DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-001, January 1, 2005 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2004 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 Extra 52: Sun 0330 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0430 WOR WRMI 6870 Sun 0730 WOR WWCR 3210 Sun 0930 WOR WRN1 to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP Sun 0930 WOR KSFC Spokane WA 91.9 Sun 0930 WOR WDWN Auburn NY 89.1 [unconfirmed] Sun 0930 WOR KTRU Houston TX 91.7 [occasional] Sun 1030 WOR WRMI 9955 Sun 1100 WOR R. Lavalamp Sun 1400 WOR KRFP-LP Moscow ID 92.5 Sun 1500 WOR R. Lavalamp Sun 2000 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sun 2030 WOR WWCR 12160 Sun 2100 WOR RNI Mon 0330 WOR WRMI 6870 Mon 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0430 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [1258] Mon 0530 WOR WBCQ 7415 Mon 0900 WOR R. Lavalamp Mon 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Mon 2200 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Tue 1000 WOR WRMI 9955 Tue 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 2200 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Wed 1030 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Wed 2200 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ONDEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: WORLD OF RADIO Extra 52 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx52h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx52h.rm WORLD OF RADIO Extra 52 (low version, without the WOR opening): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0407.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0407.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0407.html NOTE: your editor has been taking a few days off, so this issue does not include all the material which has piled up in the meantime, nor have all the usual sources been checked. NETS TO YOU: New January 2005 edition by John Norfolk, soon: http://www.w4uvh.net/nets2you.html TSUNAMI ITEMS: filed separately under GERMANY, INTERNATIONAL, MALDIVE ISLANDS, SRI LANKA. ** ANTIGUA. Differential reception of BBC harmonic: 30.38 MHz AM: Dec 28: 1410 UTC - S4 carrier w/ light flutter. No modulation heard. 1428 - Only brief bursts heard with no modulation detected. 15.190 - Full scale, Q5 audio on Alinco DJX-2000 with same antenna. This sort of differential reception would be expected if the harmonic was being subjected to poor VHF propagation conditions. 30.38 MHz AM Dec 30: 1439 - whine, noise, no modulation S6+ (15.190 MHz full scale w/ Q5 audio on Alinco DJ-X2000 using same antenna). 1655 - OM w/ low audio + whine S4 10 meter propagation during the day netted ham contacts in grid squares EL98, EM66 and DM43 (Jack Sullivan, Central New Jersey FN20, vhfskip-2@yahoogroups.com via harmonics yg, Dec 30 via DXLD) ** ASIA [non]. Radio Free Asia will start releasing a new QSL card, commemorating 2005 as the Year of the Rooster, with all reception reports for January 1 and later. This will be the fourth QSL card and will likely be in use for at least two months. They also look to release a few special QSL's in 2005 (via China BCL Forum: http://bcl.bbs.net via Eric Zhou, Dec 30, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BENIN. RDF Benin, 5025, 2135-2200 12/27. Started monitoring this frequency at 2026 with threshold signal, improves to fair signal and copy by 2135 with OM announcer in French, some echo-style announcements and a talk or call-in program. Long "PARAKOU" barked by announcer at 2158. R. Rebelde either sign-on or fade in around 2201 (I think I heard the IS but did not check to match against interval- signals.com), Benin stays underneath Rebelde for quite a while past 2200. // 7210 is a different Benin channel I believe, but this frequency covered by Ham QRM (Jeff Heller, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Quito 30/12 2004 *** Thursday edition: *** Recording of R. Educadora 6 do Agosto, Xapuri, Acre There is some confusion about the name of this station, if it is "Rádio Difusora 6 de Agosto" or "Rádio Educadora 6 do Agosto". On my recording the name is Rádio Educadora without any doubt. Read also mail from John Sgrulletta (Mahopac, NY) Comments and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURKINA-FASO. Some excellent conditions for DXing Africa in the evening hours (UT). R. Burkina, 5030, 2222-2313 12/25. Fair signal and copy at tune-in, echo-style announcer in French, African pop and indigenous music, taking calls or speaking to someone. "Burkina" by echo-style announcement at 2245, fading at by 2300. Addendum: On 12/27, Burkina "booming" in at armchair quality from 2150 to 2215, later co-channel QRM from presumed Peru. One of the best copies of Burkina I have ever heard (Jeff Heller, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5030, Radiodiffusion-Télévision de Burkina, Dec 29, tune in 1853 when fairly good signal with what appeared to be 'Western Union' ad in local language program. On the hour gave time as '19 heurs' into French 'le rapport du soir' presented by Jean-Batiste Bâteaux. Same good signal during evening with French radioplay and lots of music including local rap. Final announcement 2358 with ID as 'Radiodiffusion-Télévision de Burkina' and said would come back 'tomorrow' at 0530 UT. Off 0001 after instrumental tune (Finn Krone, Denmark, BC-DX Dec 29 via DXLD) 5030, Radio Télévision du Burkina at 2350 on Dec 31 with afropops, then tribal rhythms then a man with New Year's greetings in French at 0000 like "Bonne année à Radio-Télévision du Burkina", then afropops and more greetings - still on a 0053 recheck with afropops and more greetings (Mark Coady, ON, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Dzintars Cers has been on CBC Radio Sports for a decade or more. He also does weekend fill during long weekends news and other short continuity. Of course he doesn't have an accent, neither does Philippe Marcoux or others. It is people from Oklahoma who have accents (Dan Say, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC [non]. Bonjour, Je confirme l'émission de Radio Centrafrique depuis la France ! En ce moment, en Centrafrique (RCA) il y a un processus démocratique et des élections, ainsi que le procès de l'ancien Président Patassé. Radio Centrafrique, n'a plus d'émetteurs sauf la FM, à Bangui. Dans les campagnes, les habitants écoutent Radio Ndeke Luka sur les ondes courtes le soir. Radio Ndeke Luka c'est la voix de l'opposition, afin que le Gouvernement puisse se faire entendre aussi dans les campagnes, il y a donc le relais sur ondes courtes (9590 kHz) depuis la France. En effet, la France est l'amie du Gouvernement de la Centrafrique. Il y a beaucoup intérêts français en RCA... A bientôt, 73's (Christian Ghibaudo, Nice, Dec 27, playdx yg via DXLD) Vladimir Titarev reports on DXplorer that Radio Centrafrique is being relayed via TDF daily at 1700-2300 UT from Issoudun (500 kW) - since 26 November according to the HFCC. Reception is variable in the UK - it tends to be best in the last hour. Nice to hear this country on SW again even though its being relayed via France. I presume their own SW transmitter is off the air (Dave Kenny, Dec 28, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Following the recent appearance of Radio Centrafrique, Bangui, on 9590 kHz between 1700-2300, reportedly via a transmitter at Issoudun in France, there is a story originating from PANA on the French-language website of CentrAfrique Presse, dated 12 October 2004, in which it says a meeting of the Intergovernmental Agency of French-Speaking Countries (AIF) was held in Paris in October 2004 to discuss a plan of rescue for Radio Bangui. It mentions the need to expand broadcasting hours and the raising funds for a new transmitter. In the latter case, if funds could not be raised for a new transmitter (F.CFA 100 million, about 150.000 euros) then the possibility of renting airtime via Africa No 1, Moyabi, is mentioned. Presumably the new relay is a result of this AIF meeting, ahead of the elections in the Central African Republic on 13 February 2005 (but relayed via TDF Issoudun rather than Moyabi?). http://www.centrafrique-presse.com/showarticle.php?articleID=725 (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, UK, Dec 31, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** CHAD. RDF Nationale Tchadienne, 6165, 2137-2156 12/25. This day, Chad came in over Croatia for the first time in my recent monitoring. Fair signal and copy overall. Afro pop, with OM announcer in French frequently talking over music. Shout of "N'Djamena" at 2139, but no other full ID, so I presume Chad based on this. By 2151, both Croatia and Chad about even strength, however, both obliterated by carrier sign on at 2156 by AWR [Bonaire] in Spanish religious talk (Jeff Heller, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. PBS Shijiazhuang, 6950, 2245-2300 12/27. Good copy and signal, OM announcer in presumed Chinese, two full IDs at 2259 and after time pips at ToH (Jeff Heller, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, often run across this in late afternoon bandscans; responsible for driving North American pirates away from 6955v (gh, DXLD) ** CONGO. RTV Congolaise (presumed), 5985, 2202-2248 12/25. Tune in to OM talk with poor signal and copy, later an OM studio announcer with fast drumming and Afro pop style music, frequent talk over music by announcer. Presumed B/c no clear ID. Gradually, appeared that WFYR was fading in and by 2254, Congo was under WFYR with Spanish announcer and Xmas music. Congo continued under a fair at best WFYR at 2342 on this frequency. RTV Congolaise, 5985, 0422-0455 12/26. Caught a good ID as "Congo Brazzaville" this time at tune-in, then OM talk in French. Highlife type music, good signal and copy, but possible carrier modulation from WFYR underneath. Obliterated at 0455 by WFYR IS. '04 WRTH [and `05] shows sign-on at 0430 but noted at 0422 (Jeff Heller, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Radio Prague 2005 QSL cards can be viewed at http://www.radio.cz/en/html/qsl2005.html Regards, (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, Jan 1, dxldyg via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC. The following question came from a listener, Mr D.R. Ansell from Sussex, England: "I read in a radio magazine that you may be going to use long wave. Is this true?" I passed that question on to the director of Radio Prague, Miroslav Krupicka. "It is an idea. It is not reality at this moment but we are considering going on long wave in English and German. It's a long wave that is used by a domestic channel of Czech Radio, Czech Radio 1 - Radiozurnal, which broadcasts on the FM network and on long wave. We are in talks with this station to give us a certain space on long wave in order for us to be heard beyond the border of the Czech Republic in, say, Germany, Austria and Poland because long wave travels further than medium wave, for instance, or FM, so we would be heard in Central and Eastern Europe on long wave quite well. Of course, this is an addition to shortwave broadcasting. We are always on shortwave, we will stay on shortwave, but in addition we are looking for tools in order to be heard both in the Czech Republic and in Central Europe. In the Czech Republic we are currently on FM in Prague in English, this is a service for tourists, people visiting the Czech Republic, businessmen and so on. It's quite appreciated by the audience from what I have heard. And to expand on long wave would be quite nice, so we are working on it, but it is not yet reality." You spoke about Central Europe but Mr Ansell is from England - would he be able to listen to us on long wave in England? "Well, if the weather conditions and the sun spot cycle are ideal I would say probably yes, at certain times of the day, at certain times of the year. But as a rule, I would say no, because as I have just mentioned, it would be well received in the neighbouring countries, such as Poland, Germany, and so on, but it does not travel that far. In ideal conditions possibly, but not usually." (December 12th Radio Prague Mailbox via NICK SHARPE, Jan World DX Club Contact via DXLD) The Czech longwave frequency is 270 which can be received with fair strength here evenings though local electrical noise can be a problem (MIKE BARRACLOUGH, ibid.) ** EGYPT. In an interview with the media people, the Media Minister announced that he took the decision of minimizing the languages of the overseas sections of Radio Cairo to 11 languages only, out of 35 languages!!! He said he took that decision after checking reports from foreign affairs Dept. and security council and the media offices world wide, bearing in mind that these cuts won't affect the international targets of Egypt and that decision will be active next week!!! And that decision was taken to save money, but to improve the quality of the rest of the programs!? (source Algamhoriya News paper 30/12/04 via Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, Jan 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The first semi Government station on the FM band "Nile FM " launched its website http://www.nilefmonline.com last week with a promise to have a live web cam covering of the programs of the station. Nile FM is the first 24/7 English pop and rock radio station covering Cairo. Also the twin station of Nile FM, Nogum FM "stars FM" which is 24/7 Arabic music station started using the RDS- Radio data System - to be the first Egyptian station using this facility. All the best guys, yours (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Jan 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. German Roots of AIR Signature Tune and 40 YEARS OF DEUTSCHE WELLE HINDI SERVICE [continued from INDIA] Ernst A Schäfer was a journalist in Berlin who quickly acclimatized to the rhythm of India and changed his name to the more English sounding Ernest N Shaffer. Schäfer never forgot the shelter that India provided and it was for him a second home. After the Nazi regime fell, Schäfer went back to Germany and lobbied for the Deutsche Welle to have a Hindi and Sanskrit Service. His dream for Hindi language broadcasts would come true. The first Hindi broadcast on August 15, 1964 started with a message by the then Director Dr Hans Otto Waggermann Vaegmann, this was followed by a detailed news bulletin and a feature on the Independence Day celebrations in India. The programme ended with a Sitae recital. It was the second time that Indians were hearing Hindi programmes broadcast from German soil. In the 1940's the Netaji Subash Chandra Bose's used to broadcast their Azad Hind Radio from Berlin. With the help of the first Hindi programme Coordinator, Dr. Swshma Lohia Schafer could help fulfil his dream of broadcasting in Sanskrit. On Feb 3, 1966 the first Sandskrit language programme was broadcast on Deutsche Welle. It was a historic first in many respects, with no other station broadcasting in Sandskrit at that time. The move was applauded in India and more than 20 newspapers wrote glowing reports on this welcome step. At a World Hindu Conference held in Allahabad, a resolution was passed expressing thanks for the broadcasts in Sanskrit. Unfortunately, budget cuts have ensured that Deutsche Welle had to stop broadcasts in certain languages and Sanskrit is one of them. But at the same time there has been some good news too, the good listener reception to the Hindi Programme has ensured that the time slot has been increased to 45 minutes. After activation of a relay station in Sri Lanka in the 1980's listeners can tune in to Hindi programmes on medium wave also along with shortwave. Since 2002 listeners can also listen to Deutsche Welle's Hindi Service on the Internet (courtesy DW & German News Magazine via T R RAJEESH, World DX Club Contact, Jan, via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. COLOGNE --- German radio reacts to Asian tsunami Several German and Austrian radio stations have stopped playing a number of songs that employ imagery such as waves or floods, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported Tuesday. State broadcasters WDR, NDR and MDR among others, as well as a number of private stations including Radio Hamburg, have taken tracks including popular band Juli's hit song, Die Perfekte Welle (The Perfect Wave) off their playlists. The song contains the line (translated): "Now it's slowly approaching, water lapping in your face, your life passing like a film, you can't believe it [the wave] is breaking" "Listeners are very sensitive regarding such matters," said WDR2's deputy director of music programming, Christiane Erhard (CBC News Dec 28 via Dan Say, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Ismaning 6085 is still on, as you probably already noted. An anonymous poster claims that the AM service will continue until late March; afterwards the transmitter will be converted for DRM operation starting in early April he says, also talking about an aux transmitter as possible fill in (would be the old 10 kW unit). Cf. http://forum.myphorum.de/read.php?f=8773&i=158301&t=158301 Hard to say whether this posting is trustworthy, and if so, whether it is more than just wishful thinking of the engineers. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. I sampled some of Deutsche Welle's digital output last month when 7265 broadcast in AM rather than DRM for some reason one morning. They relayed the German news programme 0800-0830 and the English news headlines 0900-0905. At 0830-0900 and 0905-0925 when I tuned out they had a rather odd musical mix of serious classical music such as string quartets, US jazz vocalists such as Ella Fitzgerald and 60s oldies by artists such as The Animals and Bob Dylan interspersed with jingles. It was difficult to work out who this was targeted to. None of the tracks were announced though presumably on DRM receivers the information would be given on the scrolling text. Juxtaposition of jazz, classical and pop music can work, as in the Radio Austria International's much missed Sunday My Music programme presented by Paul Harvey, but that was because of Mr. Harvey's obvious enthusiasm and knowledge of musical form enabling the listener to listen to Joe Cocker and then appreciate a piece of Wagner opera. Deutsche Welle has also recently launched Update Europe 1000-1300 on 6140 in DRM. it is also available on demand at their website (MIKE BARRACLOUGH, Jan World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** GREECE. I received today Dec 14 the schedule of V. of Greece for B- 04. They do broadcast in English, but only at 1930-2000 on 7430. I was not able to find them in the beginning of B-04. They are eager to QSL and have a series of four different cards (David Crystal, Ramat Zvi, Israel, by P-mail, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The Voice of Greece is considered to be a DXer friendly station. Verification cards are sent out for every correct report. During 1988, while celebrating its 50th anniversary The Voice of Greece released a set of Radio stamps depicting antenna masts. These radio stamps are still available from the Voice of Greece for reception reports. Currently ERT issues a set of 4 colourful QSL cards depicting various Greek scenes and culture (compiled by T R Rajeesh, Kerala, India, Jan World DX Club Contact via DXLD) [non]. No Hellenes Around the World on Jan 1, the supposedly weekly English program, Sat 1500 on 15485 via Delano; instead went on in Greek. Believe I did not check on Xmas. We hope HAW is just on holiday (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. GERMAN ROOTS OF AIR SIGNATURE TUNE and 40 years of Deutsche Welle Hindi Service. Bridging the gap between heaven and earth, the unearthy time evoking dreams of another world is the signature tune of All India Radio. Unique among radio signature tunes of the world with its soothing Indian strains, it was incredible, it may sound, designed by a German musician. For more than seven decades, the tune made famous by an unknown German musician Walter Kauffman has been played at countless AIR stations before the start of programs. Kauffman, a Jew, fled Germany to escape persecution by Hitler's Nazi regime. He found refuge in British-ruled India. It was here in the 1930's he composed the tune that would be forever associated with AIR. At the time Kauffman was leading a refugee's life in Mumbai or Bombay, as it was then called, a haven for many fleeing persecution, another German Jew was walking through the streets of Mumbai, thankful for having escaped the fate of concentration camps. [continued under GERMANY] (courtesy DW & German News Magazine via T R RAJEESH, World DX Club Contact, Jan, via DXLD) ** INDIA. RADIO BOOKSHELF: HISTORY OF BROADCASTING IN INDIA "This is All India Radio" - a handbook of radio broadcasting in India. Author: U.L. Baruah. Publisher: Publications Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, New Delhi, April 1983. 368 pages Rs-40 paperback, Rs- 60 hardback. This book was written in 1983 by Mr U L Baruah, former Director- General, All India Radio. It is one of the few official books available on AIR. The author who had rich and varied experience in the organisation has provided an indepth study of growth and development of broadcasting, an analysis of the organisational structure covering administration, engineering and personnel divisions. A detailed account of programme services encompassing home, commercial and overseas broadcasts and the developmental activities in progress are described. The 368 page book is divided into 21 chapters with a variety of topics. Readers with more interest on the technical side of radio broadcasting could learn about details on radio engineering, the establishment date and power output of AIR transmitters in each State, commissioning details and even the upgradation details until 1983. Listeners with some interest in subcontinental music or AIR programming will find this book a worthy reference for most of the pictures are devoted to this side of broadcasting. The final chapter contains a lot of reference details including the number of letters received by each department of AIR. Reception conditions in target areas according to monitoring reports of listeners. Payment scale of AIR staff in 1983, etc. The book sounds too much official and most information is seriously outdated, considering the recent developments in AIR. But serious DXers with historic and research interests on AIR or about the history of broadcasting in the subcontinent, this book is a worthwhile reference. So if you are more than a casual listener of AIR, go for a copy of the book (T R RAJEESH, Kerala, Jan World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. THIRD PARTY TRAFFIC QUESTION --- Since none of the countries affected by the earthquake and tsunami have third-party traffic agreements with the US, the question has been raised about the legality of such traffic -- especially health-and-welfare messages -- between those countries and US amateur stations. A staff member in the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau points out that the international Radio Regulations as revised at World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03) provide that amateur stations may be used for transmitting international communications of behalf of third parties only in case of emergencies or disaster relief. "An administration may determine the applicability of this provision to amateur stations under its jurisdiction," the FCC staff member told ARRL. Although the FCC has not formally adopted the changes approved at WRC-03, he continued, "the FCC has no objection to US stations passing disaster-related traffic to and from stations in the affected areas if the administrations responsible for the Amateur Service in those countries do not object to their amateur stations receiving messages from our amateur stations on behalf of third parties." http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2004/12/28/100/?nc=1 (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) INQUIRIES JAM TSUNAMI-RELATED HEATH & WELFARE TRAFFIC (Dec 30, 2004) --- NEWINGTON, CT, --- Charly Harpole, K4VUD, reports from Bangkok, Thailand that incoming health and welfare queries to the huge affected area is presenting a huge problem. All channels, including ham radio, are or will be totally overwhelmed by potential incoming H&W traffic. He urges that no incoming H&W traffic be handled. For something this size, he says, it is best for those in the area to send messages out only. But even getting messages out is rather unlikely inside the areas that have been devastated, and there are many such areas. Requests for information about relatives and friends in the affected areas are jamming up the already overloaded hams. Harpole says: ``This widespread disaster would require hundreds if not thousands of hams deployed over the whole Indian Ocean rim to meet the H&W need.`` Hams who already live in the affected areas are on the air and doing their best to help.`` (ARRL main page via John Norfolk, dxldyg Dec 30 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. Useful link for facts on nations of the world, including quick-loading MIDI national anthem files (go to the bottom of the respective country for the links). I found the anthem to be useful for a quick confirmation of the anthem during DX on the receiver next to the PC. http://www.abacci.com/atlas/default.asp (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. The 3000th audio clip to be uploaded to the Interval Signals Online web site features the morning sign-on of Baghdad talk station Radio Dijla [Tigris]. This starts with the "new" national anthem, which is actually a reversion to the anthem used in the period 1958- 1965, entitled "My Homeland, My Homeland". The clip can be heard at http://www.intervalsignalsonline.com Regards, (Dave Kernick, Dec 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. 11800, Rai, Roma Prato Smeraldo, 1030-1130 UT, Dec 29th. Around 1030-1130 UT two separate Italian language programs noted on 11800 kHz all together. One word discussion narrative program and another with Italian canzones. Separation to SSB/USB/LSB mode reception brings no solution. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany) Hi Wolfgang, I have no idea, 11800, 0630-1300, it's a mix relay of radio 1 and radio 2 for our military forces in Bosnia and it's a regular service. RAI doesn't broadcast in other language at that hour, only 1000-1100 on 11920 but from Singapore, therefore no frequency error. Were there two broadcasts or only audio mixing? (Roberto Scaglione, bclnews, Dec 29 via WB) Hi Roberto, Just audio mixing, the ISDN feederline error occurred, due of Technician keyboard slip on the control in Rome? (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [and non]. Dear colleagues, The following is IRRS-Shortwave planned schedule for the period A05 (March 27, 2005 until Oct. 10, 2005). Please notice that our association will not participate to the HFCC coordination meetings. If you need assistance in coordination with the frequencies listed below, please contact me directly at the numbers or email below. IRRS-Shortwave (Milan, Italy): 5775 kHz 1900-2030 UTC (2100-2230 CET) Mon-Thu,Sat 20 kW - target (1) 5775 kHz 1900-2200 UTC (2100-0000 CET) Fri & Sun 100 kW - target (1) 13840 kHz 0700-1200 UTC (0900-1400 CET) Sat & Sun 20 kW - target (1) 15665 kHz 1100-1200 UTC (1300-1400 CET) Fri 100 kW - target (2) (1) Europe, N. Africa & Middle East (ITU zones: 18-19, 27-30, 37-39) (2) East Africa (ITU zones: 27-30, 36-39, 45) IRRS-Shortwave is owned and operated by NEXUS International Broadcasting Association (NEXUS-IBA). Please check program schedules at http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules/ All programs are also available 24/24 via our streaming services at : http://mp3.nexus.org and: http://www.egradio.org/ With best regards from Milano, -- Alfredo E. Cotroneo, CEO, NEXUS-Int'l Broadcasting Association PO Box 11028, 20110, Milano, Italy email: alfredo @ nexus.org ph: +39-335-214-614 (try first)/+39-02-266-6971 fax: +39-02-706-38151 (via Swopan Chakroborty, DXLD) Why not cooperate with HFCC?? It might get out where your relay transmitter site is? (gh, DXLD) ** JAPAN [and non]. Following for the record, and in case it come in handy a year later (gh) Dear Mr. Wolfgang Bueschel, We are pleased to tell you date and timetable and frequency for the subject program as follows. You can see that at PDF as below, too, but the Japanese version is only available. http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/japanese/kouhaku.pdf THE 55TH RED AND WHITE YEAR-END SONG COMPETITION FESTIVAL Target Area Bc UTC kHz Asian Continent 1030-1445 9750 Southeast Asia 1030-1445 11815 Southwest Asia 1500-1700 12045 1700-1800 11865 1800-1930 9675 East Europe 1500-1800 9750 1800-1930 9625 West Europe 1500-1700 9850 1700-1800 6175 1900-1930 7195 MEast&NoAF 1500-2000 11830 Ce Africa 1500-1700 21630 1700-1930 11825 So Africa 1500-1930 15355 North America 1300-1730 11705 Hawaii 1500-1930 9835 Central America 1300-1730 17875 South America Ea 1030-1445 17565 South America We 1500-1930 9835 Oceania/Pacific 1500-1930 7140 NHK World Radio Japan info @ intl.nhk.or.jp (NHK Dec 27) JAPAN [and non]. As every year - 55th year end hitparade of NHK Radio Japan. The following schedule for the 55th "Year End Hitparade", which has LIVE broadcast in Japanese on 31 Dec 2004 from 1030-1545 UT, and repeats via many Merlin brokered relay stations later that day, see according to the schedule BELOW. Southeast Asia 1030-1445 11815 Yamata Asian Continent 1030-1445 9750 Yamata Acc to the PDF file of 2003, seemingly the live coverage broadcast occurs only on the Asian Continent and SE Asia services. Broadcast time shifts to a recording at 1500-2000 UT to the following targets, see below, ed.] Southwest Asia 1500-1700 12045 Yamata 1700-1800 11865 Yamata 1800-1930 9675 Yamata East Europe 1500-1800 9750 Rampisham-UK 62 degr 1800-1930 9625 Woofferton-UK 75 degr West Europe 1500-1700 9850 Skelton-UK 150 degr 1500-1800 6175 Skelton-UK 150 degr 1900-1930 7195 Skelton-UK 150 degr MEast and NoAF 1500-2000 11830 Ekala-CLN CeAfrica 1500-1700 21630 Ascension 1700-1930 11825 Ascension SoAfrica 1500-1930 15355 Montsinery-GUF North America 1300-1730 11705 Sackville-CAN Hawaii 1500-1930 9835 Yamata Central America 1300-1730 17875 Sackville-CAN South America Ea 1030-1445 17565 ?Montsinery-GUF South America We 1500-1930 9835 Montsinery-GUF Oceania/Pacific 1500-1930 7140 Yamata [keep in mind satellite feed delay of various relay sites, wb.] (NHK Radio Japan website in Japanese; thanks to Kunitoshi Hishikawa- JPN for translation; estimated[!] transmitter locations contributed by wb, BC-DX Dec 28, 2004 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. Enjoyed Mike Terry's post on N. Korean broadcasts! I'm sure the N. Koreans would be happy to know that their signal, with varying strength and clarity, reaches my Grundig 400PE nearly every AM here in Southern New Mexico, USA. The broadcasts are a real throwback to the Cold War kind of stuff you used to hear. By contrast, when I tune to Radio China Int'l. I hear modern, well- produced programming on a variety of subjects. China certainly has left N. Korea in the dust these days! (Gloria Lalumia, Las Cruces, Dec 28, HCDX via DXLD) ** LATVIA. 9290, Dec 31, 1400-1500 Germany/Finland: Störsender. Störsender is an German Radiostation transmitted from Finland [sic] (Ulbroka) http://www.rrms.de transimiter with 100kW, Receptionreports comes from Japan, USA etc. (Dietmar. Dbi, HCDX online log via DXLD) G'day, I'm copying the signal here in Australia, Latvia 9290, 0900 UT, Radio Joystick with modern R&B or semi-rap sounding songs, 2 3 3 2 2, still on till 1000 (T J Gaynor, Gold Coast City, Queensland Australia, Jan 1 2005 using a Sony ICF SW 7600 and 20 metre longwire facing NE and SW, NRI via DXLD) ** LUXEMBOURG. Re: ``Friday morning 1440 switched momentarily from DRM to AM at 0357. Thursday morning they switched momentarily from AM with constant carrier level to AM with audio amplitude controlled carrier level at 0600 (i.e. when they changed from paid religion to their own German programming).`` I understand that they run the religion with 1200 kW, so apparently the DCC/DAM originates from the new 600 kW TRAM while constant carrier transmissions are still run with the old 2 x S4006. Sorry, I forgot to mention that always the German-language RTL Radio is carried when 1440 runs DRM. Reportedly one of the Junglinster shortwave channels now also carries RTL Radio (German) 24/7, no longer a mixture of varied programming as it used to be the case. ``They must have millions of euros burning in their pockets just waiting to be wasted!`` Including the cash from the missionaries and the Chinese... (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALDIVE ISLANDS [and non]. UADX - Sarath Weerakoon 4S5SL safe Hello, one of the founders of UADX - Union of Asian DXers in Sri Lanka in 1971 - Mr. Sarath Weerakoon, Call 4S5SL, survived the disaster in South Asia. I had a phone call with him at Male, Maldives this night. Together with Victor Goonetilleke 4S7VK, both native from Colombo Ceylon, he reported in the Seventies often direct via Airmail to WWDXC DX Magazine Bad Homburg Germany, to DSWCI SWN, via Arne Skoog's SCDX and also via phone line report to RNW MN about the radio scene in South Asia and Pacific. During the disaster Sarath stayed on his workshop place on the first floor of Hong Kong-Shanghai-China bank building at Male, Maldives. Also his wife and the children survived there. His private home located on a hill top near colonial Mount Lavinia hotel beach in south of Colombo Sri Lanka is safe. His holiday bungalow, located about 120 km south near Bentota/Beruwela beach resort, on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka is totally destroyed. Anker Petersen, Erich Bergmann, and other DXers visited this place on their trips to South Asia in past years. Sarath's phone no. is 00960 312 118 best time to reach him at 1500-1700 UT. thanks, regards (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx (Dec 29), DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just had another email from DXer Sarath Weerakoon in the Maldives. He and his family are safe in Malé. His home in Colombo is unaffected as well. Sarath hosted Peter Bunn & Peter McMillian several years ago in Colombo. He is now the Manager of Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank in the Maldives (Dave Onley, Dec 30, ARDXC via DXLD) ** MALI. No sign of Mali in several recent UT evening monitorings. Maybe I just missed them. All of the other African standard bearers were coming in well. I note that Hans Johnson had them on in the UT morning last week (Jeff Heller, IL, Dec 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XERTA, R. Transcontinental, 4810, 1207 12/24. Good signal and copy over the sweeper QRM this morning, easy listening music, ID with station call sign at 1214 (Jeff Heller, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4810 (presumed) MEXICO Radio Transcontinental (XERTA) in SP at 1206 UT. Poor -Fair signals w/severe QRM. Sprightly piano mx into a (W) w/possible ID and promo at 1212 into LA pop vocals (Jim Clar, Rochester NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEWFOUNDLAND [and non]. I just spent a week in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, Canada, about 80 miles northwest of Halifax, visiting the family. When I do this, I always bring my YB400PE for some MW DX. II could only use the whip and couldn't string a longwire but I was able to check on a few Newfoundland MW stations, which is a favorite DX target of mine. These were heard between December 23-30, 2004. Of course, one sure way to ID a Newfoundland station is to remember that Newfoundland is 30 minutes ahead of Atlantic Time and 1:30 ahead of Eastern Time, so we'll often hear "top-of-the-hour" news at the bottom of our hours [but not CBC stations, feeding from outside -- gh] 540 CBT Grand Falls NF- CBC station, 10kw 590 VOCM St. John's NF, 20kw. VOCM runs something of a network of stations across Newfoundland. In the evenings they have a call-in show from across Newfoundland and Labrador which is interesting to listen to. They also provide news and weather to other stations that may partially relay their programming. CHCM-740 in Marystown NF will run VOCM news and weather but will run their own programming, at least during the day. 640 CBN St. John's, NF, 10kw. CBC station. 740 CHCM Marystown NF 10 kw. ID as "CHCM Country". Part of the VOCM network, so don't be surprised to hear VOCM IDs here, especially during newscasts and in the evening. 790 CFNW Port au Choix NF, 1 kw. Weak but confirmed ID. 990 CBY Corner Brook NF, 10 kw. CBC station. 1400 CBG Gander NF, 4 kw. Weak but definite. A CBC station. In Nova Scotia, there is a network of stations in the Annapolis Valley, from Kentville to Digby, called "AVR" or "Annapolis Valley Radio". They run 4 MW and 1 FM stations with a country format. Their stations: 1350 CKAD Middleton NS- 1 kw 1420 CKDY Digby NS- 1 kw 1450 CFAB Windsor NS- 1 kw 1490 CKEN Kentville NS- 1 kw (wasn't able to confirm this one) Their FM station is on 97.7 from Kentville, which is where their studios are. IDs are "AVR". Hoping against hope, I tried for Iceland and Greenland MW stations but to no avail. There was a constant het on 189 kHz, maybe Iceland, but no audio ever heard. 207 kHz was also quiet (John Cereghin, Smyrna DE, FRG7 DX150B YB400PE, HCDX via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. PIRATE, R. "xb37", 6925.6, 2301-2315 12/27. Pretty good signal in AM With eclectic mix of humor and rock music. Better than most pirates in my opinion. Gives his email address for correspondence, but my note bounced back (Jeff Heller, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. As indicated in an earlier message, the 1000 kW IBB relay transmitter at Poro Point changes today from 1143 to 1170. The schedule remains the same (all VOA): 1100-1200 Mandarin, 1200-1230 English; *1230-1300 break*; 1300-1500 Cantonese, 1500-1600 Vietnamese, 1600-1700 (MF) English. The beam is at 332 degrees (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, Jan 1, mwdx yg via DXLD) This transmitter puts in a gigantic signal into Hong Kong and Southern China. Happy New Year (Tony Magon VK2IC, ibid.) VOA Poro Pt. now on 1170 --- South Korea has a 500 kW foreign service transmitter on 1170. It's powerful enough to sometimes overpower American co-channel stations at Grayland. I would think the two stations would interfere with one another in parts of Japan and China (they're about 2400 km apart). Both stations air Chinese programs 1300-1400, which makes this change all the more interesting. Happy New Year (Bruce Portzer, WA, ibid.) ** POLAND. R. Polonia, 9525, 1320 12/24. Good signal and copy of English program on Polish Xmas traditions. ID at 1346 (Jeff Heller, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Voice of Russia What`s New http://www.vor.ru/English/Exclusives/what_new.html KALEIDOSCOPE. Welcome to a lot of New-Year music and Christmas carols in the edition of Kaleidoscope due on the air from Monday, January 3. The program will feature Christmas music because Russians traditionally celebrate Christmas according to the Julian calendar, or two weeks later than in the West. A 90-year old Yevdokia Murikova will tell you about the way Christmas was celebrated in the olden days, we shall tell you about (and let you enjoy) kolyadas, or specific house-to-house Christmas carol singing. You will also learn about the Russian Father Frost and his granddaughter Snow Maiden, and how they differ from Santa Claus… There`ll be Professor Vsevolod Marinov with his traditional talk and other items. So, tune in to Kaleidoscope to learn a lot more about Russia and the Russians (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Usage of 684 kHz (power 10 kW) in St. Petersburg: 0430-0500 R. Slovakia Int, in Russian 0500-0530 R. Prague, in Russian 0530-0600 R. Polonia, in Russian 0600-0900 Radiogazeta Slovo 0900-1200 R. Otkrytyi Gorod 1200-1300 Radiotserkov (FEBC) 1300-1400 China R. Int, in Russian 1400-1500 Radiotserkov (FEBC) 1500-1800 Pravoslavnoye R. Sankt-Peterburga 1800-2000 R. Radonezh 2000-2030 R. Canada Int, in Russian 2030-2200 Radiogazeta Slovo 2200-2255 Radiotserkov (FEBC) Radio Sweden's relays, which went on the air at 2030-2100, stopped about a month ago (Alexey Osipov, St. Petersburg, Russia via SIGNAL via BCLNews.it via DXLD) ** RWANDA. R. Rwanda (presumed) 6055, 1934-2057 12/24. Fair signal and copy, possibly some English and other language, mostly talk by OM & YL announcers with music bumpers. Even played "White Xmas". Music mostly hip-hop style with African flair. No clear ID, lots of local QRN for me on this frequency (Jeff Heller, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. The New Year's show on Radio Slovakia International is really fun. It`s just the English Section staff sitting around in a bar talking, with crowd noise in the background. It is light-hearted and enjoyable. We find out about their lives and a bit about life in Slovakia. They play some nice Slovak folk music in the program too. Pete Miller closes by mentioning that they all enjoy their jobs and hope that they can continue doing them over the coming year. I heard it on WRN via Sirius. It`s repeated this evening on WRN and, of course, it will be on shortwave later today as well (Scott Walker, New Cumberland, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania USA, Dec 31, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) I listened to it on WRN archive Saturday morning when it was ``Today`` --- the Saturday file turned out to be from Xmas last week. One of them has a bad knee, so she is known as ``Hopalong`` (gh, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. Can anyone confirm that Sri Lanka Broadcasting is up and running on 9770? I had a tentative logging of them this morning local time here in upstate NY as follows: 9770, SRI LANKA (presumed), SLBC in English. 1509 12/30/04. P-VP with fading. Piano and vibe music into a C&W vocal (may have been Kenny Rogers` ``You picked a Fine Time to Leave Me, Lucille``?) followed by a soft, plaintive female vocal into a (M) with possible ID and TC followed by choral-style music as signal all but dropped below the noise floor at 1521. This certainly had their eclectic mix of musical genres but I would have expected them to be carrying coverage of the devastation and relief efforts in their region. If not them, I have no idea what it was (Jim Clar, Rochester, NY, Drake R8 w/Eavesdropper dipole, Dec 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) No replies seen (gh) ** SRI LANKIA. CALL TO THE WORLDWIDE COMMUNITY OF DXERS TO HELP! You all will have seen the pictures on your TV of the TSUNAMI-desaster which has hit the countries around the Bay of Bengal and the scale of devastation truly beyond anyone's comprehension. While international help is beginning to pour in into these countries, and bank accounts for donations have been established in many countries, I feel that we as a truly "international" community could also do our own bit to help. In Sri Lanka, one of the worst hit countries, Victor Goonetilleke, an internationally renowned DXer and Radio ham, 4S7VK, who is also the president of the Sri Lanka amateur radio society, has been busy with his friends to support the government to establish communication lines to many of the outlying communities hit by the disaster. While they are doing what they can, they lack funds for everything, from equipment, materials to petrol for transporting staff and equipment across the country. I myself have spent two and a half years in Sri Lanka as a telecoms consultant and know how difficult logistics can be already under normal conditions let alone now in this situation. I also have known Victor for the last twenty-six years and I know that he is a truly trustworthy person who will make it his personal responsibility that not one single cent or penny will be spent for anything else than aid. Whatever is not used my the radio amateur society for their activities, will be spend to buy food, clothing or medicine. In addition, whatever funds will be made available by anyone of us will be fully accounted for and at the end of the effort every contributor will be informed where the money went to. I myself have already pledged Victor 500 US-$ because of the emotional ties I still have with this country and since I cannot go down there myself and help. But any amount from any of you will be most welcome. I have volunteered to collect the money here in Germany and send it in bulk to Victor in Colombo, so if you are willing to help I would appreciate a short e-mail to me at g.werdin @ gmx.net and I will let you know the bank account details. Gerhard Werdin, dswci #1206, Dec 29 (via Wolfgang Bueschel dswci #1331 via DXLD) ** SWITZERLAND. I just did a Google search for "Switzerland In Sound" and five of the first 10 results point to Bob Zanotti's site -- contrary to his report that he's been "pushed back to page 7." And, yes, the home page for this site uses Flash and offers no option for non-Flash users. Those of us who view Flash as a security risk are basically pushed off the merry-go-round (Mike Cooper, Dec 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello Glenn. Since I last wrote you about a Russian "pirate" claiming to be Switzerland in Sound, the offender has suddenly disappeared. I don't know why, but I'm delighted. Just FYI. Happy New Year! (Robert "Bob" Zanotti, founder and editor Switzerland in Sound "radio on demand" http://www.switzerlandinsound.com Switzerland in Sound, 3507 Biglen, Switzerland Tel/Fax/Voicemail: (+41 31) 701-0668 Mobile: (+41 76) 490-0668 email: zan @ datacomm.ch Dec 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. Congratulations to official RTI monitors for 2005! Congratulations to the nine listeners who have been selected as monitors for RTI's English Service in 2005. Monitors were chosen based on the quality of reception reports, dedication, and geographical location. If you were not chosen this time, we hope that you will stay in close contact with us, and perhaps you can monitor for us in the future! The chosen monitors will receive a RTI certificate and a tri- color porcelain plate, modeled on the National Palace Museum's porcelain with dragon and phoenix decor. The dragon and phoenix represent the emperor and empress in Chinese tradition. RTI English Monitors for 2005 are: 1. Richard Chen (Trinidad & Tobago) 2. Michael Stevenson (Australia) 3. Gordon Blom (NY, USA) 4. T. Elampooranan (India) 5. Larry Jenkins (MN, USA) 6. Peter Ng (Malaysia) 7. Hector Frias Jofre (Chile) 8. Hans Verner Lollike (Denmark) 9. Ray Davey (New Zealand) Once again, we would like to say a special thank you to everyone who sent us letters and applications. We only wish we could choose you all! You are truly appreciated! (RTI web site via Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, DXLD) ** TURKEY. V. of Turkey, 5960, 2322 12/25. Tune-in to DX Corner program, English, then to program on movement thru Europe of culture from Istanbul. Good to very good signal and copy. Also, V. of Turkey this day on 5980 at 2130, address given in presumed Turkish includes Ankara before s/off at 2159. Fair to good copy (Jeff Heller, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. R. Uganda (tentative), 4976, 2035-2100 12/27. Tent. only, usually way too early at my QTH to catch Uganda at this frequency and time, but great conditions this day. OM announcer, lots of drumming, gone after 2100 (presumed local sign-off). // 7195 for Blue channel covered in Ham QRM. Note, R. Uganda 5026 noted at threshold this day, with similar program on // 7110 but that frequency buried there under presumed CRI and VOA (Jeff Heller, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE [and non]. UKRAINE DENIES JAMMING RUSSIAN RADIO | Excerpt from report by Interfax-Ukraine news agency Kiev, 28 December: The Ukrainian concern for radio broadcasting, radio communication and TV broadcasting has denied the statements by the Voice of Russia radio station alleging partial jamming of its broadcasts in Ukraine. The concern has not received complaints on this from the Voice of Russia, an assistant to the concern's president, Serhiy Makohon, told Interfax-Ukraine. As reported earlier, the Voice of Russia Russian radio company said today that "since the first half of December the Russian state radio broadcasting company Voice of Russia has been partially jammed on medium wave in Kiev". [Passage omitted: details of Voice of Russia's statement] Source: Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Kiev, in Russian 1344 gmt 28 Dec 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) RUSSIA/UKRAINE: VOICE OF RUSSIA SIGNAL PARTIALLY JAMMED BY LOCAL STATION | Text of report in English by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Moscow, 28 December: [The] medium wave broadcast of the Voice of Russia has been partially jammed by a local station in Kiev since the first half of December, a source in the Voice of Russia told ITAR-TASS on Tuesday [28 December]. The source said that the jamming signal was not authorized by the International Electric Communication Union [presumably the International Telecommunication Union] or the international plan of medium and long wave broadcasts. The Voice of Russia has been broadcasting live programmes to the CIS and Baltic countries for 15 hours a day since spring 2004. It is using 999 kHz frequency in broadcasts to Kiev via a Grigoriopol [Moldova] transmitter with the capacity of 1,000 kW. Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in English 1740 gmt 28 Dec 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) RUSSIA/UKRAINE: VOICE OF RUSSIA ASKS UKRAINE FOR INTERFERENCE EXPLANATION | Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax Moscow, 29 December: The leadership of [the] Voice of Russia radio is determined to get additional explanations from Ukraine in relation to the interference in the reception of its broadcasts in Kiev. "The leadership of the Russian State Radio Company, Voice of Russia, is not satisfied with the explanations given by the Ukrainian Radio and Television Broadcasting Concern [presumably the National Council for Television and Radio Broadcasting] about the instances of interference in the reception of its broadcasts in Kiev and is sending a corresponding complaint to it," a Wednesday [29 December] press release from the broadcaster says. It quotes a spokesman for the Russian Chief Radio Frequency Centre that there is "documented evidence of the unauthorized artificial interference on the working frequency of the Voice of Russia (999 kHz) during the election campaign in Ukraine." "A technical inspection conducted with the help of the International Monitoring System [as published] was conducted after a Voice of Russia correspondent in Kiev discovered static and noise on the frequency of the Russian radio station, and numerous telephone calls from residents of Kiev. It is indicative that no disturbance on the frequency was registered in other parts of Ukraine," the report says. "All the findings of the inspection will be produced to the Ukrainian side to clarify the circumstances causing the difficulty in receiving Voice of Russia programmes," the report says. Source: Interfax news agency, Moscow, in English 1729 gmt 29 Dec 04 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** U S A. Ran across VOA in French, Dec 31 at 1843 on 17580, listeners phoning in with NY greetings --- with a noticeable long-path echo, more so during speech than music. Since this is Greenville, about 1900 km from here, that makes the long path some 38 megameters, further than my previous WHRA 17650 long-path catch. It seems 17 MHz is the best band for this to happen, MUF-wise (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. In case you missed the Dec 31 Talk to America, on VOA, with Kim Elliott and guests on the future of SW, I see TTA archives have been restored, going back at least a month, but running about a week behind, so this one should be there eventually: http://www.voanews.com/english/NewsAnalysis/Talk-to-America-December-2004-Archives.cfm (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Discussions are currently taking place within the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) and RFE/RL with the aim to adopt a new name for the RFE/RL operations from Prague (Czech Republic), reflecting the changed political situation in Europe and the change of target activities (where Europe no longer is a priority target). Acc. to informed sources, the current services "Radio Free Europe" and "Radio Liberty" are to be united under the new label "Radio Liberty International" in the course of 2005. Dec 29 (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. CHRONOHERTZ STATION WWV - THE BACKGROUND STORY Just a while back, I made a visit to Mr Bill Kuning (KEW-NING) who lives in an inland coastal area in rural Maryland. Bill is an amateur radio operator with the callsign W3BY and he is also an avid collector of old radio receivers. Among his radios and associated equipment are old receivers going back to the early days of wireless, and pieces of electronic equipment that formed in earlier times a part of important old radio stations. In addition, he also maintains several amateur radio transmitters, older as well as modern. I took the opportunity to peruse just a small section of his massive collection of QSL cards. Now, most of these cards are from amateur stations, but a couple that are associated with broadcasting stations caught my attention. One card is from the British amateur station GB3MSA. This station was located at Poldhu in Cornwall and it was on the air in December 1971 for the 70th anniversary of the historic Marconi transmission across the Atlantic. On one side of the three-panel folded QSL card from GB3MSA is a circuit drawing of the original Marconi transmitter, and the circuitry is so simple that it would be best described as electrical, rather than electronic. On the other side of the card is a photo of the old Marconi transmitter building and a brief outline history of the station. This spark transmitter at station 2YT was rated at 40 kW and the capacitors were large glass plates with tin foil on one side, immersed in a bath of linseed oil. If there was a flash over during transmission, then the linseed oil had to be changed due to carbon contamination. The other QSL card of interest in Bill Kuning's collection is from chronohertz station WWV for their first voice transmission from the new and still current location in Fort Collins Colorado, in December 1966. These days, station WWV is known only for its time signals and other standard transmissions, and it is not so well known that this station actually began its career as an entertainment and information station. This is the story. It was back in May 1920, six months ahead of the famous KDKA in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, that station WWV at the National Institute of Standards & Technology [it was not part of nor known as NIST until decades later --- gh] in Washington DC made its first test broadcasts. The station was using a modified 50 watt mediumwave transmitter, made available from another nearby station, states Bill Kuning, and it radiated music programs on 600 kHz. On December 15 in the same year 1920, station WWV began sending out daily Market reports in Morse Code from a 2 kW transmitter on 750 kHz. These daily transmissions were on the air for a period of four months. It was on January 29, 1923, that station WWV began the transmission of standard time and frequency signals, a service that is maintained to this day. Over the years, this station has survived a disastrous fire and several moves, and it has been on the air from Fort Collins Colorado since 1960. A sister station WWVB is located on the same site in Colorado and it emits time signals on the very low longwave channel 60 kHz. It is stated that several million time pieces, clocks & watches & electronic equipment, receive the WWVB signal and are calibrated automatically by the extremely accurate time pulses (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Dec 19 via World DX Club via DXLD) ** U S A. TOWERS OF MYSTERY --- The Californian city of Palo Alto is located on the bayside of the peninsula some 35 miles south of downtown San Francisco; and in reality, it is a part of suburban San Francisco. Palo Alto, meaning in Spanish "tall timber", is the location for three "tall towers" that have become a local legend. Some time during the 1700s, a Frenchman built a brick tower two stories high with gothic arch windows. The windows have since been built over, and it is known that the building was used at one stage as a prison. But the question that puzzles local historians is: What was the original purpose for this tower? Another quizzical tower in Palo Alto is located in the middle of the driveway at the Dinah's Garden Hotel and the best available information indicates that it was erected somewhere around 1940. Did this tower come from the 1939 World's Fair on Treasure Island? Shortwave station KGEI says that it was not one of their towers, though it does have a similar appearance to the radio tower in use at the time by mediumwave station KSFO. At nearby Islais Creek, station KSFO was co-sited with KWID, another shortwave operation during that era. The Frenchman's Tower and the Metal Tower may pose unanswered questions, but the third set of towers in Palo Alto poses no problems to the interested radio observer. The international shortwave station KROJ was located here during the epic years of the Pacific War. Let's go back to the beginning. As the fourth communication station in the area, KFS was installed at San Francisco Beach, quite close to what is now the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. This facility was established in an area of rolling sand dunes and it was inaugurated in September 1910. Initially, station KFS contained a single spark wireless transmitter for communication in Morse Code, though in quick succession, additional transmitters with increased power were installed. This vigorous communication station was owned by the Federal Telegraph Company which was also manufacturing wireless transmitters. One of their units, rated at a massive 1,000 kW, was taken over by the navy, donated to France, and installed near the city of Bordeaux. In 1921, work commenced on a new facility in an isolated marshy area near the waters edge at Palo Alto. The Beach Station in San Francisco, as it was called, was closed in 1927 and the new station at Palo Alto took over the full load of communication traffic. It was around this stage that the station was sold to Mackay Cable & Wireless. In July 1943, a new 50 kW transmitter was activated at Palo Alto under the callsign KROJ with a relay service on behalf of the Voice of America. Perhaps this was a random four-letter callsign based upon the communication callsign KRO, which seems to have been in use at this facility during this era. The Press Wireless transmitter was re-imported from England for this new broadcast service to Alaska and the South Pacific. Mackay never originated any of their own programming for this relay facility; all programming was on relay from KGEI & KWID, the two other shortwave stations in the San Francisco area. Two years later, in May 1945, Mackay activated an additional 50 kW transmitter at Palo Alto under the callsign KROU; and in August, a third transmitter was activated for a few days with VOA programming under the callsign KROZ. This callsign, KROZ, appears in a historic document from the Voice of America and for many years it was thought that this callsign was simply a misprint, for KROU. However, in view of the climactic events in the Pacific at the beginning of August, 1945, it is more than likely that KROZ was indeed the callsign for an additional program transmitter at Palo Alto. The reference in the VOA document indicates that transmitter KROZ was normally in use as a communication unit for sending official dispatches out across the Pacific. The relay service provided by Mackay Cable & Wireless for the Voice of America was terminated at the very end of the year 1945. Radio stations KROJ, KROU & KROZ were never heard on the air again. However, at the time when Globe Wireless took over the communication station at Palo Alto in 1994, it was stated that there were 17 transmitters in use, including some that were in use during World War 2. Maybe these World War 2 transmitters were the 50 kW units known 50 years ago as KROJ, KROU & KROZ. A multitude of the now famous red white & blue QSL cards were issued from the OWI office in Sutter Street, San Francisco on behalf of station KROJ. However, there are no known QSLs of any type for station KROU, and there are no known monitoring reports for the transmitter KROZ. In recent time, Globe Wireless has given consideration to the possibility of transferring all of its services from the 80 year old radio communication station KFS at Palo Alto and consolidating these operations into the previous VOA station located at Dixon. If this move does take place, and if any of the towers are left standing at Palo Alto, then perhaps local historians in future generations will pose quizzical questions about this one also. Would this then make three Towers of Mystery in Palo Alto, California? (Adrian Michael Peterson, AWR Wavescan Dec 19 via World DX Club via DXLD) ** U S A. An organization called www.deeptrench.com is running a series of spot commercials on WRMI (and possibly other shortwave stations) indicating that their business relates to holidays (greeting cards and so forth) and that they are thinking of developing special shortwave programming for different holidays. Those who are interested should go to their special website http://www.deeptrench.com/shortwave and answer a short questionnaire (Jeff White, WRMI, Dec 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Only if you heard their ad on SW. . . (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. LISTENING TO CLASSICAL ON THE 'COOL' MEDIUM By David Mermelstein December 31, 2004 English Language Jewish Forward http://www.forward.com/main/article.php?id=2484 Marshall McLuhan famously termed television a "hot" medium and radio a "cool" one. The inconsistencies inherent in such artificial divisions notwithstanding, there are fundamental differences between the two. Perhaps above all, one remains the better suited to relaying, and even discussing, music. That point is made every day on radio stations throughout the world, but it comes into greater focus thanks to two series produced by Chicago's WFMT Radio Network — the 13-week "American Jewish Music From the Milken Archive," narrated by Leonard Nimoy, and the 11-part "Leonard Bernstein: An American Life," narrated by Susan Sarandon. Both are syndicated over a mix of public and commercial broadcasters — the Milken on 106 stations, and the Bernstein on 729 stations. Affording so much time to topics that are hardly at the forefront of American cultural life is, of course, cause for celebration. But there is concern, too. Will most people, even those truly interested in the subjects, be willing to devote so much time to them, and on a regular basis? Happily, neither series requires a total commitment. You can listen occasionally and not feel you have intruded on the middle of a conversation. Casual tuning in makes more sense with the Milken series, in which each installment examines a different facet of Jewish music. The Bernstein series covers a single life, and those unfamiliar with this legendary composer-conductor will miss details by listening infrequently. The Milken programs, each running two hours, derive their contents from a series of Milken Archive CDs on the Naxos label. (Currently, 30 titles are available of 52 projected.) Added to the music is Nimoy's relatively dry commentary and excerpts from interviews in which conductor Gerard Schwarz questions Neil Levin, the archive's artistic director. Unusually, the series often presents works in their entirety, a gesture serious music lovers will welcome. Those interested in just sampling Jewish music might find listening to more than 40 minutes of Kurt Weill's "The Eternal Road" a chore, but no one will discount this series' value in making available music rarely heard and little known. The Bible Stories program, for instance, features that bizarre collaboration known as "The Genesis Suite," with music by several 20th-century composers, including Schoenberg and Stravinsky. Conducted by Schwarz, the Berlin Radio Symphony performs the piece, joined by the Ernst Senff Chorus. Barbara Feldon, Fritz Weaver and Tovah Feldshuh are among the narrators. A program of concertos offers unfairly neglected works by Joseph Achron, Joel Hoffman, Paul Schoenfield, Sholom Secunda and Jacob Weinberg. And the incidental music that Yehudi Wyner wrote for "The Mirror," a play by Isaac Bashevis Singer, enlivens the klezmer program. There are even two hours devoted to Bernstein's music, nearly all of it unfamiliar, though none of it conducted by the composer. Unfortunately, the series is not flawless. Nimoy's narration, while authoritative, is muddily delivered. And the interpolated comments from Schwarz and Levin need drastic cutting. Not only do the "interviews" ramble, but they are also self-serving, undermining the very real value of this series. "Leonard Bernstein: An American Life" also suffers from a lack of discipline. One could ask how an 11-hour series could avoid being repetitive, but too much information in this series is repeated ad nauseam, and often in exactly the same way. A more serious failing is the lack of substantial musical excerpts throughout the programs. In addition, when music is played, listeners must guess at what it is. Even when it's obvious, the source remains a mystery. Yet the documentary value of this extensive series is huge. Its flaws notwithstanding, "Leonard Bernstein" sweepingly examines perhaps the most significant figure in 20th-century American music. Indeed, that it does so in a sloppy, often haphazard, frequently indulgent manner might be a fitting tribute to its subject, an artist better known for his gargantuan appetites and generosity of spirit than for refinement, economy or subtlety. Unlike the Milken Archive series, in which the value lies in the music, the interviews are the prize here. Many of the speakers are now dead, including Bernstein himself, who animates a surprisingly large portion of the series. (There's a grim fascination in hearing Bernstein's voice grow deeper as his cigarette smoking takes an increasing toll.) And when interviews prove unavailable, this series cleverly gives significant figures voice by having others read their letters. Surprisingly, Alec Baldwin makes an ideal Aaron Copland, despite sounding nothing like the great composer. And in a brilliant, if counterintuitive, move, Jamie Bernstein Thomas, the eldest of Bernstein's three children, speaks her father's words as though channeling him. McLuhan was right when he suggested that radio possesses a power that film and television lack; it requires our participation in ways they don't. Without the listener's active involvement, radio is mere background noise. These two series demonstrate the medium's power and, at their best, educate and illuminate. Better yet, they transport. David Mermelstein writes about music for The New York Times and other publications (via Joel Rubin, DXLD) Bernstein series over on most stations, still running on a few which started late (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. NTSB report on the KFI collision NTSB Identification: LAX05FA054 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation Accident occurred Sunday, December 19, 2004 in La Mirada, CA Aircraft: Cessna 182P, registration: N9187G Injuries: 2 Fatal. This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. On December 19, 2004, about 0948 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 182P, N9187G, collided with a 760-foot-tall radio transmission tower while in the traffic pattern at the Fullerton Municipal Airport, Fullerton, California. The transmission tower was located in the city of La Mirada, California. Lightning Aircraft Corp. was operating the rental airplane under the provisions 14 CFR 91. The private pilot and one passenger sustained fatal injuries; the airplane sustained substantial damage. The personal local flight departed from El Monte Airport, El Monte, California, about 0915, with a planned destination of Fullerton. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan had not been filed. During an interview with a National Transportation Safety Board investigator, a witness stated that while driving his automobile southbound on Interstate 5, he observed an airplane flying low, in a westerly direction. He noted that the airplane was configured in a wings-level attitude and that the propeller appeared to be turning. The airplane continued towards two parallel towers, both of which had numerous guy wires attached. He observed the inboard section of the airplane's left wing collide with the taller tower, impacting about 10 feet below the pinnacle. After the initial impact, a fire erupted and both wings, followed by the tail, floated toward the ground. After arriving at the accident site, investigators found the airplane wreckage located near a white and orange 2-inch diameter steel structure, which according to local officials, was the remnants of the collapsed transmission tower. The global positioning satellite (GPS) coordinates for the transmission tower base were about 33 degrees 52.705 minutes north latitude by 118 degrees 00.839 minutes west longitude. The main wreckage, consisting of the fuselage and tail section, was located about 33 degrees 52.766 minutes north latitude by 118 degrees 00.853 minutes west longitude. The accident site was located in an industrial parking lot about 1.6 nautical miles (nm) from the geographical center of Fullerton Municipal Airport on a bearing of 280 degrees true. The wreckage was spread on an asphalt parking lot amongst several unoccupied industrial trucks covering a 534-feet distance, with a debris path of 154 degrees true. The Airport/Facility Directory, Southwest U.S., indicates that 2 miles west-northwest of the Fullerton Municipal Airport (elevation 96 feet mean sea level (msl)), there is a lighted tower measuring 819 feet msl. Pictorially depicted as a obstruction below 1,000 feet above ground level (agl), the Los Angeles VFR Terminal Area Chart, dated December 23, 2004 (50th edition), discloses the transmission tower height extends 820 feet msl and 760 agl. *END* (via Bangers with Nikons, Dec 29, DXLD) ** U S A. LOCAL RADIO WON'T BE THE SAME WITHOUT RHODARMER By Tony Kiss, Entertainment Editor CITIZEN-TIMES.com Dec. 28, 2004 10:12 p.m. It's a day I've long dreaded, and somehow hoped would never arrive. But it's time to face the sad fact. After a half-century on Asheville radio station WWNC/AM- 570, morning announcer Scotty Rhodarmer is retiring. Local radio will never be the same. The last show, on Thursday morning, marks the end of an amazing career and last lingering bit of the "old" WWNC, the cherished hometown station that vanished when corporate owner Clear Channel dropped its country music format two years ago and switched to news-talk. The old WWNC was all about local personalities - folks like Wiley Carpenter, Cowboy John Roten and Rhodarmer. They were warm, reassuring voices and good radio friends. They were people you would see in the local grocery stores or community celebrations. . . http://www.citizen-times.com/cache/article/print/72995.shtml (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. Right now 12/31 0847 WD2XXM, Frederick, Maryland, 1670, is broadcasting in IBOC Hybrid mode. If you have not heard them yet, this may be a good chance to hear a clear ID. They are playing old pop music and other random music with IDs in between. This is a clip of an ID from WD2XXM. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/billqsl/sounds/01670-20041231-0922-WD2XXM.mp3 (Bill Harms, Elkridge, Maryland, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) Followed by a KHJ Los Angeles recorded ID! (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. ANOTHER DUAL STATION TEST NIGHT-MARK YOUR CALENDARS WXCT, 990, Southington, CT TEST === Date: January 8, 2005 (Late Friday Night into Saturday Morning) Time: 00:00AM EST to 02:00AM EST (2 Hour Test) [0500-0700 UT]. Modes of Operation: 00:00-00:30 Full day power 2.5kw and pattern. 00:30-01:00 1kw Non-Directional. 01:00-01:30 80 Watts Directional Night Pattern. 01:30-02:00 Off air to allow locals to DX 990. Programming: Mixture of Morse Code ID's, unique test tones, voice announcements and "most notably, you will hear music never heard before and probably never again on the radio!" This special test is being conducted Mr. Ron Barnes, the Chief Engineer. The test schedule makes it obvious that Mr. Barnes is very interested in seeing how the station performs over the entire test. If you can, try to observe how the signal changes strength as the power is reduced and include that information in your reports. Any reception reports should be sent to... WXCT AM 990 440 Old Turnpike Road Plantsville, CT 06479 ATTN: Ron Barnes CE Information about this test comes from a posting by Mr. Barnes to the "Radio-Info DX Web Board" and several e-mails exchanged with Mr. Barnes and noted DX'ers. I suggest that DX'ers check the board directly in the days leading up to the event for any last minute changes: http://www.radio-info.com/mods/posts?Board=dx Despite comments in some printed DX Publications about this test schedule being less than reliable, I consider it to be 100%. Tune and don't miss this chance to add another station from CT to the logs ====================================================================== WFIL, 560, Philadelphia, PA, TEST === Date: January 8, 2005 (Late Friday Night/Early Saturday Morning) Time: 02:00-03:30 EST (NOTE TIME CHANGE) [0700-0830 UT]. Modes of Operation: 02:01 - 02:30 5KW Daytime Directional Pattern. 02:31 - 03:00 2.5KW Non-Directional. 03:00 - 03:30 Off Air to allow DXers in our region of the country to DX other stations on 560 kHz. Programming: Morse IDs, Voice IDs, Tones, Marching Band Music - Stars and Stripes Forever, Washington Post March, Liberty Bell March (the old Monty Python Theme) Reception Reports should be sent to Rene Tetro by email at rtetro @ pobox.com or by snail mail at: Rene' Tetro, Chief Engineer, WNTP-WFIL, 117 Ridge Pike, Lafayette Hill, PA 19444-1901. Mr. Tetro will be sending out newly designed QSL Cards for each station with a special label/stamp on the reverse side noting the special DX Test to those who respond (Les Rayburn, IRCA, via DXLD) ** U S A. NEW RADIO STATION JUST FOR WOMEN COMING TO UTAH IN EARLY `05 http://www.radioink.com/HeadlineEntry.asp?hid=126445&pt=todaysnews Plans are in the works at Bonneville’s Broadcast House in Salt Lake City for Utah`s newest radio station, AM820. The station will feature information and conversation primarily for women. ``It is exciting to build a station literally from the ground up,`` stated Rod Arquette, VP of Operations & Programming for AM820 and KSL Newsradio 1160. ``We are looking at all aspects of how this radio station can provide the information our female listeners need and want. We have conducted formal and informal research, focus groups and community discussions, and we feel we have a unique and viable format for the community. We are aggressively searching for new, good local talent to be a part of this station.`` Chris Redgrave, vice president/station manager for AM820 and KSL Newsradio 1160 says, ``This will be an exciting radio station for women listeners! It`s all about them and it`s the first station dedicated to women and their lives and concerns. It will also be a great advertising vehicle for businesses to reach and talk with our listeners who, according to research, control a majority of the money spent.`` (Radio Ink via Harry Helms, DXLD) Including polygamy victims? ** U S A. RADIO PASSINGS 2004 [NY - orientated] By DAVID HINCKLEY DAILY NEWS FEATURE WRITER Originally published on December 28, 2004 Radio listeners lost several good friends in 2004, including John A. Gambling, Gene Klavan, Chuck Leonard and the unforgettable Scott Muni. . . http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/265838p-227684c.html (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 9620, SODRE reactivated. Usual classical music, weak at local midday Jan 1. 73 and a happy new year! (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UZBEKISTAN. R. Tashkent, 6025, 1240-1255 12/24. English program includes "This is the voice of Uzbekistan..." Possible // 5975 covered by weak QRM (Malaysia presumed). Fair signal and copy (Jeff Heller, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA (non). R. Nacional de Venezuela, 9550, 2006 12/27. I stopped at this frequency because two programs were playing over each other simultaneously in Spanish at equal strength; I thought maybe I had another co-channel station, then at 2010, both programs ended, and a new program started with a typical Cuban style ID as Radio Nactional de Venezuela, followed by an absolutely insipid radio drama in Spanish about the struggle of the people over corruption (yes). I assume that the engineers in Habana cued up two programs at once. At least this Cuban is pretty well modulated compared to many other frequencies (Jeff Heller, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 4910, ZNBC Radio 1 at 2125 on Dec 31 had a speech by a man then a woman in a local language followed by an interview session, brief afropops at 2144 then a man with "From Radio 1, 2, 3, and 4...Happy New Year" then more afropops with a New Year's greeting over top then a woman with vernacular talk and a Radio 1 ID at 2147 followed by African tribal rhythms then a woman with an excited "Hello 2005...2004...Bye bye!" at 2149, more tribal rhythms then a woman taking phone calls from 2202 - 12 Midnight local was 2200 (Mark Coady, ON, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4910.0, ZNBC (tent.), Jan 1, 0114-0200, Man & Woman DJs in African vernacular with New Years program, they were very cheerful and laughing a lot, played nice selection of African music, at end of program said ``Happy New Year`` and played ``Happy New Year`` song in English, 0200-0223 some slow organ music with ``Happy New Year`` song played a few more times. Phone number given to call in, phone ringing and announcer says ``Hello Hello`` but he could not hear the person on the line. I will call it tentative as I only heard a tentative mention of Zambia, no full ID. Seems they have an extended schedule. Started out poor but became fair-good. (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See UNID 4500, 4910 below UNIDENTIFIED. 4500, possibly Zambian ZBC2, checked on 30 and 31.12. On 30th at 0400 with news in English. Quite good for Xinjiang, S55-6 24223. Again till 2200 with talks in English. S5 over S3 noise floor. On 31.12.4 on 1934 with commentaries, talks about Zambia, Botswana, Zzambian Association, Kampala. Heard a short ID "..... - two syllabic - Broadcasting Corporation". News by YL at 2000, Signal S7 over S3 noise floor. I can suppose Zambia but not // 4910. 6165 QRMed 1.1.05 at 1735 mixed with Xinjiang PBS (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4910, Dec 29, tune in 1908 fairly good at times but in local language and I did not get any hint of whom. Anybody? Once or twice mixed with French 'Mesdames et messieurs'. Will have to work on this as had gone when I had time to recheck hours later. Think they must have signed off around 2200? Mauritania was right on frequency 4845 (Finn Krone, Denmark, BC-DX Dec 29 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 6310.22, 1724-1920, unID clandestine, tentative Kurdish, playing traditional music and melancholic songs, no jamming, only a little utilitty QRM. 27.12.2004 SINPO 24433 (Günter Lorenz, currently near Pavia, North Italy Icom R75, 30 m Longwire, HCDX via DXLD) 6310 : Kurdish pop channel --- Did anyone notice this station? Yesterday 29 and today 30 I have heard a station on 6310 only playing Kurdish or Turkish pops. There is seldom any ID during programming. At 1547 29.12 heard something like 'R. Fox" or R. Studio at 1800 30.12. Today 30.12 at 1955 and still in operation. Signal is S6-7 but rated as 3433[3-4]. Did anyone notice this station or found more info? (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, Pesawat penerima: ICOM R75, Lowe HF150, Degen 1102, Chibo C300/c979, Yupi 7000, Antenna: 16m hor, 2x16 m V invert, 1m australian loop, HCDX via DXLD) What about Radio Malaisi, Italian pirate station, heard at night here, especially on Jan 1st at 01.00 UTC. ID: "Broadcasting from Southern Europe - this is Radio Malaisi". Very strong, but only with funk and soul music, when I listened! Happier New Year to you all from (Björn Fransson, Sweden, HCDX via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ TBL AVAILABLE AS PDF ONLY I have to inform you that from now the Tropical Band List will only be available as a pdf file, mailed as an email attachment. The main reason is that the Post system in Germany has been restructured, and in my part of the city there is no post office any more. Initially I intended to announce this change early enough. But despite an information I got a week ago from the next post office (which, in fact, is a tobacco and newspaper shop selling also stamps) the postal rates for books will go up next year. At December 27, nobody was able to tell me the new price, no price lists were available yet. That makes it impossible to plan anything, so I decided to reduce my use of the German post service to the lowest possible level. Existing subscriptions will be fulfilled of course. Pdf copies will still be available as single copies or subscriptions, and the prices will remain the same. For further information please refer to http://www.radio-portal.org/wp/tbl.html Best regards from Germany and all the best for 2005! http://www.radio-portal.org _/_/ The Radio Search Engine _/_/ (Willi H. Passmann Media Consulting _/_/ Oberhausener Str. 100, D-45476 Muelheim, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LW RADIO BEACONS LIST For those looking for a listing of these excellent propagation beacons, I have published one on my website at http://home.cogeco.ca/~dxinfo/ndb.htm Cheers, (William Hepburn, DXer VEM3-ONT22, Grimsby, ON, CANADA, Dec 29, WTFDA via DXLD) COMMENTARY ++++++++++ Re: DON`T LIKE THOSE EMAIL VERIES? [footnotes added] For a DXer and his "visual arts album" it is a problem that out of sight is also out of mind, or as the Spanish say, "Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente". I can understand the frustration with a DXer receiving an email verie from someone-I-can´t-remember-his-name@hotmail.com saying "thank you ever so much for your report; indeed, you were listening to our station", etc. etc. From time to time I have been asked to help. By scrutinizing the message one can usually find some linguistic evidence of the country of origin. Then there are also the internet search engines. Usually, I can come up with the right answer even though the listener can provide no clue as he has been sending out lots of reports. (1) Many stations will refuse to send out written veries (they may be pirates, or almost) but they will be happy to acknowledge reports on the air. You set the date and time, tune the frequency and keep your recorder handy, and the station will provide the rest. (2) I can assure you that such moments are thrilling and listening to those veries again is a real treat ... to your ear (Henrik Klemetz, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1258, DX LISTENING DIGEST) (1) Radio LTC, Radio Puerto Cabello, Radio Estación Tarapoto, etc. (2) Radio Gotas de Oro, Radio San Juan, Radio Luz y Sonido, Radio Power, Radio Colina, Radio Uno, Estación Yurimaguas, Radio San Ignacio, Radio Ondas del Río Mayo, Radio Jaén, Radio Catatumbo, Radio San José, etc. (SW Bulletin Dec 26 via DXLD) MUSEA +++++ FIRST FM LAB NOW 'HISTORIC' http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/267051p-228767c.html The Columbia University lab where Edwin Howard Armstrong developed FM radio technology in the 1930s has been given National Historic Landmark status. Armstrong's technology, which gave radio a clearer signal than the AM band, had its public debut in 1939, though FM wouldn't become widely popular for another three decades. An electronics whiz, Armstrong conducted much of his radio research for military purposes - specifically, to enhance U.S. military communications in World Wars I and II. He had a frustrating time, however, with FM. He fought much of his life to keep the rights to his invention and finally committed suicide in 1951 when it seemed he had lost them. His wife kept battling and eventually prevailed in court (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ TEXAS TO OFFER FREE WIFI INTERNET ACCESS at its 102 interstate highway rest areas by October, 2005 (not broadcasting-related, but very cool nonetheless): [cutesy alert!] http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2004/12/emw190295.htm . . . By October 2005 wireless access will be available at all 102 Texas safety rest areas. The newest three free wireless rest stops in Texas are on US-287 near Hedley and Quanah west of Amarillo. Service is already available at the Medina County safety rest area on US 90 East of San Antonio. [sic:: Hedley and Quanah are SE of Amarillo, the latter right next to OK`s SW corner. Medina county is west of San Antonio! Geez --- gh] At no cost to the state, Coach Connect will install all equipment necessary to acquire a broadband internet signal. Travelers with wireless enabled computers will have immediate and free access to Road Connect, a suite of products and services including local community information and two free hours of wireless (Wi-Fi) access to the World Wide Web. Additional Wi-Fi access will be available by subscription... http://www.RoadConnect.net (via Harry Helms W5HLH Wimberley, TX EM00, DXLD) NRD 545 REMOTE CONTROL APP I just put a Free version of my NRD545 Remote Control application on my web Site. It has the B04 HFCC database as it's main database. Anyone who wants to download it can if they go to the following link: http://www.orchidcitysoftware.com/IMAGE41.HTML Here's your chance to try out a remote program on your NRD545 if you haven't already. It's free to use, so hope you get a chance to try it. I wrote this application and it's a basic version of my comprehensive Remote Program for the NRD545. Thanks (Chuck Bolland ka4prf @ us- it.net Clewiston Florida, Dec 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn The following is the text I sent to the NRD 545 YAHOO GROUPS if you're interested? Hello everyone, I have installed the 6kcs filter from Sherwood Engineering into my NRD545. When I mentioned this before a few months ago, I got a lot of negative feedback. I recently performed a test with the stock filter and the replacement filter showing that the replacement filter actually does reduce splatter on the NRD545. You can HEAR the results at the following URL if you wish? http://www.orchidcitysoftware.com/IMAGE40.HTML Drop me a line and let me know what you think? Thanks (Chuck Bolland, FL, Dec 29, ibid.) DRM [see also GERMANY, LUXEMBOURG above] +++ In very simple terms, can some tell me, in a couple of sentences, why we are getting this DRM racket on MW? Is there a DRM radio which translates the racket into very high quality audio with zero distortion, zero fading at up to 750 miles and a high fidelity surround sound which is far superior to FM stereo? If it doesn't meet these standards why the racket on MW? Puzzled, (Barry Davies, UK, MWC via DXLD) Money. The radio manufacturers want to sell new equipment. And as the old radios are good enough and the market is saturated, they are coming with something new around the corner. And with the buzzword "digital" in it, it has to be good. It's that simple. Some radio stations seem to think that DRM will boost up their listening figures; Deutsche Welle, Radio Nederland and Luxy are the main players in that game. Commercial radios aren't available yet, expected to come on the market next autumn (for a few years now they say it'll be next autumn...) Sound quality is better than conventional AM, but not as good as FM. I find it fatiguing to listen to for a longer time. In my opinion a lot of drop-outs make it unpleasant to listen to. If you own a AR7030 you can listen to DRM transmissions via the PC. You need a free software named DREAM (although I think, from a Dxer`s point of view DRM is more of a nightmare than a dream). Available here: http://home.t-online.de/home/sat-service/sat/DRM/DRM.htm Install the software, connect the line-out of the AR7030 to the soundcard of the PC. Tune the AR7030 6 kHz above the operating frequency, i.e. 1446.00 kHz. Set it to CW, PBS -4.2, BFO 0.0 and use the 9.5 kHz filter. The resulting noise can be decoded by the DREAM- software. Start the software, go to "Evaluation dialog" and click the checkbox at "Flip Input Spectrum". A few seconds later you can listen to the decoded DRM-signal. 73 (Martin Elbe, Dec 29, MWC via DXLD) I've got a feeling that the Chinese have the key to DRM becoming a success - or the opposite. If DRM is introduced on the huge Chinese domestic market in a large scale, DRM might have a good chance of becoming a world wide standard - available very cheaply on portable radios and car radios. There's no chance that DW and RN will play an important role in this issue. With due respect to DW and RN. Besides, Martin - money is of course the main issue which the world is focusing on currently. But honestly --- it is very hard to see the world of radio below 30 MHz survive in the future unless it becomes digital. Everything else is abandoning old analogue technology!?! Best 73s (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, ibid.) If there aren't cheap radios DRM will never be a success. But even if cheap receivers are available I wouldn't take it for granted, that DRM will become a success in the industrialized world. So what? I couldn't care less. For the next decades I'm sure we would find enough interesting DX-targets. And I don't think, that because it's going "digital" now there will be a comeback of MW and SW. But the stations hope so. We'll see in a few years, who was right and who was wrong. But from a Dxer`s point of view it's a bloody pain in the arse. That's what we can say already now. 73 (Martin Elbe, Germany, ibid.) Come on, chaps, let's not start the old debate again!!! DRM will be the standard, whether you like it or not. And who said it should be far superior to FM? And why on earth do you want zero fading at 750 miles? MW is meant for local and regional coverage. It was never meant to cover 750 miles. Don't forget that radio is meant for listeners, not for DXers. As a DXer you don't mind if there is a lot of noise on the band, then why bother for DRM noise? But a listener will not accept ANY noise and on the MW band DRM is THE solution. Nowadays nobody listens to MW anymore. If all stations shut down for lack of an audience then you, the hard-core DXers, won't be any better off either. I, for one, very much look forward to DRM. It's a matter of life and death for the MW/LW bands (Rémy Friess, France, ibid.) I fully concur with Rémy's opinion. If everyone is being very honest, one will have to admit that the number of listeners to LW or MW is negligible as compared to FM. I regularly wonder why so many stations keep the transmitters on and why so many are keen to get on (see new French stations, the Dutch licences, etc.). Here in Flanders, the 1188 kHz in Kuurne (airing VRT Radio 2 with 5 kW) literally has NO listeners whatsoever but the VRT keeps the channel occupied because otherwise commercial stations may appeal the government for using the allocated frequency. Anyway, depending on the country you live in, one or a few DRM transmitters on MW are sufficient to cover the whole country. Compare that to the many FM transmitters you need to do the same. This may be a nuisance to DXers who look for analogue signals, but DXers will have to do what they have always done: adapt. 73 - (Herman Boel, http://www.hermanboel.be ibid.) Many thanks for this simple answer. Unless the DRM sets are cheaper than what`s on offer now, I guess it will go the same way as AM stereo in the states and AM radio in Canada. The big risk would be for the stations to give away the receivers "SKY TV" style. I must admit I might be tempted if they were free. The great thing about your answer, Martin, is the word "money" and I can't see a lot of it in digital AM radio. I certainly wouldn't invest for a quick return. Suits me if they fill their boots with it in China; just stick with analogue below 2 MHz West of GMT is my only wish. 73's (Barry Davies, UK, ibid.) AVAILABLE RECEIVERS FOR DIGITAL RADIO MONDIALE (DRM) - The Mayah DRM2010 portable receiver can be ordered at http://www.mayah.com/index.php?id=8&type=10 It has been available since Apr 2004. By consequence, it is listed on page 207 of the brandnew 2005 Shortwave Frequency Guide. Product tests can be found as early as 31 May 2004 at http://www.teltarif.de/arch/2004/kw23/s13868.html and in Radio-Kurier Weltweit Hören of 01 AUG 2004 --- see http://www.radiostation.ru/drm/drm_usb_desc.pdf - The Coding Technologies DRM Digital World Traveller has been presented on 11 Sep 2004 at the International Broadcasting Conference and can be ordered at http://www.codingtechnologies.com//products/digtrav.htm By consequence, it is listed on page 207 of the brandnew 2005 Shortwave Frequency Guide. It has been tested in Radio-Kurier Weltweit Hören of 01 Dec 2004 and on 21 Nov 2004 at http://www.teltarif.ch/arch/2004/kw47/s3446.html.de - The excellent Ciao Radio H101 portable DRM receiver box can be ordered at http://www.comsistel.com By consequence, it is listed on page 208 of the brandnew 2005 Shortwave Frequency Guide. - The Fraunhofer DT700 professional DRM receiver has been available since early 2004 and can be ordered at http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/dab/products/drmmonitoringreceiver/index.html By consequence, it is listed on page 208 of the brandnew 2005 Shortwave Frequency Guide. Just for the record, ``World Radio TV Handbook`` 2005 knows nothing at all about all this. It states on page 50 that "Dedicated DRM receivers are still not commercially available". And that was that. What a shame! (Joerg Klingenfuss, Dec 17, DSWCI DX Window via DXLD) My one wish for 2005 is that DRM transmissions would move to a dedicated area of the shortwave spectrum; at the moment they cause dreadful interference to broadcasters on adjacent frequencies. This is something commented on by many correspondents to logbook and at our meetings in Reading (Edwin Southwell, England, Jan World DX Club Contact via DXLD) UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Happy new year; keep on the good job! Reader of your digest & swl in France (Michel Lacroix) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ QUADRANTIDS METEOR SHOWER On Monday morning, January 3, 2005, Earth will glide through a cloud of dusty debris trailing asteroid 2003 EH1, causing a brief meteor shower over central and western parts of North America. The best time to look is during the hours around 4 o'clock in the morning PST (6 a.m. CST or 1200 GMT). Observers with dark skies might see a meteor every one or two minutes. Astronomers call this annual shower "the Quadrantids" because it radiates from the extinct constellation Quadrans Muralis. FM and TV DXers might wish to check for meteor scatter propagation (Mark Coady, ODXA, via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) HUGE SOLAR FLARES Per my forecast outlook #2005-001 issued on Friday 12/31/04 sunspot group number 10175 is now producing huge X class solar flares. It has also produced 4 large M class solar flares and 5 coronal mass ejections. Fortunately so far none of the CME's are totally geoeffective (Earth Facing) but could still cause active Kp-4 to minor Kp-5 geomagnetic storming in 2-3 days. This group should make for some interesting solar, space weather and geomagnetic conditions this first week of 2005! 73, (Thomas Giella, KN4LF Plant City, FL, Jan 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###