DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-046, April 15, 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 1354: Mon 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 [time varies] WORLD OF RADIO, CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL SCHEDULE: 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 DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD, which seems to be coming out less frequently? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our yg without delay. When applying, please identify yourself with your real name and location. Those who do not, unless I recognize them, will be prompted once to do so and no action will be taken otherwise. Here`s where to sign up http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ NOTE FROM THE EDITOR. It has been a full week since the previous DXLD. As often seems to happen this time of year, we`re running out of steam and much need a break from the DXLD/WOR grind, so don`t be surprised if there are more such gaps --- however, letting stuff pile up and then trying to do it justice catching up is just as time-consuming if not more so. We have now compiled enough material almost for two issues, but it would be more than that if we were combing all our usual sources. Rather than holding over half of this issue based on timeliness or some other factor, it`s in two parts, all in alfa order, the first part A-M called 7-045 and the second part N-Z and the non- country items 7-046, issued in quick succession (gh) So: CONTINUED FROM 7-045 ------------------------- ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. Is it already a well-known fact that RNW runs at least two different Dutch programs? It was quite a surprise for me on Easter Sunday after 1600 that Flevo on 5955 ran almost a minute (about 55 seconds or so) behind Talata V. on 15335. Tonight I rechecked and found entirely different programs this time, again sports on 15335 but current affairs on 5955 instead (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also CROATIA It's well known by our Dutch-speaking audiences :-) We have a European service in Dutch, and a world service in Dutch for other parts of the world. We do not normally carry two different programmes beamed to the same area, except on special occasions (Andy Sennitt, RN, April 10, ibid.) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. RNW, 9800 DRM via Sackville, 2036-2100 UT April 10, 2007. "News Line" program with Louise Dunn. "Main Dutch News" and "Dutch Press". Slight decoding dropout. Overall very good audio, but at times, sounded like cell phone audio. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, VA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Frequency change of RNW in English in DRM mode from Apr. 6: 0200-0300 NF 9405 GUF 150 kW / 320 deg to NoAm, ex 9830 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 10 via DXLD) Why the move?? DW or CRI on 9825 may have complained (gh, DXLD) ** NIGER [and non]. There were two stations very close together at 0700 April 15 - one using 9705.00 which was the strongest, and I suggest was Niger. They do extend transmissions past this hour at weekends. The other was on approximately 9704.30, but with no audible audio. Ethiopia should have been on air on Sunday at this time so possibly them. Same time Riyadh was a fairly good signal on 9675 (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 6090, Radio Nigeria - Kaduna (tentative), 0201-0241, April 15, non-stop repetitive African music (stringed instrument), with occasional singing and chanting. Don't recall ever hearing such a long non-stop musical selection before. Never heard any announcements, so no chance to tell if the language might have been Hausa or to hear an ID. Of course this was heard under Gene Scott, but was fairly clear till lost about 0241. Radio Nigeria probably had an extended schedule due to the fact Nigerians elected their state lawmakers and governors on Saturday (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ron, Radio Nigeria was on late on 4770 kHz last night too (Chuck Bolland, FL, April 15, ibid.) You mean UT April 14? I was hearing a big het on DGS around 0100 April 15, I think (gh, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. 1210 Oklahoma City move from Guymon in the Panhandle by KGYN denied. It would have taken KTLV 1220 Midwest City off the air. KEBC 1340 OKC would have been relicensed Midwest City (Selected AM Happenings, April FMedia! via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Frequency change of Radio Pakistan in Urdu to WeEu: 1700-1900 NF 9375 ISL 250 kW / 313 deg, ex 9380 to avoid R. Pilipinas from 1730 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 10 via DXLD) ** PERU. 4790.1, RADIO VISION. Chiclayo. 0925-0945 Abril 07, Música folclórica anunciando transmisión en cadena con Radio Moderna 930 kHz en Lima; "¿...sabe qué radio está escuchando? Radio Visión, una radio para todos en los 1350 kHz de la amplitud modulada, transmisión en simultánea con Radio Moderna 930 kHz en la ciudad de Lima, para el Perú y el mundo..." 5014.3, RADIO ALTURA. Cerro de Pasco. 2300-2320 Abril 07. Anuncios de Universidad Alas del Perú. Móviles Claro. Pgm: La Hora del Folclorista, "en Altura siempre te damos lo mejor para tu satisfacción; hemos incluido nuevos equipos digitales que nos permiten estar más cerca de ti, Radio Altura, triple frecuencia..." 5544.6, RADIO SAN ANDRES. San Andrés. 0130-0150 Abril 07. Comunicados; luego música con las Campesinas de Cajamarca. "...para toda la gente que a esta hora nos amplifica la señal, a través de los 830 kHz de la amplitud modulada, y através de los 5545 kHz de tu Radio San Andrés..." (Rafael Rodríguez R., escuchas realizadas durante el descanso de semana santa en el Municipio de Fomeque, Cundinamarca, 55 Km al oriente de Bogotá, Colombia, Sony ICF 2010, Grabadora Dig. Sony P320, Preamp MFJ-956, Antena Hilo Largo de 25 Metros, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1354, DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. Radio Pilipinas, 15510. 0208 10 April. "Metro-Manila crime down during Holy Week." [Glad to know some criminals are religious people. Or, is it vice-versa?]. Noticeable hum on frequency. Usual "tinny" audio. Good reception (Ralph Famularo, Japan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 15325, FEBC, *0950-1029*, April 9 & 10, usual loop (IS & English IDs), ToH “Haven Today” religious program, fair. Exclusively “Haven Today” programming? (Ron Howard, Shanghai, China, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND [non]. Polish Radio External Service in Polish via DTK T- Systems: 2100-2200 on 7140 NAU 250 kW / 220 deg to WeEu, ex POR=Pori, Finland \\ 6135 WER 110 kW / 055 deg to EaEu (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 10 via WORLD OF RADIO 1354, DXLD) Well, the Finnish relay did not last long; till when exactly, and what went wrong?? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) RADIO POLONIA BROADCASTING SCHEDULE 25 MARCH TO 27 OCTOBER 2007 ALL TIMES IN UTC HOME PAGE: http://www.radio.com.pl/polonia INTERNET AUDIO: http://www.wrn.org/ondemand ENGLISH 1200 - 1259 11850 9525 1700 - 1759 7140 7265 POLISH 1030 - 1059 7285 5965 1530 - 1630 6050 2100 - 2200 6050 7265 GERMAN 1130 - 1159 5975 5965 1530 - 1555 5975 1930 - 1955 6110 6140 HEBREW 1800 - 1830 9695 RUSSIAN 1100 - 1125 13745 13840 1300 - 1329 11835 13800 1430 - 1455 7180 1800 - 1829 6175 1900 - 1955 6050 BELARUSSIAN 1330 - 1430 7180 6035 1630 - 1659 6050 UKRAINIAN 1430 - 1459 6000 1500 - 1529 9440 9555 1830 - 1859 6145 6175 1900 - 1929 5910 Polish Radio cancelled broadcast in ESPERANTO 73's --- (Jacek Szymik, POLAND, April 11, shortwave yg via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. Assunto: Gralhas. Exma. Senhora: Ao sondar o horário completo da RDPi p/ confirmar se a rubrica "DXismo" desapareceu... e parece que assim é...., encontrei em http://tv.rtp.pt/EPG/radio/epg-dia.php?canal=5&ac=d&sem=e um erro na janela "Qualidade de Recepção / Onda Curta." Estimo que conviria repará-lo quanto antes. Aproveito p/ perguntar se a rubrica em causa foi suprimida de todo, bem como o prgr. Caixa Postal, de forma a poder responder ao DXista norte-americano que me colocou a questão. Entretanto, folgo em constatar que a equivalência hora de Lisboa / hora UC foi corrigida, mas parece que a RDPi teima em manter a "tradição" de não actualizar aquela, sempre que há mudança de hora. Melhores cumprimentos (Carlos Gonçalves, to Isabel Saraiva, RDP, April 8, via DXLD) Dear Glenn, This is the reply from the RDPi to my question about whether their DX program was suspended or simply erased: "A responsável pela rubrica Caixa Postal/Dxismo, encontra-se de férias até final da semana, altura em que retomará o programa. Quanto ao conteúdo desta rúbrica, é da exclusiva responsabilidade do autor e da chefia respectiva, a quem dei conhecimento do seu email anterior, no qual "transcrevia" a "crítica" publicada no jornal "Dx listening digest". Isabel Saraiva, Intercâmbio e Contacto, RDP Internacional" I suppose you can understand the text. Incidentally, a similar thing happened some time ago when this very program vanished for some time too: presenter Isabel Flora was at the maternity hospital. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, April 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. Tuning along 31 mb at around 0715 this Sunday morning (April 15) I came across Latin American sounding music on about 9737.40 (with splash from HCJB 9740). However, it didn't turn out to be what I thought it might be when I heard a lady announcer speaking in Romanian! A quick check of 11970 revealed that this was in parallel, and so it turned out to be one of Romania's Sunday morning programmes that show on their website as: programului "Curierul românesc", difuzat doar duminica: Orientul Apropiat 142 deg 0700-0800 9700 11970 India 110 deg 0700-0800 15260 17775 and I assume the frequency should have been 9700 (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Voz de Rusia en español, problemas para sintonizarla. El departamento técnico de La Voz de Rusia tendrá que ponerse las pilas, no parece una buena decisión las frecuencias elegidas para su servicio en español dirigidas a España a las 2030, 7310 y 11630. Con la primera frecuencia han caído otra vez en la trampa de colocarse junto al a RFI en francés, ésta emisora satura tanto en 7315 que no permite escuchar nada. Por otra parte colocarse en 11630 en la misma frecuencia que CNR 1en chino, tampoco parece una buena idea. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, April 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. VOR in English, Sat April 14 at 1440 in Timeline program interviewing American guest about Shostakovich, with musical excerpts, better on 15605 than // 15660. 15605 is 500 kW at 115 degrees, while 15660 is 250 kW at 100 degrees, both from Moscow site (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Radio Station Tikhiy Okean, Vladivostok. 5960 and 7330 kHz f/d blue card and personal letter from Alexey Giryuk, Engineer of the Company in 41 days for a CD recording, EE report and mint stamps. Alexey says effective March 25 they changed frequencies to 9765 and 12065 kHz and time to 0935-1030 UT (Jim Pogue-Memphis, TN USA, April 12, HCDX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 7200, R. Rossii via Yakutsk/Tulagino, 1208-1253, April 9, R. Rossii IDs, great program of jazz, usual audio problem (warble), looked for parallels, only found 5920 (via Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskij) (Ron Howard, Shanghai, China, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. Qur`an on 17560, April 13 at 1615 eclipsed by Rebelde 17555; this would be BSKSA Riyadh at 270 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. Saturday, the 14th April, BSKSA Saudi Arabia was on air via 17660 before 1400 in a unidentified language. This "stopped" - I didn't hear any closing procedure - just before time pips for the hour followed by the usual programme in French. The signal is a very strong one today, and clear, as the Afro-pops is using 17634, and Amal was slightly lower - I didn't measure this one but there was a loud het from ANO 17630 and the pops, so probably 17632.5 (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA [and non]. Some ITU, International Telecommunication Union administration reference list entries: 30-Aug-2006: Add SRB Serbia 30-Aug-2006: Add MNE Montenegro 30-Aug-2006: SCG kept for season B06 22-Apr-2004: Delete YUG Serbia and Montenegro 06-May-2003: Change YUG to Serbia and Montenegro. 09-Dec-2003: Add SCG - Serbia and Montenegro Global HF Transmitter Site Table 19-DEC-2006: Add BIJ Bijeljina, BIH, 44N41 19E09 21-MAR-2006: mod BEO Beograd, SCG 21-MAR-2006: deleted: BIJ Bijeljina (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX April 13 via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA? 3320, Radio Sonder Grense?, Meyerton, 0520-0557*, April 15, Tentative. Very distorted signal with talk & music. Too distorted to catch any further details. I guess this could be South Africa, although South Africa is scheduled to sign off at 0530 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. TDF Guiana French continues to insult North Americans by throwing Brother Scare back in our face on 17810, scheduled Saturdays only at 1400-1600 with 250 kW aimed 323 degrees. April 14 at several chex such as 1543 with lo-fi feed, R. G. working himself into even more of a frothy frenzy than on non-Sabbaths, egged on by fawning psycophants during a live service (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FCC says WWRB is authorized on 9385 at 1300-2300, but still going with Brother Scare, April 14 at 2346; finally pulled the plug sometime in next four minutes, since vacant at next tuneby 2350 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. LOST LANGUAGE OF LADINO REVIVED IN SPAIN by Jerome Socolovsky Morning Edition, March 19, 2007 Medieval Spanish Jews spoke Ladino, or Judeo-Spanish, for centuries. Now a small group is trying to revive Ladino, with assistance from the Spanish government. . . [audio] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=8989551 (via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) About the mother and daughter who do the Sefarad broadcasts from REE such as UT Tue 0415-0445 on 9650 ex-9690 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) v ISRAEL ** SPAIN. REE in French heard with (?) DX program in the broadcast 2300-2400 on 6055 and ! 6155 kHz on March 31 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, April 3, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 13 via DXLD) 6155 is for Europe, e.g. France, even tho it is 1-2 am there! I guess they do that since it is the only time a French transmission is available, primarily for NAm on 6055. I hear 6155 with REE IS until 2359 just before R. República takes over frequency (gh, OK, DXLD) ** SPAIN. Re ARGENTINA: Hi Glenn and friends: Absolutely true, Spanish REE- Saturday & Sunday all over time only stupid ballgame "fútbol". But is not possible cancel this programs, political !!!, fishermans and Spanish people in overseas listen or presume listen these ballgames, futbol forofos sorry! Cordially (Tomas Nuriamaranta, Spain, HCDX via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. Re DXLD 7-040, after an absence of over two weeks, SLBC 15745 kHz back on air for the English service 0100-0430 UT on 9 April, and putting in a creditable 35533 signal into central Nepal (David Woollan, Kathmandu, Nepal, WORLD OF RADIO 1354, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The revised Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corp. as on 9 Apr 07 monitored on SW as follows: 0100-0430(Sun 0515): English: 6005 9770 *15745* 0020-0400 Hindi: 7300 *11905 * 0800-0830 Kannada, 0830-1000 Telugu, 1000-1130 Malayalam, 1130-1330 Tamil: 7300 *11905 * 1330-1530 Hindi: 7300 *9770* *11905 * 1535-1840 Sinhala: 11750 Note: 11905 & 15745 is back again! Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, India, April 9, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1354, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA [non]. 7225, IBC Tamil R., *0000 April 8, High-energy Tamil talk and South Asian pop music; dozens of references to Sri Lanka. Jingle ID at 0045 and spoken ID by woman just before going off at 0100. Enormous signal replacing 6175 for A07 and presumably emanating from Wertachtal. Can't recall coming across this one in quite a few years (Bob Hill, MA, DXplorer via BCDX April 13 via DXLD) 7225 0055-0100* CLA 13-04 IBC Tamil R, via Wertachtal, Germany Tamil talk, address of "Tamil Information" in Toronto, Canada, 0059 ID: "IBC Tamil Radio", Indian music and closing ann 55444 AP-DNK [and FYI, then other stuff on same frequency] 7225 *0100-0130* ARM Fr 13-04 FEBA, via Yerevan, Badaga until 0115, then Tamil religious talks, Xylophone IS at start and end, Yerevan relay mentioned several times 55444 AP-DNK 7225 *0130-0200* UAE Fr 13-04 FEBA, via Dhabbaya Telegu opening with "Good Morning" in English, religious talk, address in India, 0159 ID: "FEBA Radio" 35333 AP-DNK (Anker Petersen, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. 12130, harmonic of R. Sweden Hoerby (2 x 6065) noted with Swedish folk music singer at 2117 UT April 7. 500 kW 190 degrees. Noted on both Etón Lextronix E1 and AOR 7030 radio set (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, wwdxc BC-DX, harmonics yg April 9 via DXLD) ** SWEDEN [and non]. R. Sweden, English relay via Canada on 15240, April 13 at 1359 concluding with IS, but at 1359:30 another carrier came on some 100 Hz away causing the IS to sound off-pitch; this het lasted until 1405*. Now at 1400, R. Sweden is supposed to switch back from Sackville to Hörby, and I am not aware of any other station that might be on 15240, so was R. Sweden interfering with itself? Using 15240 both for direct and relay broadcasts requires tight coordination, which isn`t always the case. At 1100-1300 it`s supposed to be Hörby including English at 1230, then Sackville for an hour in Swedish & English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN [non]. IBRA Radio, Sweden, now has their A07 schedule at their website, http://www.ibra.org/ The English portion on shortwave is the following relayed via Russia 1500-1545 As 7340; 1645-1700 As, Friday 9830. There is no longer a English broadcast to Africa relayed via Germany in the schedule (IBRA website via Daniel Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very new? This 7340 Thailand target channel not registered yet. 5935 1800-1830 39,40,48,53SAM 250 188 TRW From Sept 9th, 2007. 5980 1230-1330 43,44 VLD 250 240 TRW 7205 1200-1300 43,44 P.K 250 263 TRW 9675 1900-2045 46N,46SE JUL 100 190 DTK 9825 1800-1900 38-40,48 SAM 250 188 TRW 9830 1430-1600 40E,41N ARM 200 104 TRW 9840 2000-2030 37,38 JUL 100 175 DTK Mon-Fri only 11915 1730-1800 47,48,52 JUL 100 145 DTK 13840 1800-1900 47,48 WER 250 150 DTK 15600 1730-1800 39S,47E,48 NAU 125 145 DTK (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SYRIA. 9330, R. Damascus, 2208, 4/7/07. English service at tune-in. Modulation so low that commentary was hard to understand. Anthem followed by abrupt 2209 sign-off. Good carrier but overall poor (Jerry Strawman, IA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Re 7-044: About a year ago, I used to hear R. Damascus on 12085 and 13610, rarely if ever 9330. It was usually mostly carrier, low-mod, but sometimes traditional music would come through okay. Thought I had them the other day on 12085, but turned out to be some kind of numbers station on about 12083 in SSB (Eric Bryan, WA, April 9, WORLD OF RADIO 1354, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Damascus noted on various frequency offsets, at 340 degrees 2000 UT on 9330.007, at 250 degrees 2300 UT 9329.760. And co-channel approx WBCQ 9329.980...990 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, BCDX April 13 via DXLD) ** TIBET, 4905, Xizang PBS - Lhasa, 1650-1705, April 9, nice surprise to hear English. American student talking about her experiences; invites people to come to their medical massage clinic in Lhasa, gives phone numbers, says to ask for directions at the hotel, list several types of medical massages that are available (one type cost 56 Renminbi [about 7.25 USD]); 1705-1725 in assume Tibetan, with classical western music, // 4920 (Ron Howard, Shanghai, China, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. Frequency change for Voice of Turkey in French to WeEu from Apr. 8: 1930-2025 NF 5980 EMR 500 kW / 300 deg, ex 6175 to avoid TOM in En till 2000 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 10 via DXLD) ** TURKEY. Live from Turkey on VOT, Thursday April 12 was audible on 15450 when I tuned in at ending 1319 but it was poor with co-channel QRM de Arabic (?) music. Nothing else is known on this frequency at this time, tho BBCWS uses it in Bengali via Armavir, Russia during the following hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. Gracias a la información del colega Tomás Méndez estoy escuchando con muy buena señal a La Voz de Turquía en los 13720 kHz [1630-1725 UT] por Barcelona, Venezuela. Debo decir lo siguiente: Aquí en Venezuela los que vivimos en la parte oriental del país tenemos fama de hablar muy rápido, pero la verdad es que oyendo al locutor de La Voz de Turquía creo que nos lleva una ventaja muy grande, con decirles que cuando estaba indicando las frecuencias y horarios de transmisión en otros horarios --- no le entendí nada, nadita, nada. Un abrazo para todos, jejejejeje (José Elías Díaz Gómez, April 14, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. It's rare to hear good audio from RUI on the Pacific Coast of North America, but tonight (UT Monday), reception is at S9 + 10 with English programming at 0325 on 7440. Last night was also quite decent, but perhaps not quite as good. Transmitter site is Lviv rather than the previously used Kopani. Vlad Titarev and I found this site several years ago. It's located southeast of Lviv and was essentially deserted when we were there. It's good to see that it's back in operation and possibly better suited for us in mid and western North America (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, April 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi gh, Radio Ukraine announced tonight (0300 UT on 7440 khz) that it will soon go to broadcasting twice a day. Then at the end it announced that listeners in North America can hear it at 0 and 2 hours UT. So I'm not sure what the story is. Very strong signal, though, 20 or 30db over S9 on my R75 with an indoor random wire. Some nice Ukrainian music (Ed Stone, NYC, UT April 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`d be very surprised if there is any change from the present 00-01 & 03-04 in English on 7440 (gh, DXLD) ** U S S R. Radio 4 repeats programme on jamming --- Recommended if you missed it the first time, will also be on Listen Again [until April 25]: Wednesday 18th April BBC Radio 4 It's My Story: Political Interference 1330-1400 UK time, 1230-1300 UT. At the end of the Second World War a fierce but invisible battle was waged in the skies above Eastern Europe with Soviet bloc radio engineers working to jam radio signals coming from the West for nearly 40 years. On the Western side engineers were doing their utmost to get the signals through. Roger Bolton talks to engineers from both sides and hears what happened when the jamming finally stopped (Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. WHRI was almost two minutes late in bringing up BBCWS audio on 13640 at 2102 April 15, joining news in progress, while // 11675 via Greenville was already running BBC chimes before 2100. Does this always happen? 2106 show on Sundays is The Ticket, arts magazine, this time starting off with the Kronos Quartet (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. Re 7-044, your query on BBC on 13640 at 2200 suffering light QRM: Definitely not NHK, since Aoki A07 list doesn't show it on this channel at 22-23; maybe it was CRI in Japanese from the Jinhua site, 500 kW/59 deg., 2200-2357 (Joe Hanlon, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBC. 15335 // 17790 0200+ 10 April. Both frequencies booming-in with "Newshour." I believe 17790 is from Thailand at this time. Is 15335 a new frequency? I can't seem to find it listed on any internet resources (Ralph Famularo, Japan, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Both are Nakhon Sawan, Thailand (gh, DXLD) ** U K. CB OK for church services: see IRELAND NORTHERN ** U S A. SHORTCOMINGS PLAGUE STATE'S IT SECURITY This is from a security mailing list I'm on. It mentions BBG and VOA - with respect to the chain of command for management. http://www.fcw.com/article98209-04-11-07-Web Regards, (Wayne Bastow, ARDXC via DXLD) ** U S A. Group, I believe the 12/62 startup date for VOA Greenville stands. I have no contradictory info, and 1962 was frequently mentioned when I was still employed there. I have inquired, and expect to get the date that Site A ("Beargrass") went "cold iron." Here is an additional bit of information about VOA Greenville: The original site chosen for the East Coast transmitter was down near Wilmington [NC]: I believe somewhere in east Brunswick County. Construction had started and some event, perhaps the Senator McCarthy debacle, brought construction to a halt. The Continental 420A 500-kW and the General Electric 4BT250A 250-kW transmitters destined to be installed were instead stored (unassembled) in the agency warehouse, Brooklyn, New York. By the time the political situation stabilized at VOA HQ, the warranty had expired for the transmitters. The GE 4BT250As are straight-forward class B modulated, and no problem to tune; but the Continental 420As used Dougherty linear modulation and were always problematic. Continental sent engineers to provide some guidance and assistance in setting up the transmitters, but the real work of getting them to work fell to the staff of VOA technicians. Tuning the old 420As at 500 kW required up to 20 minutes. And they never achieved a full 500 kW. I believe the best power achieved was about 350 kW. And at that level, a 420A drew about 1.2 megawatts from the 115-kV mains! VOA never achieved any common sense in a technical way. All the power that has been wasted running the old Continental 420As at nominal 250 kW could have paid for new transmitters long ago. When President Reagan got Congress to appropriate a large amount for VOA to buy new transmitters for Greenville, the technical HQ staff wanted to try four, new, dissimilar transmitters at the two Greenville sites, and choose the most desirable. In doing so, it wasted so much time that Congress removed most of the appropriation. That ended Greenville's "modernization." IF IBB were to design a missile, it would probably collapse before it were put on the launching pad. 73, (Charles Taylor, Greenville, North Carolina, April 9, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Group: Word just in from the folks at IBB Greenville (NC) Transmitting Plant: Site A ("Beargrass" ) closed down permanently on 4/1/2006. The site can be revived, but at very considerable expense and effort. Equipment at Site A is being "cannibalized" to support Site B (Charles Taylor, Greenville, North Carolina, April 10, ibid.) I took a closer look at this matter: The entire Delano schedule now appears to be 2000-2400 13820 Radio Martí 2100-2130 21550 VOA Creole 0030-0200 9560 VOA Spanish 0030-0200 11815 VOA Spanish 0130-0200 13740 VOA English 0200-0330 5890 Radio Thailand In summer 2006 there were also transmissions scheduled for the 0700- 1300 period, these are gone now. Night shift eliminated, some job positions as well I would speculate. And will this "noon to nine PM" operation continue for some time or the "transmitter changes: cancel all" telex go out before this year is over? Some further musings on domestic IBB sites: Could it be that the Dixon antennas are mostly, perhaps even exclusively, designed for transpacific transmissions? If so it would be no surprise that VOA abandoned this site already in 1983, before any decline of shortwave broadcasting was to be noted. A nice Dixon story: http://lists.contesting.com/pipermail/amps/2006-May/051666.html Greenville: A booklet celebrating the inauguration of these facilities can be found at http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/historyfiction/item.aspx?id=voa Elsewhere Charles referred to the four sample transmitters at Greenville. Telefunken mentioned this in a booklet issued in 1993: "Voice of America ordered from the international transmitter manufacturers, amongst them Telefunken, one 500 kW sample transmitter each, but the big order we were hoping for did not follow. This is an example for tireless offering work which is necessary although it often not leads to success because political aspects and/or financial support from state bodies are decisive." And so this single S4005 remained the only Telefunken transmitter in the western hemisphere if I do not overlook something. It should be also IBB's only Telefunken transmitter at all (but of course not the only Telefunken carrying IBB programming). 1969 vintage Collins 821A transmitters at Delano (and Dixon; did they actually keep the transmitters there after 1983?): Which transmitter hall shows this picture? http://www.transmitter.be/col-821a2.html The page says that this is the 821A-2 variant, installed only at Sackville and Darwin (821A-1 for the US sites instead). The photo has apparently not been taken at Sackville, just compare it with http://hawkins.pair.com/rci1.shtml So is this in fact Darwin? And what about this one: http://www.transmitter.be/tel-s4005.html Not Wertachtal (S4005's placed in a longer row there, different lighting and ceiling construction as well). Not Flevo either, there the four S4005 stay in two pairs, facing each other. So only two other possibilities are left: Rampisham or Sirjan in Iran. Which one is it? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CUBA [non] Interesting to see that 8 of the 9-1/2 hours are apparently beamed to Latin America, from a California transmitter. site. Is it just my addled old mind, or wouldn't they be better served to transmit these from Greenville? Perhaps they don't have the transmitter time available from the one Greenville site, as I understand the other site is now inactive. But wouldn't it make sense at least from a financial point of view to close down and cannibalize the Delano site and refurb the other Greenville site to handle these transmissions? Of course, no one has accused the U.S. government of making intelligent financial decisions for some years now, eh, hi?!? Or also as a possibility, just hire time on WYFR's Okeechobee transmitters for these transmissions? Would definitely like to hear the thoughts of others on mine (Alex Vranes, Jr., Harpers Ferry, WV, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Shouldn`t put all eggs in one site. It is advantageous to send signals from California to Latin America, especially closer parts such as Caribbean. In the evenings higher frequencies can be used which are less damaged by jamming, than can be done from Greenville. There are many other cases where a transmission from one would work better than the other, due to skip distances, time of day, etc. WYFR doesn`t even have enough transmitters in Okeechobee for its own purposes, hiring time at WINB and more and more overseas sites. 73, (Glenn, ibid.) How about leaving some of the eggs at Sackville or the quite underused Montsinéry transmitters? On the other hand I think that the question to be asked is what could be done to get more transmissions on air from Delano. I understand that it is verboten for IBB to simply lease airtime to third parties. But why not try to make an exchange deal with TSI M&B? IBB uses Wertachtal anyway, so one could imagine that in return M&B gets the possibility to place third party bookings on the US sites. Years ago Biblis or Lampertheim already transmitted some religious programming on behalf of Deutsche Telekom, so such kind of arrangement would not even be entirely new (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) ** U S A. KAIJ, 9480, was playing last week`s World of Radio 1353, Thursday April 12 at 1500, instead of 1354; perhaps they were catching up on missed episodes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. There has been a last-minute change regarding Radio Cuba Libre, which has been Monday-Saturday 0700-0900 UT. As of today, this block has switched to 1200-1400 Monday-Saturday, plus 0300-0400 UT Tuesday-Saturday. I will have to take a look at the programs that were on from 1300-1400 on weekdays to see whether we can reschedule them elsewhere (Jeff White, WRMI, April 9, WORLD OF RADIO 1354, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On 9955. So that takes care of WORLD OF RADIO Sat & Mon at 1330, Mundo Radial Wed 1300, and several other DX programs (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1354, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WRMI programming changes, such as new times for R. Cuba Libre, have opened up other times for fill shows. Friday April 13 at 0600 I found 9955, no jamming audible, going from Viva Miami with Thaïs (or was she just doing a promo?), into AWR Wavescan, in English of course, for ``the third Sunday in April``. Apparently back in Singapore they are under the impression that all their broadcasts go out on Sunday. What else, Jeff, may we find at new times? BTW, WRMI signal was fair, but neighbor WYFR was overwhelming on 9680/9715 causing overload and phantom frequencies on 31m. April 13 at 1213 I noticed that Radio Cuba Libre was not being jammed on 9955 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also CUBA [non] Glenn: Here's the brief version for Monday through Fridays, local days [UT, on 9955, u.o.s.] 0500-0900 Various Repeats* 0900-1000 Radio Prague relays 1000-1200 Various Repeats* 1200-1400 Radio Cuba Libre 1400-1600 7385 kHz (you have the schedule, I believe) 1600-0100 World Radio Network [no longer 7385 in evening?] 0100-0300 Christian Media Network 0300-0400 Radio Cuba Libre 0400-0430 M.R.R. (Cuban program) 0430-0500 Radio Praga * These are repeats of many of our weekly programs, and many if not most of them are DX programs. So you'll find a lot of WOR, Frecuencia al Dia, Wavescan, DXPL, Aventura Diexista, Viva Miami, etc. But there is no hard and fast schedule of what is where within these two blocks, as they are subject to frequent changes for the time being (Jeff White, WRMI, April 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Note the greatly expanded hours for WRN, 9 hours a day. This will include per http://www.wrn.org/listeners/schedules/schedule.php?ScheduleID=2&CurrentTZID=3&Show=week 1600 RNZI 1615 Vatican R 1630 R Slovakia International 1700 Polish Radio ES 1730 Channel Africa 1800 RTE Ireland 1830 R Prague 1900 R Sweden 1930 R Australia 2000 CRI 2030 R Budapest 2100 RTE Ireland 2130 R Romania Intl 2200 R Netherlands 2300 V of Russia 2330 Kol Israel 0000 UN Radio 0015 Vatican Radio 0030 R Slovakia International But it`s not clear if all this is now on 9955? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I am rarely listening after 0600, but I was tuning around April 13 and at 0607 found a US gospel huxter on 7335! Inbooming with pips from CHU barely audible underneath. Preacher was ending at 0613 with phone 1-800-311-1277. You might want to complain to them about blotting out CHU; then gave contact info: TLLB (not sure of letters), Sister Esther, P O Box 70, Crawford VA 22841. 0614 World Harvest Radio ID, and 0615 into Midnight Cry, who should be made aware of this too. WHR program schedule lists Midnight Cry with C. Parker Thomas, M-F at 0615-0630 on 7335, and the 0600-0615 M-F show on 7335 is Truth Light and Life with Daniel Rodes. See CANADA [and non] for more on this (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15 abril 2007 0800-0900 UT, 7335, 444, WHRI1, USA, en español, con programa *Desencadenados* de la misión Pacific Garden en Chicago, con una radio novela (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Interesting Aoki A07 listing from Ascension site --- Glenn, here's a station listed in the Aoki list that I have no idea about -- likely a new gospel station using this relay. 17675 LDS Church, Sunday only 1000-1200 ASC 250 27 (beam to W Africa) LDS/BYU is also listed on 21520, 250 kW / 65 degrees from Ascension, Sun. only [1000-1200 also]. Any ideas about what this broadcaster is about? Maybe "LDS" refers to "Latter-Day Saints", so it could be an organization run by such a group that bought this 2-hour block on Sundays (Joe Hanlon, NJ, April 9, WORLD OF RADIO 1354, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Joe, This is probably BYU Radio. It was in the WRTH 2006 as via Rampisham DRM Sunday 14-15 on 9750, but I don`t see it in WRTH 2007 or other current listings. I wonder if the new broadcast is DRM, or does Ascension have DRM capability? Nothing about SW now that I can find at http://www.byuradio.org/ but will ask them about it. 73, (Glenn to Joe via WORLD OF RADIO 1354, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No response yet (gh) ** U S A. Here's something interesting. Some preacher on KTBN at 1838 on 15590 was preaching about how TV can save people. He said that TBN has 15000 stations and 66 satellite links. Their website http://www.tbn.org/index.php/3/18.html KTBN About Us says they only have 5000 TV stations and 33 satellite links. So he added 1 in front of the first number and doubled the second. Jan and Paul Crouch said nothing (Liz Cameron, MI 13 April dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just a crossing of wires, dear Liz, what else can it be? 73s and keep enjoying (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, ibid.) Liz, I recently found and published a website pointing out how sleazy, financially questionable the TBN/Crouch operation is. On the contrary, I hypothesize that one figure was simply tripled, and the other doubled -- twice as many satellite linx if you count up- and down- separately! 73, (lenn , ibid.) ** U S A. Hello Mr. Askine, Thank you for your excellent reception report. I am forwarding it to Mr. Glen Tapley, our frequency manager. You may contact him directly at gtapley @ ewtn.com in the future. God bless! Most sincerely in Christ, Thom Price, Director of Programming, EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network (via David Askine, Pasadena TX, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Summer A-07 of AWR's "Wavescan" on Sundays 1130-1200 on 15435 SDA 100 kW / 255 deg to West Indonesia 1200-1230 on 15435 WER 250 kW / 090 deg to North East India 1500-1530 on 11640 SDA 100 kW / 285 deg to South India 1530-1600 on 15225*WER 250 kW / 075 deg to Nepal and Tibet 1600-1630 on 11640 SDA 100 kW / 285 deg to South India 1600-1630 on 11805 SDA 100 kW / 285 deg to Central India 1630-1700 on 6155 SDA 100 kW / 300 deg to North India 1730-1800 on 9980 SDA 100 kW / 300 deg to Middle East 2130-2200 on 11850 SDA 100 kW / 315 deg to Japan and China 2230-2300 on 15320 SDA 100 kW / 255 deg to West Indonesia * totally blocked by BSKSA Main px in Arabic (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 10 via DXLD) ** U S A. EUA (?! ) 9930, 0601 15/04, RADIO FANI (using WYFR tx?), s/on px com IDs por YL ("Radio Fani") + mx, px relg Biblia por om, ouvida até as 0630 com o sinal caindo de intensidade, px FF 35333. Receptor: DEGEN DE1103 (antena dipolo 1/2 onda para 60 metros e interna de ferrite do receptor) (Jos’e Ricardo Motta de Oliveira, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, HCDX via DXLD) Yes, WYFR is scheduled in French during this hour on 9930 in A-07; surely a program, not a station. Sure of the spelling? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Frequency changes of WYFR in SoAs langs via DTK T- Systems eff. Apr. 5: 1600-1800 NF 11730 WER 500 kW / 075 deg, ex 11610 to avoid VOR Arabic 1500-1600 NF 13830 WER 500 kW / 075 deg, ex 13665 to avoid BBC Arabic 13660 1300-1400 NF 15640 WER 500 kW / 090 deg, ex 15660 to avoid VOR Russian WS (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 10 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Frequency changes of WYFR in Hindi via Tajikistan: 1400-1700 NF 5845 DB 100 kW / 137 deg, ex 5855 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 10 via DXLD) ** U S A. Is 1660 Kansas City WDAF or KXTR? I posed this question on http://www.gatewaycityradio.com/messageboard/kcboard.asp Here's one response: "According to http://www.fcc.gov the call letter flip-flop took place between 1/19/07 when KXTR flipped to WDAF, and 2/12/07 when it flopped back to KXTR. Entercom's attitude toward the station seems unclear since the station does not have a valid renewed broadcast license and is still operating on an extension of an STA that was renewed 2/13/07." (Tim Kridel, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. Denver TV – re 7-044, DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- Have enjoyed the discussion on this, as a former (but brief) resident of Denver. Seems the summit of LM is about 8500 feet. Considering there are REAL mountains not far from Denver in the 14K foot range, I`ve always wondered why the TV antenna farm for Denver was not put somewhere higher up and further away from buildup, and also with much greater coverage, especially to the west where the higher ranges would not be blocking signals from Denver. 73, (Glenn Hauser, WTFDA via DXLD) Do those mountains have line-of-sight to Denver? (and to its western suburbs?) I suspect Lookout and other closer mountains would block the path, especially to - ironically enough - Jefferson County. Heavily- populated areas north of Denver - Fort Collins, Greeley, Boulder - might have also been a problem? Finally, would accessibility - for delivery of equipment & workers, maintenance, electric power (or fuel to generate one's own) be a problem? -- (Doug Smith W9WI Pleasant View, TN EM66, WTFDA via DXLD) I think many of the closer taller or 14k mountains are in national parks and forests, I don't think they would have been able to put them in there. Weather and the severity of storms is a lot worse on those higher mountains than on Lookout Mountain, Especially the wind (Craig, Denver, ibid.) Doug is correct on all counts. There are major line-of-sight issues from the higher Rocky Mountain peaks into Denver, as well as issues simply of raw power. Because those peaks are SO much higher than Denver, stations that relocate there would have to take major power downgrades, and they'd lack any RF punch at all into most of the Denver market. (They'd also need to be beam-tilted so their signals don't just shoot right out over Denver and into western Nebraska.) It's much the same reason why the Las Vegas TVs, for those familiar with the geography there, are on relatively short Black Mountain/Arden Peak, rather than Mount Potosi (8600') or Mount Charleston (11900') - it's not purely a matter of height, but of RF penetration into the market, too. In the case of Denver, Lookout is as close to a perfect site as it comes. The site where channels 6 and 12 are going, near Red Rocks Park in Morrison, has shadowing issues that Lookout doesn't have. It's very much a compromise site, and I wouldn't be at all surprised down the road to see one station or both eventually file to move to the new Lake Cedar Tower. (Which, BTW, will be significantly taller than the existing towers, putting all that "dangerous" RF much further from the homeowners, who have no understanding of the inverse-square rule, among other laws of physics.) s, who wishes my local TVs would put up a 1000-footer to replace their existing 400-footers... (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) Glenn, One TV station in the Denver market that is at a very elevated site further west than Lookout is ch. 12 Broomfield, KBDI-TV "The Beady Eye." It's at/near Idaho Springs at 11500 feet AMSL. It can be viewed in western Kansas, but has some non-trivial shadowing in the western 'burbs of the Denver metro. (I did the original engineering for the FCC application however many years ago, but I didn't actually pick the site.) (Ben Dawson, Hatfield-Dawson, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Looking it up in FCC TV Query, the Tiger map shows it S of Idaho Springs and slightly east, about the same distance Central City is N of Idaho Springs. Looks like it is close to Colorado Hwy 103. I wonder if it`s public or private land. 39 40' 55.00" N Latitude 105 29' 49.00" W Longitude (NAD 27) Polarization: Horizontal (H) Effective Radiated Power (ERP): 226. kW ERP Antenna Height Above Average Terrain: 742. meters HAAT Antenna Height Above Mean Sea Level: 3508. meters AMSL Antenna Height Above Ground Level: 23. meters AGL TV Zone: 2 Frequency Offset: 0 (zero) Directional Antenna ID No.: 41669 Pattern Rotation: 0.00 Antenna Make: BOG Antenna Model: B6VA Relative Field values for directional antenna Relative Field polar plot Relative field values do not include any pattern rotation that may be indicated above. [i.e., none] 0 0.993 60 0.952 120 0.913 180 0.874 240 0.213 300 0.354 10 1.000 70 0.969 130 0.926 190 0.775 250 0.224 310 0.475 20 0.976 80 0.983 140 0.961 200 0.636 260 0.234 320 0.637 30 0.943 90 0.960 150 0.985 210 0.476 270 0.223 330 0.780 40 0.930 100 0.939 160 0.979 220 0.355 280 0.212 340 0.885 50 0.927 110 0.912 170 0.952 230 0.233 290 0.232 350 0.966 This shows a considerable (voluntary?) null toward the west, 280 degrees, while the main lobe is at 10 degrees, tho there is only slight reduxion thru 90 degrees, covering Denver OK. Note that the height AGL is only 23 meters, so it is hardly an eyesore, and probably hard to spot until you are close to it; standing nearby is not advisable. One also wonders how at that elevation they get away with so much ERP, 226 out of 316 kW. KRQE-13 on Sandia Crest NM gets only 87 kW, but its HAAT must make the difference, 1287m (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, If you look at the terrain to the west, there is not only no reason to put signal in that direction, you don't want to because of potential multipath. And power is determined by the HAAT on 8 (or more) equally spaced radials, including the ones where a DA puts little or no signal. (Except for the "Denver waiver" class C FM's! Some countries only count the radials where you put signal but the US and Canada count right around the circle.) (Ben Dawson, ibid.) ** U S A. FCC OPENS WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY FOR TRIBES TO OWN RADIO STATIONS --- By Tracy Wind, Native Times correspondent, April 9, 2007 http://www.nativetimes.com/index.asp?action=displayarticle&article_id=8686 The world of radio is opening up a one week time window in which organizations can apply for a channel of its own on FM radio. For the first time in 6 years the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is opening up spots for future would be radio owners starting Friday October 12, 2007 to Friday October 19, 2007. Peggy Berryhill, Director of Services and Planning for Native Public Media, urges tribes to start the paperwork now in order to be ready for the window. There are a limited amount of spots and only one week in which to apply. No one will be allowed to apply before or after the window opening in October. The Channels are for non-Commercial Educational (NCE) radio stations and applicants must have an educational mission, no individual ownership is allowed, applicants must be non-profit organizations. NCE stations usually carry NPR programs, like Prairie Home Companion, Car Talk, Morning Edition local news etc. According to Berryhill, "Native stations are "hybrids" meaning they carry NPR but produce a lot of their own programs. Local news, health and safety, lots of music, mainly country and rock but you can also hear blues, reggae, traditional Native music and contemporary Native music." Berryhill also believes it can be used as a tool for tribal members young and old be able to turn on the radio and hear their Native language coming out at them. Also the radio would be a great tool in getting up to date information out to members. A tribal radio station would also allow tribes to encourage and help members interested in broadcast media gain valuable training and experience. There are numerous steps that must be taken in order to get a station up and running including funding. The filing window is this October but delays for approval of applications may allow tribes to raise capitol needed to complete the project. The amount needed for a station would depend on the size of the transmitter, building costs, and other expenses. It could run a tribe between $50,000-$250,000. "We're constantly bombarded by media, this is the age of media and content production that is produced on personal computers. Most content about Native Americans is not produced by Native producers. Therefore the image of Native Americans is still largely stereotypical because we are not producing our own content," Berryhill told the Native Times. She also stated that "According to the National Federation of Community Broadcasters and Native Public Media, Native-owned radio stations account for less than .3% of the more than 13,000 radio stations in the United States and almost all operate on shoestring budgets. Non-Native media outlets rarely include the voices, perspectives and issues of Native people. In media policy, Natives are virtually invisible." There are many steps to be taken says Berryhill, and it will take time and money. But if a tribe or organization is serious it can be done. There are a few tribes in the United States who already have stations and, according to Berryhill, this is an opportunity of a lifetime for others to do the same. "Native Public Media urges tribes and native organizations to become media owners and content providers. If we don't supply our own voices who will?" says Berryhill. There are several organizations which can help tribes find and engineer and help prepare an application like Native Public Media http://www.nativepublicmedia.org Public Radio Capitol http://www.pubcap.org Prometheus Radio Project http://www.prometheusradio.org AIROS or http://airos.org that supplies audio content like documentaries and other music. Most Native stations use a service called NV1 (Native Voice One - see www.nv1.org) that produces, Native America Calling, National Native News, Earthsongs, Undercurrents, etc. For information on filing procedures and requirements please visit http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/ Updates will also be added to the website during the months up to the October window. You can also visit the Native Public Media website http://www.nativepublicmedia.org which has a wealth of information that can help tribes (via Mike Terry, UK, dxldyg via DXLD) Catholix also gearing up for filing window, miffed that the Protestants have outstripped them (gh) ** U S A. WVAC, *107.9, Adrian MI, fined $7000 for not timely filing, unauthorized operation, then renewed. I have my suspicions most of these [fines] are going to be eventually overturned. It is very difficult for me to believe this many stations failed to file renewals. At least one station was able to show they believed they had renewed properly, but an extra click on the FCC website was actually necessary to finalize the renewal application. Sounds to me like the electronic filing system was not well-written. If they are upheld, I would expect a bunch of translators to disappear --- $4500 in fines for a translator association in Bagdad AZ is going to pretty much put them out of business; my guess is they`d just close the doors (or hope they`re far enough from inspectors to get away with operating without a license). (Doug Smith, TN, April FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. KILI *90.1 Porcupine SD [Lakota station] was struck by lightning in April 2006. Since then they’ve been able to get by with makeshift repairs. But now it has a new antenna, new transmission line and a new transmitter. A video log of the rebuilding progress is at http://www.kiliradio.org/videos.html (April FMedia! via DXLD) They are excited about being heard all over via webcast, with a map. Click on Schedule and all you get are dates for stupid ballgames. Is there any other programming on KILI, and if so, what? (gh) ** U S A. Classical to Christian: Kilgore College radio station now KZLO --- Click-2-Listen --- By GLENN EVANS Friday, April 13, 2007 One year after Kilgore College trustees handed the death sentence to their radio station, listeners and former staff members are bemoaning the loss of a local voice. The sale of radio station KTPB to a Christian music format chain based on the West Coast won FCC approval Jan. 31. The former classical music and local interest station at 88.7 FM now is KZLO, part of the EMF Broadcasting family of 216 stations broadcasting in 46 states. Kathy Housby, who goes by Kathy Roberts on air, speaks briefly in May 2005 between pieces of classical music at the KTPB radio station in Kilgore. Housby hosted the programming at the station from 2 to 5 p.m. every day and was general manager and program director at the station. Once a classical music avenue, the former college station also broadcast Kilgore College sporting and local arts events, such as the Opera East Texas' performance of Carmen in May. . . http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/stories/04132007RadioStations.html (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. WHWH 1350 Princeton NJ is back on, and appealing the FCC`s so-called five-year rule. That requires stations electing to move to the expanded band (1610-1700 kHz) to give up their original band stations at the end of five years. It has WTTM 1680 Lindenwold NJ and claims the new band is not the haven from interference it was supposed to be. Other stations are watching this case (April FMedia! via DXLD) ** U S A. Since when is Al Sharpton qualified to pass judgment on Don Imus? And even if Imus deserves what he got, why should anyone care what Sharpton thinx about it? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Wise, charismatic man to enlighten masses via radio I've just confirmed that I'll be on "Coast to Coast AM" this coming Monday (Tuesday morning) hosted by George Noory. I'm scheduled to be on at roughly 2:00 to 4:00 AM Central time [0707-0900 UT April 17]; I'll be George's second guest. I won't be discussing radio or DX this time, but will instead be plugging my new book "Top Secret Tourism." I hope some of you can tune in and perhaps call into the show! (Harry Helms W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19 http://topsecrettourism.com ABDX via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. A-07 for CVC The Voice Asia via TAC=Tashkent: English to India 0100-0300 on 11790 TAC 100 kW / 141 deg 0300-0600 on 13680 TAC 100 kW / 141 deg Hindi to India 0100-0400 on 9975 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg 0400-1100 on 13630 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg 1100-1400 on 13820 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg 1400-2000 on 6260 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 10 via DXLD) ** VANUATU. No sign of Port Vila, Vanuatu tonight (local time) on 3945 or 7260 kHz. (and later) I haven't heard them for a while - perhaps a few weeks, on either 3945 or 7260 kHz. Normally they are strong and clear here, but right now, nothing, reasons unknown! (Barry Hartley, NZ, April 8/10, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 13 via DXLD) ** VATICAN [non]. Re Vatican Radio English schedule: 1430-1550 on 12065 is via Tashkent, per Aoki A07 list, // direct 13765 and 15235; Sat extended to 1558, and 1415-1430 Urdu Sun/Wed only on last two channels (Joe Hanlon, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Hoy 14 de Abril luego de estar fuera del aire por varios días por mantenimiento de equipos, he vuelto a escuchar la señal del Observatorio Naval Juan Manuel Cagigal en su frecuencia de 5000 kHz. La nota discordante es que la he captado con un fuerte ruido de fondo que no sabría decir si es una interferencia en la frecuencia o es un ruido del propio transmisor. Espero los comentarios de los colegas que puedan captarla. Lo que sí es cierto, es que si no fuera por el ruido mencionado, la señal se estaría escuchando fuerte y clara. Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, 0107 UT April 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Senado Chile tilda "transgresión a libertad expresión" clausura emisión RCTV Santiago de Chile, 12 abr (EFE).- El Senado chileno considera una "transgresión a la libertad de pensamiento y de expresión" la retirada por el gobierno venezolano de la concesión para transmitir a Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV). . . http://es.guide.yahoo.com/12042007/185/senado-chile-tilda-transgresion-libertad-expresion-clausura-emision-rctv.html (via José Miguel Romero, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Aló Presidente relay via Cuba, Sunday April 15 at 1409 check was VG on 13750, // much weaker 13680, and // 11875 which was a reverb apart from 13750; and // 11670 was way under WYFR. Before 1400, 13680 with RHC itself was VG, so must have switched antennas and/or transmitters. Tho the news was from or about Venezuela, they managed to make it about Posada Carriles. Meanwhile separate RHC programming continued on 11760 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 5915, Radio Zambia-Radio 1, *0241-0255, April 13, Sign on with Fish Eagle IS. 0250 choral National Anthem. 0252 Vernacular talk Poor. Weak (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6165, Radio Zambia-Radio 2, *0241-0253, April 13, Sign on with Fish Eagle IS. 0251 Instrumental National Anthem. Weak. 0253 lost under a strong Radio Nederland 6165 [Sines] (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA [and non]. GERMANY/ZAMBIA A-07 of CVC International via WER=Wertachtal & LUS=Lusaka: English to West Africa and Nigeria 0500-0600 on 9430 WER 125 kW / 180 deg till May 31 0500-0600 on 9430 LUS 100 kW / 315 deg from June 1 0600-0900 on 15640 WER 125 kW / 180 deg till May 31 0600-0900 on 13650 LUS 100 kW / 315 deg from June 1 0900-1500 on 13590 LUS 100 kW / 315 deg from June 1 1500-1800 on 15715 WER 125 kW / 180 deg till May 31 1500-1800 on 15715 LUS 100 kW / 315 deg from June 1 1800-2100 on 13820 WER 125 kW / 180 deg till May 31 1800-2100 on 5940 LUS 100 kW / 315 deg from June 1 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 10 via DXLD) I.e. they are replacing all the Wertachtal frequencies for the African service with Zambia ones from June 1. See also next entry. This amounts to two 100 kW transmitters in Zambia, whereas WRTH 2007 page 503 said they had only one. Note all the new frequencies from Zambia will no longer end in ---65! (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. A-07 for Christian Voice via LUS=Lusaka: English to South and Central Africa 0600-1500 on 6065 LUS 100 kW / non-dir 1500-0600 on 4965 LUS 100 kW / non-dir (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 10 via DXLD) Now we know why the CVC relays from Germany will cease broadcasts on May 31: On June 1, a second 100 kW transmitter in Zambia will begin transmission of CVC programs to West Africa. Here is the schedule from that date, per bclnews.it: 05-06 9430, 06-09 13650, 09-15 13590, 15-18 15715, 18-21 5940. All 100 kW, 315 degrees (Joe Hanlon, NJ, April 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Or rather, now we know why a second transmitter in Zambia is starting (gh) ** ZIMBABWE. The Guinea Fowl site is larger than I had expected. The large mast WSW of the transmitter building could be used for FM and TV, as this site is mentioned in the FMlist database. There used to be MW from Guinea Fowl too, possibly from the shorter striped mast 160 m from the tall one. A 100 kW transmitter was installed in 1966 and was used among other things, to broadcast propaganda to Mozambique during the civil war. There was also a 2 kW transmitter carrying the General Service of the Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation that had been installed in the fifties. As for SW, the RBC had originally broadcast from a site near Salisbury (Harare), and during the sixties two 100 kW transmitters were installed at Guinea Fowl and the Salisbury transmitters were relocated there. It is also likely that most of the 20 kW transmitters formerly used by South Africa from the old Paradys site were relocated to Guinea Fowl. I remember that leading up to Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence in November 1965, some broadcasts from the BBC Southern Africa relay station in Botswana were jammed. Today, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation is still jamming some broadcasts from stations they consider hostile to the Mugabe regime. I hope this information is of interest. 73 (Colin Miller, RSA, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. Radio Zimbabwe, Gweru, Zimbabwe heard on 6045 today 9 April at 0900 UT from within Zimbabwe. This is the daytime frequency from the newly re-activated Gweru transmitter site. Fair signal but probably from a transmitter of less than 100 kW (David Pringle-Wood, Harare, Zimbabwe, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Zimbabwe - good signal on 6045 on Johannesburg DX Tuner. Regards (Tony Magon, Sydney NSW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. [to ERITREA/ETHIOPIA tentat] 6185 noted with Horn of Africa music and sermon from fade in at 1620 UT till about 1800 UT in past two weeks (Erich Bergmann-D, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 11 via DXLD) I heard some Horn of Africa music fragments around 1637 UT today Apr 11, but fade-in with tiny weak signal around 1720 UT in Stuttgart Germany. Jari from Finland said something about some FEBA special like program for Horn of Africa region. I couldn't find any \\ to 12125 MEY, or 9865 UAE. (wb) I recall I was listening to 6185 about a week or two ago and heard Horn of Africa program/music there. I checked some listings then and I recall I found out it was FEBA Radio in various HOA languages. (Jari Savolainen-FIN, Apr 11) Beware of FEBA at 1700-1730 UT in Orominya on 6180 kHz via Al Dhabbaya-UAE. (wb) Wolfgang, I suppose it's ERI/ETH station, looks like Tigrina language to me. They appeared at (few minutes before?) 1550z. (later) they were coming fine (=fair) all the time, here, blocked by CVA s-on at 1800 UT ok, tnx for // tips - i'll try check this tomorrow. Very possible: it was that Feba's special... (Vlad Titarev-UKR, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 11) UNID HOA on 6185! Wolfy ... as Vlad did, I tuned to that station last Wednesday. I tried sending an e-mail, but it kept on bouncing back to me - server problems - but I picked it up around 1603 UT it was mainly OM/YL talking in Tigri or Amharic ... with musical breaks in between. No ID whatsoever. I tried, but in vain as the audio wasn't really that good. The language wasn't Arabic. So Sudan is not the one we might think of. I agree with Vlad that it might be Eritrean station as the style is pretty close to the VOM from Asmara. The news coming from there is saying that the Eritrean Govt. ain't really happy about the Ethiopeans getting into the Somali issue. So it could be one of the new clandestine stations. Maybe! (Tarek Zeidan-EGY, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 12) 6185, Eine unidentifizierte HOA Horn of Africa Station puzzelt seit 2 Wochen. Zuerst gehoert von Erich Bergmann. In Oromo oder Tigrina. Programm manchmal viele Wortanteile, dann auch HOA Musik und kurze Nachrichten zur vollen Stunde. Fadet ein um 1550 UT in der UKR, hier bei uns erster Empfang um 1620 UT, unterschiedlich nach Programmtagen, meist besseres Signal von 1725 bis 1759 UT. Ich zentriere den E1 Lextronix Eton auf circa 6184.84 und nehme SyncronDetect. manchmal USB oder LSB, und mit PassBandTuning schiebe ich noch 200-400 Hertz hin- und her. Um 17.59:45 UT kommt dann R Vatikan auf die Frequenz. Ich habe auch FEBA via 9865UAE/KIG und 12125MEY verglichen, aber nichts auffaelliges in \\ entdeckt. (wb, Apr 11) 6185 - Habe gerade 1600-1700 UT [Apr 11/13] ueber DX Tuner, dem Icom Geraet R75 dort in Phuket Island in Tailand mitgehoert. Tiefes Fading, aber in jedem Fall noch mitzuhoeren / aufzunehmen, zumindest HOA Africa Musik zu hoeren. Aber weit von einer Stationsansage oder gar ID entfernt. Tarek aus Cairo hat auch geantwortet, und verweist auf Aversionen von Eritrea gegen die Einflussnahme von ETH in Somalia in letzter Zeit. Tarek hat jedenfalls kein Arabisch gehoert, also Oromo oder Tigre ? aus Asmara in Eritrea? Die Monitoring Seite von IBB zeigt beim 6 MHz Bandscan in Addis Abbeba fuer 16-17 UT eine starke 160 dB Station auf 6185 kHz, die BBC 6110 Arabisch hat auch solch einen hohen Wert. http://monitor.ibb.gov/rms/queryaccess/africa.html rechts aus Bandscan WashDC klicken, locations ADDI Band 6 MHz time range 16-17 UT Datum gewuenschter Tag View data klicken um 1608 UT 160 dB um 1638 UT 122 dB manchmal 'nur' 147 oder 133 dB (wb, Apr 12/13, BCDX via DXLD) 6185: See also ETHIOPIA! UNIDENTIFIED. Easter is over, and the Noise Makers are obviously back at work. A tune around the 31 and 25 mb at around 0730 UT on Apr. 10 revealed six unknown digital type signals - that's unprecedented, and I haven't heard so many on air at once previously. It's very difficult to 'centre' their exact frequencies, as they appear to have multiple type carriers but I hear 11802, 11720, 9765, 9735, 9526 (this QRMing a broadcast station on 9525) and 9502. They are creating a different noise to 'true' DRM (and all are not alike), and they are not splattering their signals over many KHZ as DRM does - and AUT 9620 is currently doing. If these are not "broadcasting" are they sharing the broadcast bands on a none-interference-basis? 73 (Noel R. Green (NW England), April 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Glenn, I need some help, so I thought who better then you to ask? Do you know or have any information on just who this could be under the latest schedule form DTK-Telekom - Jülich. I've been searching the data sources on just who RHU could be? 11640 1630-1659 38E,39S,48 106 130 217 36 250307 281007 JUL 100 RHU Would appreciate any insight you might have. Thank you (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, April 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This would be Radio Xoriyo, different spelling, as in WRTH 2007 page 506, the Somali-language clandestine for Ethiopia, which was on 9820 in B-06. 73, (Glenn to Edward, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11640, 1628-1629* Apr. 14. 07. AWR was noted in English with closing at 1629 with address for listener's letters in India, by male and female speakers. Off at 1629 with no fanfare. The was a short pause, then another program opened up with s short choral anthem, then opening announcements in English, with address, which I couldn't make out much, other then some P.O Box numbers. The rest of the program consisted of religious talks by Preacher to 1654, musical brief, information and then choral hymn ballad played to 1659* UT. The signal compared to AWR's was much weaker (different azimuth path) and just audible at best. I checked the EIBI Schedule and nothing fits this schedule. Would appreciate any help on this one (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks again, Glenn, for your input [as above] (Edward Kusalik, ibid.) Edward, Here`s the answer in Aoki A-07 list; are you not consulting it? http://www.geocities.jp/binewsjp/bia07.txt 11640 Free People's Mission 1630-1700 ......7 English 250 105 Wertachtal D 01041E4805 FVM a07 11640 RHU 1630-1700 ..3..6. Amharic 100 130 Juelich D 0622E5057 RHU a07 7 = Saturday. It would be Xoriyu on Wed & Fri. 73, (Glenn to Edward, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) But see also ETHIOPIA [non], Xoriyo now reported on 15260 at 1630 Tue UNIDENTIFIED. Hams in 25m band: Spurious. Since 0915 UT on Apr 14, I noted two men speaking in supposed to be Norwegian mids in 25 m bc band on 11877.09 usb mode. Noted on three receivers. Formula ? 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, harmonics yg via DXLD) Maybe not hams, and not spurious. We hear Spanish/Mexican 2-way SSB within SWBC bands frequently (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Heard on Saturday, April 14th, from 1604 onward through 1630 at 17480. Female voice reading numbers verrrry slowly. SINPO was 55355, lots of electrical QRN not hindering very much. Who or what is this? -- (Dave Askine, TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Probably one of the so-called spy numbers stations. There is a group called ENIGMA which keeps track of them. How many numbers in a group? What language? (Glenn to Dave, via DXLD) Five to a group, in Spanish. Can I report this to ENIGMA? If so, how could I contact them? Via e-mail? (Dave Askine, ibid.) See http://www.southgatearc.org/enigma2000/index.htm and http://www.spynumbers.com/enigma.html where 17480 does not seem to be mentioned (Glenn to Dave, ibid.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thanx for your consistent, persistent dedication to the DXing hobby! (Ralph Famularo, Japan) SOLICITED TESTIMONIALS [but not by gh] ++++++++++++++++++++++ HAPPY BIRTHDAY GLENN FROM BLANDX Check out http://www.blandx.com for our Happy Birthday Glenn special. April 12 is Glenn's birthday. Many happy returns, Glenn! (Bill Kyle, CEO, The BLANDX Corporation, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mainly due to BLANDX publicity a lot of birthday wishes have been received. I prefer not to make a big deal out of birthdays or anniversaries, but nevertheless, each and every one is very much appreciated. I`ll spare you reproducing them here. Now back to all my unbirthdays (gh) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ DX PHOTOS FROM CHRIS DUNNE Here are some classic TV DX photographs from Christopher S. Dunne in south Florida: http://www.tvdxexpo.com/dunne9.html (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, WTFDA via DXLD) Including several from Central America VOICE OF REVOLUTIONARY VINCE When Harold Sellers, Ian McFarland and myself were in Kulpsville this year for the SWLfest, we heard a take off on pirate radio station called 'The Voice of Revolutionary Vince". There is a web site you can go to and enjoy these very funny bits. Enjoy. http://www.bunkerofdoom.com/vorv/index.html (Brian Smith, ODXA via DXLD) PRIME TIME SHORTWAVE Direct links to the text files at Prime Time Shortwave: sort by country http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/country.txt sort by time http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/time.txt large sort by frequency http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/freql.txt short sort by frequency http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/freqs.txt target to Africa http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/africa.txt target to Americas http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/america.txt target to Asia/Oceania http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/asiaoceania.txt target to Europe http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/europe.txt target to Middle East http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/middleeast.txt tab delimited version http://www.primetimeshortwave.com/ptswtab.txt (Dan Sampson, Prime Time Shortwave, swl at qth.net via DXLD) RADIO PHILATELY +++++++++++++++ EKKO VERIFIED RECEPTION STAMPS Glenn, Here is a link for information about EKKO Verified Reception Stamps that were introduced in the 1920s ... http://reviews.ebay.com/WHAT-apos-S-AN-EKKO-STAMP_W0QQugidZ10000000000839026 I bought one such stamp from Charles Zelbst on eBay recently, and posted a picture of it on http://wsui.info 73s (-- Franklin Seiberling, KC0ISV, Iowa City, April 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ Re: 7-044, Life Could Be a DReaM [ham applications of DRM] There's a reflector dedicated to it at http://groups.google.com/group/WinDRM To subscribe send an email to WinDRM-subscribe @ googlegroups.com The mode is used by a small number of enthusiasts although its popularity is growing rapidly. As the Amateur version has to fit into a bandwidth of just 2.3 kHz as against a minimum of 4.5 kHz for broadcast DRM some compromises had to be made. Currently all Amateur digital voice modes suffer similar issues to broadcast DRM - time taken to sync - comparatively high Signal levels required - they don't match SSB for weak signal working - multipath/doppler generates very high bit errors causing dropouts. But whereas the Broadcast DRM standard is now almost fixed in stone and likely to remain for decades to come there is still plenty of scope for experimentation with Amateur Radio implementations which require nothing more than an Amateur HF rig and a PC with free software. Hopefully one day we will eventually achieve the "Holy Grail" of an Amateur digital mode that simultaneously achieves - Good reproduction of the speech spectrum from 300-3200 Hz - Narrow transmitted bandwidth, less than 2.3 kHz - Robust even under high Multipath/doppler - Works at low signal-to-noise ratios WinDRM http://n1su.com/windrm/ Also another free PC digital voice program Amateur Radio Digital Voice - DRMDV 1.43 released http://www.southgatearc.org/news/april2007/drmdv.htm 73 (Trevor M5AKA, monitoringmonthly yg via DXLD) ARNIE WENT TO UKOGBANI FOR DRM I am now back in Havana after a two week trip to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, where I attended the yearly meeting of the DRM Consortium, and also had the opportunity to exchange points of view about the future of broadcasting in general and of short wave broadcasting in particular with experts from many different countries that were attending the conference. Also, I was able to see the first run of a production model of the Morphy-Roberts DRM capable receiver, which is now selling in Europe. Still too expensive, but, it is available, and that is surely quite a difference from what was happening just a few months ago, when stations broadcasting using the Digital Radio Mondiale mode on short wave could only be heard using a radio receiver connected to a computer equipped with specially written software to decode the DRM signals. In contrast to the DAB or Eureka 147 digital broadcasting standard, that has proven to be quite successful in the United Kingdom and Denmark, with several millions of receivers sold, DRM is still facing the lack of easily available and relatively low cost receivers as its most relevant problem. During the meeting, that took place at the BBC Research Center, a lot of attention was given to further development of short wave transmitters capable of handling the very sophisticated DRM signals without suffering from lack of linearity and excessive bandwidth as it happens to be typically the case when short wave broadcasters use their existing equipment to transmit DRM, something that if not done properly can create many problems to stations located on adjacent channels (Arnie Coro, RHC DXers Unlimited April 10 via HCDX via DXLD) I see from Digital Spy that the Roberts MP40, DRM Radio is not now expected until Late 2007 or Early 2008; is this 'medium' collapsing? (Ken Fletcher-1706UTC= 1806UTC+1- 13th April 2007>>>Wirral (CH43), BDXC-UK via DXLD) DRM: See also AUSTRALIA; AUSTRIA; CHILE; GERMANY; LIBYA [in 7-045]; NETHERLANDS; USA BYU; UNIDENTIFIED CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ READING INTERNATIONAL RADIO GROUP, SATURDAY APRIL 21 The next meeting will take place on Saturday April 21st at 2.30 p.m. [1330 UT] in Room 3, Reading International Solidarity Centre, 35-39 London Road, Reading and will include a look at pre-war commercial radio broadcast towards the UK particularly the less well known stations based on a recent book by Professor Sean Street and radio at the time of the Falklands War. Both talks will include audio, including some of FIBS at the time of the invasion, as well as the shortwave stations at the time. We will also be looking at more recent developments particularly in digital radio. For further details email me or phone 01462 643899 (Mike Barraclough, England, worlddxclub yg via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ HAM ANTENNA STIRS UP CONTROVERSY IN LUBBICK http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aC_EeWSKJII (via John Faulkner, UK, MWC via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Hear & see the BPL interference problem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gsxpya3CnQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdcY0Eetvsw BPL = Broadband over Power Line (Steve Whitt, MWC via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ AURORAS + GEO-STORMS COMING TO A DX-SHACK NEAR YOU...MAYBE A little note from Space Weather News: *AURORA WATCH:* Sky watchers from Scandinavia to Alaska should be alert for auroras http://spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery_01apr07.htm on April 9th and 10th. A solar wind stream is due to hit Earth, and the impact could cause high-latitude geomagnetic storms (via Mike Hardester, NC, April 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just missed 7-044 Solar cycle 23 is now at its very end. We will still have to wait for about six months to have a clear confirmation, but according to observations made by solar scientists around the world, cycle 23 is going to end before the month of July, and from there on, what may happen is that solar activity will start to raise at a very fast pace... This is a typical solar cycle behavior, as the ascending phase is actually shorter than the decline. So expect a cycle 24 peak to happen between 2010 and 2011, and it seems like this upcoming cycle will be a very active one if you believe what some scientists are forecasting. Be it a very active or a moderately active cycle won't matter very much for most of us, as anything is going to be definitely better than the past year and half of extremely low solar activity that we have gone through (Arnie Coro, CO2KK, RHC DXers Unlimited April 10, via HCDX via DXLD) THOUSAND-YEAR HIGH OF SOLAR ACTIVITY http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3869753.stm The link is to a BBC story which says solar activity is at a thousand year high. Kind of ties in with the global warming that's occurring. Much like the period of time when the Vikings were able to live comfortably in Greenland, and benign and comfortable conditions happened pretty much world wide. Yes, I like global warming. I have not had to fire up the snow blower at all this winter for the first time in my life. This may shed some light on why DX conditions were so much better 25 or 50 years ago. Even when the current 24/7 stations aren't a factor, things don't seem as good overall. Could be (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, IRCA mailing list via DXLD) The geomagnetic field was at quiet to minor storm storm levels on 02 April with major storm periods at high latitudes due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream. ACE solar wind data indicated a peak velocity of 664 km/sec at 02/1912 UTC while IMF Bz reached a minimum of -6.9 nT at 02/1032 UTC and IMF Bt peaked at 7.7 nT at 02/1023 UTC. Activity decreased to quiet to active levels during 02 - 04 April as the high-speed stream gradually subsided. Activity decreased to quiet levels for the rest of the period. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 11 APRIL - 07 MAY 2007 Solar activity is expected to continue at very low levels. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels during 11 - 18 April, and again during 29 April - 07 May. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at quiet to unsettled levels through 19 April. A recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream is expected to disturb the field during 20 - 21 April with unsettled to minor storm levels expected. Quiet to unsettled conditions are expected during 22 - 27 April. Another round of coronal hole effects is expected during 28 - 29 April with unsettled to major storm conditions expected. Mostly quiet conditions are expected for the balance of the period. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2007 Apr 10 1823 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2007 Apr 10 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2007 Apr 11 70 8 3 2007 Apr 12 70 10 3 2007 Apr 13 70 5 2 2007 Apr 14 70 5 2 2007 Apr 15 70 5 2 2007 Apr 16 75 5 2 2007 Apr 17 75 5 2 2007 Apr 18 75 5 2 2007 Apr 19 75 8 3 2007 Apr 20 75 20 5 2007 Apr 21 75 15 4 2007 Apr 22 75 10 3 2007 Apr 23 75 10 3 2007 Apr 24 75 8 3 2007 Apr 25 75 5 2 2007 Apr 26 75 5 2 2007 Apr 27 75 5 2 2007 Apr 28 70 25 5 2007 Apr 29 70 15 4 2007 Apr 30 70 10 3 2007 May 01 70 5 2 2007 May 02 70 5 2 2007 May 03 70 5 2 2007 May 04 70 5 2 2007 May 05 70 5 2 2007 May 06 70 8 3 2007 May 07 70 8 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1354, DXLD) EAST COAST TRANS-PACIFICS ON MEDIUMWAVE Re Recent listings of TP carriers on 747 and 774 kHz, my observations are that there are three different receptions types. The DU ZL and VK are very easy to DF with a loop. The Far East (Japan, Sabah, Korea) carriers also give very reliable DF bearings 50 to 90 degrees N of the DU stations, as they graze the auroral zone. The only OTP [over the pole] station in recent years has been been Thailand 1575 which never shows a sharp null but comes in very strong once or twice a season. Majuro 1098 is easily the strongest and most consistent TP carrier but is often open carrier. The ZL on 882 is also very consistent as a carrier but has never produced audio here. As KAZ mentioned, DUs on the X band channels are no longer easy and in the clear. It wasn't long ago that 1611 sounded like a domestic graveyard channel in the morning (Ray Moore, Ft Myers, FL, April 13, NRC-AM via DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING / LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++ TRIBE HELPS LINGUIST ARGUE WITH PREVAILING THEORY Weekend Edition Sunday, April 8, 2007 Dan Everett has spent 30 years studying the language of a small Amazonian tribe, the Piraha. His findings are challenging long-held linguistic theories and stirring a sometimes-bitter debate. [audio] http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9458681 (via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ###