DX LISTENING DIGEST 3-101, June 8, 2003 edited by Glenn Hauser, ghauser@hotmail.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 HTML version of this issue will be posted later at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldtd3f.html For restrixions and searchable 2003 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1185: RFPI: Mon 0030, 0630, 1230, Tue 1900, Wed 0100, 0730, 1330 7445 WBCQ: Mon 0445 7415 WWCR: Wed 0930 9475 WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: Check http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html [Low] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1185.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1185.ram [High] (Download) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1185h.rm (Stream) http://www.k4cc.net/wor1185h.ram (Summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1185.html WORLD OF RADIO ON WINB, WJIE, WWCR: See USA ** AFGHANISTAN. URL Correxion: Listed in DXLD 3-099: http://www.schoechi.de/crw/afghan.html Correct: http://www.schoechi.de/crw/crw-afghan.html 73 (Olle Alm, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. Hi Glenn, You wrote: ``I wonder how many listeners have initially been duped into listening when they hear the Oz accent and assume it be R. Australia``. I was! Heard them recently with a news bulletin, and it took quite a while to sink in that it wasn`t RA. But I can do better than that - not too long ago I thought I`d found RA on a new frequency in the 21 meg band. Ozzie announcer, international news...then at the end of the bulletin the newsreader said ``I`m Grant Coburn``. Yes, he was in the studio downstairs, about 50m away from my desk in the RN building :-) I do, for some reason, find it difficult to identify the accents of individual Ozzies, even ones I know well. A pity I didn`t recognize the frequency, though :-) [yes, you can publish this and give everyone a laugh] 73, (Andy Sennitt, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Did you listen to DXPL this morning (boy do we have to get used to THIS after all those years of prime-time)? [Sat 1230 on Pifo 15115 --- no, I didn`t; hope they get the audio file up soon]. There was a ``Christian Radio Update`` feature about ``Voice`` and its shortwave broadcasts, with particular interest to the Australian transmissions from Darwin. It was pointed out that Voice-AUS is aiming its target audiences to the 18-45 group, using music and entertainment, and not preaching, to entertain and inform listeners -- a different approach to HCJB and other religious stations that aim their content at families, among others, with spiritual and traditional religious fare (Joe Hanlon, now in Mays Landing, NJ, June 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) HCJB-AUS has approached Family Radio (WYFR) concerning its use of 11770 for the Portuguese service to Brazil 0800-1045, which is causing havoc to HCJB-AUS in New Zealand. Kununurra operates 0700-1200, azimuth 106 degrees, with a primary service area of Eastern Australia and the South Pacific. WYFR uses 100 kW, azimuth 142 degrees, to South America, and is widely heard in the Pacific region. I sent a message to EDXP members in Australia and NZ a few days ago asking for reception quality details on 11770 --- no response came from NZ, but these Australian members came back with useful information: Tim Gaynor (Queensland), Craig Tyson (WA), Ray Roche (ACT), and Mike Stevenson (NSW). I am in discussions with HCJB-AUS Frequency Management about 11770 in NZ --- we are now relying mainly on the IBB`s Remote Receiver in Wellington for reception data. DX Partyline will continue to be broadcast over HCJB-AUS at 0930 Sat on 11770 and 1230 Sat [sic --- used to be 1430] on 15480 (to India), and will include the EDXP News Reports each month, produced in Quito. I am privy to some proposals about future plans for HCJB-AUS, which will be released at an appropriate time. Note that there are two antennas currently in use at Kununurra: 1. Azimuth 106 degrees, used for the Australia/S. Pac service on 11770 2. Azimuth 307 degrees, used for the Indian service on 15480 At present, neither of these antennas can be operated on all bands. There is back-radiation from both antennas, which is the reason why 15480 is audible across the Pacific, and 11770 in Asia. All schedule/frequency variations have to be submitted to, and authorised by the Australian Communications Authority, in Canberra, then notified to the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (Kuala Lumpur). Programming currently consists of a mix of local Australian content, complemented by material provided by HCJB-Ecuador. The Australian studios are at Kilsyth, an outer suburb of Melbourne, which also accommodates the IBB`s remote receiver facility, designated as ``MEL``. Program distribution to Kununurra is via a dial-up wideband ISDN link from Kilsyth. There is no satellite feed. Antenna towers include 30 metre masts. There are two technical officers on duty at the site, and output power is 100 kW maximum. The transmitter was constructed in Ecuador. Local transmission signal monitoring at the site is by RACAL equipment. Correspondence, including attention to QSL requests, is managed from Kilsyth (Bob Padula, EDXP World Broadcast Magazine June 7, used by permisson from http://edxp.org via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. STATION ``X`` --- An allocation has finally been released by the ACA for the use of 2365.5 [sic === 2368.5 in DXLD 3- 099] (120 mb) of a private station, under the category of ``HF Domestic Broadcasting Service``. The licence has been granted to a Mr Peter G. Tate, for 1 kW, subject to special conditions that harmful interference is not caused to any broadcaster operating outside of Australia in accordance with the ITU regulations. The antenna location is at Labrador, Queensland, co-sited with the ``Vodaphone`` facility. Antenna characteristics are not indicated (Bob Padula, EDXP World Broadcast Magazine June 7, used by permisson from http://edxp.org via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. MAJ0R [sic] COMMERCIAL CHANGE FOR ``RADIOWISE - AMT`` This Australian-based organisation announces that as from July, the free access to its Web-based material will cease, which includes a weekly newsletter covering developments across the broadcasting industry worldwide, with an emphasis on the Australian region. The subscription rate will be A$156 per annum, with all content available only at its Website. The service includes extensive advertising for products and vacant jobs and in the Australian broadcasting industry. I advise that I have used AMT as a source of information for some time, but I`m afraid that I will not be paying $156 to maintain a subscription! (Bob Padula, EDXP World Broadcast Magazine June 7, used by permission from http://edxp.org via DXLD) ** AZORES. Here`s some material, mostly taken from Friday evening, Saturday & even Sunday morning observations on the SW coast. 1503 kHz, AFN, Lajes air Base, Terceira island --- no longer an easy and steady catch (even during daytime in certain periods of the year) --- was logged on MAY 17 2204-2214 airing a relayed sports program. 54433, co-channel QRM de RNE-R5, a station which became a ``pest`` after its La Línea (near Cádiz & Gibraltar) transmitter was installed; otherwise the R5 transmitter in Galicia alone was easily nulled via the 250 m CAm Beverage. AFN was dominating this time though. AFN Lajes webpage: http://www.lajes.af.mil which includes much info and data on our archipelago of the Açores. Authorized power is 1 kW. The MW scene there is a bleak one these days. While the RDP Açores is active via its 3 transmitters, R. Lajes --- A Voz da Força Aérea Portuguesa (FAP), Lajes Air Base, Terceira island, 648 kHz 1 kW and R. Club de Angra --- A Voz da Terceira, 909 kHz 10 kW, both became irregular, and the Estação Emissora do Club Asas do Atlântico, Vila do Porto, Santa Maria island, 1566 kHz 10 kW is deliberately silent for some years now due to costs saving. They all remain pretty much alive on VHF-FM though (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI SW News May-June- July via DXLD) ** BAHAMAS. AM & FM monitoring from Florida Keys: see CUBA [and non] ** CANADA. Channel 2 from Maritimes et al. DXed by multiple-hop sporadic E in UK June 7! See PROPAGATION below ** CANADA. CFRX, Toronto, ON, 6070, JUN 7 at 0043 - with ``News-talk 10-10 Sport`` promo. Fairly good signal, but with pretty intense splatter from 6065. It`s the first time I hear them that late in the evenings; at other times all I could hear was 6065/6075 splatter. I guess more day-light (on 49m) means more absorption of the 6065/6075 signals, so less splatter and less interference for this extremely short-haul signal! (Bogdan Chiochiu, QTH: Montreal (Pierrefonds-Est), QC, Rx.: Sangean 606 with long-wire in the yard, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. June 16 is the official kick-off of Digital Radio Mondiale. RCI will provide daily DRM broadcasts from Sackville, including: 0700-1000 to Europe on 11685 kHz 1955-0000 to NE America on 9795 kHz (Bill Westenhaver, QC, RCI, CKUT International Radio Report June 8 via Ricky Leong, swprograms via DXLD) see DRM at bottom ** CANADA. LAUGH IN A HALF: Join host Walter Rinaldi this Saturday for Laugh in a Half, a half-hour of classic comedy with a penchant for the best in Canadian talent. This week`s inaugural show features the legendary ``Bricklayer`s Letter`` by Gerard Hoffnung - perhaps the most requested bit of comedy from the BBC in recorded history! Also, Woody Allen, Monty Python, The Frantics, Gilda Radner, Jeremy Hotz and a psychedelic serenade from Captain Kirk. Join Walter Rinaldi in his global quest for comedy classics, on Laugh in a Half, Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m. (7:30 AT; 8:00 NT) on CBC Radio Two and Sunday afternoon at 1:00 (1:30 NT, 4:00 PT) on CBC Radio One. This program appears to be a summer replacement for Madly Off In All Directions. So I expect you will find it on RCI at 2230 Saturday on 6.140, and 9.590 MHz beamed 240 degrees from Sackville, and 15.455 MHz beamed 253 degrees. ~*-.,_,.-*~`^`~*-.,_,.-*~`^`~*-., (Joe Buch, DE, SW programs via DXLD) -*~`^`~*-.,_,.-*~`^`~*-.,_,.-*~`^ OK, but basically another play-the-records show summer sub (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. DON`T PLAY THAT `FUNKY` MUSIC! By Brian Cross The Windsor Star LEAMINGTON --- Two Caribbean migrant workers were on a plane Thursday, ``sacked`` they say, from a greenhouse after protesting the non-stop play of radio station music aimed at ``moms in minivans.`` ``It`s been one station (96.7) they play since we came here,`` said Theodore Dacaul, 24, referring to Leamington`s CHYR-FM and its ``adult contemporary`` format. Dacaul arrived from the island of St. Vincent at the end of April. He was supposed to have been on a six-month contract as an agricultural worker at Hazel Farms. The migrant workers` living quarters are inside the greenhouse complex, so the music was a ``constant beat in your head,`` said Dacaul. ``Every day for 100 times a day, the same song plays, it drives you crazy. We are from the Carribean, you can`t expect us to listen to it.`` He claims he was fired on Wednesday after supporting fellow worker Eldred Greene, 33, who was working on a production line with the speaker located directly behind him and complained about the music to a supervisor. ``I simply said to him: `Please lower the music, or change the station, it`s disturbing,``` said Greene, who had been working in the greenhouse since mid-April. The two prefer their familiar island music - reggae and soca. What ensued was a heated exchange and the supervisor ultimately telling the pair they were finished. Telephone calls to Hazel Farms were not returned on Thursday. The two men say they were driven to a Leamington motel by one supervisor who referred to their constant whining. On Thursday at 11:15 a.m., a local taxi arrived for a trip to Tilbury, where another driver was hired to take them to Toronto for a flight home. They were scheduled to go home in November, and so left with substantially less (around $1,000 each) than the approximately $7,000 they had hoped to pocket. ``It`s a very heavy-handed approach, and it`s heavy-handed throughout the industry,`` said Stan Raper, the director of the Migrant Agricultural Workers Support Centre, established in Leamington by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. ``Workers are sent home all the time for complaining. The attitude is: `How dare you question me?``` There are about 3,000 migrant workers in the Leamington area, he estimated, from the Carribean and Mexico, working under contracts that pay $7.50 an hour without overtime. Raper plans to send letters to Human Resources Minister Jane Stewart and the liaison office for West Indian migrant workers to complain that these two men should at least have had the opportunity to transfer to another greenhouse, instead of being turfed out of the country. Raper said there are provisions in the regulations for transfers, but they simply don`t happen. MP Joe Comartin (NDP - Windsor-St. Clair) said there are usually two sides to a story when an employer fires an employee. But when it comes to these cases involving migrant workers, ``the real problem is the power balance here is so unfair,`` he said. If a Canadian was fired, he`d have various ways to fight for his job, including the courts. CHYR-FM`s target market is females aged 25 to 49, driving around town with their kids, according to station manager Jim Heyens. Typical artists are Jann Arden and Barenaked Ladies, with the occasional foray into edgier musicians such as the Tragically Hip. (Windsor is a city of about 200,000 divided from Detroit only by the Detroit River and an international boundary. Leamington, a town of about 15,000, is 30 miles southeast of Windsor, and is renowned for its greenhouse industry and rich soil in the surrounding area. CHYR-FM began life as daytime-only CJSP on 710 AM. Later, it had an oddball existence as CHYR-AM on 710 in the daytime, and CHIR-AM on 730 AM at night, before moving to the FM band, where its signal is powered by 91,000 watts. From Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. HAIXIA ZHI SHENG (Voice of Strait) latest schedule: News Channel 2225-1700 11590 4940; Entertainment Channel 2225-1700 7280 5050; Amoy Channel 2225-1700 6115 4900, including English 0930-1000 Fr and Su) NEI MENGGU RADIO STATION latest schedule: Mandarin 2150-0115 and 0905- 1605 6045 4620 4000, 0120-0900 9520 7165 7105; Mongolian 2150-0115 and 0805-1605 6195 4785 4525, 0120-0800 9750 7210 7270 (Bob Padula, EDXP World Broadcast Magazine June 7, used by permisson from http://edxp.org via DXLD) ** CHINA. It`s been a week since the Three Gorges Dam started storing water on June 1, marking an historic step closer to the completion of the world`s largest hydroelectric project. On its June 8 broadcast, In the Spotlight will explore how cultural relics are being rescued and protected in this project area (Jim, CRI/English http://pw2.netcom.com/~jleq/cri1.htm swprograms via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI missing again from 15039 for several days as of June 8; hope we are not in for another lengthy outage as in March- April (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Zephyrs from Zecchino: The mighty 590 is back with R. Rebelde and good audio. The 670 is somewhat diminished in strength with absolutely putrid audio. 660 and 690 R. Progreso are consistently back of late, both strong here. Took bearings on these over the weekend, some discrepancies from established lines. 1290 R. Taíno seems to be off the air, now audible is Dobleve outta Santa Clara, I think; will check the `list`. 1260 R. Enciclopedia is a bit off its usual strength as well, while 1270 Musical which was good in the fall is now down in the muddle. 910 Metropolitana is gone, now Reloj from some local hellhole or other is busting in here on the key; will write up all as soon as bearings are completed. First time in months the dread Red Plague has given local a respite from its toxic choking fumes; impossible to get near the beach until just this Sunday past (Paul V. Zecchino, Englewood FL, NRC IDXD June 6 via DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. TOCOBAGA DX #69 (PT. I -- RADIO) - 8 June, 2003 CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, USA E-mail: tocobagadx@earthlink.net ``Florida Low Power Radio Stations`` is at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html © 2003, Terry L Krueger. Retransmit or quote all or any portion only with full credit given to TOCOBAGA DX and all attributed sources. All logs by Terry L. Krueger unless otherwise stated. All times/dates are LOCAL (EASTERN DAYLIGHT) and frequencies in kiloHertz unless otherwise stated. ------------------------------------------------------------ Just back from a few days in the Florida Keys. The usual radio observations follow below, broken into two segments: ``CUBA/CARIBBEAN LOGS`` and ``FLORIDA LOGS (PIRATES & LICENSED)`` to separate categories. [under USA] Overall, no significant Cuba changes noted in my admittedly very brief scans. The primary daytime Cuba bandscan was conducted at Long Key State Park this time. This site has become my overall favorite location for making a portable radio scan. I always park in the empty-to-nearly- empty Golden Orb Trail parking lot (N. 24.48.86, W. 80.49.30), near the boardwalk entrance. These logs were made from 1200-1415 EDT (1600- 1815 GMT) on June 1. At Long Key, a German tourist couple saw me in the usual portable remote DX mode (loop antenna, DX-399, piles of papers on the roof of the car, Pilsner Urquell and Zephyrhills water bottles nearby). They proceeded to videocam me and the car license plate, then departed in their car. Fully expecting the worst (and certain that I was not going to be appearing on the next edition of Snoop Dog`s ``Girls Gone Wild``), I made sure the beer bottles (Florida State Parks violation) were disposed of and sure enough, 30-minutes later a ranger showed up to ask what I was doing. I had no trouble explaining and he left me alone after a mere three minutes. The last laugh is now on the touristas, though they will never know it. A second but very cursory scan was made from Ft. Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, at one of the picnic benches under the trees near the water (N. 24.32.79, W. 81.48.64). The park is located near the southeast end of Key West. These logs were made from 1300-1400 EDT (1700-1800 GMT) on June 2. LOGGINGS KEY: [FDES] = logs made at Ft. DeSoto County Park, south Pinellas County, Florida. [FZSP] = logs made at Ft. Zachary Taylor Historic State Park, Key West, Florida. [LKSP] = logs made at Long Key State Park, Layton, Florida. NNdR = ``Noticiero Nacional la Radio`` -- the national Cuban news feed that many stations relay, currently airing (summer) 1300-1330 Eastern Daylight Time. *** (after the frequency) = something new (for me, at least) or changes (such as not heard, etc). CUBA/CARIBBEAN LOGS 526 BAHAMAS ZLS beacon, Stella Maris, Long Island; fair. [LKSP] 530 TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS Radio Visión Cristiana, South Caicos; strong with usual Spanish preacher. [LKSP] 550 CUBA Radio Rebelde; very good. [LKSP] 580 JAMAICA RJR, Baileys Vale/St. Mary; local Jamaican preacher describing how God will cure the Jamaican economy. Very good, and parallel weaker 700 kHz. [LKSP] 590 CUBA Radio Rebelde (the ex-R Musical Nacional transmitter); silent this day, only the Clewiston, FL Mexican ``fiesta`` format station alone and strong here. [LKSP] And still unheard mid-day June 7th. [FDES] And unheard 0735+ June 8th at home QTH. 620 CUBA Radio Rebelde; xlnt. [LKSP] 627.5 CUBA Radio Progreso; apparent bottom-end spur of 640 kHz from they Keys to the home QTH. See 652.5 kHz. 630 CUBA Radio Progreso; xlnt but in huge het though no other audio detected. [LKSP] 640 CUBA Radio Progreso; eastern bearing, xlnt. [LKSP] 652.5 CUBA Radio Progreso; continues to be heard from the Keys to the home QTH. Apparently a spur of 640 kHz, with 627.5 kHz also present but virtually no audio making it. 660 CUBA Radio Progreso; xlnt. [LKSP] 680 CUBA Radio Rebelde; very good but telco audio. [LKSP] 690 CUBA Radio Progreso; very good. [LKSP] 700 JAMAICA RJR, Hague/Trelawny; fair, parallel 580. [LKSP] 710 CUBA Radio Rebelde; very good, mixing with the Miami Spanish station. [LKSP] 750 CUBA Radio Progreso; xlnt. [LKSP] 810 BAHAMAS Radio Bahamas ZNS3, Freeport, Grand Bahama; gospel vocals (on a Sunday morning), Abaco Region Episcopal Church program from 1245+. Never parallel the always-gospel 1240 ZNS2, Nassau. [LKSP] 820 CUBA jammer; xlnt and alone (mission accomplished at this location). [LKSP] 840 CUBA Dobleve; very good. [LKSP] 870 CUBA Radio Reloj; very good but mixing with City of Key West (WGW861) TIS. [LKSP] 880 CUBA Radio Progreso; xlnt. [LKSP] 890 CUBA unidentified; giant open carrier, looping to western Cuba. Presume a malf[unx]ing audio feed. [LKSP] 910 CUBA Radio Metropolitana; fair. [LKSP] 930 CUBA Radio Reloj; fair, telco audio and mixing with carrier (see below). [LKSP] 930 CUBA unidentified; zero-beating carrier looping to western Cuba, under Reloj. [LKSP] 940 CUBA Radio Reloj; very, very poor under Miami. [LKSP] 950 CUBA Radio Reloj; good. [LKSP] 960 CUBA Radio Enciclopedia; fair. [LKSP] 980 CUBA Periodico del Aire COCO; COCO ID, then into NNdR at 1300. Strong. [LKSP] 990 CUBA Radio Guamá (presumed); good with NNdR. [LKSP] 1000 CUBA Radio Guamá (presumed); good with NNdR. [LKSP] 1020 TURKS & CAICOS [NOT] Caribbean Christian Radio, Grand Turk; no trace of this during my sporadic day and night checks. This was briefly reactivated with soul and pops, for maintenance purposes maybe? 1030 CUBA Radio Musical Nacional; xlnt with usual classical music. This National network has got to be on last legs, with hardly any channels remaining (what with 590 being sporadic and seemingly switched to Rebelde when active now). ``Radio Liberación`` anyone? [LKSP] 1050 MEXICO Radio Pirata XEQQQ, Cancún, Quintana Roo; usual huge signal with Spanish pop music, frequent canned ID`s, commercial spots for Señor Froggy`s and other nightclubs I well recall from my visit ages ago. [LKSP] 1060/1061 CUBA unidentified; possibly up to two Cubans here (CMKS and Radio Victoria in the past). Huge het with Cuban Spanish talk, but unable to make any details or parallels out of these. Even here at home, I get these hets (especially with the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport TIS running open carrier only as of late). The measured het offender (no audio making it) measured to exactly 1061 at the home QTH. [LKSP] 1080 CUBA Radio Cadena Habana; xlnt. [LKSP] 1090 CUBA Radio Cadena Habana; fair. [LKSP] 1090 CUBA Radio Guamá; 1159 w/ female ``Esta es Radio Guamá...`` Very good, with R Cadena Habana poor underneath. [FDES] 1100 CUBA Radio Cadena Habana; xlnt. [LKSP] 1110 CUBA Radio Cadena Habana; very poor. [LKSP] 1120 CUBA Radio Cadena Habana; xlnt, nice ID coming out of NNdR at 1330. [LKSP] 1180 CUBA Radio Rebelde; mixing with Radio Martí (see coments under the ``FLORIDA LOGS (PIRATES & LICENSED)`` section). [LKSP] 1180 CUBA Radio Reloj; barely audible under Rebelde and Martí. [LKSP] 1190 UNIDENTIFIED Spanish, possible Cuban, not parallel Rebelde. [LKSP] 1200 CUBA Radio Sancti Spíritus; overmodulated, parallel very very poor 1210. [LKSP] 1210 CUBA Radio Sancti Spíritus; very very poor. [LKSP] 1240 BAHAMAS Radio Bahamas ZNS2, Nassau, New Providence; the reason I come to Long Key -- to always hear this one! And as usual, all- Bahamian gospel programming, promo`s for churches and events with the 242 area code, PO Box N-xxxx addresses, etc. Very good and as always in a tight bearing. However, this time no Radio Veinteseis present. [LKSP] 1250 CUBA Radio Caibarién (presumed); xlnt with Spanish vocals. [LKSP] 1260 CUBA Radio Enciclopedia; very good with Percy Thrillington-ish instrumentals, about equal to 1270 kHz. [LKSP] 1270 CUBA Radio Enciclopedia; very good, parallel 1260. [LKSP] 1290 CUBA Dobleve; xlnt, paralleled to 1310. No trace of Radio Taíno here or in Key West. [LKSP] At the home QTH, presume Dobleve 0725+ June 8, mixing with an English domestic. Not parallel Progreso or Encilopedia, and no other Dobleve outlet in the clear for paralleling; 840 kHz outlet apparently not making it up this far for me. 1310 CUBA Dobleve; xlnt. [LKSP] 1330 CUBA Radio Jaruco; xlnt, parallel 1390. [LKSP] 1390 CUBA Radio Jaruco; xlnt, parallel 1310. [LKSP] 1400 CUBA Radio Musical Nacional; very good, see 1030 parallel comments. [LKSP] 1450 CUBA Radio Guines; tune-in to NNdR, ID coming out of the feed at 1330, man and woman announcers, soft ballads. Very good. [FZSP] 1470 CUBA Radio Ciudad Banderas; tune-in to NNdR feed, 1140 kHz potential parallel in a huge mess of QRMing stations. However at the end of NNdR, ``Radio Ciudad Banderas, desde Matanzas, Cuba`` by reverbed female. Very strong. [FZSP] 1490 CUBA Radio Camoa (presumed); slow Cuban ballads, fair. [FZSP] 1530 CUBA unidentified; man and woman mentioning various Cuban provinces. Radio Morón? Fair. [LKSP] 1540 BAHAMAS Radio Bahamas ZNS1, Nassau, New Providence; Bahamian- accented gospel programming (Sunday), into ``Turning Point Ministries`` canned program with 242 area code and PO Box from 1405 EDT. [LKSP] 1540 CUBA Radio Sagua; very good when Radio Bahamas ZNS1 nulled. [LKSP] Xlnt with all-Mexican oldies tunes program, then female ``Exactamente 2 de la tarde... CMES, Radio Sagua, desde Sagua la Grande...``. Later, mention of ``AM y FM`` but no specific channels given (106.6 MHz was last reported mentiond on-air for FM). [FZSP] 1560 CUBA Radio Enciclopedia; fair, parallel 1260, 1270, 1570. [LKSP] 1570 CUBA Radio Enciclopedia; very very poor. [LKSP] 96.1 MHz BAHAMAS Cool 96, Freeport, Grand Bahama; noted at 9:15+ EDT June 1 on US-1, north Key Largo, but gone by mile marker 102. Badly- cued Bahamian hip-hop, dead air, potting the wrong audio, etc. Finally a station promo and into soul, reggae and gospel reggae on a Sunday morning. Never heard this one so far south. No trace of ZNS-FM 104.5, previously heard in this vicinity. 96.7 MHz CUBA Radio Rebelde; on the way down, unheard until Key West during the Ft. Taylor monitoring sweep. But upon my return home, audible up to around Islamorada. Signal (power?) doesn`t seem as good as in past years, though maybe a propagation factor too. MAPS -- The great little store ``!Cuba, Cuba!`` is still open, located at 814 Duval Street in Key West. I bought a fresh Cuba map (pricey at $18.95US but well worth it) to replace my tattered old one. This edition (the usual Hungarian source, Cartographia Kft.) is copyright 2001, and printed on better paper stock that also appears to be somewhat water and puke-resistant. (Terry L. Krueger, Tocobaga DX June 8 via DXLD) See also USA for other observations from the Keys and Florida pirates! ** CYPRUS TURKISH. 6150.7, R. Bayrak International, Yeni Iskele, 2210, May 27, English with western songs, mostly English language themes, ID+FM channels. 54433 but somewhat worse QRM-wise 2230 due to splatter de ORF 6155. And I must apologize to the editor as well as to all the DXW readers for my mistake in edition 220 regarding my mention of Singapore 6150.8 on May 16: it was not SNG but CYP, only that my mind seems to have focused on SNG as I was indeed looking for their 41 & 49 m outlets, and forgot to correct it when prepared my mail for Anker (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DSWCI DX Window June 4 via DXLD) On Jun 03 at 0230 Gene Scott [COSTA RICA] had frightened R. Bayrak further away from nominal 6150, as I heard it on 6151.72 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window June 4 via DXLD) You gest, I assume ** DENMARK. Protests from the DSWCI and Dansk DX Lytter Klub to the Danish Minister of Culture against the possible closure by the end of 2003 of shortwave broadcasts from R Denmark lead to a meeting between the Director of Radio Broadcasting , Mr. Leif Loensmann and the two Club Chairmen, Anker Petersen and Stig Hartvig Nielsen, on June 2. We explained that not all Danes abroad are able to get news from R Denmark via the internet or telephone, but are depending on shortwave. It was a useful meeting and we hope it will have influence on the coming decision (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window June 4 via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. Glen[n], I heard the DX Partyline on June 7 from 1230 to 13 on 15115, arm chair level here in upstate NY (Sangean ATS 909, Daryl Rocker, Herkimer, NY, June 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Anything yet about a US outlet? Awaiting the audio file here (gh) see AUSTRALIA ** GHANA. Ghana BC, Accra; 6-7-03; 4915 kHz; 0600-0615 UT; English; Interval signal (drums) followed by ID: ``The time is six o`clock, from Radio Ghana, Accra.`` News after ID; SINPO 53132; Icom R71A with folded dipole for 60 meters (John Sandin, Merriam, KS, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ICELAND. 13855, AFRTS Keflavik, May 28. This station can no longer be heard (Køie and Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window June 4 via DXLD) ** INDIA [and non]. A spot of listening in the middle of the night focused on stations from the Indian Subcontinent. The following were heard between 1600 and 1630 UT (2 am local): 3223 AIR Shimla 3365 AIR Delhi 4775 AIR Imphal 4790 R. Pakistan, Islamabad 4800 AIR Hydrabad (mixed with China) 4820 AIR Kolkata (mixed with Tibet) 4840 AIR Mumbai 4860 AIR Delhi, strongest on the band 4880 AIR Lucknow 4895 AIR Kurseong 4910 AIR Jaipur 4920 AIR Chennai 4970 AIR Shillong 4990 AIR Itonagar, s/off noted at 1630 However, the Indian stations on 3245, 3315, 4850, 4950 and 4960 were not heard on this evening. Several of these frequencies had high noise and some digital hash which may have covered their signals at this location. I`d appreciate it if our Indian members could give further information on the above stations (and any others I have missed in this listing), especially s/on and s/off times and the service or programming carried by each station. This would make a handy reference source for other EDXP members. I have also heard a rumour that many AIR stations on these bands will be closing down soon. Can our Indian friends confirm this and, if so, when this might happen? EDXPers may wish to QSL these stations before they disappear. Best Regards, (Rob Wagner VK3BVW, Receivers: Yaesu FRG100, Sangean 909, Antennas: 14 MHz dipole and 5 MHz T2FD, June 7, EDXP HF Forum via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. RRI STATIONS IN DE ZOMER Naar aanleiding van de zonerontvangsten van de 2 mhz Australiers, PNG en RRI stations, hiermee een lijstje van RRI stations om te proberen. In onze zomer is de beste tijd : 2100-2200 UT. De meeste stations komen om 2100 of 2200 UTC in de lucht met hun IS. Wie luistert er mee? Reglematig in de lucht: 3266.4 RRI Gorontalo 3325 RRI Palangkaraya 3344.8 RRI Ternate 3905 RRI Merauke 4000.1 RRI Kendari 4753.3 RRI Makassar Af en toe in de lucht: 3976.1 RRI Pontianak 4606.4 RRI Serui 4869.96 RRI Wamena 4874.6 RRI Sorong Waarschijnlijk niet actief of soms actief: 3239.1 RRI Bukittinggi 4789.1 RRI Fak Fak 4845.2 RRI Ambon 5040 RRI Pekanbaru (Max van Arnhem, June 8, BDXC via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. 7470, a reception report sent to Sout el Watan --- Voice of Homeland, c/o Mr. Bashir Kyle, P.O. Box 7897, OSLO 01673, Norway, on March 28, was returned back with: ``Insufficient address`` (Gian Luigi Naj, Astii, Italy, DSWCI DX Window June 4 via DXLD) Try info@radiobarabari.net --- the current homepage is http://www.radiobarabari.net (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DSWCI DX Window June 4 via DXLD) 7525, R. Yaran, via Kvitsøy, Norway. Last winter exile Iranians collected money for SW broadcasts in March-April 2003 during the Iranian New Year celebrations in order also to reach people in Iran who are unable to receive the daily TV broadcasts in Farsi from this station via satellite. Listening to this station is strongly forbidden in Iran (Nader Javaheri, Italy, DSWCI DX Window June 4 via DXLD) ** IRAQ [non]. Despite this [Grace`s report that Information Radio had shifted to land-based platforms], I heard on May 28, 2045-2059, Arabic announcement and Arab songs on 9715. 45444. From *2059 QRM Russian program (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window June 4 via DXLD) But any definite ID? R. Bopeshawa: on Jun 1, 2003 I was unable to hear it on 9960 at 1100- 1200 or 1500-1600 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window June 4 via DXLD) ** JAMAICA. Daytime monitoring from Florida Keys: see CUBA [and non] ** MEXICO. XEJN, Radio Huayacocotla, Veracruz, 2390, f/d paper card in 5.5 months for Spanish report, $1.00, SASE (used). V/s Pedro Ruperto Albino, Coordinadar (Greg Myers, Clearwater, FL, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Monitoring from Florida Keys: see CUBA [and non] ** MYANMAR. 5973, Myawaddy R. Station has not been heard here for a while (Cf. DX-Window no. 220) (Goonetilleke) 6570, Defence Forces BC, Tanggyi has not been heard here either in about two weeks (G. Victor A. Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, Jun 4, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. For those of you who haven`t been following developments here in The Netherlands, the news of interest to MW DXers is that as of 0400 UT this morning Radio 10 FM (which failed to get a terrestrial licence and was threatened with becoming a cable-only station) is now on 1395 kHz from Lopik, having done a deal with Quality Radio b.v. which was awarded the licence for that frequency. Initially the deal is for one month, with the option of an extension. I`m not sure whether Radio 10 intends to go off the air in the evening while Trans World Radio is on the air from Albania, as Business Nieuws Radio did, but for the moment the signal strength here, about 6 km west of Hilversum, suggests they`re running at or near the maximum power of 120 kW. If you want to know the full story of how they ended up on 1395 kHz, read our Weblog at http://radio.weblogs.com/0121781/. (Andy Sennitt, June 7, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. [Re DXLD May 19, Ralda Cushen`s new address]: As most of you know, Arthur was blind and therefore choose radiomonitoring as a profession during the second World War besides his DX-hobby, greatly supported by Ralda. The DSWCI was greatly honoured in 1969 when Arthur and Ralda joined a DSWCI Local meeting here in my home on June 17. At the beginning of my guestbook, Ralda wrote the opening remark: ``17-6-69 Greetings + many thanks for a lovely evening. (Your furtherest visitors) Arthur + Ralda Cushen``. Other members who joined than memorable evening were: Alan Roth (USA), Wouter Franken and Bob Grevenstuck (The Netherlands), Preben Høybye Mortensen, Hans Erik Malmstrøm, Hans Dall, Carol Feil, Bent Nielsen, Carsten Holberg, Finn Krone and your editor. When I visited New Zealand in 1998 at the 50th anniversary of the NZRDXL it was evident to me that the recent death of Arthur was a big loss for the League as it was for us on the other side of the Globe. I have just sent Ralda a greeting card from the DSWCI (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window June 4 via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RADIO READING SERVICE NEW SCHEDULE --- Radio Reading Service, Levin, is now only scheduled on one SW frequency - 3935, with 1 kW, 24-hrs daily. Operations on 7290 and 5960 have been discontinued. Mediumwave transmissions are in parallel on 1602, 2XA, for the Horowhenna area. A LPFM service operates on 88.4 VHF (Bob Padula, EDXP World Broadcast Magazine June 7, used by permisson from http://edxp.org via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND [and non]. Hi Glenn, ``Dosh`` is a word/slang for cash or money. e.g. ``Have ya got any dosh on ya mate`` :-) Not sure if used in UK, but certainly used here. Funny lot aren`t we? Cheers (Ian Baxter, Australia, June 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND [non]. Reported years ago, then obviously forgotten but still existing as I learned by chance today: The relays of Radio Jasna Góra by Radio Maryja. Today Radio Maryja joined Radio Jasna Góra at 1900. I was busy, so I could not follow how long this relay continued, probably until 1915 since Radio Jasna Góra itself relays Radio Maryja daily from 1915. Radio Jasna Góra is like Radio Maryja a Catholic station, broadcasting from Czestochowa (the charset here does not include a character required for displaying the name of this town properly [e + cedilla, I assume, meaning nasalised -- gh], hence replaced by an ordinary e), otherwise on a single but high powered FM outlet (100.6, 60 kW). Website: http://www.rjg.pl By the way, the audio of the Radio Maryja shortwave transmissions from Tbilisskaya (that`s the actual site now, current schedule reported as Mon-Sat 0500-0715 and Sun 0600-0800 on 15455, daily 1500-1930 on 12010, the Radio Maryja website contains completely outdated data) is horrible due to a combination of low bandwith, a high amount of non- linear distortion and background hum. I guess at least partly the feed circuit is to blame (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAO TOME E PRINCIPE. An exclusive report on my visit to VOA São Tomé can now be read in the Member Area of http://www.dswci.org It will later on be published in ShortWave News (Copyright). (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window June 4 via DXLD) Incentive to join ** SICILY [non]. Re 3-100, 6060 at 2300: This is from Roma Prato Smeraldo, that broadcasts ``Notturno Italiano`` from 2200 to 0400 with 100 kW (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SINGAPORE [non]. Correxion: See CYPRUS TURKISH ** SOMALILAND. Somalia (``Somaliland``): 7530.6, R. Hargeisa at 1922 tune in heard with news and current affairs program in English on 7 Jun. Uses slogan ``Voice of the Republic of Somaliland``. Mode is USB plus carrier, a bit difficult ``bottle-sound`` audio. Around 1939 switched to Somali language. Sign-off at 1957 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. Tajik Radio transmitter in Yangiyul on 4635 seems to be in rather bad shape. The carrier is wobbling and modulation is weakish. It also puts out harmonics. Not only 9270 that I reported earlier, but also 13905. Noted here 7 Jun at 1720 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TOGO [non]. If you read this in time, a reminder to check for the Sunday-only broadcast of R. Togo Libre, 2000-2100 on 12125, as in DXLD 3-100; Site? (gh, DXLD) ** TURKS & CAICOS. Monitoring from Florida Keys: see CUBA [and non] ** U K. With regard to the recent report of hospital radio stations from the UK being heard in Italy, it should be noted that most of these stations do in fact broadcast on ordinary MW or FM frequencies on long-term restricted service licences. Most of them can be heard strictly within their hospital area, or for a very short distance outside. For a period last year I could hear Hemel Hospital Radio on 1350 kHz with a listenable signal from about 15 miles away, 24/7. However, this has not been possible of late. One hospital much nearer to where I live, namely Northwick Park, oeprates on 945 kHz, but I cannot hear that station here in Wembley at all, although it did put quite a good signal into the Hospital itself which I regularly would listen to during my 22-day in-patiency last year. Some of the stations broadcast on internal wire distribution on a channel of the Hospital bedside system. Radio Northwick Park did this in stereo. The entertainment system at University College Hospital, where I was recently an in-patient for 19 days, was worse than useless - so much so that I didn`t even bother with it most of the time (PAUL DAVID, Chairman, Brent Visually-Handicapped Group Registered Charity No.: 272955, Wembley Park, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So what is the purpose (besides Es DX targets) of the broadcasts (?) on 48 MHz band? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. VOA: For the past many weeks I have been trying to listen to the edition of Our World broadcast on 5 April, unfortunately without success. Unfortunately, due to a period of hospital in-patiency, I missed the programme on the day it was broadcast. I have however read the script and found it somewhat interesting. The message on the link simply says that the audio file is currently not available. There is no reason given, nor any indication as to when, or even if, the audio file is ever going to be available. This, I think you would agree is a most unacceptable situation, particularly if they are not going to tell us the reason for it. I have written to them once already, and will do so again (PAUL DAVID, Chairman, Brent Visually-Handicapped Group, Registered Charity No.: 272955, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Hi Dan, Many thanks for the good hint [Ferguson`s previous post with schedule already in effect of DRM via Morocco]. Radio Nederland still mentions in their latest DRM schedule of June 6th at http://www.rnw.nl/realradio/html/drm_latest.html that the IBB transmissions are scheduled from June 12 to 20. But R. Sawa is coming in loud and clear right now at 1300 UT on 15430 kHz, however only with a low bitrate of 9.4 kbps, sounding like mediumwave (instead of the mono FM quality from most other broadcasters using 20.9 kbps). I have not yet tried the other transmissions. Best wishes (Michael Bethge, WORLDWIDE DX CLUB, Bad Homburg, GERMANY, SWBC via DXLD) ** U S A. WINB will begin airing two DX programs this weekend. Glenn Hauser`s World of Radio Sat (starting June 7) 1730-1800 UT 13570 AWR`s Wavescan Sun (starting June 8) 1430-1500 UT 13570 WINB is very pleased to air both of these excellent programs. WINB will QSL reception reports on these DX programs. You can email your reports to winb40th@yahoo.com or mail them to the station at: WINB, PO Box 88, Red Lion, PA 17356 USA (Hans Johnson, Sales/Frequency Manager WINB, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) I made a point of monitoring; in the park during a jazz concert on the portable ATS-909, WOR 1185 confirmed Sat June 7 starting a bit late about 1731, but played in entirety; modulation during show seemed inferior to the IDs before and after. However, Sun June 8 at home at 1453 check I heard some screaming preacher instead of Wavescan, judging from the exhortative tone, not at all Barosoain-like! The 13570 signal here is quite marginal, at least under current propagation conditions during the daytime, even with external antenna. Presumably the first hop comes down to the east of OK where it should be heard better. Unlike me, Adrian made a big deal of his début there offering special QSLs, etc., tsk. WORLD OF RADIO ON WJIE: This Sunday June 8 we started monitoring 13595 at 1625, but WOR did not start until slightly after 1630 as scheduled; trouble is, it was STILL #1179, produced April 23! My hypothesis is: the only person responsible/able to download it and put it in the automation system, Doc Burkhart, has been away in Africa for a sesquimonth attending to much more important matters. The audio seems somewhat improved altho still undermodulated. Strangely enough, the only frequency in the ID just before was 7490, which was inaudible, if on the air, below the local noise level. 13595 suffered from continuous swisher/swiper/windshield wiper/CODAR QRM. The preacher on before us, Bob Roberts? mentioned setting up the transmitter in Uganda instead of Liberia as he asked for donations (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO ON WWCR: This week John Norfolk is quite sure that something else aired UT Sat June 7 at 0600 on 5070; we hope and assume this was only a temporary change, as WOR still appears at that and all other previously scheduled times in the printed June WWCR program schedule (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also COSTA RICA ** U S A. 5034.22, 0613 June 8, WWRB US-accented religious programming, referring to biblical passages with the odd musical interlude, //5050 & 5085 though much weaker. Spurrie??? (Paul Ormandy, ZL4TFX, New Zealand, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Spur normally lands on 5015v; just to be sure, did you mean to say 5014.22? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. ``I was absolutely stunned today to see the attached letter to the editor printed in the June 4 edition of `Cleveland Scene.` This is one of the three weekly alternative newspapers that are currently published in Cleveland. The circulation of these papers has to be somewhere around 50,000 in a town like Cleveland. ``I assume that most of you are aware of the programming format that this guy discusses from Alan Maxwell at KIPM. This has to be one of the best produced pirates on the air today, but it also has to be by far the most bizarre of the stations. Virtually all of the shows on this station are literally insane drama programming, often about insanity itself. ``So, I was stunned for two reasons when I saw this. It is almost unheard of to see a discussion of pirate radio like this in a non-radio newspaper. Further, this guy is about the first guy I ever heard of who really identifies with KIPM. . . . `` The aforementioned letter, printed below, is from John Taddeo of Parma, OH. ``The only things missing from Darren Keast`s recent article on shortwave radio were photos of pirate-radio-station QSL cards [``Waves of Fascination,`` May 14]. ``Pirate radio stations broadcast without an FCC license. Typically, there are on late at night and during weekends and holidays, and their programming is truly unique. ``My favorite pirate broadcaster is Alan Maxwell`s KIPM. Alan`s radio dramas are like the `Twilight Zone` for radio. The stories and the audio effects are incredible, and it`s amazing to think that Alan does it all. You can hear samples of Alan`s work at http://homepage.mac.com/kipm ``The pirate broadcasters encourage listeners to send in reeption reports -- typically to a secret mail-drop site. This is called `QSLing` in radio lingo. In reponse to your report, the station will send you a QSL card. The cards usually feature creative artwork and are prized by many shortwave listeners.`` (George Zeller, Cleveland OH) ---E-MAIL ADDRESSES FOR STATIONS--- KIPM: kipm_outerlimits@hotmail.com (Free Radio Weekly June 7 via DXLD) ** U S A. 1620/1630 ??? NY, New York Pirate on 24/7 with preaching and gospel music. Only announces as ``Here on 1620 and 1630.`` The 1620 transmitter is in Harlem in Manhattan somewhere around 110 street. The 1630 is around 180th street in Eastern Bronx just below Yonkers. Both reasonably strong. I can hear them for quite a period of time using a very spartan Walkman radio sitting on a commuter train. They announce phone numbers, take dedications and even played a few ads. This is a bold operation! (Karl Zuk, N2KZ, June 7, IRCA via DXLD) There`s a powerful pirate on 87.9 located southwest of me, toward NYC or its near northern suburbs, playing hip-hop and r&b in stereo. Thanked a caller for calling ``103-the Buzz,`` which sounded like it might have been taped, but then a minute later said ``Listen up New York, here`s Nigga With a Gun, on 87.9.`` (Eric Fader, Briarcliff Manor, NY, June 7, WTFDA via DXLD) More x-band unIDs: UNIDENTIFIED ** U S A. according to Northwest Broadcasters, KGHO-920 has gone to all-comedy (!!), 12 hours/day. Are they the only such station? http://members.shaw.ca/nwbroadcasters/recentnews.htm and from the Seattle P-I, here is part of their article on the new format: Lots of radio stations think they`re funny, but now there`s one that`s leaving the comedy to those who are pros at it. Olympia-based KGHO-AM (920) has switched the 6 a.m.-6 p.m. portion of its schedule to all comedy -- sketches, stand-up routines and songs from current and past stars including Monty Python, Jerry Clower, Steven Wright, Woody Allen, Bill Cosby, National Lampoon, Jeff Foxworthy and Bill Engvall. Station manager Sandi Shore says she`ll stay away from the more abusive material from performers such as the Jerky Boys. The other half of its broadcast day is devoted to oldies. Why the switch? ``Why not?`` says Shore. ``It`s an AM station. Frankly there`s not a lot you can do to get people to listen to music (on AM). ... Talk`s been done to death.`` It`s also a way for a station that`s not part of a large chain to stand out. ``It`s basically my family,`` Shore says. ``We`re trying to run the whole thing out of my house.`` full story is at: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/125037_radiobeat05.html (Eric Flodén, BC, NRC-AM via DXLD) Eric, It seems that we out west are enjoying a resurgence of variety across the AM dial. I have noticed that there seems to be far less stations carrying the same old `Art Bell w/out the bell` show. As I tune across the band it is refreshing to hear stations return to local programming. There seems to be a good selection of stations playing rock/oldies/classic country now. I used to scan the dial and at least every second frequency would be carrying the `Area 51` show. Many frequencies could be observed with more then one Art Bell program being broadcast. It leads me to believe that this widely heard show is loosing listeners and affiliates.(thank Goodness). More and more stations in the pacific NW seem to be breaking away from the `belly button` norm. Variety is the spice of life, and 30 years ago there was no shortage of variety. The many sounds and voices heard back then is what brought me to BCB DXing. Good Listening (Lance Thomas, in Airdrie, June 6, ibid.) ** U S A. The strangest thing I ever remember was a Conelrad test in the early 60`s that lasted over an hour. I remember the stations signing on and off from different transmitter sites all over the Southeast Michigan Area. Some were strong, some were weak. I don`t recall the duration each station was on, but it was less than 30 seconds if I recall. Then they would switch to another transmitter. This was during the height of the ``Duck and Cover`` Days. If I recall, the purpose of this was so enemy bombers couldn`t locate a city by homing in on a radio station. In reality it was a joke, but it made people feel better (Paul Smith, W4KNX, Sarasota, FL, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. UNCHAINING THE CHANNELS (program on Radio Australia) http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/mediarpt/stories/s871500.htm Summary: Just as the Australian government wrestles with how to reform media ownership, in the US regulators have gone for the no-holds-barred option. The Federal Communications Commission has decided to set aside restrictions on cross media ownership. You can own as many media outlets as you can afford. So will it mean unshackling the media for a more diverse, creative environment, or will the big operators just get bigger? on real audio: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/mediarpt/audio/mediarpt_05062003_2856.ram 73 (via Mike Brooker, Toronto, ON, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, I heard a report on WOR 1185 [from DXLD 3-096] that claims my dcrtv.com site reported that Bonneville was going to sell DC`s only classical commercial WGMS to Fox for a relay of Fox News Channel. That was based on a parody (!) column I wrote (my ``Rant``) regarding the recent FCC decision to allow more corporate ownership of US radio and TV media. I speculated about what MIGHT happen. There is no truth to the demise of DC`s classical WGMS - just yet, anyway. Thanks..... Oh, and keep up the GREAT work on WOR!!! (Dave Hughes, dcrtv.com editor and webmaster DCRTV Dave Hughes http://www.dcrtv.com http://www.dcrtv.net DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Just to potentially help solve someone`s future unID... At 8:30 this morning, TBN was running *wrestling*. No, not the real kind they have in the Olympics - it was the same kind that runs on UPN. Cleaned-up language and no scantily-clad girls, but plenty of (fake) violence. Yes, I`m certain it was TBN. (I wonder how long before we see TBNFL Football?) -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Nashville TN, Sunday June 8, WTFDA via DXLD) According to Zap2it listings for KTBO-14, the show at 1330-1400 UT Sundays is: Dr. David Jeremiah (spiritual). No mention of wrestling involved; and no repeat times (gh, DXLD) This opens lots of possibilities. Like a ``reality`` series. How about ``TBN SURVIVOR``? Paul and Jan Crouch could take on lions in an arena. Just a thought (Tom Bryant / Nashville, TN, ibid.) No, wrong plot line. They sit Jan Crouch out in a meadow in the rain and you get to watch what she turns into when she gets wet. BTW, she is really a man! (Karl N2KZ Zuk, ibid.) ** U S A. TOCOBAGA DX #69 (PT. I -- RADIO) - 8 June, 2003 CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, USA E-mail: tocobagadx@earthlink.net ``Florida Low Power Radio Stations`` is at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html © 2003, Terry L Krueger. Retransmit or quote all or any portion only with full credit given to TOCOBAGA DX and all attributed sources. All logs by Terry L. Krueger unless otherwise stated. All times/dates are LOCAL (EASTERN DAYLIGHT) and frequencies in kiloHertz unless otherwise stated. There is probably no shortage of FM and even AM band illegals operating in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties despite the recent raids, fines and at least one jail sentence. However my monitoring was limited to passing through south Broward and Miami-Dade on the Florida [Ronald Reagan] Turnpike at 80-m.p.h. A separate, non-radio report on Keys observations will go out with this to some of you. If you do not receive it and are interested, send me an e-mail request. A RadioShack DX-399 and RadioShack 15-1853 portable loop were used for most logs, along with the car radio as backup. Finally, a few random logs from local Ft. DeSoto county beachside park made daytime June 7th are also included, using the car radio. [see CUBA non for key to monitoring sites in brackets] *** (after the frequency) = something new (for me, at least) or changes (such as not heard, etc). FLORIDA LOGS (PIRATES & LICENSED) 530 (TIS) KNNI706 Southwest Florida International Airport, Ft Myers, FL; fair in the Ft. Myers vicinity on I-75, usual male parking info. 530*** (TIS) Tropical Everglades Visitors Center WPAC338, Florida City, FL; not active. 870 (TIS) City of Key West WGW861, FL; huge signal with usual male looped parking, etc. info. Signal noted in mid-Key Largo, mixing with Radio Reloj. This one has to eventually end up being logged by someone in central Florida or points beyond. 1180 Radio Martí, Marathon, FL; surprised how well this gets through since my last Keys visit, when it was barely audible daytime past Marathon due to Radio Rebelde`s huge signal block. This time, audible considerably over Rebelde even in Key Largo. And in Key West, still dominating with Rebelde only fair underneath. So, this must be making it at copiable level on a portable in the Habana area these days. Cudos to the engineers and brute 100 kW, I guess. Back at home, it`s virtually untraced; but then home isn`t Habana. 1320 WLQY ``Haïti Antenne Plus``, Hollywood, FL; presumed the one at good level with semi-proper French chatter. [LKSP] 1500*** WKIZ, Key West, FL; dropped in on the old studios that (were) shared with the Spanish LPTV equipment at 527 Southard. After knocking on the glass door for awhile, an older and very tentative Cuban gent claimed that the previous owner of WKIZ is no longer affiliated with the LPTV and thus no longer located in this building. After prodding, he said their studios are now on Stock Island. He pointed to the corner where the old CD changer, small board and big painted Cuba wall map (latter still there) was, and simply said, ``see?`` before shutting the door on me. Didn`t have the energy to further pursue or try to track down anyone such as Jacques Combeau, my contact when visiting in 2000. Format remains mostly canned Cuban oldies vocals. 1510 (TIS) WPUR527 Peace River Bridge (near) Port Charlotte/Punta Gorda, FL; on I-75. Still active. This is the northbound version of 1640 kHz operation. Still active with multiple (four and seemingly more for each direction) transmitters, collectively a good signal for bridge reconstruction updates. Construction appears to be at least 50% complete. 1600 WKWF, Key West, FL; 1055+ good with usual satellite-fed sports talk, splatter from the local 1590 being the only problem. Funny to hear something from where I just departed from. [FDES] 1610*** (PIRATE) ``La Única 16-10/Radio R-C-H``, Homestead, FL; at least two of the ID`s anyway. Huge, massively overmodulated signal noted late afternoon May 31 at Florida City with Kreyol vocals. Recheck a short while later, in Spanish with tejano and modern Mexican vocals, male DJ. Bearing on the portable was due east/west this at about one mile north of the Card Sound Road exit on US-1. Despite the huge signal (obviously very close), the signal vanished only a couple of miles south of the Card Sound exit. During the Spanish programming, a sole but clear ``La Única 16-10`` ID was noted. By 2030 EDT on May 31, they reverted back to Kreyol programming. The next morning, June 1 at 0730 EDT, Kreyol church services were in progress. And at 0830 EDT, English black church revivals and English preacher were in progress. Then upon my return home early afternoon June 5, this was noted with Spanish again, and several clear ``Radio R-C-H`` slogans. The signal dropped out on the Turnpike before SW 112th Avenue. So, this one is running Kreyol, Spanish and English blocks for the migrant workers in the vicinity, possibly even 24/7. Though the signal range is fairly small, I wonder if this accounts for some of the non-New England unidentified Kreyol logs in the past. 1610*** (TIS) Florida Bay Research Radio WQO743, US-1 Mile Marker 111, on the mainland (north of Key Largo), FL; not active. 1620*** (TIS) north Key Largo (?), FL; sporadically reported but never IDed. Noted this on June 5 early afternoon, only audible on US-1 right around the Lake Surprise and CR-905 Card Sound Road/US-1 junction with male loop. Impossible to make anything out with horrid powerline noise. 1620*** (TALKING HOUSE) Key Largo, FL; noted in the Winn Dixie shopping center, north Key Largo on US-1. Didn`t catch the exact address in the line noise, but obviously nearby based on references with looped Realtor man ``...[uncopiable URL with Realtor`s name incorporated within]... or you can call me direct at 305-852-8585. Do it now... We`re only a hop-skip-and-a-jump from Blackwater Sound...`` 1640 (TIS) WPUR527 Peace River Bridge (near) Port Charlotte/Punta Gorda, FL; southbound I-75 version of 1510 kHz operation. 87.75 MHz WTVJ Channel 6 TV, Miami, FL; amused to note frequent promos while watching cable in Key West, where they state, ``NBC 6, now on channel 58 and 88.7 FM`` (all while showing a digital stereo receiver tuned to 88.7). Of course, this is merely the audio channel location for channel 6, which happens to just make the bottom of US- manufactured radios. Good use of what`s already there from a marketing angle. [KOTV and a number of other channel 6s do this; but they hesitate to say 87.74, 87.75 or 87.76 MHz --- gh] 87.9*** MHz (PIRATE) unidentified, Tampa, FL; noted this one for the first time June 7th 1500 local, with Kreyol kompas. Made a quick drive of the signal across the Howard Frankland Bridge to the Courtney Campbell Causeway to confirm it is in Hillsborough County. Indeed, peaked around Rocky Point, so presume it`s located in the west Tampa/stadium area. Nonstop music while listening, so no slogan ID heard. Either new or morphed one of the several inactive Haitian pirates. ``Radio Sonique`` on 99.1 MHz was active at the same time, so at least that one can be ruled out. [FDES] 93.5 MHz*** (PIRATE) unidentifed, Homestead area, FL; huge signal on the Turnpike around SW 112th Avenue, with emotional Spanish preacher. Signal lost on the Turnpike by SW 40th Steet sign northbound, and shortly thereafter, the English Caribe ``Action Radio`` appeared (see below). 93.5 MHz*** (PIRATE) ``Action Radio``, north Miami-Dade or south Broward; about the time the crying Spanish preacher faded (see entry) this one appeared while heading north on the Turnpike. Huge signal covering a good portion of Miami-Dade and Seemingly all of Broward, lost finally a few miles past the US-27 exchange on I-75 westbound. All Caribe hip-hop, reggae and soca with live Caribe English DJ, frequent ``Action Radio`` ID`s, station number (uncopied, but believe it was a Broward exchange), several Caribe store ads and events promos. Same as the old 90.9 MHz ``Action Radio`` of past? 101.1*** MHz (PIRATE), Miami-Dade, FL fair with Caribe hip-hop and soca with Caribe-accented English male DJ late afternoon May 31, mixing with ``WAVE 101`` (WAVV, Marco Island/Naples) in the parking lot of Miami MetroZoo (SW 152nd St.). Lost the signal southbound on the Turnpike rather quickly. Presumed something unlicensed. 102.3*** MHz WAEM, Miami, FL; the once-experimental county/state FM TIS of sorts is definitely inactive (as previousy observed by others). Not located on a quick Db search. Formerly with multi-language looped tourist info, focusing on how not to be carjacked. Didn`t see any of the blue/white signs along the Interstate and Turnpike that once existed for this either. 102.5*** MHz (PIRATE) unidentified, Miami-Dade, FL; Spanish vocals noted very poorly in splatter from 102.7 MHz. Seemed domestic and guess pirate, as no E-skip was noted at the time. Heard briefly on Card Sound Road and in Homestead, poor. 104.5*** MHz (PIRATE) unidentified, Miami-Dade, FL; Spanish vocals, announcer noted poorly, mixing with ``WORC`` (see entry) while on Card Sound Road. No E-skip conditions were detected, so guessing this was a pirate somewhere in south Miami-Dade. Signal lost around Homestead. 104.5 MHz (PIRATE) ``WORC Ocean Reef Club Radio``, north Key Largo, FL; still active and still in mono mode. Really big signal now. Audible on CR-905 south of the Card Sound Road intersection, and along Card Sound Road all the way to the last gasp of audio at the US-1 junction! Format remains mostly lounge lizard (Lou Rawls, Sinatra, 60`s/70`s soft pop and one unidentified group with ``Celebrate Jesus`` -- apparently to ensure the Club remains Hebrew-free). One canned ``WORC, Ocean Reef Club`` ID drop heard. 106.7*** MHz WGGP-LP ``106.7 Grace FM``, Big Pine Key, FL; believed to be the first Florida LPFM`er (100 watts) to activate a few months ago, quickly located this one on Key Deer Blvd. a mile or so off of US-1. Their antenna (as previously e-mailed to me with photo attachments by L. Vencl in November, 2002) is behind the Baptist church property. Signal was first beginning to break in over the the Miami Spanish station (WRMA) northbound US-1 around Shark Key, and nearly gone by Bahía Honda Key, lost completely on Seven Mile Bridge. Live programming of modern (Petra, etc.) and soft traditional Christian vocals along with some canned sermon programming. Note the slogan heard used frequently. Live ID`s on the hour, at least. Also noted a battered old white van with the station calls painted on the side parked behind the church. 106.9*** MHz (PIRATE) unidentifed, Miami-Dade; yet another very poor level Spanish with mostly traditional-ish Cuban vocals in splatter from the licensed 106.7 Spanish station. Heard briefly on the Turnpike in Homestead/south Miami. 107.1 MHz WIIS ``The New Rock Alternative - Island 107.1``, Key West, FL; dropped in on this very low powered FM`er again (2.5 kW, but I was told they are much lower than that most of the time), studios at 1025 Duval. Still with the great alternative/Active Rock mix and no more than three spots per hour ever heard. Sadly, Rachel the babe DJ in the 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. slot is long gone (``I think she`s working somewhere down here for a promotions company`` I was told). ``Alison`` (who is not too shabby looking either) is now in her time slot. The station is still owned by the now reportedly retired plastic surgeon who runs this as a hobby, it appears. Their URL is defunct. The slogan is slightly different now (``The New Rock Alternative`` portion). OTHERNESS: CUDJOE KEY AIR FORCE SITE -- Home of the two blimps used for TV Martí and radar surveillance were observed on the ground mid-afternoon Sunday, June 1st. On June 5th, around 1100 EDT, one was high in the air. I got a pretty good shot of it from Blimp Drive, and of course good shots of the one on the ground with the telephoto. The blimp that was up could be seen very well throughout Big Pine Key. SADDLEBUNCH KEYS U.S. NAVAL AIR STATION -- I was interested in seeing what kind of antenna farms were here, what with some of the giant shortwave Yagi`s having been dismantled three or so years ago but well-placed sources indicating that a new monitoring site is under construction. Indeed, there appear to be more of the ``telephone pole`` antennas installed, and the big medium wave towers that were used for dummy load tests on 640 many years ago -- and for Radio Martí while Marathon was refurbished -- remain. The road (once labelled ``Constitution Blvd.`` and then enterable part-way) is of course still gated and armed with remote cameras, so getting anywhere within a mile of the antennas is impossible for the average snooping DX`er. BOCA CHICA NAVAL AIR STATION, EL CHICO SPOOK SITE --- Located at 300 Boca Chica Drive, this old VHF/UHF antenna array certainly appears to be inactive. Most of the aluminum Yagi-ish antennae atop the (mostly) wooden telephone poles are dangling and/or mangled badly; Hurricane Georges no doubt finished them off. The gate is still padlocked, but there was a white van with the painted words ``Naval Morale, Welfare & Recreation`` on the side next to the block building. However, no sign of human activity short of me outside the gate was detected. FBIS MONITORING FACILITIES, KEY WEST -- I just don`t understand how this happened, but I accidentally tresspassed along the Ft. Zachary Taylor Historic State Park shoreline about half-way up to the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (Central Intelligence Agency) antennae farm, seemingly undetected except by two tourist guys who were pointing at the sticks on the Ft. Zach side. They started eyeing me upon seeing my emergence past the plastic yellow barrier wall (my Nikon and telephoto lens in hand). Fortunately, my accidental incursion coincidentally happened at the end of my beach stay and I departed in the car without any problem. All the VHF/UHF towers are of course pointed at Habana, and the satellite dishes remain (Terry L. Krueger, Tocobaga DX June 8 via DXLD) See also CUBA [and non] for much more! ** VIRGIN ISLANDS US. I taped 1620 kHz the past three nights while at work and this afternoon when I finally got a chance to go over them, lo and behold, look what I found in the first hour of last night`s recording! WDHP Frederiksted, US Virgin Islands 6.6.03 0300z fair with full ident and country western music. ``You are listening to WDHP, 1620 AM ..... United States Virgin Islands``. Real Audio clip here: http://members.aol.com/j999w/DX Email if you would like the .wav file. That`s country number 7 for me! USA, Canada, Mexico, Cuba, USVI (all recorded) + Venezuela, Colombia (not recorded). WhoooHoooo ! [doing a little dance] (John Wilke, WB9UAI, Milwaukee, WI Icom R71a, 55ft vertical in pine tree, hard-core-dx via DXLD) 1620 WDHP, US VI (presumed), 06.27 relaying BBC`s Phil Mercer, ``John Howard not retiring and fight for opposition leadership``, good at this time but weak earlier (David Norrie, Heard on 7th June at Whitford Forest, near Auckland, AOR 7030 and fence post antennae pointing North east, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. Hi Glenn, Just to let you all know propagation in the 60 m band (4880 kHz) varies from almost S4 to S9 around local sunset until it gets dark here in Zimbabwe. Even after dark the 60m band is subject to fading of this transmission, perhaps due to low transmitter power. SW Radio Africa is most likely using the South African facilities of Sentech from Meyerton. If this is 100 kW as reported this should be sufficient. I know the station director of SW Radio Africa, Ms Gerry Jackson, and information of their transmitter site still remains undisclosed. SW Radio Africa, 4880 kHz can be heard here in Zimbabwe easily on a portable receiver but propagation changes from one day to the next and even during their transmission. (My RXs: Sony ICF 2001D (the` best` radio ever made!), Yaesu 7700, Yaesu 8800,and a few others) (David Pringle-Wood, Harare, Zimbabwe, June 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, SW Radio Africa is heard, here in Zimbabwe on 4880 kHz (60m band) easily. I monitored this band from around 1430-1630 UT to check propagation. East-West conditions were reasonable with many Chinese domestic stations heard as well as AIR on the same frequency that SW radio Africa uses. At 1600 UT, Sw radio Africa signs on, with 60bB of signal strength on this frequency heard here. It is most likely (and I say I almost know it!) the transmitter facility of SW Radio africa is from Sentech, Meyerton, South Africa (David Pringle-wood, Harare, Zimbabwe, June 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi again Glenn, re the QRM from the``German number station``, reported by Bob Padula, let me say just that using LSB, that rather boring ``program`` is totally exterminated from my loudspeakers --- or phones --- the latter almost never used here. But of course we cannot expect that Zimbabwians in general could take advantage of this kind of receiver trickery. 73 (Johan Berglund, Trollhättan, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 1570: We just got back from vacation (mostly Yellowstone via NV and ID, returning via UT and NV). I`ll post some tips (mostly TIS updates) later this weekend. On the way home this morning, we had an interesting UNID on 1570 in Las Vegas. This was 1645-1700 UT and it seemed to be a low power station, maybe a part 15 or a pirate. It was audible for a few miles along Charleston Blvd. between the 15 and the 515 freeways. The host was interviewing the author of a children`s book. Can any of our Las Vegas members shed any light on this? 73, Tim Hall Chula Vista, CA P.S. The ``Summerlin`` pirate on 1650 (reported by Harry Helms if I recall correctly) was on the air today too. http://www.inetworld.net/halls/dx/index.html (Tim Hall, CA, amfmtvdx via DXLD) UNIDENITIFIED. ID help needed - 1640 AM. The x-band is jumping tonight with lots of TIS, HARs, etc that I have never heard before. Here is the repeating text of one I am hearing at 1640. ``???-Bravo. This condition is declared when an increased or more predictable threat of terrorist activity exists. Even though no particular target has been identified, the measures of this ??? must be capable of being maintained for weeks without causing undue hardship affecting operational capabilities and aggravating relations with local authorities.`` Any ideas? (Russ Johnson, Lexington, NC (along I-85 between Charlotte & Greensboro) June 6, k3pi@radiointel.com NRC AM via DXLD) The now defunct Vance AFB TIS on 1610 used to run a similar loop (gh) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ TRANSATLANTIC DOUBLE-HOP SPORADIC E TVDX This morning I was fortunate to catch some exceptional transatlantic E`s with several TV signals getting through on channel A2. To simplify things I have created a web page at http://www.skywaves.info/tadx07-06-03.html I have included a SpectrumLab screen grab and a link to the audio highlights of this reception. CTV audio was possible for almost two hours! and heard mixing with other stations on occasions. I don`t know the sites, but if anyone can help with any ID`s from the information given on this page I would naturally be very grateful. Video was present on the D100. Fascinating to see several north American signals battling it out! Unfortunately I could not lock the picture due to my monitor not having any H/V hold controls, but Paul Logan in NI said he saw a ``starburst`` logo top left on one of the signals. Trust you`re enjoying the incredible E season over there too. Best DX and long may it continue! John Faulkner http://www.skywaves.info IRC Chat: #bfmtvc http://www.skywaves.info/tadx07-06-03.html Click image to enlarge (106 kB) Extract from logbook ... A2 1015 ? 55.259.973. Good A2 1030 CAN 55.250.028. At weak video levels on D100 at times V good A2 1049 ? 55.260.174. Good A2 1051 CAN 55.240/075. Weak audio at times. YL and OM talking about family matters. Good A2 1135 CAN 55.240/068. Also with audio. Video on D100. V good Click on http://www.skywaves.info/audio/A2_audio.mp3 (2.6 MB) to hear selected audio clips of the above. This is taken from over one hour`s worth of recordings. Receivers: Icom PCR1000, HS D100, HS 4 element beam, Spectrum Lab software. Good DX! John Faulkner, Nottinghamshire, UK (via WTFDA via DXLD) Great stuff to listen to. I`m sure some Canadian members can help more than I can. I heard one Halifax mention and ads for the multi-cultural festival in Dartmouth June 20-22 (it`s listed on the web) as well as a CTV mention. I believe your station to be CJCH-TV-5 in Sheet Harbor NS which isn`t even full-powered! Awesome stuff...73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) While it is ``fresh`` --- John Faulkner`s report of Canadian (Maritime) double hop Es reception in UK to point. Earlier around 10.30 AM UT (fellow UK TV DXer) Mark had posted ``Anyone online? What`s CKCW actually showing at the moment ... 7.30 Atlantic time Mark`` John later posted, ``This morning I was fortunate enough to catch some exceptional transatlantic E`s with several TV signals getting through on channel A2. ... CTV audio was possible for almost two hours and heard mixing with other stations on occasions.`` Point: This implies a MUF of easily 59.75 (60) MHz on double hop Es. The suspected target area is Nova Scotia/Newfoundland. Point: One might assume - perhaps in error - that if there is 60 MHz EE covering the transatlantic path that some pretty exceptional things might be happening at 6 meters / 50 MHz simultaneously over the same path. I went to a pair of 50 MHz reflector boards to check this out. There was but ONE (!) posting by a group that misses absolutely nothing (there are so many hams on 6 meters on both sides of the ``pond``), to wit: ``0944 (UT) VO1 (Labrador) beacons into Europe.`` Point: Perhaps what this is telling us is that 50 MHz propagation reports (http://dxworld.com and others) may NOT be the best indicator of EE (double hop Es) at a frequency that is only slightly higher (60 MHz). Point: June 5 1955. I lived in Fresno (California), had stacked Winegard all-channel antennas 100 feet above ground and it was a Sunday morning local time. When I turned on my TV DX gear at 7AM local there was very heavy Es from channels 2 to 6. I was also active on six meters (50 MHz) and immediately turned on the 6 meter receiver. Nothing at all. Humm? Now this was long enough ago that on a Sunday morning many TV stations were still coming on the air with programming rather late in the day (ahh - the golden old days!). Those that were on were running local church services and similar unique-to-each- station programming. Imagine that - test patterns with big fat call letters and local church services! Life seldom got much better than that. Point: For the next 3 hours I sat there dumbfounded as WBZ-4, WTTG-5, WCBS-2, WSYR-3 ... something like 21 channel 2-3-4-5 and yes 6 DOUBLE HOP TV stations filled my 12 inch screen. Essentially coast to coast with nothing but the eastern zone stations on the channels for the first couple of hours. No sign of single hop stations at all and six meters was dead as a door nail. Point: I was so excited that I ran indoors from my garage ``shack`` and called Ed Tilton (amateur W1HDQ) who at the time was the VHF editor for (amateur radio publication) QST. He immediately got on 6 meters (``band seems dead here,`` said he) and verified it was indeed dead in central Connecticut. I then read him the text on the screen from WBZ-4 which was coming through simultaneously to our conversation - WBZ being 100 miles east of him, and for good measure, told him of the live church service on WCBS channel 2 which was 100 miles to the SW of him. Point: Three hours into this, the last double hop station I logged was on channel 6 (!) out of Ohio. I have regretted not getting up earlier of course. After Columbus on channel 6 dropped out I then had several hours of strong Es from stations in Kansas, Nebraska - the usual single hop stuff. Synopsis: As the ``collector`` for ham 50 MHz reports and as the simultaneous collector for TV DX reports for his Radio Electronics column, Tilton would later confirm that this was a ``Bob Cooper only`` opening - nothing of double hop Es reports for that entire day on 6 meters. I was not set up for FM DXing at the time, probably would have had some equally exciting reception there as well as the audio on channel 6 was very potent for several hours as the stations on the screen verrrry slowly changed from one to another. The physical dimensions of the ``target area`` ranged from Norfolk, Va (Ch 3) on south to Boston on north all along the coast (including Philadelphia on 3 and 6) and inland to Ohio and West Virginia missing almost nothing that was on the air at the time within that zone. The assumption that to have double hop distances we must simultaneously have single hop reception may under some circumstances not be valid - as my subsequent reception of Puerto Rico and others of even triple hop distances would later strongly suggest as well. So while we are experiencing a cracker of an Es season, perhaps it would be advisable to ``forget`` some of the ``MUST have `A` to equal `B` rules.`` And that includes high band Es that occur even when low band seems essentially dead at YOUR location. (Bob Cooper in New Zealand, June 7, WTFDA via DXLD) I noticed something similar. I usually monitor two boards: http://dxworld.com/50prop.html http://maps.dxers.info/2hr.php?b=6m The former had virtually no mention of transatlantic DX. The latter had dozens of transatlantic reports. In my monitoring of these two sites for the last year or so, seems to me that dxworld is VERY US centric, and has few reporters from Canada and Europe. dxers.info has decent participation from the USA, but much much better participation from the Europeans. Conclusion: DX`ers monitoring trans-atlantic Es should monitor dxers.info. USA DX`ers looking for general Es indicators should monitor both. Again, dxers.info did do a great job of showing the double-hop Es yesterday and today. Here are a few snapshots of 24 hour intervals. These are very cluttered since they cover a large time period, but you can easily see the dozens of transatlantic 6M ham reports that were made during the period. The site also has more readable real-time 2 hour reports (see the link above), but they don`t archive those. http://maps.dxers.info/6m/24hrs/20030607.png http://maps.dxers.info/6m/24hrs/20030606.png (Mike Hawk, Omaha, NE, ibid.) You just never know what to expect with those E`s. I have never heard anything like it. It`s certainly an interesting season over here with some lengthy openings mostly along southerly paths like Spain, Portugal and the Canaries on occasion here in western Europe, but only when the solar activity allows (and there have been plenty of days of high A/K indices recently), so, solar activity permitting it`s been a superb season so far. I usually follow the pages at http://oh2w.kolumbus.com/ and it is interesting to note that there were several TA QSO`s on 6 around my reception period. Yet not as many as were indicated yesterday evening! During the more intense openings on FM I find that the DX on band 1 sometimes fizzles out so I can only agree with your comments on those few MHz making all the difference. From memory this pattern has been more prominent in recent years. Going back to my earlier days of TV DX in the late 70`s/early 80`s I can remember that you just didn`t get band 1 E`s unless 10 metres was very active. Then when band 1 became active it would spread higher into FM. This pattern never really changed much. These days it seems more common to find FM e`s when band 1 is quiet / completely lacking e`s. Just a personal observation. Incidentally I did not note anything above A2 this morning but Paul Logan in NI had higher channels as I believe I mentioned, though less strong. Some other UK TV DXers also had this TA reception on A2 too. Like you say - forget the rules - just check anyway, you don`t know what`s lurking on those higher channels! Thanks for the help with these recordings. Good DX! (John Faulkner, UK, ibid.) I might put in a good word for http://oh2aq.kolumbus.com/dxs This site is in Finland (hence the weird spelling of Columbus!) and seems roughly evenly split between North American and European participants. 50 MHz reports from Japan and other Asian countries are not unusual. DX Summit reports considerable 50 MHz trans-Atlantic skip, starting with a beacon in Newfoundland at 0937 UT, disappearing just before 1300. It then reappeared briefly around 1415, and again at 1530, and 1630, and 1730... (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, ibid.) Consider this phenomenon: Some of my best catches on ham bands occur when the band is seemingly dead. Ham radio is unlike broadcasting. Broadcast TV channels are almost always occupied. Ham bands are not. My greatest catches like French Polynesia, Antarctica, New Zealand (all on 2 watts CW QRP) have happened when I called CQ when the band seemed dead as a door nail. Everyone was listening and no one was transmitting. I have created pile-ups by being brave and sending CQ to a ``dead`` band. My best indicator is to become familiar with beacons and listening for them regularly. These transmissions are reliable indicators on 10 and 6m. I applaud the idea of thinking ``break the rules.`` Great DX on channel 6 does not guarantee great DX on channel 2. This season has been great fun so far and it`s only just begun. May you all enjoy rabbit hop Es! 73 de (N2KZ, Karl Zuk, ibid.) Heavy Es also noted here June 7, but bands dead June 8 (gh, OK, DXLD) K-INDEX HIT 8 ON MAY 29 On May 28 a dense complex of about 42 sunspots rapidly developed. 15 small and one extra large ``X-Class`` flare were observed from this region of the sun. They covered about 1.2 billion square kilometres or more than twice the entire surface area of the Earth ! The flares threw coronal mass ejections toward the Earth and the Solar Flux was measured to a high of 130. Therefore on May 29 the Geomagnetic A-index suddenly jumped up to 89 which is three times its normal High level. During the same evening and night the Planetary K-index reached a seldomly seen high value of 8. Already on May 31 the geomagnetic activity was back to normal with an A-index of 17 and the K-indices around 2. If some of you saw Aurora Borealis and noticed strange reception conditions, this was the reason. Karel Honzik was listening the night May 29/30 at 2200-0110 and wrote in HCDX: ``Especially Brazil was coming in with nice signals in the 60- and 49 meters. Not so often heard stations like R Guarujá 5980, R Difusora, Taubaté on 4925. Angola on 4950 was just in Hi-Fi quality. `` On June 03 at 0200-0245 Angola was still extraordinary strong here in Denmark with SINPO 44444 (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window June 4 via DXLD) SPECIAL REPORT: IN PATAGONIA - A DXPEDITION AT THE END OF THE WORLD by Rocco Cotroneo What follows is the story of a test (or should I say a ``taste``) for a future serious medium wave DXpedition at the end of the world, la fin del mundo, as Argentineans call their extreme Patagonia region. Since I live in South America, I had always wondered how conditions were like down there, if I could find a place comparable to legendary Nordic AM DX sites like the Scandinavian ones, Newfoundland, Grayland, or in this hemisphere, like New Zealand and Australia DXped spots. The adventure was fast, just two nights, but exciting and the answer to my question is definitely yes. Approaching the South Pole too, things are great for radio. At 53 south, a 100 km from the end of continental Americas, I suspect this has been the most austral DXped ever. What was I doing there? Not tourism, not Chatwin remembrance but work... Yes, it was also a free round trip. I was covering the new Argentinean president Nestor Kirchner in his hometown, Rio Gallegos, and had decided before leaving Rio de Janeiro to take my AOR 7030, together with some basic stuff in the photographer bag I usually carry for fast DXpeds. Wires, camping battery, earphones, minidisk recorder, frequencies lists. The idea was to take a 2-3 days off, after the assignment. There was not much I could arrange in advance, as my newspaper asked me to leave home with just a 24 hours advice. A fast search on the Internet and a few telephone calls almost killed my dream in advance. There was not one single hotel or ``estancia`` (farm) for tourism open in this season out in the countryside. Everything there closes down after Easter break for winter. I cried out when in Rio Gallegos with local tourism office. No way. Then Adrian came... I knew him through a friend of a friend of a friend of the president of the local ham club. The Rio Gallegos radio club was my last and desperate resource to find a place far enough from my city hotel, where conditions were extremely noisy and the only exotic thing I could hear were Falkland Islands on 530 and 550, right off this coast. Argentineans, true, are lovely people. The ham gang helped me immediately, even without understanding, as often happens with them, what I was talking about. Adrian himself has nothing to do with radio. He is a nice estanciero, a sheep farmer, in his thirties, who was heading to his land with his Toyota jeep, some stuff for the farm and four dogs. He just said, ``Ok, come with me. Just know that we have no electricity after 10 p.m. and we eat lamb twice a day, everyday.`` I had a camping battery with me and I love ``cordero.`` What more could I ask? The place: The ``Estancia el Relincho`` is located at 240 km west from Rio Gallegos, not far from the Chilean border. It`s hard to imagine a place in the middle of nothing like this. The first electric pole is 18 km away, the first tiny town at 40. Around the estancia, in theory, it`s possible to put an array of a ten, fifteen 1km-long beverages antennas... and sheep don`t like wires too much, I was told. I had only two 200-m tiny wire rolls with me. After a three hours drive, we arrived there at 9 p.m. It was freezing and dark outside and Adrian helped me to lay the wires on the ground. Any other antenna arrangement would have been difficult. I had only 48 hours to spend here and the first night was about to start. As from an azimuthal map I made before leaving, the most interesting target was supposed to be South Pacific. I laid the first wire at approximately 240, beaming New Zealand and Australia, and the other one at a right angle, heading South Africa and Asia. I was not very interested in Europe or Middle East for a number of reasons: first, the location was too far from the Atlantic Ocean, secondly Europe and its powerhouses are common catches for me in Brazil. Last but not least local sunset hours, usually good for TA reception in South America, were not usable because the energy generator in the estancia is too noisy until it is turned off. As for North America, I had not the slightest idea whether reception was possible. I was more worried about interference from Argentina and Brazil if putting a north wire. It was a blind date. What happened? When I switched on my radio, at 23 p.m. the first night (0200 UT) I realized I was going to have a painful problem. My battery has six hours autonomy and austral winter nights are long. I had to spare [save] energy as much as possible to get through the most interesting hours. My laptop had enough battery charge and grey line software advised me I should wait at least 0400 (all times are UT from now on) for Tahiti sunset and 0530 for New Zealand. On the northern front, the whole Americas would have been in the dark by 0330. Propagation would then decide what to listen to. Surprisingly, the dial was crowded with local and semi local signals on any frequency. I had expected a quieter situation. Patagonia is well away from densely populated areas, Central Argentina is 2000 km away as the most populated areas in Chile. Still, all Buenos Aires stations were strong and stable, as Santiago`s. Peru on 1470 and 1500. The big Brazilians (1040, 1100, 1220, 1280) made up easily the big distance, too. Inland AM propagation is not easy in Latin America. I have never heard Peru from Rio de Janeiro, for example, and just a few stations from Chile and Venezuela, in special conditions. Another interesting discovery was the huge number of split, off-frequency stations, mostly presumably from Chile and Peru. X-band was crowded too, with Argentinean pirates, but the first real DX came in right here, at the very top of the dial. At 0400, after a long no-stop music program followed by ABC news, 1700 kHz revealed to be Oldies Radio KQXX Brownsville, Texas. Not bad. The signal stayed here, weak and with long fading, all night long. Propagation was heading north at 0415, when TWR Bonaire boomed in on 800, fading out the Mec station in Rio de Janeiro. Few minutes later was Ecuador`s turn, Radio Splendid Cuenca on 1040, to kill the dominant São Paulo station. Distances were getting interesting. Splendid is supposed to be a 10 kW at a good 6.000 km. Signal was strong. At least my wires were working. At 0420 an even stronger signal came in on 1090. US, definitely, with sport, mixed with another station. ``Sporting News Radio,`` damn... no way to ID it... On 750 and 810 two big Caracol from Colombia and I realized that the west side of the continent had almost totally faded out the Atlantic side, Brazil and La Plata dominant stuff. At 0520 everything was clear, I was experiencing a US West Coast opening! On 740 ``traffic and weather together`` with San Francisco temperatures announced the KCBS strong ID ``all news 74.`` At 0600, on 1530, ABC news started after an exciting KFBK jingle from Sacramento, California. Network programs with talk shows, with fast fade-outs, showed up on 810 and 1200. The big signal on 1090 was still on. Now I am almost sure it was nightlong ``Sporting News`` program from Mighty 1090. The former, I guess, XEPRS transmitter from the Mexican border for San Diego, California. It was time to check Pacific channels and excellent Bruce Potzer`s Pacific Asian Log was the right tool. A carrier on 738 preannounced me Tahiti, but it never turned into a real signal to listen to. Just few seconds with soft music. My Pacific wire was too short and I decided to focus on high frequencies. At 0650, yes, it came in... Radio Sport from New Zealand. I taped a tentative ID from what was possibly the Wellington 5 kW outlet. I think I had never been able to ID such a weak signal in my whole DX life. The quietness of the estancia did it and I also want to thank veteran New Zealand DXer Paul Ormandy who confirmed the catch. Just the time to listen to weak music on 1098, another talk station on 1593 and the battery died... At 0720, with five more hours of darkness... Hawaii? Australia? Japan? I will never know if even more exotic catches were to show up or not. Second night was much less exciting. Propagation was all the other side. More common catches like Virgin Islands on 1620 and Bahamas on 1540, a good WTOP ID on 1500, suggested me that US West Coast is not a everyday meal here and that I had been lucky enough the previous night. (Thanks also to Neil Kazaross to and Mark Hattam for helping me on 1620 and 1540). My battery kept on until 0830 but Pacific bubble was so weak that no significant emerged from 1503, 1314 and 1098 carriers. It was a great experience anyway, I could not expect more from such a fast planning. California is 10000 km away and 2.5 kW New Zealander ``just`` 8000. Next time I will need a couple of car batteries, more wire and most of all a couple of voluntaries with their receivers and experiences to share the excitement. *** Audiofiles and pictures are available on the multimedia version of this article, http://www.faiallo.org/patagonia.html (NRC IDXD June 6 via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ FCC corrects comment, reply comment dates in Broadband over Power Line proceeding: The FCC says comment and reply comment deadlines in its Broadband over Power Line (BPL) Notice of Inquiry (ET Docket 03-104) published May 23 in the Federal Register were incorrect. In a correction issued June 3, the FCC announced that comments from the public in this proceeding are due on or before July 7, 2003. Reply comments are due on or before August 6, 2003. Nick Leggett`s web site on citizen participation in technology: http://home.earthlink.net/~nleggett/home.html (News from the ARRL via Nickolaus E. Leggett, N3NL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM +++ DRM MESSES UP 31mb During this morning`s EDXP chat, Bob Padula drew my attention to the horrible mess on 9795 kHz at 2300-0000. The digital hash signal of BBC via Sackville spread all over 9790 and 9800 as well. It completely covered R. Bulgaria on 9800 until it signed off at 0000 when Bulgaria emerged. And this Sackville signal was coming via the long path as well!! As I have written before, this DRM issue is about a few big boy broadcasters bullying their way around the HF spectrum with digital signals that obliterate other things around them. Understand that this DRM medium is not about economical use of frequency space. It`s about stomping over other small, less wealthy stations with ordinary AM signals. DRM and AM cannot live side-by-side under the current 5 kHz channel allocation system. DRM should be placed out-of-band while these tests continue. Best regards (Rob Wagner VK3BVW, Receivers: Yaesu FRG100, Sangean 909, Antennas: 14 MHz dipole and 5 MHz T2FD, EDXP HF Forum June 8 via DXLD The official Australian position being advocated at this month`s World Radiocommunications Conference in Geneva is that: a. Australia supports the introduction of DRM for HF broadcasting b. DRM should be positioned in the ``Extended Bands``, to reduce harmful interference to broadcasters using analog modulation processes The commercial interests of the DRM Consortium appear to be subsuming those broadcasters who are not members, with disastrous consequences for any transmission within 20 kHz of the nominal centre frequency for DRM services. DRM tests to date have revealed that a 40 kHz modulator bandwidth is required to provide the shoulder attenuation needed for 10 kHz wide digital signals. ITU recommendations are that DRM signals should not cause more interference to existing AM signals than existing analog services. Broadcasters are required to keep their output within then spectrum mask that is applied to analog transmissions. What is occurring with these DRM tests is that the 10 kHz wide signal is produced, occupying 20 kHz of spectrum space at the -50 dB points. This is very much greater than a conventional double-sideband AM transmission, occupying 5 kHz total bandwidth at the -50 dB points (with separate sidebands extending out to +2.5 kHz or -2.5 kHz from the nominal carrier frequency. Note that DRM signals do not have ``carriers``, and the present tests consume 20 kHz of spectrum space at the -50 dB points. At the -60 dB points, actual spectrum usage is a massive 40 kHz! At -70 dB, spectrum usage is 60 kHz....! The present tests are causing havoc to existing broadcasters operating up to 20 kHz either side of the nominal DRM centre frequency. Regards (Bob Padula, Mont Albert, Vic, Aus, ibid.) SHORTWAVE AS MUSIC ++++++++++++++++++ Now I`ve seen (and heard) everything! You won`t believe how corny this stuff is. You can actually listen to the songs using Real Audio. http://www.lastres.com/ajhuddle/hamband.html (Sheldon Harvey, Radio H.F. - Canada`s specialist in radio communications http://www.total.net/~radiohf President-Canadian International DX Club Canada`s national radio monitoring club since 1962 http://www.anarc.org/cidx/ June 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###