8 pm ET. Kut The Krap With A.J. is moving to Saturdays 8-9 pm ET in Jennifer's old time slot. James Lloyd is adding Monday and Tuesday 7-8 pm ET. The Last Roundup is Tuesday 5-6 PM ET. Brother Stair confirmed Saturday and Sunday 3-4 PM. Regards, (Larry Will, March 4, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. KVOH 17775 spurs again audible March 4 at 2318 as filthy gobs of noise, or should I say, awful blobs of buzzes, around 17920 and 17630. At one point I was able to correlate modulation peaks on 17920 and 17775. 17775 was running S9+25 on the generous FRG-7 meter, while 17920 was peaking at S9+5, with 17630 slightly weaker, both of them fading perceptibly unlike 17775 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. In DXLD 7-026, Jeff White said WRMI is now relaying WRN M-F 2200-0200 UT Tue-Sat, on 7385, tho it may be harder to hear until the antenna is fully repaired. Here`s what those four hours contain on the WRN NAm service: 2200 RTE Ireland, 2230 R. Romania International, 2300 R. Netherlands, 0000 Voice of Russia, 0030 Kol Israel, 0100 UN Radio, 0115 Vatican Radio, 0130 R. Slovakia International So Ireland is back on SW thru no effort of its own! Just wait, reports will start to appear of these stations on 7385, not aware they are really listening to WRMI. Who knows what will happen to the schedule from March 12 with DST here and not there (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6295, ??? 2235-2335+ Feb 25, English religious program ``Peoples Gospel Hour`` with talk and music produced in Canada. 2310 another English religious program. No ID heard. Poor to fair with occasional ute QRM. Gone at 2357 check. Could this be IRRS or Equatorial Guinea? I have heard the Peoples Gospel Hour on R. East Africa. But I`m sure this program is also broadcast on other stations. No //s heard (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Likely Reflections Europe, Ireland, as in PWBR, Sundays only, 230 watts (gh, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dear Glenn, please accept the enclosed in appreciation of the invaluable, unique service you provide us fellow radio enthusiasts. Your emphasis on accuracy is so important and I enjoy your AM posts also. The items in other languages are therapy for my terminal monolingualism. And keep up those Tips for Rational Living, which are refreshing in this age of magical thinking. All the best in `07 es very 73 de (Anne Fanelli in snowy Elma NY, Feb 23) with a check in the P-mail to P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702 CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ FREQUENCIES REMOVED FROM UTILITY BANDS Effective April 1, 2007 the following frequencies will no longer be available for utility use. (kHz) 5900 – 5950 12050 – 12100 17480 – 17550 7300 – 7350 13570 – 13600 18900 – 19020 9400 – 9500 13800 – 13870 11600 – 11650 15600 – 15800 This was decided in 1992 at the WARC-92 with 15 years for implementation. WRC-07 will be held in October so watch for more changes (Google WARC for details). Thanks go to Hugh Stegman of Monitoring Times’ Feb 07 issue ‘Utility World’ column for the above information. CHU 7335 kHz is in one of these bands and as a utility would have to leave it. A recent note at Wikipedia says it will remain on 7335. No detail was given (Ute-The Worldwide Utility Column, March CIDX Messenger via DXLD) Already covered here with detail. Of course, defacto, all those frequency ranges are predominantly occupied by broadcasters, but thence, utilities interfering will really be intruders. Noteworthy that the 41m band officially will only extend up to 7350, so all those broadcasters 7350-7600 will still be Out Of Band, as will many others still beyond the official limits of the other bands (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ Free offers to YOU from the DSWCI The Danish Shortwave Club International (DSWCI) had its successful 50th Anniversary in November 2006. With basis in Denmark, it is the most international DX Club in the world today with members in 35 countries in six continents and its number of members is still increasing. The DSWCI is regularly sending out the following DX-publications to its members: The members' bulletin Shortwave News (SWN) every sixth week, printed and on the website. The fortnightly electronic newsletter DX-Window (DXW) as e-mail and on the website. The annually updated edition of the Domestic Broadcasting Survey (DBS), printed and by e-mail. The monthly updated Tropical Bands Monitor (TBM) on the website for owners of the latest DBS. TBM is a new and unique tool for the DX-er on Tropical Bands. It shows month-by-month which broadcasting stations between 2300 and 5700 kHz that have been reported heard by DX-ers somewhere in the world. Thereby it provides a good indication from DX-er to DX-er on which stations are most probably audible on each frequency. As our contribution to the DX-ers in the member countries within the European DX Council, the DSWCI is hereby offering the following free copies of some of our recent publications, including the TBM which you can download from http://www.dswci.org If you click at the menu on the left side, you can download as follows: SWN Electronic: At bottom click "Download of trial issue" and you will get SWN NOV/DEC 2006. DX Window: Click "DXW 314" and you will get the last DX-Window in 2006 Tropical Bands Monitor: Click "Download TBM 2005 for free" and "Download TBM 2006 for free". Join the Club: Information about membership. Your comments are welcome at "Contact the Club". Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Chairman DSWCI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ Glenn: Re: DXLD-7-026, "Language Lessons", "Seis mil cien" is fully correct. Be it "seis mil cien kilohertz" or just "seis mil cien". "Seis mil ciento" does not make sense in Spanish. BTW "6101" would be read as "seis mil ciento un" if followed by a unit such as kHz, or just "seis mil ciento uno" if only the number was meant. The "y" is not used associated to "ciento", except, perhaps, by a very old- fashioned accountant :-) (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Charles, sorry to say Professor Glenn is right. "Seis mil cien" is correct, but not that "Seis mil ciento y uno" for 6101, rather "seis mil ciento uno". Laziness is taking place nowadays and sometimes you could hear a vendor here in Tiquicia saying "seis cien" as if it were to hard to include "mil". Maybe they try to sound cheaper on their sale. What we don't have in Spanish (but give the Latins that hint and they'll end using it!) is what in English can be say as "sixty one hundred". That'll be for us "sesenta y un cientos". 73. (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Why be sorry? RADIO PHILATELY +++++++++++++++ NEW INTERNATIONAL REPLY COUPONS The Spring 2007 edition of the Canada Post Corporation collectors' catalog (Collections of Canada) announces the release of a new design IRC inspired by Michelangelo's famous painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The new IRC is called "Beijing model No. 2". The release mentions that 2008 is the centenary year for the IRC. There is a caveat that the new coupon will be exchangeable in all of the more than 70 Universal Postal Union member countries up to December 31, 2009. The collectors' price is listed as C$3.50 each. I must have sent out several hundred IRCs with reception reports to foreign countries over the past 40 years (Patrick Griffith, Westminster CO, SBE Certified Broadcast Technologist, NRC Broadcasting - Denver http://community.webtv.net/N0NNK/ http://community.webtv.net/AM-DXer/ IRCA via DXLD) MUSEA +++++ WCVB-TV VIDEO - HAPPY BIRTHDAY RADIO There is a superb video. It includes the oldest surviving radio station in the world! Also an amazing radio recording from 1929! The video of the WCVB-TV Channel 5 Boston Chronicle programme 'Happy Birthday Radio' which was broadcast on 23rd February 2007 is now available on the web at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4569021939106575335 The video charts the early development of radio in Massachusetts and New England and contains coverage of 100th Anniversary of Reginald Fessenden`s first voice broacasts. Amateur Radio is prominently featured near the beginning and towards the end of the broadcast. It is an excellent programme and well worth watching (via Southgate ARC, UK, via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ FCC WITHDRAWS ALL PSSAS/PSRAS GRANTED PRIOR TO 2/1/07, REISSUES 'EM So much for the old days of "if you saved a copy of your PSRA/PSSA, you can keep using it, but otherwise they're all lost." Follow the links in the forwarded e-mail below to see how the FCC is handling the impending change in DST scheduling - they've rescinded all PSRA/PSSA grants made on or before 2/1/07, and they've recalculated PSRA/PSSA data for every eligible station and made it available through their CDBS database. It's still not easily accessible, but at least it's there... s (Scott Fybush, March 1, ABDX via DXLD) Viz.: There was a discussion on one of these lists awhile back regarding how daytime AM stations are affected by the change in DST. The FCC released a Public Notice today on that topic, links below. Released: 03/01/2007. MEDIA BUREAU MODIFIES PRESUNRISE AND POSTSUNSET AUTHORIZATIONS FOR AM RADIO STATIONS. (DA No. 07-938). MB. Contact: Charles Miller, Susan Crawford or Son Nguyen at (202) 418- 2700 http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-938A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-938A1.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-938A1.txt (Joe Davis, The BROADCAST [BC] list, via Scott Fybush, ABDX via DXLD) If you have a transmitter that uses the common 833A as a final and modulator, you very likely can get it down to 27 watts. I mentioned recently that by putting a large Variac (variable AC autotranformer) to feed the high voltage and bias supplies, I got an ancient GE XT-1A transmitter down to 25 watts. And it sounded fine. It may not be type accepted down to that level, but it might also be grandfathered in. It might be worth investigating. I don't know if a transmitter that used a different tube type such as a 4-400A could similarly be dropped to such a low power cleanly. Chances are you could look on eBay and get a suitable variac. Just toss in a few code IDs after midnight if you get it to work. (grin) (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, IRCA via DXLD) When the flea-power PSSA's were first introduced, it was stated then that stations would have to make their own decisions about whether their equipment could support those powers, and cost-benefit whether it made sense to upgrade. Many opted to do as Craig has suggested. Others opted to purchase separate low power transmitters and swicth over. Still others decided the powers didn't cover enough area to be worth it at all and didn't use the PSSA. I'd also have to wonder what running a higher-powered transmitter at low power nights over time does to tube life -- or transmitter life (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, IRCA via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM DOOMED TO FAIL I think that DRM is doomed to fail for the simple reason that shortwave propagation is such that deep fading would obliterate reception on occasion. This would "turn off" the plug and play satellite TV crowd which DRM is apparently aimed at. What is wrong with analog AM broadcasting? Us SWLs have developed an ear to compensate fading, and when deep fading occurs, to the point of not being able to hear the broadcast, we "fill in the blanks" according to the context of what was heard. The BBC fails to see that shortwave listening is an art, just as the design and manufacturing of radios is an art. Widespread DRM would kill the art by rendering existing SW radios obsolete and remove the pleasure of hearing an actual analog signal being propagated by the ionosphere. Besides that, if they (the broadcasters) were serious about launching DRM, then where are the radios with built in chips? Who wants to tie up their computer to decode it? Not me. I think that if one can afford a computer, then webcast listening would be a better way to go if one has a high speed connection and wants hi-fi digital sound. On the other hand, digital broadcasting in the MW BC band might boom, because the signals are mostly ground wave and not so prone to fading. In conclusion, I think that DRM is a novelty and not destined to replace AM mode broadcasting. Remember the KISS rule, "keep it simple stupid!" That is the driving force of the survival of CW on the ham bands (Steven Renaud, VE3ALY, March 4, ODXA yg via DXLD) The joy is in hearing an imperfect signal. Couldn't agree more. Well said (Paul Birke, PEng., Guelph, ibid.) DRM LOGS IN AUSTRALIA 9950, [9945-9950-9955] AIR, Khampur. DRM test, patchy 2058 with Indian folk music, English news 2100. SNR ranging from 6 to 13.5 dB, with readings above approx. 10.5 dB producing audio. Something called "MOT slideshow viewer" was in the datastream, but not enough signal for me to resolve its content this day, particularly in view of a severe fade-out on the band from 2108, 2 March (Craig Seager, Bathurst NSW, Icom R75, with converter & Dream DRM software, Loop Skywire, ARDXC via DXLD) 11615, [11610-11615-11620] V. of Russia, Minsk. Improved of late, instrumental music 0753, English for Europe, SNR peaking 15.1 dB, 21/2 (Craig Seager, Bathurst NSW, Icom R75 with Dream DRM software, Horizontal Loop, ADXN via DXLD) Not Minsk! HFCC`s confusing abbrs. for sites one always has to keep looking up, or try to memorize at least these three: MSK = Moskva. MNS = Minsk. MOS = Moosbrunn, Austria (gh) 13620, [13615-13620-13625] R. Kuwait, Sulabiyah. Quite a steady signal, SNR 17.0dB, AA talks, mentions of Kuwait 1156, 28/1 (Craig Seager, Bathurst NSW, Icom R75 with Dream DRM software, Horizontal Loop, ADXN via DXLD) DRM: see also BRAZIL; FRANCE; NETHERLANDS RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ THE FEDERAL LAW ON ANTENNAS AND HOAS You must read the WHOLE thing to understand everything you can and can not do. You can do a LOT! Clinton signed this into law in 1996 and it was amended in 1999 for rental properties, 2000 for fixed transmit antennas, and all the amendments became official May 25, 2001. Put up a SMALL antenna. You have the right to do that and it IS FEDERAL LAW. http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html I used this law to put up a TV and FM antenna I use to DX with. I live in a HOA who thought they had deed restrictions (Kevin Redding, AZ, ABDX via DXLD) Home Owners Association (from DXLD 6-188, mentioned on WORLD OF RADIO 1348) No OTARD for SWLs Glenn, Re WOR 1348: Neither the FCC OTARD (Over the Air Reception Device) rules nor the amateur radio rules apply to SW receive antennas. A plain reading of the OTARD fact sheet as cited on your program shows that broadcast reception antennas are not protected by the OTARD regulations. FCC rule 97.15, also cited in the OTARD fact sheet, applies to amateur service communications. SW broadcasts are made in the broadcasting service and not the amateur service. These distinctions are not trivial. The OTARD and amateur antenna rules have long and contentious histories at the FCC and have survived legal challenges. The SW listening community has never developed such a background at the FCC (Benn Kobb, DC, March 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Benn, tnx for clarifying this; however, the original item said nothing about SW receiving, but applying to FM and TV reception, and hence DXing. OTOH, if you can have a ham transmitting antenna, it certainly can and will be used for SW reception as well. And what is your take on this latest news? (Glenn Hauser to Benn Kobb) see below Mr. G, this affects SWBC types, too ... FCC DENIES "HAMS FOR ACTION" PETITION FOR RULE MAKING (FEB 28, 2007) - In a February 28 letter, the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) denied a petition for rule making filed last July by Don Schellhardt, KI4PMG, on behalf of "Hams for Action" (HFA). The petition requested that the FCC adopt rules, under certain circumstances, to override private deed covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs) preventing radio amateurs from installing antennas and antenna support structures. HFA asked the FCC to preempt CC&Rs that fail to provide reasonable accommodation for any ham certified as an "emergency communications operator." Scot Stone, deputy chief of the WTB's Mobility Division, said the FCC "has previously addressed the question of whether to preempt CC&Rs in deeds and bylaws" that restrict the installation of Amateur Radio antennas and support structures. "In the PRB-1 decision, the Commission established a policy of limited preemption of state and local regulations governing amateur station facilities, including antennas and support structures, but expressly decided not to extend its limited preemption policy to CC&Rs in home ownership deeds and condominium bylaws because '[s]uch agreements are voluntarily entered into by the buyer or tenant when the agreement is executed and do not usually concern the Commission.'" Stone pointed out that the FCC in 2001 rejected a petition asking it to adopt rules preempting CC&Rs that don't reasonably accommodate Amateur Radio and affirmed that PRB- 1 applies only to public land-use regulations. The HFA "has not presented grounds for the Commission to revisit this policy," Stone concluded (ARRL? Via Bill Smith, IA, DXLD) Text of FCC Letter Rejecting Petition http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-898A1.pdf (via Don Schellhardt, March 1, DXLD) I stand corrected that the rule does cover TV but not AM or FM radio antennas; and even for TV, the FCC says, "The rule does not apply to television antennas used to receive a distant signal." Hairsplitting, thy name is FCC! ``OTOH, if you can have a ham transmitting antenna, it certainly can and will be used for SW reception as well.`` I think that would not help one seeking protection under 97.15. The question of whether a given ham installation is protected by the antenna placement rule typically turns on whether or not it needs to be a certain height in order to accommodate "amateur service communications". And it has to be in an amateur radio station. Former FCC commissioner Nicholas Johnson http://www.nicholasjohnson.org used to talk about a "right to keep and bear antennas". It doesn't look like we have an unencumbered right yet. With regard to the Hams for Action petition, I have not read the petition but it appears from the story that the petitioners raised no issues that were not already covered in the long history of PRB-1 (now 97.15). The official story is that the FCC is reluctant to assert federal power over local regulations and private agreements except when presented with a persuasive record of harm to the Communications Act's objectives, and even then only in narrowly tailored, precisely delineated ways. The real story is that the FCC has always felt free to stretch the bounds of its authority. It could just as well have protected many more classes of antennas if political and commercial forces applied pressure in the right places (Benn Kobb, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ALL ABOUT RADAR We are very much still in the Epoch of Vacuum Tube Radar. Witness the mighty FPS-67 at former Benton AFS, Red Rock Mountain, PA, among other sites. This dual channel L-Band 5 Mw objet d'art is said to freeze men of action in their tracks as women swoon. Benton's '67 splashes the old FPS-35 hall with pulsing stentorian rhythms. Pulsing ignitrons and thyratrons bathe expansive glassed double racks in mysterious violet and soothing amber hues. Benton's earlier FPS-35, with its cross-field Amplitrons, was never beaten, never jammed. These farsighted RF spyglasses, as with R-390 family receivers and B- 52's, were designed to run indefinitely. Cold War's foreboding morgue slab skies could erupt at any time with commie intruders. Planned obsolescence? Service Life? Forbidden luxury. These tetrode shaped diamonds shall serve us for years. Fun site: http://www.radomes.org/museum/ SAGE, NIKE, LASHUP, everything radar is on this site or directly linked to it. Invaluable radioman's companion, given inextricable linkage twixt radio and radar. Dr. Zecchino (PV Zecchino, T.D. 'no soy medico' Manamplitron Key, FL, IRCA via DXLD) AUSTRALIA CHANGING BULBS / NOISE On Radio Havana Cuba this evening (February 26) there was an item on Australia phasing out the incandescent bulb for the compact fluorescent bulbs, saving 4 million tons of CO2 emissions by 2012. These bulbs use about 20% of the electricity for the same amount of light. It was also noted that Cuba and Venezuela have been leaders in this type of energy conservation, as well as Nicaragua since the recent election. It was noted as well that if there were such a conversion world wide, it would save the equivalent of 5 times Australia's current electricity needs. Rather selfishly, I suppose, I have resisted making this change related to interference it (maybe) causes with radio communications. Is this actually a serious problem, and if so, what can be done about it to limit such interference with noise filters, etc.? Noise is already a serious problem from time to time here, and, though very urban, I am in a much better location than many others I know. This might be a topic where some have found at least some solutions to a major problem and concern of SWLs and DXers (Roger Chambers, Utica, New York, ODXA via DXLD) There's noise (pun intended) about phasing out incandescent bulbs in Ontario too, but I think it has more to do with an impending provincial election than anything else. Every politician here seems to be jumping on the Green bandwagon (not that that`s a bad thing). (Fred Waterer, ibid.) Hi Robert, I am with you. More noise on the spectrum. Yaa Hoo. Guess it doesn't matter when you already have S-9 noise levels cause by power lines and unlicensed RF devices. There is talk of them pushing the same law in Canada. I think B.C. province has started the requirement. Another interesting thing is that many of these compact fluorescents have been tested by techs I know and they have discovered they are VERY INEFFICIENT, especially if they are the cheap imports. THEY HAVE A VERY BAD POWER FACTOR !!! In Ontario, we are going on Smart meters for hydro (power) which I understand is based on power factor --- the power factor of the INEFFICIENT compacts is WORSE than a comparable incandescent bulb, so all the people who have installed them will see an INCREASE in their power bill, not a reduction !!! But they probably won't ever realize why they are going to be paying MORE because of them. (plus the cost of buying them) I have yet to obtain the exact figures of these calculations and how much more it will actually ADD to your power bill. Note if they are the expensive excellent quality compacts, they may not be as inefficient, but most deals seem to be on the crappy import units, so that is what folks have been putting in their homes. A good news story would be interesting on the subject and hopefully reveal the true POWER FACTOR flaw of these compact fluorescents! The light they provide is also UGLY!!! (In my opinion) 73 (Greg, VA3VFO, ibid.) I hadn't seen the term "power factor" before; found a good explanation here. http://www.sylvania.com/content/display.scfx?id=003680184 I've found that noise levels in compact fluorescents varies widely. Some are benign, others not. I have seen a variety of colors become available more recently, both for incandescent as well as CF lamps. (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, ibid.) Sure amigos! All my experiments using High Intensity, ULTRA BRIGHT LED's show that it is possible to homebrew NOISELESS LIGHT SOURCES, that replace the CFL Compact Fluorescent Lamps. LED's with 13000 millicandelas light output, using between 20 and 30 milliamperes per LED and with voltage between 3.2 and 3.8 volts can be very effectively combined in clusters to produce enough light output as required for many applications. For example, I replace the "night light" that was used in our bedroom where my little baby Claudia also sleeps in her crib, with a homebrew cluster of 3 Ultra Bright Leds, fed from a very simple 5 volt supply that generates absolutely NO NOISE, has a high power factor and uses much less electricity than the "NOISE GENERATOR CFL", that is the 7 Watts CFL we were using here as the "night light". I agree that this "homebrew lamps" are not ideal as regards to the spectrum they produce (somewhat "bluish" light output) but they are easy to make, and have many other applications, like for example replacing the incandescent light bulb used in the FR-200 Grundig or Etón portable radio "flashlight", with a pair of Ultra Bright LED's you will never again have to replace the light bulb, and the light output is really amazing. If anyone needs more information on how to homebrew the "noiseless lamps", just drop me a note to arnie @ rhc.cu 73 and DX (Arnie Coro, CO2KK, Host of Dxers Unlimited, Radio Havana Cuba, ODXA via DXLD) GRAPHIC GAFFES & AUDIBLE ATROCITIES +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Amazing how some people don`t have a clue on the most basic facts about celestial mechanix. On NBC ``Nightly`` News (in broad daylight) around 2352 UT March 3, John Siegenthaler said the lunar eclipse could not be seen in western USA because it would not be dark enough! No, it would not be seen because (most of) the eclipse would be over before Moonrise! It`s real hard to see the moon, eclipsed or not, when it is below the horizon. As soon as it rises, even eclipsed, it is visible, clouds, smog or horizon blockage permitting. Actually per map here http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2007Mar03T.GIF all the west coast could have a glimpse of the eclipse before it ended, but not the totality portion. And the Enid Eagle had a headline about the eclipse starting at 3:30 pm. Well, yes, but that`s 3 hours before Moonrise here, and not when the eclipse started anyway, but the first contact with umbra, the beginning of the totality portion of the lunar eclipse, 2130 UT. The full totality period was 2243-2358 UT. Please try to understand this: lunar eclipses can only happen at Full Moon, and the FM rises as the sun sets, within a few minutes, wherever you may be. One might have noticed this simply by living on the planet for a few decades (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###