DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-007, January 9, 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 1259: Sun 2030 WOR WWCR 12160 Mon 0330 WOR WRMI 6870 Mon 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0530 WOR WBCQ 7415 Mon 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 1000 WOR WRMI 9955 Tue 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Wed 1030 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WORLD OF RADIO 1259 in the true shortwave sound of 7415: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_01-05-05.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_01-05-05.mp3 WOR 1259 also available via phone feed to WBCQ`s stream via http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=10770 (Larry Will, Jan 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Due to computer problems, WOR 1259 in real format from our studio is not yet available for download or streaming, but should be next week. Affiliates acquiring WOR by this means should run WOR Extra 53 this week, and WOR 1259 next week. NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 53: Sun 2000 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sun 2100 WOR RNI Mon 0900 WOR R. Lavalamp 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 53 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx53h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/worx53h.rm WORLD OF RADIO Extra 53 (low version, without the WOR opening): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0408.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0408.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0408.html DXLD YAHOOGROUP --- Lots more info, without delay: Here`s where to sign up. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ TSUNAMI ITEMS: ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS, AUSTRALIA, INTERNATIONAL, MADAGASCAR, SRI LANKA, UK, USA [Fox] ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. SW RADIOS FOR ANDAMAN PEOPLE In India, Andaman Nicobar Island severely hit by tsunami disaster. At The same time, earthquake continuously hit Andaman Island. So people displace their shelter. All India Radio, Chennai regularly announce that Andaman require immediately shortwave radios for communication. Those who interest to help the victims, please send SW radios to the Following address: Station director, All India Radio, Kamarajar Salai, Chennai-600004 (k_raja123123@yahoo.co.in, Jan 9, GRDXC via DXLD) ** ARMENIA [and non]. RFE/RL CAUCASUS SERVICES LAUNCH NEW REGIONAL DISCUSSION PROGRAM (Washington/Prague -- January 7, 2005) The Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian broadcast services of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) are launching a new jointly produced, regional program designed to help bridge the divisions that exist among the several nations living in the South Caucasus. The 20-minute program will be heard as part of RFE/RL's regular programming every Saturday at 6:00 PM (local time) on Georgian State Radio and at 5:15 PM and 11:15 PM (local time) on Azerbaijan's Teleradio network, and on Sunday evenings at 7:00 PM on Armenian State Radio. The broadcasts will be available on RFE/RL's local private affiliates as well as on the Internet and via shortwave and direct-to- home satellite broadcast (see http://www.rferl.org/listen for more schedule information). Every other week, the program will be made up of a live roundtable, moderated from Prague, but conducted either from RFE/RL's studios in Tbilisi, Georgia or via phone with guests located in each of the three capitals -- Tbilisi, Yerevan, Armenia and Baku, Azerbaijan. Programs for those weeks when a roundtable will not be broadcast (including the first broadcast January 8) will be prerecorded by local journalists in Tbilisi, Yerevan and Baku and packaged by RFE/RL editors in Prague. Editorial control of the program will remain with RFE/RL. According to RFE/RL Associate Director of Broadcasting Nenad Pejic, the topics addressed on the program will "concentrate on the future and on issues that citizens in the region share as common problems," in an effort to counteract the general practice in the Caucasus of using mass media to perpetuate negative images of adversaries and to promote one-dimensional views of the various conflicts that divide the residents of all three countries. "Our aim is to engage communities in a dialogue that will show how much they share rather than repeat how much divides them," Pejic said. As a result, while not shying away from sensitive political issues such as the region's foreign policy orientation, upcoming programs will address such issues of broad concern in all three countries as health care reform, education reform, energy and pipeline policy, and transport and communications issues. The new program is being produced in cooperation with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the German Gesellschaft fuer Technische Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GTZ, German Technical Cooperation). RFE/RL's Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian Services broadcast a combined 12 hours of programming a day to the South Caucasus, produced in Prague and in local bureaus in Yerevan, Baku and Tbilisi and transmitted to listeners via satellite, shortwave and AM, FM, UKV and cable signals provided by local affiliate stations. Programming aired by all three services is also available via the Internet, at http://www.rferl.org and at the respective service websites: http://www.armenialiberty.org http://www.azadses.org and http://www.tavisupleba.org (from http://www.rferl.org/releases/2005/01/295-070105.asp via Alokesh Gupta, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ASIA [non]. Radio Free Asia`s QSL card gallery including the new Year of the Rooster one and the three previous: http://www.techweb.rfa.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=134&Itemid=164 BTW, on RKI`s Worldwide Friendship for Jan 1 Sophia Hong called it ``Year of the Chicken`` --- which is it, or are females of this species also considered inferior? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. The Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, issued the following press statement on 7 January 2005 following the passing of John Doherty who had played an instrumental role in the development of the ABC Asia Pacific television service: "I am pleased to announce the establishment of an annual Asia Pacific journalism internship in memory of the late John Doherty, the former Head of International Operations of the ABC Asia Pacific regional television service. "Under the scheme, to be known as the 'John Doherty Asia Pacific Journalism Internship', two broadcast journalists from the region will be funded to come to Australia each year for intensive two-week internships at ABC Asia Pacific to build relationships and develop skills in our region's media. The journalists will also be given opportunities to report on aspects of contemporary Australia. "John, who was one of the founders of ABCAP in 2001, died on 29 December 2004 after a short illness. His tireless work in advocating ABC Asia Pacific to promote Australia and our values and characteristics throughout the region will be long remembered. "John's legacy is a television service which is widely respected in the region. I am advised that ABC Asia Pacific is now the fastest growing satellite channel in Asia and it is now watched in 38 countries and retransmitted by more than 150 pay television operators. "My Department was responsible for administering the Government's contract with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for the operation of ABC Asia Pacific. On behalf of all my staff and those in my Department who knew John well, I extend my condolences to John's wife and children, on this the day of his funeral in Adelaide." (ends) I had the pleasure of knowing John and working with him in the period leading up to and after the launch of ABC Asia Pacific in 2001. He led a small team entrusted with getting Australia back on the television airwaves in the Asia Pacific region and worked relentlessly to build the service and develop relationships with regional broadcasters. I was greatly saddened to learn of his untimely passing (Matt Francis, DC, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIAN OPPOSITION CALL FOR REBUILDING OF RADIO AUSTRALIA Australia's Shadow Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd has called on national television for Radio Australia to be rebuilt. Appearing on the ABC programme "The 7.30 Report", Mr Rudd confirmed that the opposition Labor Party broadly supported the massive aid package to Indonesia announced by the government, but added "There's one other thing that we need to do in terms of meeting our objectives in Indonesia in the long-term, and that's to rebuild Radio Australia. Radio Australia is an important vehicle for Australia and Australians to get their message out right across the Indonesian archipelago." "The Howard Government cut and axed Radio Australia several years ago. I think the time has come for the Howard Government to learn from that mistake, rebuild Radio Australia, so that if we are now engaged in doing good things in Indonesia, let's get the message out, and to do that, we've got to have the capacity to do it, and Radio Australia, because of the importance of shortwave transmission services as a means of receiving news across the region, is a very important national asset which must now be rebuilt." # posted by Andy @ 13:53 UT Jan 9 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. QSL Information: 4915.0 R. Difusora, Macapá. English letter and sightseeing brochure. v/s: Ronaldo Picanco and Silva (Manager). A20A for 2nd follow-up (Hideki WATANABE, Radio Nuevo Mundo, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A20A? ** BRAZIL. A Rádio Tupi, de Curitiba (PR), leva ao ar a seguinte identificação: "Rádio Tupi, a emissora de Deus, 24 horas no ar!" É escutada, em ondas curtas, em 6060, 9565 e 11765 kHz. Pertencente à Igreja Pentecostal Deus é Amor, não tem interesse no radioescuta! BRASIL - O caos que tomou conta da sociedade do Rio de Janeiro (RJ) também é notado no dial de emissoras de rádios. No sítio da http://www.radiobaseurgente.blogspot.com o ouvinte Aimoré declara que "no Rio de Janeiro só tem rádio com a bíblia embaixo do braço", ao constatar que quase todas as emissoras irradiam programações de cunho religioso. BRASIL - Janeiro é o mês em que o ouvinte brasileiro tem que aturar as eternas repetições de programas de variedades. Uma falta de respeito até com o patrocinador! Quem estará reprisando programas é a Rádio Bandeirantes, de São Paulo (SP). O espaço Fanáticos por Futebol, que é irradiado, nos domingos, sob a condução de Marcelo Duarte, já está "enlatado" e pronto para ir ao ar. Não teria mais alguém para fazer o programa? Novos talentos? Tal costume não é adotado no Rio Grande do Sul, onde as rádios Gaúcha e Guaíba prestigiam outros profissionais, escalando-os para os espaços (Célio Romais, Panorama, Conexión Digital Jan 8 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4945, 8.1 0045, Rádio Difusora de Poços de Caldas med ett religiöst inslag från Igreja da Graça. På sin hemsida har stationen en mängd teknisk information med bilder på de olika sändarna http://www.difusorapocos.com.br/transmissores/sw.php CB (Christer Brunström, Sweden, SW Bulletin Jan 9 via dXLD) ** CANADA. The [CKUT] International Radio Report has moved off FortuneCity and onto a "real" web server -- without the banner ads and pop-ups. The main page, audio files and program summaries dating back to May 2000 are now available at this location: http://mediajct.homeip.net/radioreport -----[ MAIN PAGE ]----- http://http://mediajct.homeip.net/radioreport -----[ STREAMING AUDIO FILES (left click) ]----- (LO) http://www.vif.com/users/rleong/radioreport/radioreport-050109-8kps.ram (HI) http://www.vif.com/users/rleong/radioreport/radioreport-050109-16kps.ram -----[ DOWNLOAD AUDIO FILES (right-click, save link/target as) ]----- (LO) http://www.vif.com/users/rleong/radioreport/radioreport-050109-8kps.rm (HI) http://www.vif.com/users/rleong/radioreport/radioreport-050109-16kps.rm -----[ THIS WEEK'S TEXT-ONLY SUMMARY ]----- http://mediajct.homeip.net/radioreport/summaries/2005-01-02.html -----[ ARCHIVE OF TEXT-ONLY SUMMARIES ]----- http://mediajct.homeip.net/radioreport/summaries (Ricky Leong, QC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC [non]. Re 9590: ``By that he means that it may not really be at Issoudun. There still appears to be some doubt whether 9590 is via France, or Gabon.`` Cf. Thorsten Hallmann's report about RFI being used as filler when the feed was completely broken. Would Africa No. 1 do this? Speaking about audio quality of African stations: Two years ago I could note that Brazzaville had via Worldspace exactly the same bass-hefty audio as on shortwave (run with Telefunken PDM transmitters from German aid, by the way). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, yes, why not? ANO also relays RFI; and it could be that even if transmitted via Gabon, the feed is routed thru France (gh, DXLD) Possible, of course. The actual question from my point of view: Is there enough evidence for assuming that the quoted coordination data for Issoudun is wrong? I think not. Another point: I am not familiar with the propagation conditions over Africa, but would 31 metres be a suitable frequency for evening/nighttime transmissions into a target area hardly more than 1000 km away? By the way: If Issoudun, which Issoudun? One of the ALLISS units today used by RFI or the old Centre E installations, otherwise used by Libya? The latter one would be well possible if RFI is not involved in these transmissions (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) ** CHECHNYA [non]. DXLD 5-006: Re, under Chechnya, though without connection to Radio Free Chechnya: ``At 0250 UT Dec 6, on LW 252 and MW 567 R. Rossii, same from 0300 UT on 567, SW 5925 and 6150[!] kHz. Latter is new frequency, but NOT announced (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, BC-DX via DXLD)`` 6150 is obviously the Perm transmitter, which has been there for more than a year now (Olle Alm, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. CARTA DE CUBA, LA ESCRITURA DE LA LIBERTAD http://www.cartadecuba.com/informe_rsf_sobre_internet_en_cuba.htm Informe RSF Sobre Internet en Cuba (via Oscar de Cespedes, Conexión Digital Jan 8 via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. Quito 8/1 2004 *** Saturday edition: *** Recording of 2960.90, HCWP5, R. Atlántida, Alausí. I have heard this harmonic before but never as strong as the last week: S 9 +24dB sometimes. For the moment the best going harmonic here in Quito. Alausí is a small city located at an altitude of 2600 m. It is a treatment station in altitude, located on the railway line connecting the two biggest cities of the country: Guayaquil and Quito. Comments and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. E a Rádio Cairo, hein? Continuou, no ar, em português, depois do dia 31 de dezembro, quando poderia deixar de emitir no nosso idioma! O colunista ouviu a emissora, no dia primeiro, às 2305, em 11790 kHz. A recepção estava ruim. No entanto, pude identificar o locutor Aiman apresentando o programa Conversando com os Ouvintes. Era apresentou uma relação de dezenas de nomes de ouvintes brasileiros tais como Victor Bonassin, de Curitiba (PR), Oséias Fantinelli, de Jacutinga (RS), Alberto Hindenburgo Fetter, de Farroupilha (RS), Valter Aguiar, de Santos (SP), entre outros. Será que valeu a campanha do DX Clube do Brasil em prol da manutenção do Departamento Brasileiro da emissora? (Célio Romais, Panorama, Conexión Digital Jan 8 via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. QSL till BEFF: Voice of Delina-15650, ny eritreansk clandestine med e-mail-``tack`` och en info om organisationen bakom programmet, Tesfa Delina Foundation Inc. (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Jan 9 via DXLD) 15650, Voice of Delina *1500-1509 January 8th, local pop music with identification and frequency schedule in local language given above it, many mentions of Delina. Then man in echo chamber alternating with more local pops. Good on clear channel. Not heard at 1550 re-check. 7590, Dejen Radio presumed the one here January 8th 1710-1720 with local music and man in local language, weak to fair on clear channel. Both of these scheduled Saturdays only (Mike Barraclough, Letchworth Garden City, UK) ** EUROPE. LATEST NEWS: EUROPA RADIO INTERNATIONAL ACQUIRES TX From the Europa Radio International website at http://www.europaradiointernational.co.uk Europa Radio International has acquired a refurbished 5 kilowatt AM transmitter which is to be installed at a disused transmitter site in the former Soviet Union. The transmitter will be shipped next month and, after conversion work to double its output power and remedial work to the antenna system have taken place, we aim to have it operational by mid to late Summer 2005. Whilst the transmitter will be owned by us, it will be operated and maintained by former engineers at the (until now) redundant site. Air- time will also be available for hire at a later date. In the interim Europa Radio International will continue to use the transmission facilities in Latvia and shortly, a second transmitter in the United States. Regards (Alan Day, Operations, ERI, Jan 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The unit is illustrated at the website; from its messageboard, a bit more info: NEW TRANSMITTER on: Today at 04:59am Started by Alan Day | Post by Alan Day As you will have read on the front page, we have bought a Collins transmitter which we will be installing in a former Russian state. The deal is done but certain formalities need to be sorted before we can announce properly where the transmitter is to be sited. The tx has been completely refurbished but will be upgraded to give more power and the antenna system at the site needs to be re-engineered and refurbished as it has remained unused for about four years. We will keep you updated as to our progress both here and on the website itself but if you have any questions feel free to ask. Regards Alan Day Today at 05:47am Started by Alan Day | Post by Peter Have you bought a medium wave or shortwave transmitter? Peter Thanks Peter. We have both an AM and shortwave frequency and will be testing on both. To answer to your question, the TX has been converted to operate on Shortwave but was originally used on medium wave and it's fairly straightforward to convert it back again (Alan Day, ibid.) But where? They are not ready to say (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just in case you will find this interesting. These are the guys who first claimed that they are going to lease a mediumwave transmitter in Germany (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GABON. 4777.0, R. Gabon, Jan 9, 0540-0613, French programming, pop African music, phone in program, many IDs for ``Radio Gabon``. Good but the audio somewhat distorted (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Re ``First successful SW broadcast transmission from Zeesen, Germany, to USA 80 years ago, on Jan 31, 1925. DLR Berlin LW177, 6005 kHz, at 0350 / 1045 hrs UT; DLF LW153 & 207 kHz, 6190, 0805 UT: Das Deutschlandradio erinnert am 31. Januar 2005 in seinen beiden Programmen an die erste erfolgreiche Rundfunkuebertragung ueber Kurzwelle aus den USA nach Deutschland vor 80 Jahren.´´ The German original means from the USA into Germany, not the other way round. All the best, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So it does, but which way was it, really? Why mention Zeesen if that was not the transmitter site? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No idea. Shortwave transmissions from Zeesen started not before 1929. Some further research revealed that the event in question was in fact the first broadcast *feed* from the USA to Germany: A program from Pittsburgh ("Der amerikanische Turnerbund grüßt Deutschland"), transferred via shortwave to Germany and broadcast by Reichssender Stuttgart. Something that was still done decades ago; I have recordings of correspondent reports about the Apollo 11 flight, fed from Washington to Germany by transmitting them via Greenville. In the case of my recordings received they were received at what was then Karl-Marx-Stadt, without authorization from Washington I fear. All the best, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 9, ibid.) ** GUATEMALA. Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. Radio Verdad cerró este 07/01 a las 0600 UT. Transmitía música religiosa. SINPO 25422. Frecuencia: 4052.46kHz. Himno nacional a las 0556 UT (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Re 5-006, my log on 9820 until 1500: actually, from PWBR all I could determine was that it was AIR in some ``other`` language. I then checked WRTH 2005 to find the specific transmission (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Obviously you heard Buddhist religious chanting. AIR includes that in its programmes to Sri Lanka. By the way, 9820 is broadcast via one of the two Panaji [GOA] transmitters. Both of these suffer from parasitic whistles. The pitch of the whistles varies with the audio intensity. This auto-interference is quite annoying at times and has been there at least since last spring (Olle Alm, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) O yes, I meant to mention the whistling, quite a lot like Radio Habana Cuba used(?) to do on the very same frequency! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4971.0, AIR Shillong, Jan 8, at 1523, news in vernacular, weak. This station has been broadcasting now for 15 years. The North Eastern Service of AIR began on Jan 3, 1990. This is the first time I ever remember them being a little off frequency (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 4605, RRI Serui, Tentative, 1015-1101 Noted a Christian Church service with Man Preaching in Language(?) and congregation singing Christian Hymns. The religious program continued the entire hour. I was reluctant to report this in the event that I was copying a harmonic or spur. Anyway, the signal was poor here in Clewiston and by the hour nothing but the carrier was audible (Chuck Bolland, January 8, 2005, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Unlikely anything on 1/3 = 1535. Serui is in New Guinea, or rather West Irian or rather Irian Jaya, or rather Papua, where I suspect missionaries have made some inroads (gh, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Don`t you believe VOI`s own website http://www.rri-online.com/modules.php?name=SLN_English&op=about_us which shows English at 1500 UT instead of 0100, since they added rather than subtracted 7 hours from WIB (West Indonesian Time = UT - 7). This should be fairly obvious as it is adjacent to correct time conversions for languages before and after it. But this again raises the question: is the usually inaudible English broadcast still at 0100 as this implies, or really at 0200 UT as has been reported, including in the WRTH 2005? The same page shows ``Spannish`` as half an hour at 0030 WIB, equivalent to a full hour at 1700 UTC! Let`s not even get into which of the three SW frequencies may actually be in use at any particular time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. Courtesy of a posting in the Worldwide Utility News, here is a page, apparently Canadian based, for information regarding a Tsunami Relief network. http://www.tsunamireliefnet.com/ There are lists of HF frequencies being used (Sheldon Harvey, QC, Jan 5, cidx yg via DXLD) Well, not yet --- cold link for frequencies (gh) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Amateur satellites 'Ralphie' and 'Sparkie' were launched on 21 December but unfortunately US Air Force officials have now acknowledged that an "anomaly" occurred and the two nanosats were lost after not reaching orbit. The satellites' mission was to conduct a technical investigation to demonstrate packet radio for inter-satellite links using a frequency of 437.5 MHz (RSGB via Mike Terry, HCDX via DXLD) ** ITALY. Re. the offer at http://www.rai.it/articolo/0,,33003,00.html Interesting how they mention the grounds of the Prato Smeraldo shortwave station together with the Santa Palomba mediumwave site. The latter one is already off and gone (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. 3607.5(USB), NHK Tokyo (Presumed), Jan 9, 1220-1240, radio drama in Japanese, into program of traditional Japanese music, fair, // 6005 (Sapporo), which was also fair and signed-off about 1230 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JORDAN. 11690, R. Jordan, 1638-1652, Jan. 7, English, Music by Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews and Smashing Pumpkins, YL with ID and TC 1643. Based on the format I'd think I was listening to 105.1-WTOS from the top of Sugarloaf Mt. in the neighboring state of Maine if I didn't know better! Fair at best (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. RKI cambia de nombre --- No puedo adelantar demasiado ya que respeto la información oficial que muy pronto dará la emisora. Sólo puedo decir que la nueva denominación de la radio coreana será muy parecida a la que adoptó Radio Japón. Un cordial saludo para todos (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, who contributes DX segments to RKI, Jan 8, Conexión Digital via DXLD) Guess that means ``KBS World`` --- shux, I was hoping for ``Voice of Korea``, or ``Voice of Free Korea`` or maybe ``Radio P`yongyang [non]``. Actually their home page already uses ``Voice of Korea`` informally: http://rki.kbs.co.kr/ (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non]. Cland??? 6310, Radio Roj/Rusha at 1841 5.1, with talks by OM in seemingly Azeri/Kurdish. Signal is strong S9 34433. Signed off 1900. On 7.1 at 1700+ man with continuous talks. New tune in 1720 with songs and 1726 a Kurdish ballad. S9 max 34443, capable to be listened with Kchibo C300. At 1751 again with talks by OM. So it seems station commenced normal programming (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Emisora con música árabe en los 6310.19 kHz, a las 0439 UTC. SINPO 2/2. (07/01). No identificada. Feliz Año Nuevo 2005, 73s y buen DX (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. EMR WEBSITE - NOW ONLINE --- DEAR LISTENER, EMR WEBSITE IS NOW ONLINE FOR YOU TO VIEW ON THIS ADDRESS: http://www.listen.to/EMR NEXT EMR 30th JAN 2005 AT 1500 TO 1630 UTC HAVE FUN 73s TOM (Tom Taylor, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WTFK???? 9290 via Latvia as usual, presumably. Beware of intrusive pop-ups on that site, such as ``free screen saver`` probably with spyware (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. Mr. Eiki Satomi, an IT industrialist as well as radio amateur (ex JH8JWF), living in Sapporo, visited Radio Nederland Madagascar Relay Station in November 2004. He carried out the report and photographs "Visiting Radio Nederland Madagascar Relay Station" in English and Japanese in my "MONTHLY SHORTWAVE" homepage. Have a look at http://www5a.biglobe.ne.jp/~BCLSWL/Madagascar.html (Takahito Akabayashi Tokyo, Japan, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Some great photos! Here is the English text (gh) Mr. Eiki Satomi, an IT industrialist (president of MediaMagic Co.) as well as an radio amateur (ex JH8JWF) in Sapporo, stayed in Madagascar on November 20-26, 2004, to present amateur radio equipment to Madagascar Radio Relay League. During the stay he visited Radio Nederland Madagascar Relay Station, guided by the relay station staff, Solofo and Eddy, who have been employed for more than 20 years, and also radio amateur operators 5R8ET and 5R8FT. The station is located at the hill, 30 minutes car ride from Antananarivo, the capital city. They showed him 3 x 350 kW transmitters and new 250 kW transmitter which is now in construction. They said 130m new antenna will also be constructed along with the new transmitter. The used transmitter tubes, which are still very expensive, are sent to the US manufacturer, recycled, and reused. This time, the special permission to photograph the 350 kW transmitting tube in operation was given! When the operation begins, warning siren is blown to promote to get away from the high power or high electric field areas. Finally he received the special QSL card of the station to commemorate the visit. This is Satomi's 3rd visit to Madagascar. He has made DXpeditions to Madagascar with the call sign of 5R8DF since 1992 when the amateur radio was banned in Madagascar. Note: One month after he left, south-eastern coast of Madagascar was attacked by 2m high tsunami (Indian Ocean Tsunami on December 26). About 150 houses were swept away, and 1200 people were reported to be rendered homeless (Takahito Akabayashi`s website as above via DXLD) ** MEXICO. The next HFCC meeting will be in Mexico City, Feb 7-11; RIZ, the Croatian transmitter company, plans to demonstrate DRM on the 26 MHz band, transmitted either from the R. Educación studio or transmitter site with about 1 kW. Possibly will also test DRM on XEEP`s MW frequency 1060, in which case the AM transmitter would be briefly turned off on Feb 9, the day of the DRM symposium, or on the X-band, in which case it could last as much as the five days of the conference (Jeff White, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Subject: QSL from XENU-AM 1550 KHz From: "Jose Avedillo" joseavedillo @ terra.com.mx Date: Fri, January 7, 2005 6:01 pm Dear Mr. Ponder: My name is Jose Avedillo and I am the Chief Engineer of the Radiorama Stations in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, replacing Mr. Korlowsky who left the Company about a year ago and to whom you addressed your listening report. Unfortunately, we don't issue QSL cards as such, but we will be mailing you a confirmation letter shortly with complete technical information about the station you received on Dec. 9. We have a total of 4 AM stations and 3 FM stations broadcasting from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, so you may be interested in trying reception of the other three, which are: XEWL at 1090 KHz from 6:00 to 20:00 CST with 1 KW XEGNK at 1370 KHz from 6:00 to 20:00 CST with 5 KW XEAS at 1410 KHz from 6:00 to 20:00 CST with 1 KW and from 20:00 to 6:00 with 250 Watts and the one you heard XENU at 1550 KHz of which you will receive complete technical and programming details by mail. Although we are a commercial broadcasting organization, regulated by Mexican SCT and US FCC, and with a specific target audience, we certainly value input and comments from distant listeners and hobbyists. Please feel free to contact us with your comments and suggestions and expect to receive our mailing in the next few weeks. Cordially, Jose G. Avedillo, CHIEF ENGINEER, RADIORAMA NUEVO LAREDO (via Mr Ponder, N5WBI, TX, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Curious list of Mexican stations http://www.vmgworldwide.com/Mexico%20Radio.htm This list is a strange mix of bygone stations, current stations, and "XENVA2" listings, which are either applications or CPs, I never found out for sure. My assumption has always been that "NVA" stands for "nueva". Some of these "XENVA2" listings, which virtually never turn into real stations, have been included in US government databases. Ironically, when you write to the FCC to tell them about a real station moving (as XEKT moved from 1380 to 1390 a few years back), you get a terse reply about your information not being accepted because you aren't an official Mexican government source :) 73, (Tim Hall, CA, Jan 7, Corazón DX via DXLD) Interesting, but virtually useless! At least the FCC list shows transmitter coordinates. I am tweaking the list I put together a few weeks ago by adding comparative powers from SCT, transmitter coordinates from FCC list and (in a separate list I'll send in advance of general distribution to Fred Cantú so he can compare what I've done with his material) Fred Cantú's listings. Fred is working to try to keep his list up to date, and he is ahead of the curve in some areas of Mexico, but way behind in others. Cantú appears to be the only net source that's making an effort to keep up to date, and also appears to be building contacts in at least some parts of México. SCT, MPM and Cantú are all way behind, for example, what's happening in Coahuila. One of the interesting things I'm noticing as I compare Mexican sources during the past five years is the dearth of new stations. There's a lot of frequency changes from the upper end of the dial to the lower end of the dial, and of course many, many slogan changes. I've taped XEUR-1530, for example, as "La Mexicana," "Frecuencia Positiva" and now "Mariachi Estéreo," but I still have not found a local break on the "Los 40 Principales" XEX-FM relay on 1530 ... Cantú has XESD León Gto. now affiliated with this growing net ... SCT lists power as 10,000-d, 100-n, but I suspect that's who I'm hearing, with León daytime now going 24 hours! A couple of station moves caught, so far, only by Cantú involve XEWF Cuernavaca moving from 1420 to 540 and XETF, one of the Radio Fórmula outlets in Veracruz, dropping from 1250 to 1060. If the latter has actually happened, it means even XEEP's clear channel exclusivity is no longer sacred. The only new station that's come on board since I moved to Krum in 2000 is XESOS, first on 1140 and then moved to 670, but I know Kevin, at least, believes it's an outgrowth of the Naco station that used to be on, what, 1250? 1350? With more nets out of México City joining the three Radio Fórmula nets with few local cut-ins and the ACIR affiliates playing musical chairs with the formats such as "Bonita," "Radio Felicidad," Satélite," "Amor," and the others produced by that chain, it's getting harder to keep up with what's happening south of the border. Once my master list is tweaked, adding what's recently been heard by NA DX'ers, we may try to build contacts in estados farther south in Mexico. Sad to say, my wife has no interest in exploring México! (John Callarman, Krum TX, ibid.) Checking the Radio ACIR website today, I learn that XEVOZ, which has been the key station for ACIR'S "Romántica" programming, now is "Radio Reloj, minuto a minuto." Minute by minute." Here's how the website describes the station: "Grupo ACIR presenta su nueva estación de radio "Radio Reloj" la emisora que nos da la hora exacta de México e Información Noticiosa, Deportiva, Tráfico y Clima, así como Bolsa de trabajo, Horóscopos Cultura, Servicio Social, etc. Mínuto a Mínuto. "Para la época actual hemos enriquecido la radio con información que sirve. Secciones en Radio Reloj: "Tráfico y Clima, Deportes, Noticias, Horoscopos, Vialidad, Cultura, Cartelera, Tipo de Cambio, Tip´s, Profesionistas, Acir te Emplea" IMER's XEQK-1350 for many decades was minute-by-minute "La Hora Exacta," including relay on 9.555 MHz, that was heard when I first started DX'ing SWBC in 1950. XEQK-1350 at one time was the only NSP station in North America on that frequency, with it's timecheck-every- minute format. Pardon the pun from my old Top 40 days, but this format sounds like the "Pick to tick!" (John Callarman, Krum Texas, Jan 9, ibid.) ** MONGOLIA. Tem fácil sintonia, aqui no Brasil, a recepção dos programas, irradiados em inglês, pela Voz da Mongólia, a partir de 1000, em 12085 kHz. A dica é do conselheiro do DX Clube do Brasil, Pedro Machado Coelho de Castro, de Lorena (SP). Recentemente, a emissora enviou QSL a ele mostrando uma paisagem rural mongol e postais retratando edifícios em estilo sovoético. Dica para conhecer um pouco da Mongólia é acessar o sítio http://www.mongoliatourism.gov.mn (Célio Romais, Panorama, Conexión Digital Jan 8 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. HOLANDA - Fantasmas na Rádio Nederland! Em 25 de dezembro, o colunista passa pela freqüência de 15315 kHz, às 2159 e leva um susto! Há fantasmas da Rádio Nederland em 19 metros. Sim, pois lá estava o locutor brasileiro Carlos Lagoeiro anunciando horários em que o programa em português é emitido. Ora, mas os programas em português não são mais emitidos, em ondas curtas, desde a metade dos anos 90! Na verdade, como ele não mencionou freqüências, o anúncio deve ser dos horários do satélite. Fica a pergunta: por que usar as renegadas ondas curtas para anunciar tais emissões? Erro técnico? Pergunta dois: em que emissora brasileira você escuta um programa completo, em português, da Rádio Nederland? A bem da verdade, o que custaria pegar um gancho neste "erro técnico" e soltar a programação, uma ou duas vezes por semana, em português, em ondas curtas? É preciso aproveitar a parceria que conservam com a Rádio Canadá e conferir quais os resultados que a emissora de Montreal já obteve, até agora, ao voltar a emitir em ondas curtas! Com a palavra os brasileiros que ainda trabalham em Hilversum! (Célio Romais, Panorama, Conexión Digital Jan 8 via DXLD) ** PERU. Radio Imperio captada a las 0452 UT, en los 4386.55 kHz. Música de marcha (señal muy débil). SINPO 2/1. (07/01). (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Note that the frequencies listed in 5-003 as ´´Voice of Russia. Russian World Service´´ also include outlets of foreign language services like the frequently reported 7180 from Grigoriopol. Probably this is a complete table of *all* VOR shortwave transmissions. Anyway it reflects the actual site usage, unlike the HFCC registrations (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Radio Rossii heard on 6150 throughout the daytime - obviously via Perm. This city is not far from me. But I never heard Perm regional service (a.k.a. Radiokompaniya T Sem') on SW. Good DX and 73, (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, via Wolfgang Büschel, Jan 9, BC- DX, DXLD) ** SCOTLAND [non]. WBCQ - Radio Six International Schedule - January 2005 Here's the schedule for radio six international's broadcasts on 5105 kHz for January 2005. All times UT, 0000-0200; for Eastern deduct 5 hours. SATURDAYS 0000 RANDOM PLAY - music from our 50-track playlist 0100 INTERNATIONAL AND SCOTTISH NEWS 0105 ALY'S EARS with Alyson Woodhouse and this week's review of new CDs from unsigned bands. SUNDAYS 0000 RANDOM PLAY 0100 INTERNATIONAL AND SCOTTISH NEWS 0105 TARRY AWHILE - our weekly slot for traditional Scottish music. On Jan 16th you'll hear our monthly COLLEGE OF PIPING show in this slot. MONDAYS 0000 SOUNDWAVE - John Cavanagh hosts a live hour of decidedly different discs. 0100 INTERNATIONAL AND SCOTTISH NEWS 0105 SOUNDS FROM THE LOST AND FOUND - with Jeff Fiedler and records that were hits but somehow never made it to radio station playlists after they vanished from the US charts. TUESDAYS 0000 TONY CURRIE WIRELESS SHOW - live from Glasgow, Scotland with new discs, letters, emails and the best in unsigned music. Includes News at 0100. WEDNESDAYS 0000 RANDOM PLAY 0100 INTERNATIONAL AND SCOTTISH NEWS 0105 CUMMING BACK TO HOLLYWOOD - the late Don Cumming plays songs from the great Hollywood musicals in this series originally transmitted in 1984. On January 26th this show is pre-empted for BEST OF THE BARD a special programme celebrating the life of Scotland's bard, Robert Burns. THURSDAYS 0000 RANDOM PLAY 0100 INTERNATIONAL AND SCOTTISH NEWS 0105 THE LIVELY LOUNGE - Tony Currie with exquisite sounds from the big pop orchestras, and regular musical appearances by Tony Hatch, Herb Alpert, Mason Williams, Percy Faith and Sounds Orchestral. FRIDAYS 0000 RANDOM PLAY 0100 INTERNATIONAL AND SCOTTISH NEWS 0105 JOHN CAVANAGH'S ALBUM SHOW - every week John plays a new CD in full. 0155 IRISH TALES AND LEGENDS - Jeananne Crowley with more engaging stories from the Emerald Isle. More details at our website http://www.radiosix.com (radio six via Larry Will via wbcq.com via dxldyg via DXLD) -- People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid. -- Søren Kierkegaard [Larry`s? tagline] ** SOMALIA. 6960.1, R. Shabele, 1953 Dec 18. Rather nondescript program that included telephone conversation, choral singing by children, Horn of Africa orchestral and solo vocal selections; no break at 2000. From 2035, seeming sporting event or political harangue till 2055, when continued with talk by woman and at least two men. Local singing at 2058, brief Qur'an reading at 2059, several moments of silence, then off at 2100 without anthem. Couldn't be sure of language, but it did have that hybrid Arabic-African sound that characterizes Somali. Very weak signal, tinny speech audio, noisy conditions all combined to make for difficult reception. ID presumed from recent reports by overseas DXers. Also noted Port Moresby coming through long-path on 4890 during the same period (Bob Hill, MA, DXplorer-ML via CRW via DXLD) 6960.09, R. Shabele (presumed), 25 Dec., 2018 Definite talk by M in Arabic-like language. Sounded like it was mixed with music at 2046. Het popped on at 2049-2051. Choral singing music at 2055:25-2059. Then a weird carnival melody started at 2100 on 6959U. The melody alternated with woman in a UK accent repeating the number "64834". So I couldn't tell when the broadcast officially ended, but it wasn't there at 2102. Although there was a carrier, the LSB seemed weaker than the USB (Dave Valko, PA, CRW via DXLD) ** SPAIN. REPORT ABOUT RADIO LIBERTY TOWERS IN PLAYA DE PALS, COSTA BRAVA CATALANA Asunto: Medio Ambiente última el derribo de las antenas de Radio Liberty --- El Periódico - edicion impresa Catalunya THERE IS A NICE PHOTO IN THE ARTICLE: Instalaciones de Radio Liberty en la playa de Pals, esta semana. Foto: JOAN CASTRO EL MINISTERIO AFIRMA QUE EL PLAN PARA RETIRAR LAS TORRES DE PALS ESTARÁ LISTO ESTE MES --- CRISTINA BUESA, PALS El Ministerio de Medio Ambiente asegura que, antes de que acabe enero, tendrá listo el proyecto de desmantelamiento de las antenas de Radio Liberty en la playa de Pals. Y advierte que la operación debe realizarse "lo antes posible" para evitar que la falta de mantenimiento convierta las grandes estructuras de hierro en "un peligro". La histórica emisora de los EEUU, de propaganda capitalista (!!!!!! really !!!), dejó de emitir en mayo del 2001 y desde entonces está pendiente la recuperación de la zona. El dato surge de una respuesta por escrito a una pregunta del grupo parlamentario de CiU. FUTURO Medio Ambiente tiene competencia sobre los 1.500 metros longitudinales ocupados en primera línea de mar, después de que el gobierno de EEUU cediese las instalaciones a RTVE, el ente a Patrimonio del Estado y, al estar en la franja marítimo-terrestre, se incorporasen al departamento que gestiona Cristina Narbona. El ministerio señala en la respuesta parlamentaria que, además de la redacción del proyecto de desmantelamiento de las antenas (que, según los primeros cálculos, podría costar seis millones de euros), hará falta una segunda actuación para restaurar ambientalmente esta zona del litoral. E indica que ambas operaciones deben ejecutarse por empresas diferentes, "una de gran sensibilidad medioambiental, especializada en regeneración y protección de dunas y senderos peatonales y otra que se encargue de la demolición". (also the nudists free beach near the towers....) El Gobierno afirma que es consciente de que el proyecto de restauración ambiental "debe consensuarse" con el Ayuntamiento de Pals (CiU) y la Direccio' de Medi Natural de la Generalitat. Noticia publicada en la pagina 44 de la edición de 1/9/2005 de El Periódico - edición impresa. Para ver la página completa, descargue el archivo en formato PDF Fuente: http://www.elperiodico.com/default.asp?idpublicacio_PK=5&idioma=CAS&idnoticia_PK=177534&idseccio_PK=13&h=050109 (via Casiano López Arenas, edfm ygroup via Dario Monferini, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. Dear Victor, Just a few words on the first day of the New Year to tell you that we are thinking of you when we are told about the terrible and incredible disaster that has hit Sri Lanka as well as other countries in SE Asia. We do hope that you are well and not directly hurt or affected by the disaster. It has been difficult for us to give other support to the friendly Sri Lanka than a contribution to the Red Cross. We enjoyed our trip to Sri Lanka, it is now more than 30 years ago, very much and we hope that Sri Lanka has not been destroyed for ever and that you will be able to recover. I listened today to Sri Lanka on 15748 but I could not hear anything about the disaster. But the pictures on the TV are terrible. By the way it was a pleasure to meet you in Kulpsville in 2003. With best regards, Bengt Dalhammar (via SW Bulletin Jan 9 via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [and non]. ANDERSON COOPER, DAN RATHER JR., EMOTES IN SRI LANKA --- by Joe Hagan Against a mise-en-scène of blue surf, swaying palm trees and a tsunami-flayed beach, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper looked like Jim Caviezel in the Terrence Malick epic The Thin Red Line --- an earnest soldier gone AWOL in a remote, tropical hell, searching for meaning in a cruel, unforgiving world. "You stop and talk to people, and if you`re in a town and you smell something, if you smell death, you stop and ask how recent it is," said Mr. Cooper, standing on the beach in Beruwala, Sri Lanka, describing the reporting process by satellite phone between stand-ups. "It`s the most elemental kind of reporting. It`s the kind I really like the most. . . http://www.observer.com/pages/nytv.asp (NY Observer via DXLD) Later on, to be found in archive? ** SYRIA [non]. The Syrian clandestine via Germany, R. Free Syria, as of January, has stopped broadcasting on Fridays, but continues on Sundays [at 1900 on 9495]; the WFAFI Iranian service remains on Saturdays at same time (Jeff White, RMI, Jan 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC DELAYS VOLCANO DOCU-DRAMA by Jeffrey Goldfarb LONDON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The BBC has postponed the broadcast of a docu-drama about a massive volcano eruption in Yellowstone National Park to avoid offence following the tsunami disaster that has ravaged Asia. Britain's public broadcaster said on Wednesday it would air "Supervolcano" at a later date, likely this year. It was originally supposed to be shown in late January. The two-part programme is one of the most expensive in the BBC's history, replete with special effects showing the aftermath of the volcano's eruption leading to climate change and tens of thousands of deaths in the United States. "We will show it at a later time," a BBC spokeswoman said. "I'm sure it will be this year. We just don't feel it's appropriate to show at this time." The BBC's decision recalls similar gear-shifting by Hollywood following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York City when the release of such films as "Collateral Damage," "Sidewalks of New York" and "Heist" were delayed because of their subject material. Various television advertisements also have been pulled following the tsunami. "Supervolcano" had been touted in December as a linchpin of the broadcaster's winter schedule -- "Supervolcano is a true story, it just hasn't happened yet" -- and includes an accompanying two-part documentary, "The Science Behind Supervolcano," on BBC2. The BBC spokeswoman said the 2.8 million pound ($5.25 million) production, which is already finished, had five co-producers, including Discovery and ProSieben. Yellowstone, site of one of the world's largest active volcanoes, was shaped in part by a massive eruption some 640,000 years ago that left a crater 30 miles wide by 45 miles long. The park is in the western states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming (RTw 01/05 1352 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Channel 66, Flint MI, 6:30 am 12/26, noted Dr. Gene Scott show. Is listed 6-7 am [EST = UT -5] Sundays. TV 25 carried this years ago late-night (Larry Russell, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) My favourite TV show when I was in college. Dr Gene made me laugh during many all-nighters. All time most memorable show was when he went into a snit during an `all night live` show and said ``I`m just going to stare at you until you call and tell me you`re sending me more money``. He then proceeded to sit and stare into the camera while smoking a stogie for at least 45 minutes (I got bored and went to bed at that point.) CLASSIC stuff! -kvz (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MARE ed., via DXLD) ** U S A. Radio Station WWRB is working with and is consulting with Mr. Tafadzwa Mubambanuki, Methodist communications developer of the United Methodist church. WWRB shortwave is providing Mr. Tafadzwa with in-depth and on going information on shortwave broadcasting such as Antenna systems, basic Antenna theory, Main lobes, Side lobes, 'Backwash signals', Transmitters, Frequency agility, frequency management, programming timing, and various other topics. Mr. Tafadzwa has commented on the 'right to the point information' concerning shortwave broadcasting on the WWRB web site located at http://www.wwrb.org WWRB provides free in-depth, no obligation consultation to Christian broadcasters. An educated broadcaster is our best client (SM) WWRB shortwave is pleased to announce full membership in the National Religious Broadcasters Association (NRB). WWRB shortwave will be providing fellow members of the NRB information concerning WWRB shortwave, shortwave antenna systems, programming planning and broadcast timing considerations. The WWRB web site and FAQ section found at http://www.wwrb.org is brimming with top notch shortwave broadcasting information (WWRB press releases by Dave Frantz, Jan 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Needed to look up a WYFR listing, but something very strange on page 572 of the 2005 WRTH: it does not show any WYFR transmissions before 2000 UT! Even tho they run 24 hours, with many morning broadcasts to Europe, etc. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, my apologies, it seems a gremlin has crept in (I thought I had managed to banish all of those!!). I attach the full WYFR schedule that should have been published. 73 (Sean Gilbert, WRTH International Editor, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And may we expect an updater soon? 73, (Glenn to Sean) There should be an update on the web later in January (about 23rd), which will all major updates that have happened since publication, and of course will include WYFR in full. 73 (Sean Gilbert, ibid.) ** U S A. New station heard on 1630 kHz, Watertown [NY], oldies heard --- Ivey Hill valley --- Supposed to be a part 15 station, but can be heard 10 miles away in daytime (CKUT International Radio Report Jan 9, notes by Ricky Leong, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WXCT DX Test is Tonight! Ron Barnes, CE of WXCT just showed up on #mwdx chat and informed us that the test is running tonight (Sunday morning EST). Here's the info again: WXCT 990 kHz Southington, CT TEST, Time: 00:00AM EST to 02:00AM EST (2 Hour Test) . . . (Barry McLarnon, Jan 8, NRC-AM via DXLD) This had been publicized for the previous night, UT Jan 8 at 0500, but it was really UT Jan 9 at 0500!! Geez, why do some people have such a hard time reading a calendar (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Wasn't WSAI [1530 Cincinnati] supposed to switch to talk (I think Air America) at New Year's? (Saul Chernos, ON, NRC-AM via DXLD) It's my understanding that Jan 16th will be the last day for the current oldies format on WSAI (Jerry Bond, ibid.) And this justifies running IBOC ?? (Bob Foxworth, FL, ibid.) Re-WCKY? ** U S A. Re IBOC interference, 5-006: It's not only small stations being hemmed in. The Boston to The DC corridor and the So Cali corridor from Ventura to Tijuana are the two most crowded AM dials in the country. You have many 1st adjacents in that can be heard in various markets and 2nd adjacents are the norm. Just as major cities like Houston have blocks of 2nd adjacents with powers as low as 250 watts to 50 kW. One of the blocks is 1460-1480- 1500-1520-1540-1560. IBOC in its current ability would not allow for the above stations to use IBOC without interfering with each other, with the high power stations getting more coverage than in this case a 500 watt station, which could wind up with a very small radius of coverage. This is the norm all major markets and many large markets. I heard about three months ago that Ibiquity was testing IBOC in Mexico City, DF, where 2nd adjacents in the city with high power is standard practice. I have not heard any more of the testing that was being conducted in Mexico City. The only true way for IBOC to be a workable solution on AM is the spectrum used does not take up anymore than the 10 kHz a station is allowed under the Rules and Regs. Meaning the IBOC is truly ON CHANNEL and not three frequencies. Every IBOC station that comes on the air is like adding two more unauthorized stations to the airwaves. Ibiquity does not have IBOC ready to roll out on AM yet and until Ibiquity can make it work ON CHANNEL or another Digital system is adopted for AM Digital Radio, AM Digital radio should be placed on hold, day and night (Mike Oswald, Houston, Jan 7, NRC-AM via DXLD) The FCC was well aware of this before it approved IBOC. Everyone knew "some" station coverage would be lost but the deal was that this was O.K. because of IBOC benefits. I know when I sent a brief (or whatever you call) it to the FCC prior to the vote, I also went a step further and urged that tests be done with stations close to each other (e.g. Flemington, N.J.-1040, NYC-1050, Philly-1060) to gauge real life consequences. Naturally, that was ignored. However, in retrospect, all you had to do was listen to the WOR-710 sidebands which told it all. As for what WBIS or any other broadcaster can do, the answer is nothing. All they can do is start a movement among broadcasters to get the FCC to take a 2nd look at IBOC and possibly reverse their decision. However, since NAB and the big broadcasters are for it - not to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars already spent/committed to it, I think that's a non-starter. Welcome to the future (Joe Fela, NJ, amfmtvdx via DXLD) re iBiquity contracts: Our company, which owns about 110 radio stations, is noticeably absent from those mentioned in the press release that was issued yesterday. In fact, I understand that we have made a conscious decision to hold off on IBOC. I'm glad. I know that someday I'll have to deal with it, but I don't want to install that garbage on my stations any sooner than I have to. 73, (René Tetro, PA, NRC-AM via DXLD) (Voiceover in my best Andy Rooney impression) : The way I see it IBOC is kind of like war. Nobody really wants it. But it does rally people on both sides together for a cause, it provides a boost to the manufacturing economy, and when it fails we'll have some neat collectibles to show the grandkids in a few years. "What's that gramps?" "It's an honest to goodness original IBOC generator sonny." "What the heck's an IBOC gramps?" (Pat Griffith, halfway between Iraq and a hard place, NRC-AM via DXLD) Good advice, Chuck, and kudos to Bill for taking some action. Most radio listeners will be totally unaware of IBOC and its potential to cause interference - they will probably write it off as a local noise problem, and never complain to the affected stations. It's up to us IBOC-aware folks to let the stations know. I can't emphasize too much how important this is --- interference complaints are the *only* thing that can put the brakes on IBOC. Those who say that IBOC will be a flop because hardly anyone will buy receivers may well be right, but they're missing the point. Clear Channel and other major iBiquity backers are investing a lot of money in converting their stations to IBOC. Once the investment is made, it costs them almost nothing to keep it on the air. Even if receiver sales are miserable, they'll keep it on for years, even decades. Perhaps they'll be lobbying the FCC to mandate that all new radios have IBOC capability --- who knows? No matter what happens in the marketplace, the transmissions will remain, unless the stations are compelled to turn them off because of interference complaints. As Chuck says, the complaint should go to the station being interfered with, but it won't hurt to also contact the station that is the source of the interference. Obviously, you should identify yourself as a concerned radio listener, not a DXer, and you should make sure that you have some legitimate grounds for complaining. If you're receiving a station via skywave, then there's not much point in complaining about IBOC interference to them unless they're a Class A (clear channel) station, since they're the only ones that have protection for skywave service. You're on much firmer ground if you're in the groundwave coverage area of the station, especially if you're inside their protected contour. During daytime, stations are, in theory at least, protected from harmful interference out to their 0.5 mV/m contours (0.1 mV/m for Class A). You can get a rough idea of where that contour is for a given station by looking it up on the radio- locator.com site. The 0.5 mV/m contour is the purple line (red is 2.5 mV/m, and blue is 0.15 mV/m). Nighttime interference is trickier to assess. Class A stations are protected to their 0.5 mV/m contours, but for all other stations, protection basically extends to their Nighttime Interference-Free (NIF) contours, which are calculated on the basis of existing interference levels (btw, these calculations take no account of IBOC whatsoever). You can't easily determine the NIF for a station without running some expensive software, so you'll have to judge for yourself whether you had good reception of the station prior to the IBOC interference appearing. It's a faint hope, but at this point the AM band can only saved by a grassroots movement, led by listeners, plus the small station owners who realize how they're getting shafted by IBOC (Barry McLarnon VE3JF Ottawa, ON, Jan 7, ibid.) ** U S A. DTV: I gave myself an early Christmas present of what the stores are calling an HDTV `set-top box`, but what is more accurately described as a Digital Television (or ATSC) tuner, to receive over the air DTV signals. Since five of the six `Lansing` stations have started broadcasting ATSC signals, I figured it was time to see what this new service could offer, and even though I don't have a 'HDTV' monitor, the unit I got has regular composite (baseband) video outputs, so I figured it was a good compromise for now, would work well with a HDTV monitor at some point in the future as well, and keep my VCR useful into the future as well. The real kicker though, was the fact that prices are finally starting to drift downward. Nine months ago, the cheapest HDTV receiver I could find was over $350, but this unit went for under $200 after rebate, and I had a $50 gift card from Circuit City, dropping my actual cost to $150. So I took the plunge and 'hadta getta' Samsung SIR-T451 receiver to add into my video system. Anyhoo --- The results of my monitoring here in Williamston on 20-26/Dec/04 which should show `typical` reception: ch call and location description of reception, streams etc analog ch 19 WXMI-17 Grand Rapids flickers the digital pilot only -- no decoding possible 21 WDWB-20 Detroit flickers only 30 WEYI-25 Saginaw 2 streams decoded: o1 WEYI-DT with 4:3 "Mid Michigan's WB" o2 WEYI-HD with 16:9 HD // NBC Ch 25 This channel always flashes the digital pilot, but rarely decodes. Too bad -- we don`t have a WB station on the air here to watch during prime time! 36 WJRT-12 Flint 3 streams decoded: o1 HD //ch 12 w/16:9 local pgms too(!) o2 ABC News Now 4:3 lo-def o3 Weather info 4:3 hi-def 38 WSYM-47 Lansing 2 streams decoded: o1 HD 16:9 //ch 47 but usually pillared o2 SD 4:3 //ch 47 41 WXYZ-7 Detroit flickers only 44 WZPX-43 Battle Creek Marginal reception -- lots of freezes and digital artifacts, and often no ability to decode at all. FOUR streams: o1 WZPX // ch 43 w/Pax and WB pgms o2 "PaxWest" feed o3 "Worship" programming o4 "Faith" programming Like 25, this channel always flashes the digital pilot, but it rarely decodes. 51 WLAJ-53 Lansing 2 streams decoded: o1 HD ABC 16:9 //ch 53 w/pillared lcl px o2 ABC News Now 4:3 lo-def (below SD?) 52 WFUM-28 Flint 2 streams decoded: o1 HD PBS w/lots of true HD 16:9 pgms o2 SD 4:3 PBS //ch 28 55 WKAR-23 E Lansing 2 streams decoded: o1 HD PBS w/lots of true HD 16:9 pgms o2 SD 4:3 PBS //ch 23 57 WILX-10 Jackson 1 stream NBC HD 16:9 //10 & usually pillared 59 WLNS-6 Lansing 1 stream CBS HD 16:9 //6 & usually pillared There was also a tropo opening, which provided the following catches of DTV DX. As of now, I’m not really even sure how I should report reception -- the following were in well enough to ID, and all provided data for the receiver to decode concerning broadcast data, etc. Most of these stations exhibited lots of digital artifacts and freezes, and NONE of them were really watchable, even though when they were in, they were in perfectly. This is very unlike analog Tropo which is usually more than good enough to sit and watch if there is a good show on, but frequently offers a bit of snow to watch through! I`ll have more to say about ATSC via Tropo once I see it some more.... RF `ID` Call location details ch (nom) ltrs --- ----- --------- ------------ ------------------------------------- 2 3.1 WWMT HD Kalamazoo MI 16:9 HD //to analog 3 which was in well -- a tough catch with analog 2 Detroit making it hard for the tuner to capture the DTV signal except with antenna in Fox-2’s null. 0535 3/Jan --Zichi 2 3.2 WWMT SD Kalamazoo MI 4:3 SD // to analog 3 0535 3/Jan --Zichi 17 11.1 WTOL DT Toledo OH 16:9 HD //to analog 11 which was in well 0550 3/Jan --Zichi 17 11.2 WTOL SD Toledo OH 4:3 SD // to analog 11 0550 3/Jan --Zichi 17 11.3 WTOL Wx Toledo OH 4:3 SD with weather radar 0550 3/Jan --Zichi 21 20.1 WDWB HD Detroit MI 16:9 HD //to analog 20 which was in well 0540 3/Jan --Zichi 21 20.2 WDWB SD Detroit MI 4:3 SD //to analog 20 0540 3/Jan --Zichi 24 21.1 WPTA-HD Ft Wayne IN 16:9 HD //to analog 21, which was just BARELY making it in 0530 3/Jan --Zichi 24 21.2 WPTA-DT Ft Wayne IN SD weather radar feed 0530 3/Jan --Zichi 29 30.1 WGTE-Kids Toledo OH SD static ID screen only 0451 3/Jan --Zichi 29 30.2 WGTE- Toledo OH SD static ID screen only 0451 3/Jan Learning --Zichi 29 30.3 WGTE-Siml Toledo OH SD //to analog ch 30 which was in very well 0451 3/Jan --Zichi 29 30.4 WGTE- Toledo OH SD static ID screen only 0453 3/Jan World --Zichi 29 30.5 WGTE-HD Toledo OH 16:9 HD w/PBS HD programming 0453 3/Jan --Zichi 39 39.1* WADL-HD Detroit MI 16:9 HD simulcast of shopping channel -- what a waste! 0555 3/Jan --Zichi 39 39.2* WADL-TV Detroit MI 4:3 SD simulcast of analog 38 shopping ch 0555 3/Jan --Zichi 41 7.1 WXYZ-HD Detroit MI 16:9 HD Simulcast of analog 7 41 7.2 WXYZ-wx Detroit MI 4:3 SD weather radar with static display saying Dopler 7 radar was temp down 0600 3/Jan --Zichi 41 7.3 WXYZ-DT Detroit MI 4:3 SD ABC News Now feed 0600 3/Jan --Zichi 43 56.1 WTVS-HD Detroit MI 16:9 PBS HD feed 0605 3/Jan --Zichi 43 56.2 WTVS-SD Detroit MI 4:3 //to analog 56 0605 3/Jan --Zichi 46 36.1 WUPW-DT Toledo OH 4:3 SD weather 0610 3/Jan --Zichi 46 36.2 WUPW-HD Toledo OH 16:9 HD //to analog 36 0610 3/Jan --Zichi 49 24.1 WNWO-HD Toledo OH 16:9 // to analog 24 0615 3/Jan --Zichi I got `pilot flickers` from several other stations; however these [were] the only ones steady enough to trigger a data lock to positively ID the stations. I am particularly impressed with WGTE -- wish more PBS stations would do what they apparently do -- show HD programming during prime time, and have FOUR analog streams showing alternative shows during the rest of the day. I wish I could see what was on `world` and `learning` -- they sound interesting! Is WKAR or WUOM listening? We want more choices! * The `standard` is that stations ID with their old analog channels and don`t confuse the general public with the fact that they are actually broadcasting on another channel with digital signals. The equipment in fact automagically ignores the actual RF signal, and dutifully displays what the data stream is telling it the channel number is. WADL however, is even more clueless than most in that they have programmed their data stream to show their ACTUAL RF channel as opposed to pretending they are on ch 38 which is what the FCC has told stations to do. Not surprizing really.... I`ll have more about DTV in a coming GLM [Great Lakes Monitor] including an equipment review and a rant about clueless station execs (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MARE Tipsheet Jan 8 via DXLD) This info should be integrated into Matt Sittel`s extensive DTV Program Info page: http://members.cox.net/mcsittel/dtvinfo.htm (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. There are scores of VORs with voice, some with continuous HIWAS broadcasts (Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service), scores with ATIS or AWOS airport weather broadcasts, and several in Alaska (and Minneapolis) with TWEB enroute weather broadcasts. So YES there are still tons of voice broadcasts on VORs these days. I've heard many of these by Es and Tropo. 108.2 MHz is the lowest VOR frequency. They operate 24/7 and usually run about 100 watts. 108.200 ARD USA PA YARDLEY 108.200 BAX USA MI BAD AXE 108.200 BMI USA IL BLOOMINGTON 108.200 COY VIR VI ST CROIX 108.200 CTF USA SC CHESTERFIELD 108.200 CUZ USA NE CUSTER CO 108.200 DDC USA KS DODGE CITY 108.200 DRO USA CO DURANGO 108.200 ECS USA WY NEWCASTLE 108.200 ERY USA MI NEWBERRY 108.200 EVM USA MN EVELETH 108.200 FAI ALS AK FAIRBANKS 108.200 FDY USA OH FINDLAY 108.200 GEE USA NY GENESEO 108.200 IHD USA PA INDIAN HEAD 108.200 INA USA NV WINNEMUCCA 108.200 JAY USA MN AUSTIN 108.200 LLO USA TX LLANO 108.200 MQG USA ID NEZ PERCE 108.200 MYS USA KY MYSTIC 108.200 OLS USA AZ NOGALES 108.200 RBG USA OR ROSEBURG 108.200 VEL USA UT VERNAL 108.200 VTU USA CA VENTURA There are also some transmitters as low as 108.0 MHz, but these are mostly just low power stations used for occasional/rare testing by airlines. Most if not all have experimental callsigns (William Hepburn, Grimsby, ON, CAN, WTFDA via DXLD) Some FM receivers might tune up to 108.2, but note that VORs use the AM mode. So the worse your receiver`s AM rejexion, the better for this (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. FOX NEWS GETS BLOWN AWAY --- Fox's weak coverage of the tsunami in South Asia proves that when it comes to stories with global significance, the nasty, partisan network isn't ready for prime time. - - - - - - - - - - - - By Eric Boehlert, Salon Jan. 7, 2005 --- On the eve of the Alberto Gonzales confirmation hearings for attorney general, Fox's Bill O'Reilly was doing what he likes best Wednesday night, uncorking a verbal tirade against guests who believe -- unlike Gonzales -- that the U.S. should observe the guidelines of the Geneva Convention. Torture, Iraq and patriotism were all bound up in a typical us vs. them "debate." And the best part for Fox News? It had nothing to do with the tsunami that devastated South Asia. To date, the news outlet has covered the disaster haltingly, exposing itself once again as, first and foremost, the home of angry Republicans. Whereas rival CNN has torn up its regular programming and dispatched an army of staffers to the ravaged region, Fox News appears to be going through the motions on the colossal story. Rather than breaking news, Fox feeds off partisan sparks. And it's hard to get angry about a natural disaster because empathy does not lend itself to outrage -- although that hasn't stopped the high-priced talking heads at Fox from trying to turn the tsunami into a contentious issue. If the Republican National Committee doesn't have an angle on the story, then neither, apparently, does Fox News. . . http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/01/07/foxnews/print.html (via Tom Roche, DXLD) Why doesn`t he spell it González so I can fiddle with accents??? (gh) see also SRI LANKA ** U S A. AMATEUR FORECASTER REINSTATED AFTER OUTCRY AP Worldstream Saturday, January 08, 2005 NORTH ADAMS, Mass.- A popular self-taught meteorologist, who is legally blind and provides his weather forecasts from home, will return to the airwaves in western Massachusetts after a public outcry over his firing. George Trottier, 65, confirmed on the air Friday that he has accepted an offer from the Vox Radio Group to return to his old job with radio stations WNAW-AM and WMNB-FM. Trottier called in to radio manager David Luyk, who had gone on the air to tell listeners that the corporate station still has community roots. Luyk asked him: "I am looking for an accurate forecast. Do you know where I can get one?" Trottier responded, "The answer is a resounding yes." Callers immediately dialled in, congratulating the station and Trottier, The Berkshire Eagle of Pittsfield reported. Trottier started broadcasting the region's weather in 1969. Shortly after Thanksgiving last year, Trottier was told he would be fired from his $300-a-month post. When Trottier's dismissal became public a week ago, numerous listeners called and e-mailed to complain. Trottier said he will return to the air Jan. 24 after a vacation. http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050108/APA/501080888 (BlindNews mailing list via Paul David, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. SWIMMING AGAINST THE TIDE --- These are some screwy squirrels: Cartoon Network's Adult Swim operation stays edgy and creative -- despite its lumbering corporate parent. From: Issue 90 | January 2005, Page 81 By: Alan Cohen Photographs by: Pio Rda Illustrations by: Ed Murrieta; Brian McGee [what photographs, or illustrations??!!] Watching one of Cartoon Network's late-night Adult Swim shows can be a jarring experience. This is not standard television fare. Sealab 2021 -- Hanna-Barbera's earnest 1972 cartoon Sealab 2020 reimagined with an incompetent, socially dysfunctional cast -- is a 15-minute show in which the characters can spend 5 minutes debating whether it's okay to refer to an African-American crew member as "Black Debbie," but a white crew member as just "Debbie." "These are shows that make the audience uncomfortable," says Mike Lazzo, the network's senior vice president and the founding-father-cum-father-figure at Adult Swim. "Our most basic philosophy, which we ripped off of [legendary network programming chief] Fred Silverman is, 'Look at what everyone else does, do the opposite.' " And opposites do attract. Lazzo's motley band of shows is the secret leader of late night. From 11 p.m. to 2 a.m., six nights a week, Adult Swim is consistently the number-one show on basic cable for 18- to 34- year-olds. In October, its total audience grew during the Leno- Letterman time period by roughly 27% when compared with 2003, and in the third quarter of 2004, more young men watched its programs than the Late Show With David Letterman . Lazzo has developed his anarchic shows by fostering a creative environment unlike that of any television operation, even the one he works for . . . http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/90/swimming.html (via Tom Roche, GA, who has been involved at least with Space Ghost, DXLD) ** U S A. New feature — The Inside Story with Mike Kinosian. First story: How National Lampoon Radio Hour folded after Janet Jackson`s ``wardrobe malfunction.`` Executive Producer Alan Donnes put six years of his life into reviving the legendary cutting-edge comedy show and had it growing steadily in syndication --- until the February 1, 2003 Super Bowl and Janet Jackson. Now everyone from group heads to part-time board ops is on pins and needles because of the FCC, hoping not to be a victim of the next big perceived blunder. Mike Kinosian gets the inside story about how one syndicated show folded because of the indecency issue. Read the first of Mike`s new ``Inside Story`` features HERE. http://www.insideradio.com/pdheadlines.asp?phid=287382&PT=Today%27s+Top+Stories (via gh, DXLD) Once it is no longer Today`s Top Story, what URL? ** WALES [non]. Wales Radio International --- I checked again this Friday, January 7, at 2130 UT on 7110 and again, as last week, heard German. Heard mention Österreich. Transmission actually began a minute or so before 2130 and off at 2200. Checked the parallel frequency of 3955 from Skelton and there it was, a weak signal in English. By the end of transmission the signal was much stronger with clear ID and e- mail addresses given. Nothing heard on scheduled 6005 at 0300 Saturday the 8th. Has the frequency changed? (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. 9779.8, Republic of Yemen R., 1758-1820, Jan. 7, English, Arabic music until transmitter shut off at 1759; re-start at 1800 with fanfare and full English ID, news brief re Palestinian martyrs and Iraqi occupation, news review progoram at 1810, IDing as "Radio Sana'a", sandwiched between US 80's pop ballads. Poor/fair (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. Zambia back on 6165 --- Dear friends, 6165, ZNBC, Radio 2, Lusaka, *0250-0305, Jan 08, back on this nominal frequency from 4500 with strong and stable signal. Clear Fish Eagle cry under R Netherlands, Bonaire in Spanish (Dutch from 0300), 0250 orchestral National Anthem, 0252 Ann in heavily accented English, 0254 hymn followed a programme of Afropop. 43443. On 4500 was only heard Xinjiang PBS in Mongolian around 0300. 4910, ZNBC, Radio 1, Lusaka, *0242-0305, Jan 08, very strong and clear signal with Fish Eagle cry until 0252, then National Hymn by Choir and Vernacular programme, 45444. Different opening from 6165 and different programme (Anker Petersen, Denmark, Dxplorer via BDXC-UK via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4245, non identif / harmonique ?? 0641 332 serbe? office religieux Jan 09 05 (Michel Lacroix, France, HCDX via DXLD) nothing on 1415; maybe a SW leapfrog or difference product (gh, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ LEE FRESHWATER`S FREQUENCY PAGE [US MEDIUMWAVE STATION LIST] updated 1/1/05 http://geocities.com/amlogbook/freq1.htm (via Ken Baird, MWC via DXLD) PACIFIC ASIAN LOG, SEVENTH EDITION I've just completed the seventh edition of the Pacific Asian Log (PAL). It's been updated through January 2005. As usual, this edition has many additions and changes. In particular, there are many new listings for China and the Australian expanded band. The log now lists more than 4000 medium and long wave stations in Asia and the Pacific (from Afghanistan to Alaska). It includes frequency, callsign, location, power, schedules, and other information for each station. The log is available in pdf format sorted by country or frequency. You can download it at no cost from my website http://www.qsl.net/n7ecj This time there are three options: by frequency, by country, (approximately 800 kb, 132 pages each), or a combined listing (1.3 MB, 255 pages). Best wishes for the new year, (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, USA, HCDX via DXLD) DX HANDBOOK The DX Handbook produced by Salvo Micciché: 106 pages, .PDF file ready to be printed. An extensive list of frequencies, informations, details about all stations from LF to 3O MHz, tables, maps. It's an outstanding job that an amateur offers - for free - to everyone interested in radio listening and DXing. A work which has little to learn from - and maybe something to teach to - commercial publications. The DX Handbook does not claim to be flawlessly complete, accurate, updated to a few hours ago, 100% error-free. But it surely is a honest and useful reference to be kept at hand, near the receiver. Click HERE to send us a blank e-mail, you will get download instructions. http://radioascolto.org/html/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=23 A password and userid are needed an can be obtained for free at richiestahandbook @ radioascolto.org (Renato Bruni, Jan 9, dxing.info via DXLD) RADIO STICKERS COLLEXION http://www.ramonmusons.com/index_eng.htm (Ramon Musens, Catalunya, Noticias DX via DXLD) Nice gallery RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW CES had a few interesting toys. Eton the old Grundig people in the US have made a radio that is AM/FM stereo/SW/XM. Porsche designs has also created one for Eton as well. But still no IBOC radios that you can buy right now. Or even DRM (SW DAB) radios that you can purchase right now either. I quess you don't remember why AM stereo died such a violent death. LACK OF RADIOS TO HEAR THE PRODUCT! (Lou Josephs blog Jan 8 via DXLD) RADIO AND X RAYS I've been carrying my nationwide 2-way pager with me on flights. I take it off of my belt and run it through the x-ray along with all of the other dangerous weapons on my person (dirty comb, XXXL belt, smelly tennis shoes, secret decoder watch, 35 year old high school ring, broken glasses, pack of melted gum, sharp edge business cards, poke your eye ink pen, get out of jail free card, bad breath, etc). They have never asked me to show them that it is a working pager. I am probably the only person on board who turns the transmitter off during flight. It has a 2 watt transmitter (4 times the power of the average cell phone), operates on the same frequency band, and communicates with the service provider constantly. Apparently nobody at TSA has figured this out. When I was returning from deployment to Hurricane Georges in 1998 I accidentally packed my Weller soldering gun in my carry-on going through Miami. It does look like a gun. The pre-TSA agent called a supervisor over who asked me to prove that it was a soldering gun. I promptly plugged it in to a nearby receptacle and turned it on presuming that the light bulb and smoke coming from the tip would satisfy him. It didn't. He had to reach out and touch the smoking end! The smell of burning finger and loud screams brought several more agents running. When the original agent told them what had happened they all broke out in loud laughter as did several passengers waiting in line behind me. I didn't laugh at all and did my best to look serious and innocent at the same time. I even offered to dig through my carry-on and find a band-aid for him. He gave me a nasty stare and then sent me on my way with a strong warning to never pack a soldering gun in my carry-on again. And I haven't (Pat Griffith, Emmitsburg, MD, Jan 8, NRC-AM via DXLD) HOW EISENHOWER AND HITLER SHARED AIR TIME [really about reel tape] As an old user of both Ampex and Irish brands of analog audio reel-to- reel tape in the late 1950's, I found the following article to be particularly interesting. Joe Buch ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE QUANTEGY PLANT CLOSING IS THE END OF AN ERA IN AMERICAN RECORDING TECHNOLOGY. Jan 9, 2005 8:00 AM ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Some 250 employees of Quantegy, one of the last of the major analog tape manufacturers, got a post Christmas surprise when they returned to work last week. "No Trespassing" signs had been erected and security passwords were changed at the Quantegy plant in Opelika, AL. "Quantegy has ceased operations pending restructuring. This is due to financial issues that have plagued the industry and the company for some time. All employees were laid off pending further notice``, a brief press release issued by the company said. The Opelika plant, once employed some 1800 workers, recently filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. End of an era The plant closing may be the end of a glorious era in American recording technology. Quantegy made what was once Ampex-brand recording tape. The Ampex company name is forever tied to development of American recording technology and to its music. The story began in World War II. In 1945, after capturing several German "Magnetophon" tape recorders from Radio Luxembourg, the American Signal Corps recorded a speech by General Dwight Eisenhower to be played to the people of occupied Germany. Due to a shortage of recording tape, the speech had to be recorded on a reel of used German tape. Unfortunately, due to a problem with the German tape recorder, the tape was not completely erased and the voice of Adolph Hitler was intermittently heard along with Eisenhower’s voice. This caused a great deal of fear and confusion among the German people and obviously a great deal of embarrassment for the Allied Signal Corps. General Eisenhower issued an immediate order that no more captured German tapes were to be used, and assigned Major John Herbert Orr to develop an American magnetic tape manufacturing facility. Major Orr located a German scientist, Dr. Karl Pfleumer, who gave him a basic formula for magnetic tape. Within two weeks, Major Orr had managed to manufacture his first reels of usable audiotape. After returning to his home in Opelika, AL, after the war, Orr set up a magnetic tape manufacturing facility and soon began marketing his own tape under the ``IRISH`` brand name. Orr continued his manufacturing operation and in 1959 Orradio Industries became part of the Ampex Corporation. Ampex, founded by Alexander M. Poniatoff, had been developing audio tape recorders since the end of WWII starting with their model 200. The company’s first sales of the Model 200 were to Bing Crosby Enterprises and the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). In 1956, Ampex announced an historic breakthrough: the first practical video tape recorder. Shortly after this introduction, Poniatoff and Orr entered into negotiations and in 1959 Orradio Industries became the Ampex Magnetic Tape Division of Ampex Corporation. After a long partnership, the company divested itself of its media division and the Ampex Recording Media Corporation was put up for sale. The sale was completed in November of 1995 and the recording media pioneer became Quantegy. Quantegy had the number one market share worldwide in professional audio mastering tape products. More albums went gold on Quantegy audiotape than all other brands combined. Broadcast Engineering E-zine © 2004 Primedia Business Magazines and Media. (via Joe Buch, swprograms via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS +++++++++++++++++++++++++ FCC RELEASES HUNDREDS OF PAGES OF ADDITIONAL BPL DATA AND FILINGS (Jan 7, 2005) --- The FCC has made public more than 650 pages of technical presentations, correspondence and filings that it says it used in making its decision on the BPL Report and Order in ET Docket 04-37. The Commission adopted new rules to govern so-called Access Broadband over Power Line systems on October 14, but they have not yet become effective. Full Story at http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/01/07/8/?nc=1 (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) DRM +++ INTRODUCTION OF DIGITAL EMISSIONS INTO THE HIGH FREQUENCY BANDS ALLOCATED TO THE BROADCASTING SERVICE http://www.hfcc.org/pro/EBU-DLMF-temp5-rev2.doc Temp 5 Rev. 2 Geneva 11/03 Introduction The World Radiocommunication Conference held in Geneva 9th June to 4th July 2003 (WRC-03) encouraged the introduction of digital modulation into the HF bands allocated to the broadcasting Service by making a number of changes to the ITU Radio Regulations. These changes provide the framework for the introduction of digital emissions (DRM) into the HF bands. Article 12 of the ITU Radio Regulations provides the regulatory framework while WRC-03 Resolution 543 provides the planning criteria to be used on a provisional basis as there is currently little practical experience for the introduction of digital emissions into the HF bands allocated to the broadcasting Service. It should be noted that the HF Co-ordination Groups recognised by the ITU deal with the practical aspects of co-ordinating frequency requirements to produce seasonal plans for the broadcasting Service in the HF bands based on Information provided by the ITU Radiocommunications Bureau under the provisions of Article 12. This document provides Information that may be of use to these HF Co- ordination Groups when introducing scheduled broadcasting requirements into the HF bands Options There are probably two different methods for introducing a new modulation System into the HF spectrum; reserve a portion of existing spectrum solely for the new System or introduce it into existing spectrum so that it co-exists with the existing analogue modulation System. 1) Anywhere in Existing HFBC Spectrum The concept would be to introduce digital alongside analogue transmissions relying on the Co-ordination procedure of Article 12 of the Radio Regulations to minimise interference potential between requirements. a) Advantages • Provides broadcasters with a flexible means of introducing digital emissions when required; • Broadcasters can switch existing transmissions on any frequency from analogue to digital and vice versa whenever they wish. This can be done as and when needed provided the interference potential of a transmission is not increased; • No reduction in spectrum available for analogue transmissions; • Allows an element of experimentation to gain experience of planning for digital transmissions. b) Disadvantages • Interference potential of digital emissions is unknown from practical point of view. Existing analogue emissions could therefore experience unexpected interference; • Digital reception may suffer from unexpected interference from analogue transmissions. 2) Partition Existing HFBC Spectrum The concept would be to: - • Determine a sub-band within either some or all of the existing HF broadcasting bands; • Arrange a process to remove existing analogue transmissions from these bands; • Introduce new digital transmissions into the sub-bands; • As an individual sub-band becomes fully utilised, repeating the process until the band has been converted to an all-digital environment. a) Advantages • It is easier to plan digital Services in an all-digital spectrum as it is not necessary to consider interference from analogue transmissions; • Digital emissions could be introduced using the lowest power necessary to achieve a satisfactory service. With lower power, spectrum efficiency may be improved b) Disadvantages • Existing HF broadcasting bands are already congested particularly the lower frequency bands. Displaced analogue transmissions would therefore increase congestion in the all-analogue sub-bands; • Broadcasters may not be prepared to move long-established Services from a frequency if it was within one of the sub-bands earmarked for digital emissions; • Sterilises a portion of spectrum as not all broadcasters will want to transfer to digital in the same or similar timescale. Timescales for the introduction of digital emissions are likely to be very different throughout the world; • Will need to have sub-bands in all bands to cope with propagational changes between seasons and over the sunspot cycle It has been suggested that the WARC-92 bands could be used for this purpose. However, the WARC-92 bands are already in use for analogue broadcast transmissions although not officially available to the broadcasting service until 1st April 2007. This is too late for the introduction of digital emissions as the process started in June 2003. Possible variations in approach Although there are these two basic options, it is conceivable that both methods could be used in combination to satisfy particular requirements in particular circumstances and bands. As the lower bands used by the broadcasting service are heavily congested, it would be difficult to consider even a small sub-band for digital only transmissions. However, the higher bands are often less congested allowing consideration of a form of partitioning. This may not need to be a firm partition but could take the form of a recommended part of the frequency band where a majority of digital emissions could be located. The development of a digital modulation System for use in the HF bands has already led to consideration in some countries of using the HF bands for line-of-sight community broadcasting. This could be achieved by using low power transmissions in the 26MHz band. However, careful consideration would be needed to ensure that these Services do not inhibit the use of this band for international, long-distance broadcasting. To achieve this, it may be necessary to partition the 26 MHz band in a different manner so that international broadcasting uses one sub-band and the line-of-site transmissions uses the other sub-band. This concept is only feasible in the 26 M Hz band as the other HF bands are used more extensively for international broadcasting world-wide. Conclusions Taking all of these factors into consideration, it seems that the most practical approach would be to introduce digital transmissions into the existing spectrum alongside analogue transmissions. However, it may be worth considering a mixed approach whereby digital is introduced in separate sub-bands in the higher frequencies but mixed in with analogue transmissions the lower frequency bands. As the HF Co-ordination Groups deal with the day-to-day planning and co-ordination of the HF broadcasting bands, they are in the best position to determine the most effective way to introduce digital transmissions. These HF co-ordination groups (HFCC/ASBU/ABU-HFC) will need to agree some simple rules when introducing digital transmissions whether this is a totally new requirement or is in the form of converting existing requirements from analogue to digital. Apart from agreeing the approach, the main rule may be that the power of a digital transmission must be reduced by 7dB compared to an equivalent analogue transmission. This value could be varied in light of practical experience In addition, the protection criteria, analogue to digital and digital to analogue etc., will need to be incorporated into the existing calculation process used within the co-ordination groups. Rather than the full set of tables in ITU-R Recommendation BS.1615, the simpler table agreed at WRC-03 could be used. Again, these values could be adjusted in light of experience. Although it undoubtedly provides a major improvement in audibility, there are still a number of uncertainties about digital modulation and its impact on planning. Among these are: - • Will fewer frequencies be required to provide the same reliability of Service? • Will frequency diversity substantially improve overall reliability? • Will it be possible to provide more than one audio channel per frequency reliably to a particular service area? These issues will require further study (via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ MW AND LW PROPAGATION Can anyone refer me to some web pages dealing with MW and LW propagation in particular (as opposed to the numerous pages dealing with SW or ham-oriented). A correspondent in Spain is researching this subject. I don`t see any primers about this on the NRCDXAS or MWC sites. English will have to do, if not Spanish. Thanks, (Glenn Hauser, NRC-AM and MWC lists, via DXLD) I'm not really aware of any that are that narrow. Most of the scientific community's research has been on SW, as has that done by hams. There are some very general references contained on a couple of the US government-related (NOAA, etc.) geomagnetic sites, but that's about all. He might do better with NRC Reprints if English isn't a real problem (Russ Edmunds, NRC-AM via DXLD) Hi Glenn, Try this: http://www.dxlc.com/solar/ Best regards (Jan-Erik Österholm, FORTUM Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, that is excellent about current conditions, but not theory. As is this: (gh, DXLD) CT1BOH PROPAGATION PAGE The page now seems to be working. I had sent a note to Jose, CT1BOH after trying the page for two days. He responded that this server has been having a lot of problems. I also thanked him for this terrific page that concisely displays all the basic info on Propagation and is "up to the minute." http://www.qsl.net/ct1boh/propagat.htm Thanks again, (Dave, N2CHI, Griffin, Jan 9, ODXA via DXLD) TERREMOTOS E PROPAGAÇÃO? Com a recente Tsunami na Ásia, eu procurei recuparar alguns textos que relacionavam o rádio com terremotos, normalmente em VLF, no entanto encontrei um artigo que relaciona terremotos e propagação em VHF! Como vcs tocaram no assunto na radioescutas, acho que é um momento adequado para compartilhar os links. Também envio a mensagem na lista VHF-DX, lista especializada em DXismo acima dos 30 MHz, a qual convido a todos a fazerem parte: http://br.groups.yahoo.com/group/vhf-dx Os links: "On a possibility of earthquake forecast by radio observations in the VHF band" http://www.riken.go.jp/lab-www/library/publication/review/html/No19/19-64/19-64.html A contextualização neste site: http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/quake_prediction_030915.html Outros sites (englobando outras bandas): Ham Radio Earthquake Detection http://www.eham.net/articles/887 Earth Monitoring "... In a year were saved about 3000 spectrograms and the gotten data were compared to those of 130 earthquakes..." http://www.vlf.it/romero/seismic_rdf.htm Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences http://www.copernicus.org/EGU/nhess/1/99.htm Natural Radio http://www.altair.org/natradio.htm A simple capacitor model for radio emission associated with earthquakes http://www.iop.org/EJ/abstract/1009-1963/13/11/039 (Flávio Archangelo, "Ark" - PY2ZX, Jundiaí - SP, radioescutas via DXLD) ###