DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-056, March 30, 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 2005 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 AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1269: Wed 2300 WOR WBCQ 7415 17495-CUSB [first airing of each edition] Thu 1000 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Thu 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Thu 2130 WOR WWCR 15825 Fri 0100 WOR WTND-LP 106.3 Macomb IL Fri 0200 WOR ACBRadio Mainstream [repeated 2-hourly thru 2400] Fri 1030 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Fri 1700 WOR WBCQ after hours Fri 2300 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sat 0000 WOR ACBRadio Mainstream Sat 0600 WOR SIUE WEB RADIO Sat 0800 WOR WRN1 to Eu, Au, NZ, WorldSpace AfriStar, AsiaStar, Telstar 12 SAm Sat 0955 WOR WNQM Nashville TN 1300 Sat 1130 WOR WWCR 5070 Sat 1130 WOR World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.2 Sat 2030 WOR R. Lavalamp Sun 0330 WOR WWCR 5070 Sun 0400 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Sun 0430 WOR WRMI 7385 Sun 0730 WOR WWCR 3210 Sun 0830 WOR WRN1 to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP Sun 0830 WOR KSFC Spokane WA 91.9 Sun 0830 WOR WXPN Rhinelander WI 91.7 91.9 100.9 Sun 0830 WOR WDWN Auburn NY 89.1 [unconfirmed] Sun 0830 WOR KTRU Houston TX 91.7 [occasional] Sun 1100 WOR R. Lavalamp [North American DST shifts start here:] Sun 1200 WOR WRMI 7385 Sun 1300 WOR KRFP-LP Moscow ID 92.5 Sun 1500 WOR R. Lavalamp Sun 1730 WOR WRMI 7385 [from WRN] Sun 1730 WOR WRN1 to North America Sun 1900 WOR Studio X, Momigno, Italy 1584 87.35 96.55 105.55 Sun 2000 WOR RNI Mon 0230 WOR WRMI 7385 Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0330 WOR WSUI Iowa City IA 910 [1268] Mon 0430 WOR WBCQ 7415 Mon 0900 WOR R. Lavalamp Mon 0900 WOR WRMI 9955 Mon 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 0600 WOR WPKN Bridgeport CT 89.5 Tue 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours MORE info including audio links: http://worldofradio.com/radioskd.html [also with Week of Confusion and DST schedules] WRN ON DEMAND [from Friday]: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also for CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] [from early UT Thursday] WORLD OF RADIO 1269 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1269h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1269h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1269 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1269.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1269.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1269.html [from Thursday] WORLD OF RADIO 1269 in true shortwave sound Alex`s mp3 [projected]: (stream) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_03-30-05.m3u (d`load) http://www.piratearchive.com/media/worldofradio_03-30-05.mp3 DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS March 29 edition: http://worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html [there was a typo in this link in last issue] DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our yg. Here`s where to sign up http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Correxion to 5-055: Rodio Solh (as they pronounce it), very nice signal on 17700, presumably still via UK, at 1429 March 27, giving frequencies and ID, much better than BBC on 17640, 17830 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17640, not 17630 ** ALASKA. Radio Station KNLS Broadcast Schedule Transmitter: Anchor Point, Alaska, USA (100 kW, 151-44W, 59-45N) March 27, 2005 to October, 2005 (UTC) (kHz.) TIME BAND FREQUENCY LANGUAGE 0800 25m 11765 Mandarin 0800 25m 11870 English +++++ 0900 25m 11765 Mandarin 0900 25m 11870 Russian 1000 31m 9795 English +++++ 1000 25m 11765 Mandarin 1100 31m 9615 Mandarin 1100 31m 9615 Russian 1200 31m 9615 English +++++ 1200 31m 9780 English +++++ 1300 31m 9615 Mandarin 1300 31m 9795 Mandarin 1400 31m 9615 Mandarin 1400 31m 9795 English +++++ 1500 31m 9615 Mandarin 1500 31m 9795 Russian 1600 31m 9615 Mandarin 1600 31m 9795 Russian 1700 41m 7355 Russian 1700 31m 9615 Mandarin (via KNLS Chinese website via Eric Zhou, China, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Reflects TWO transmitters in use, and note additional English broadcasts!! But no longer at 1300. Ah, that`s the trick. On the KNLS English website itself they STILL have not updated the schedule since last fall. But on the Chinese site there is a link to a different schedule presented partly in English, which is current (or rather anticipated --- is #2 really on the air now?), so I will bookmark this: http://www.smzg.org/Schedule%20in%20English.htm (Glenn Hauser, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. See INDIA ** ANTARCTICA [non]. Re 5-055: Caro Glenn, Favor retificar a informação. Conforme informações da Voz Cristã, a LR-36 esteve presente sim na última reunião do HFCC, realizada na cidade do México. A emissora argentina não considerou nem considera o Brasil como alvo de suas emissões (Célio Romais, Brasil, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s not the point! LRA-36 is the only SW station on its entire continent, is only on the air 3 hours a day with low power and has been on the same well-known(??) frequency for many years with little prospect of changing it. It is the only way for listeners anywhere in the world to hear Antarctica, even in Argentina. It is unconscionable for VC to ignore this fact and expand its operation over the entire time period LRA-36 has been using it. Are we supposed to believe that 15475 is the only possible frequency VC could use to Brasil at 1800- 2100 UT? Some South American DXers may be reluctant to confront VC about this, since it provides a DX program (full of gospel-huxtering to boot), so I will have to do it (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Jeff, We are having a little discussion about Voz Cristiana hogging 15475 in A-05, despite the presence of LRA 36 Antarctica on 15476 at 1800-2100. In B-04, VC waited until 2100 to open that frequency, Portuguese to Brasil. I didn`t think that LRA-36 was represented at HFCC, but VC claims that they were and did not object to the clash since Brasil is not a target area of that station (as if there were no overlap!). So could you please tell me if LRA-36 was represented at HFCC, and if so by whom? Seems unlikely they would have sent a delegate all by themselves. Is LRA 36 on the A-05 HFCC schedule? Tnx, (Glenn to Jeff White, organizer of HFCC A-05 February in Mexico City, via DXLD) Caro Célio, Não se pode acreditar o que dizem as vozes cristãs --- Segundo Jeff White: 73, (Glenn to Célio, via DXLD) Glenn: No, LRA-36 had no one representing them at the HFCC. In fact, we did not even include RAE schedule data this time I believe, because it's been so difficult to get reliable info out of them about the upcoming season (Jeff White, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That could also explain why HCJB has just moved to 11710: 2100 2300 11710 100 150 S. America 1111111 2300 0100 11710 100 157/330 N/S America 1111111 Despite RAE, Argentina being on 11710v forever, and currently scheduled Spanish 2200-2400 and Portuguese 0000-0200 Mo-Fr --- make that UT Tue-Sat, both on 11710. Indeed, I checked at 0030 UT March 29; there was HCJB preaching in Spanish on 11710, but something else audible underneath, no doubt RAE in Portuguese, which used to be audible here; at least HCJB will be off after 0100 for the last hour of Portuguese, and English after that at 0200-0300. HCJB had been on 11700 during this time in B-04, but left it because of Bulgaria in the A-seasons. There is absolutely no excuse for this collision, which is no doubt much worse in South America. HCJB either doesn`t care about clashing with one of South America`s few other international broadcasters, or hasn`t done its homework. 11710 has been RAE`s one and only 25m frequency for as long as I can remember, roughly 50 years. The Argentines may be faulted for not standing up for their interests at HFCC, but so are the stations which run roughshod over their weaker colleagues (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Caro Glenn, No último dia 25, postaste mensagem requerendo ¿Quién pedirá a VC a evitar tal choque?, a respeito da ocupação da freqüência de 15475 kHz, pela Rádio Voz Cristã. Gentilmente, eu passei a sua preocupação para a emissora. Em seguida, apresentei os motivos que a Voz Cristã, de forma solícita, enviou-me: que a área de atuação da emissora é o Brasil, enquanto que a LRA-36 visa outro território[acredito que seja o argentino somente]. Também repassei outras informações enviadas pela emissora. Como escrevi em mensagem anterior, acredito que sobreposições sempre ocorrerão, independente de países, credos ou cores das emissoras. A Voz Cristã não será a primeira nem a última a ser questionada neste mundo das ondas curtas. Por fim, acredito que a Voz Cristã não é a única emissora religiosa que abre espaço para o dexismo. Por exemplo, recentemente, acompanhei seu excelente World of Radio, às 0400 UTC [encerramento], em 5070 kHz da WWCR, de Nashville, que é uma emissora cristã [World Wide Christian Radio]. Opino que, seja um canal religioso, seja estatal, como é o caso da RDP – Rádio Portugal [onde também há colaborações para os programas dexistas de brasileiros – inclusive minhas!] o importante é que estamos todos com o mesmo objetivo: procurando cada vez mais divulgar algo tão interessante e fascinante que são as ondas curtas e as relações que surgem nesta atividade. P.S.: Já que citei a Voz Cristã e a Rádio Portugal, lembrei que, em 17680 kHz há, em bom período de tempo, a sobreposição de freqüências das duas emissoras. A programação em espanhol da Voz Cristã é irradiada para a América do Sul, enquanto que a Rádio Portugal manda a programação para outra área de atuação, mas com grande potência de transmissor. Cabe ao dexista procurar tirar proveito desta situação. 73s! (Célio Romais, Porto Alegre, Brasil http://www.romais.jor.br DX LISTENING DIGEST) Célio, A preocupação do Glenn é válida, inclusive já indicamos isso a emissora, pois a questão Voz Cristã X LRA-36 não envolve continentes mas sim um continente que é a América do Sul e em especial paises tão próximos como é o caso do Brasil e Argentina, podendo afetar a sintonia da LRA-36 nesta frequência mesmo na Argentina. Uma monitoração dos amigos argentinos neste respeito será muito útil. 73´s (Jailton C. Amaral, Pres. do SRDXC, ibid.) Positivo, Jailton. Estamos nessa juntos. Queremos que a situação seja resolvida. 73s! (Célio, ibid.) Desde há muitos anos a LRA 36 desde a Antarctica era consideradas pelos dexistas mundiais, uma espécie de "cereja em cima do bolo" da onda curta. Dexista que se preze tinha de ter o QSL da emissora. Infelizmente, com a mudança da Voz Cristã para os 15475 KHz desde o Chile, torna-se quase virtualmente impossível voltar a escutar a RN Arcángel San Gabriel no seu período normal de transmissão. Sem dúvida, que é de lamentar esta situação, pois desde a Antárctica era, que eu saiba, a única estação de radiodufusão activa. Penso que o próprio governo argentino deveria ter tomado posição, pois não basta dizer que os "target`s" são diferente, junto da HFCC. Não sei se será possivel, alterar a situação, mas efectivamente existe neste momento a nivel mundial, via internet, um forte clamor. Por mim, encontro-me dividido, pois respeito a Voz Cristã enquanto emissora que abriu as suas portas ao DXCB e às suas colaborações, no entanto, como dexista era importante continuar a ter "a cereja do bolo". Penso que era, como noutras ocasiões se demonstrou, de toda a conveniência que a LRA 36 muda-se de freqüência, para uma área menos congestinada da banda dos 19 mts (João Costa, Almada / Portugal, radioescutas via DXLD) ** ANTIGUA. Researching the background to the situation with the Antigua relay station, I just came across this news item, which I had not previously seen, in the 22 February of the Antigua Sun: http://sun-weekend.com/ The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) will be ceasing its short wave transmission, relayed from Antigua, at the end of March. This operation was started by the BBC World Service since the early 1970's. A release from the company gives the reason as a decline in short wave listeners around the world. "All international broadcasters are therefore reducing short wave transmissions and moving their resources to delivery methods now preferred by audiences such as FM, satellite and online. The release noted that "the BBC itself has lost over a third of its short wave audiences over the last decade and the trend is accelerating. Therefore, BBC World Service is ceasing short wave transmissions from Antigua at the end of March. BBC World Service will continue its FM transmissions on the island however. "As a public service broadcaster, the BBC World Service is unable to exploit the site's potential commercially. Therefore, the Caribbean Relay Company, who manages the transmission site on behalf of its shareholders BBC World Service and Deutsche Welle, is exploring options to offer the site to a commercial operator in an effort to retain and increase the business to Antigua. A new general manager David Bones arrived on the island yesterday" (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) see also GERMANY ** ARGENTINA. Gabriel Iván Barrera has tried to get me the info, but they never give him advance info for the next season - just the current stuff which we already know. And the target areas listed don't coordinate with the antenna azimuths and transmitter powers they once gave me. Some of the target areas were unrealistic. I remember the guys from REE complaining to me a few conferences back that some RAE transmission was supposedly targetting western North America when it couldn't have been possible, and REE was really targetting WNA (probably from the Costa Rica relay), and it showed up as a collision, but it really wasn't in reality. So there's the opposite of the RAE/HCJB clash. If the info isn't accurate, it just messes everybody up (Jeff White, WRMI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RAE seldom makes any real changes, so ought to go with existing schedules into the next season, lacking anything better (gh, DXLD) See also ANTARCTICA ** ARGENTINA. New x-band station: AM1700 "AM Mil Setecientos", Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (presumed )1158-1200 UT, March 30. Spanish national and international songs. Only one ad. ID as: "Desde Buenos Aires, transmite AM1700". The station announces the web page: http://www.am1700.com.ar but this web is a temporary page. SINPO: 35553 AM1700, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (presumiblemente), reportada entre las 1158-1200 UT del 30 de Marzo de 2005. La emisora está en pruebas, aunque no lo anuncia específicamente y su programación se compone básicamente con música variada nacional e internacional (Celine Dion, Vicentico, etc). Tiene un sólo comercial correspondiente a la revista "Sudestada". Anuncia transmitir desde aquí pero bien sabemos que la mayoría de las estaciones que salen al aire desde el Gran Buenos Aires, por razones de "status" o comerciales, también reniegan de sus verdaderos sitios de emisión. Entra con 35553 a la zona noroeste de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. Invitan a comunicarse con la emisora vía su página web en http://www.am1700.com.ar aunque aún la misma no ha sido construida (chequeado hace instantes). Una de las identificaciones escuchadas indicó: "Desde Buenos Aires, transmite AM1700". (Arnaldo Slaen, Buenos Aires, Argentina, dxing.info via DXLD) ** ASIA [non]. 9770, SITE-?, (Presumed) R. Free Asia, 2111-2132, March 28, Vernacular/English, 2 OM re Korea and Vietnam, music bridge at 2115, YL with talk over music; interview with OM. English soundbites at 2125 re "human rights, NGOs" etc. "RFA" at end of report. Fair, best listening in USB (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage atnennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tinian (gh) ** AUSTRIA. R. Austria Int. mantiene el siguiente esquema en su noticiero de Austria en español. 2055-2100 1476, 5945 y 6155 (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellon), España, March 30, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** BELGIUM. Re: RVi Last Broadcast: I thought the last program would be a little different than what was presented. They more or less left the air without a whimper, and basic "farewell" after lots of great Flemish music. I have to say it was not what I expected. I will miss them in the English format. They seemed to have passed into history with few taking a notice (Bob Montgomery, swprograms via DXLD) The previous night's program (UT Saturday 0500) was more of a farewell, with several staff goodbyes. Sorry if you missed this, Bob, as it would have given you more "closure". Yes, the Flemish music on the final day was fine, as always. What a shame (Saul Broudy, Philadelphia, PA USA, ibid.) See UK Hi Glenn, Re 5-054, here some comments about RVi. Their website is now completely in Dutch only. Indeed, no other languages anymore. But on the left side there are links to the new VRT 'flandreinfo', 'flandersnews', and 'flanderninfo' site resp F, E and G. There is a forum-page at http://www.rvi.be/rvi_master/service/rvi_service_forum/index.shtml but it doesn't work yet. I researched also a bit the usage of 1512 kHz Medium wave. 1512 is still in use the whole day long, just as before, but is consists almost exclusively of relays from VRT Radio 1 and Radio 2 instead of the own RVi programmes and RNW and DW relays. The relays of VRT Radio 1 and 2 are quite superfluous while this frequency isn't covering other targets than the other VRT Radio 1 and 2 MW-transmitters. Besides, by terminating the exchange agreement with Radio Netherlands and Deutsche Welle, RVi loses its transmitter time in Bonaire and Julich. That means that this stupid decision results in less service for almost the same expenses (Guido Schotmans, Belgium, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Radiodifusora Roraima inactiva en 4875, desde hace muchas semanas (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Hi Glenn, Here's a wonderful incongruity: ``* CITS applied for channel 21. CBC objected (too close to CBLT-20) and suggested channel 35 instead. CITS accepted the CBC suggestion but I don't think Industry Canada has acted on the channel change yet." But only a few lines above, it is shown that the CBC has intentionally opted to operate on co-channels: Quebec: CBFT, Montreal ch. 19 250,000w 300m CBMT, Montreal ch. 20 107,000w 300m Cheers, (Ricky Leong, Montreal (for now, anyway), March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE. See ANTARCTICA ** COLOMBIA. 6140, Radio Líder, 0450-0559, Noticias de Colombia y del mundo, canciones, múltiples identifaciones entre las canciones: "Noticias en Radio Líder", "En la Cadena Melodía de Colombia, desde Bogotá, transmite Radio Líder, el canal por AM Estéreo 730 kilociclos de la Cadena Melodía de Colombia". "En Radio Líder, 730 kilociclos AM Estéreo, ésta es la hora oficial, son las 12 de la noche". Esta es Radio Líder, Líder, Líder". Buena señal, desde 23222 al principio a 44444 al final, cuando a las 0559 empezó a transmitir la Deutsche Welle en la misma frecuencia con programa en inglés. (Marzo 30). (Manuel Méndez, desde Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y antena cable de 8 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6140, Radio Líder (30/03/2005, 0530-0610 UT, SINPO:44444 ) con música romántica en español, sin anuncios comerciales; entre cada canción su identificación: "Ésta es Radio Líder". A las 0550 dieron la hora: "730 Radio Líder, La Hora oficial es 12:50" A las 0600 UT otra identificación más completa "Desde Bogotá ... Colombia, ésta es Radio Líder HJCU... de la Cadena Melodía de Bogotá ... 730 Radio Líder... La Hora oficial es la Una de la madrugada..." (Héctor García Bojorge, DF, condiglist via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. March 27 at 1610 noted Cuban jamming against nothing on 17670 and 15330, where R. Martí used to be. Guess the dentrocubans haven`t checked http://www.martinoticias.com/frequencies.htm for RM`s updated schedule: 00-03 15330-DL 11775-GB 7365-GB 6030-GB 03-04 11775-GB 7405-GA 7365-GB 6030-GA 04-07 11775-GB 9805-GB 7405-GA 6030-GA 07-09 9805-DL 7405-GA 6030-GA 5980-DL 09-12 9805-DL 9565-GA 6030-DL 5980-DL 12-13 13820-GA 9805-DL 9565-GA 7405-DL 13-14 13820-GA 13630-GA 11845-GA 7405-DL 14-17 13820-GA 13630-GA 11930-GA 11845-GA 17-20 13820-GA 13630-GA 11930-GA 9565-GA 20-21 13820-DL 13630-GA 11930-GA 9565-GA 21-22 21500-DL 13820-DL 11930-GA 9565-GA 22-23 15330-DL 13820-DL 11930-GA 6030-GA 23-24 15330-DL 13820-DL 7365-GB 6030-GA DL = Delano CA; GA = Greenville-A NC; GB = Greenville-B NC Also 1180 Marathon 24h, but no mention of other relays on 1020, 1570, 1620 or 102.5! RM silent period still applies on all frequencies UT Mondays 0300-0900. Grid also shows TV Martí on HISPASAT 24h; and Cudjoe Key channels 18, 50, 64, daily 2200-0230 (Glenn Hauser, March 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Aventura Diexista, programa DX de HCJB, sale ahora los domingos a las 2240 UT, aproximadamente, en la nueva frecuencia de 21455 kHz (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Don`t think 21455 is new; they have been running low-power SSB there for years; main frequency at this time, ex-15140 is now 11710 about which more under ANTARCTICA [non]! See also TAJIKISTAN, believe it or not ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, 28/3. R. Bata, 1946-1955, español, ID, cuña sobre consejos sanitarios solicitando la colaboración de los ciudadanos en la limpieza de la ciudad, "colabora con tu ayuntamiento y mantén limpia la ciudad, no acumules basura". Música local. SINPO 54444 (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellon) España, SANGEAN ATS 909, Antena siete metros de hilo, Noticias DX via DXLD) 5005, Radio Nacional, Bata, 1835, Idioma vernáculo y música. A las 1905 desapareció la señal. (Marzo, 29). 44444. También 0540 en español, programa divulgativo sobre el SIDA. 24322. 15190, Radio Africa, religioso, "The Voice of World Bible Mission, P.O.Box 116, Athem [Athens?], Tennessee, 37371 USA". Buena señal y sin interferencia. 44444. (Marzo, 29) (Manuel Méndez, desde Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y antena cable de 8 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. RFI English March 28 at 1617 on new 17605 better than 15605; at 1618 RFI in Spanish on 15515 with ``Ciencia en Directo`` -- odd new time for that language (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GEORGIA. 11805, Georgian Radio from Dusheti heard still on their UT schedule, like 0700 Ru, 0730 En, and Ge at 0800-0827 UT, not DST shifted (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, March 30, dxldyg via DXLD) The country Georgia did move to DST (UT +4h), but as in previous years, the transmissions of Radio Georgia remain at the same UT times winter and summer. 73s, (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, ibid.) ** GERMANY [and non]. Deutsche Welle cuts in German --- I was quite surprised to tune in to 17860 kHz this afternoon and hear a broadcast in what sounded like Arabic. So, I went to Deutsche Welle's web-site to get the summer frequency schedule, and according to the PDF, 17860 is no longer being used for broadcasts in German. Indeed, there's no broadcasts to North America before 2000 UT, on 15275 kHz. I tried the various frequencies listed as being in use from 1800-2000, and the only one that provided any signal here in the Catskills was 11795. Even then, the signal wasn't that strong (Ted Schuerzinger, Swprograms mailing list, March 28, swprograms via DXLD) This also helps to explain why it was possible to mothball Antigua (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, ibid.) I could be wrong, but I think this was the case already. DW in German broadcast to NA only from 2200-0600 during B04, I believe (John Figliozzi, ibid.) I listened to them lots of weekend afternoons this past winter from 1800- 2200 on 17860, for the Bundesliga results at the end of the 1900 UTC news, Land und Leute following the 1900 news, and Funkjournal at 2000 UTC. Perhaps that 17860 broadcast has always been for Africa, but could be heard in the US. But the point is that that frequency is no longer being used at all. (On weekends, Funkjournal is every four hours instead of every two, which means the earliest edition to North America will now be the 2300 UTC edition.) (Ted Schuerzinger, ibid.) ** GOA. See INDIA ** GREENLAND. 3815-USB, Greenland (presumed) in Danish Tuesday 2125 UT with talks and songs fine with a bit of passband tuning (Pat near Paris Privat, Icom R75, Wellbrook 1530, March 29, HCDX via DXLD) This was supposed to have shifted schedule since March 27 to one hour earlier, 2000-2115* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. Dear Glenn, two nights ago, March 29, I heard Radio Buenas Nuevas on 4799.8 kHz with a real good signal. In the final announcement, at 0229 UT, I could hear: "... Desde San Sebastián, Huehuetenango Guatemala, transmite Radio Buena Nuevas en la frecuencia ... autorizada de 4800 kc banda de 60 metros y 102.1 frecuencia modulada". I recorded it. Do know something about the FM transmitter? Do you think they are going to leave short waves? Ciao (Giampiero Bernardini, Avvenire, Milano, Italy, March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I really don`t know if the FM is new, but once a station has FM, the odds of quitting SW certainly increase; WRTH only lists FMs in Guatemala City (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. Inactiva desde hace muchas semanas, la GBC en 3291v (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Dear Friends, During last night's tsumai alert, the following AIR stations were noted with special broadcasts throughout the night. Chennai 4920, 720 Hyderabad 4800, 738 Port Blair 4760 Visakhapatnam 927 Vijayawada 837 The latest A-2005 schedule changes for AIR External Service are observed as follows: Bangalore 13695 (ex 13710): 1000-1100 English, 1115-1215 Tamil, 1215- 1245 Telegu. Panaji 15410 (ex 15235): 1000-1100 English, 1115-1200 Thai. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, dx_india, March 28 via DXLD) Dear friends, AIR Channei has changed to 7275 (ex 7270) 100 kw at 0025-0430 for A-2005 period. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, March 30, dx_india via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. The A05 EiBi Skeds are being constructed at: http://www.susi-und-strolch.de/eibi/bc-a05.txt Or: http://www.eibi.de.vu/ (Steve Lare Holland, MI USA, swl at qth.net via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. RTÉ 'UPSET' AT WORLDSPACE POLICY TO ENCRYPT SIGNALS | Irish public broadcaster RTÉ carries the following announcement on its website: We regret to announce that due to a business policy change by Worldspace, from 0000 UT on 15th April 2005 our free to air service from WRN via the Worldspace satellite will cease. Our sincere apologies for this situation. FROM THAT TIME RECEPTION OF OUR SERVICE FROM THE WORLDSPACE SATELLITE WILL REQUIRE PAYMENT OF A MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION. RTÉ are in no way responsible for the imposition of this charge or for the Worldspace policy change. We are very upset about the announcement of this new situation. We at RTÉ are examining our options and making some efforts to maintain the free to air aspect of our service. We will make an announcement regarding the outcome, as soon as possible. This new policy also affects reception of Radio Netherlands and other international broadcasters which are carried on the WRN transponder. If you are currently listening to us on WorldSpace but will be unable to do so after 15 April, please E-mail us at media@rnw.nl # posted by Andy @ 14:38 UT March 29 (Media Network blog via DXLD) World Space thinks the XM business model will work in Africa. Worldspace is wrong. Look at the other ANGRY letters in SW magazine that nearly all channels are going to be encrypted and there are all sorts of charges coming including a 10 dollar connection fee (Jonathan Marks, 03.29.05 - 5:13 pm, ibid.) I got this response from BBC Worldservice last week, on asking them about the future of BBCWS Africa programmes carried on Afristar. It's a great pity. .............................. We regret that we cannot guarantee that the BBC World Service will remain free-to-air on the West Beam of the AfriStar satellite for much longer. WorldSpace have decided that they will become a subscription- only service and it is expected that the channels currently available free-to-air will move to subscription in the near future. Regards, Audience Relations, BBC World Service (via Rob K, 03.29.05 - 6:12 pm, ibid.) Assuming that contracts were signed for the carriage of the stations on Worldspace, which of the following could apply in this situation? a) The stations didn't read the small print, or b) Worldspace could be in breach of said contracts. (Or doesn't it work like that?) (Del (North Wales), 03.29.05 - 6:36 pm, ibid.) I don't know about the contracts. But I believe RTE, like us, doesn't deal with WorldSpace directly, but through WRN. Interestingly, WRN's website says "And don't forget to mention WRN to receive a discount on your first year's subscription." (Andy Sennitt, 03.29.05 - 7:15 pm, ibid.) AWR Germany made a statement about this already some weeks ago. Gist: ´It's beyond our control.´ (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 03.29.05 - 9:18 pm, ibid.) Same old story: get `em hooked for free, then soak `em (gh, DXLD) Adding insult to injury as international broadcasters drop off shortwave (Tracy K. Wood, March 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) There are 1,000 "free" satellite radios available for those who subscribe... http://www.worldspace.com/freeradio/index.html (via "srs018" worldspace-radio @ yahoogroups.com via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Surely the encryption of World Radio Network on Worldspace goes completely against the purpose of WRN's broadcasters. The response from RTÉ must surely be echoed by all broadcasters that use WRN and expect their broadcasts to reach a wide and varied audiance and not those who simply can afford to. If anyone can change the decision of Worldspace the broadcasters can. I have already begun to email all broadcasters on WRN to bring their attention to this problem. I feel that if Worldspace does not change its ways then it has no future - and yes, I too have wasted my money buying a Worldspace receiver (Peter Longfils, BDXC-UK via DXLD) From various postings to these lists its obvious that many are not happy - if you are one please write to WorldSpace and tell them, they need to know!! The more that write the better. I suggest you write to either or both of these addresses: Worldwide - WorldSpace - worldwide customer services customerservice @ worldspace.com Europe - rcv-fr @ worldspace.com I have written - I subscribe (mainly to listen to Radio Caroline) but am one of a few - now that the Caroline internet signal (Abacast ) is superb stereo there doesn't seem must point in renewing my sub. Would be interested to know what WorldSpace say in reply (Mike Terry, UK, dxldyg via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. Re: ``11630 [x11625, x11660, x15650] R. Seda-ye Mellat- e Iran [probably via Issoudun, France] n o t observed today Sunday March 27 at 1430 UT. New time or new freq in A-05 season ? I guess heard R Cairo Azeriand CNR8 Kazakh co-channel instead.`` But today noted that Clandestine station in Persian language again, but at 1330-1359:50 UT instead. Underneath CNR8 program in Chinese til 1400 UT was in progress, CNR8 from 1400 UT in Kazakh. Two accompanied Iranian jammer noted so far, a Bubble type one on 11629.00 kHz even, and a rather oscillating tone on 11630.28 kHz from 1329:40 UT, latter which left at 1400:27 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX Mar 27/28, dxldyg via DXLD) R. Farda A-05: see U S A ** IRAQ. IRAQ TO ADOPT SUMMER TIME ON 1 APRIL Iraq will switch to summer time (daylight savings [sic] time) on 1 April, Iraqi Al-Sharqiyah TV reported on 28 March. It said the switch would take place "at 2400 local time [2100 gmt] on Thursday 31 March", when clocks would be moved forward by one hour. Al-Sharqiyah noted that Iraq would revert to winter time on 1 October. It said the seasonal time changes would remain on 1 April and 1 October in future years. (From 1 April, local time in Iraq will therefore be four hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. Scheduled programmes on Iraqi domestic radio and television are thus expected to be an hour earlier, according to gmt, than during winter.) Source: Al-Sharqiyah, Baghdad, in Arabic 0900 gmt 28 Mar 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) So look for all those Kurdish SW stations one UT hour earlier. See KURDISTAN (gh, DXLD) ** IRELAND. RTE upset about WorldSpace subscription: see INTERNATIONAL VACUUM ** ITALY. Italia fue uno de los primeros países del mundo que realizaron transmisiones en ondas cortas, bajo el impulso directo de Guillermo Marconi. RAI Internacional (La voz de los italianos en el extranjero) transmite desde hace setenta y dos años desde Roma para el mundo. La Emisora produce varios programas radiofónicos que se transmiten en las frecuencias de ondas medias y cortas, de las radios AM y FM que tienen convenios con RAI Internacional, o bien vía satélite y vía web por Satelradio y Hotbird. La redacción periodística Onda Corta de RAI International produce cada día ediciones en lenguas extranjeras de los noticiarios de Italia, valiéndose de un equipo de traductores-presentadores. Los informativos en idioma extranjero se transmiten en onda corta y también por Hotbird 1, el canal por satélite que presenta una selección de los programas de ondas cortas y que también puede escucharse por streaming en este sitio: http://www.international.rai.it/esp/radio/multilingue/presentacion/espanol.shtml Esquema en idioma español de la RAI,vigente desde el 27/03/2005 al 30/10/2005: UTC FREC. AREA 0055-0115 9840 America del Sur [Ascension?] 0315-0335 11800 America del Norte Para ver el detalle de las transmisiones de RAI Internacional con frecuencias y horarios, haga clic en: http://www.international.rai.it/esp/radio/ondacorta/index.shtml 73 (Dino Bloise, Hollywood, FL, March 29, dxldyg via DXLD) ** KAZAKHSTAN. Kazakhstan did not change to daylight saving [sic] time on 27 March; the DST shift during summer months was abolished (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Shifting. WRTH says there are three zones in this wide country, UT +4, +5, +6 when not shifted. Come to think of it, there are not many countries using 3 or more timezones; China should, but does not. Offhand, without looking it up, I would say the others are: USA, Canada, Brazil, Russia, Australia, Indonesia (gh) ** KOREA NORTH. Today March 29 1625 UT I was monitoring North Korea on SW and heard these outlets of P`yongyang Pangsong, P`yongyang Broadcasting Station: 3249.56-, 3320.19- 6250.13- and on 6398.78 kHz. The last one being the best with good signal strengrth and reception. 73´s (Jouko Huuskonen, Turku, FINLAND, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. KBS PRESIDENT REFUSES UNION DEMAND TO RESIGN Trades union members at the Korea Broadcasting System have issued a statement demanding the resignation of the broadcaster's president, Jung Yun-ju. Union leaders have been demanding Mr Jung's resignation since managers were caught eavesdropping on a union meeting. The head of the union, Jin Jong-chulm said that if Mr Jung does not resign honourably, union members will physically stop him from entering his office. Mr Jung was not at his office today to meet 40 or so union members, but his senior secretary issued a statement saying that Mr Jung will not accept the resignation demand. (Source: JoongAng Daily) # posted by Andy @ 14:04 UT March 29 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. KBS World A05 http//rki.kbs.co.kr/english/about/about_time.htm KBS WORLD Radio broadcasts in 11 different languages on a total of 26 frequencies targeting 8 directions Europe, North America, South America, Southeast Asia, Middle East & Africa, China, Japan and Non Direction. March. 27, 2005 Language Time (UTC) Frequencies (kHz) Europe ------------------- Korean 1 0900-1100 9640 1600-1800 7275 1700-1900 9515 Korean 2 0700-0800 9535 (Skelton) 0900-1000 15210 Russian 1600-1700 9515 1800-1900 7275, 15360 1900-2000 9515 2000-2100 7275 English 1 0800-0900 9640 1900-2000 7275 English 2 2100-2130 3955 (Skelton) 1430-1500 9770 (DRM) [Skelton?] French 0800-0900 15210 1900-2000 6145 German 0700-0800 15210 2000-2100 3955 (Skelton) Spanish 0700-0800 13670 1000-1100 15210 2000-2100 9515 0600-0630 6045 (Sackville) North America ------------------------- Korean 2 0100-0200 15575 1000-1100 9650 (Sackville) English 1 0200-0300 9560 (RCI), 15575 1200-1300 9650 (Sackville) South America ------------------------- Korean 2 0300-0400 11810 English 1 0200-0300 11810 Spanish 1000-1100 9580 0100-0200 11810 1100-1200 11795 (Sackville) Southeast Asia ------------------------ Korean 1 0900-1100 9570 English 1 0800-0900 9570 1300-1400 9570, 9770 Indonesian 1200-1300 9570 1400-1500 9570 2200-2300 9805 2400-0100 9805 Chinese 2300-2400 9805 1200-1300 9770 Vietnamese 1500-1530 9640 (new) Middle East & Africa ------------------ Korean 1 1600-1800 15575 (new) 1700-1900 7150 1800-2000 9870 Arabic 1900-2000 15365, 15575 2000-2100 7150 (new) English 1 1600-1700 9870 French 1600-1700 7150 1700-1800 9870 (new) 1800-1900 15575 (new) Russian 1900-2000 7150 China ------------------------------------- Chinese 1130-1230 6065 2100-2200 9580 2300-2400 7275 Japan ------------------------------------- Japanese 0000-0100 11810 0800-0900 5975, 7275 1100-1200 7275 1200-1300 5975, 6135, 1170 (MW) 1400-1500 5975, 7275 Non Direction ----------------------------- Korean 1 0900-1100 5975, 7275 1700-1900 5975 2100-2300 5975 Korean 2 1000-1100 1170 (MW) 1200-1300 275 Chinese 1300-1400 5975, 6135, 1170 (MW), 7275 2000-2100 5975 2300-2400 5975 Russian 1100-1200 5975, 6135, 1170 (MW) English 1 1600-1700 5975 1900-2000 5975 (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. 4860, "IRAN", V. of People of Kurdistan, 0202-0218, Mar. 29, Kurdish-?, Anthem at tune-in, YL between fanfare. Call to prayer at 0206 followed by YL, brief music then alternating talks by OM and YL. Poor/fair --- a regular catch here the past few months. Surprised to log it this early. DXLD sez Iran observes DST earlier than others (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage atnennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also IRAQ ** MEXICO. La mexicana de 4810 kHz, XERTA, se mantuvo en el aire durante toda la Semana Santa. Los días de mejor señal: 24/03 (SINPO 33322, a la 0134 UT, con música ranchera) y el 26/03 (SINPO 33333, a las 0447, con música rumbera). Siempre tuve que aplicar el filtro NAR del Yaesu FT-890, para aislarla de la utilitaria adyacente (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 6010.1, Radio Mil, 0710-0810, Radio Mil pudo hoy con La Voz de tu Conciencia. Se escuchaba por encima de ésta última con caciones románticas y locutor anunciando las canciones. Por debajo se escuchaban las predicaciones de La Voz de tu Conciencia. A las 0801 Identificación: "Radio Mil... AM, 50000 watios de pontencia... 63 años en el aire". 12211 variando a 22222. (Marzo 30). (Manuel Méndez, desde Friol, 27 Km. W de Lugo, Spain, Grundig Satellit 500 y antena cable de 8 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Lots and lots of GULF FM tropo to MEXICO heard 3/28/05. Antenna: FM-6 at 25 ft (8 meters) Receiver: Technics SA-200 Times in CST, Distances in miles 1216 107.7 XHXAL Xalapa, Veracruz; "RTV Radio Más" 465 EZl instrumental music . Woman in SP with announcements. 1217 106.5 XHZUL Cerro Azul, Veracruz; "RTV Radio Más" 350 música veracruzana with Spanish vocals, harp & fiddle. 1221 93.7 XHMRI Mérida, Yucatan; musica popular en español 605 "Éxitos al Aire 93.7 FM", "Súper Estéreo 93.7" 1311 89.3 XHMIA Mérida, Yucatan; "energy 89.3" 605 musica popular en español; woman in SP with announcements. 1238 96.5 XHRN Veracruz, Veracruz; música tropical 475 "La Nueva RN, La Tropical" 1240 92.3 XHTU Tuxpan, Veracruz; 350 "92.3 Fiesta Mexicana", música popular en español 1309 93.3 XHPS Veracruz, Veracruz; "Exa FM" 475 música popular en español; ads, PSA's. promo's, mentions of Veracruz 1344 93.9 XHTXA Tuxpan, Veracruz "Calor 93.9" 350 música popular en español; "necesita CALOR en tu vida" 1350 100.5 XHVE Veracruz, Veracruz; "La Mejor 100.5", 475 música Mexicana regional, tejano, ranchera 1417 101.7 XHPR Veracruz, Veracruz; "VOX-FM"; 475 "Los 40 principales-VOX FM" ; "Rebelde fan club" promo música popular en español/hip-hop/urban dance; ads, PSA's, promo's, mentions of Veracruz 1421 97.3 XHVB Villahermosa, Tabasco 620 "Extremo FM" ID; "Extremo FM 97.3 con 30mil watts de potencia en Villahermosa, Tabasco...Radio Núcleo", light musica romántica-popular 1435 102.9 XHTS Veracruz, Veracruz 475 "Ya FM 102.9" música popular en español; "Ya! News" béisbal "XEU 900 AM" promo 1439 103.7 XHCS Veracruz, Veracruz 475 "La Nueva AMOR 103.7", "sólo música romántica" ads, PSA's 1519 102.7 XEPR Poza Rica, Veracruz 350 "102.7 es su FM" man in Spanish with remote broadcast, talking of sports. lots of ads, "Los 40 principales", mentions of Poza Rica 1546 101.9 XHRIC Poza Rica, Veracruz 350 M DJ in Spanish taking calls on the air; "La música exacta", "EXA-FM" ID "XHRIC es tu radio"; música popular en español 1619 106.9 XHQT Veracruz, Veracruz 475 "La poderosa en Veracruz" música cumbia Mexicana, Mexican regional, ranchera, tejano 2032 99.7 XHPB Veracruz, Veracruz 475 "Mar FM" "La estación de los verdaderos clásicos", ads 2052 98.9 XHCMN Cd. Del Carmen, Campeche 620 "MAXIMA LITE" 73's and gud DX (Steve AB5GP Wiseblood, [back in] Boca Chica Beach, TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I'm 2 miles as the crow flies from Boca Chica Beach. My 6-element yagi is up at about 25 feet right now. I have just acquired a 40-foot telescoping mast that a neighbor "gave away" for $25. With the yagi at 40-45' it should "see" the sea (over the dunes)! I dunno how much another 10-15' will help my FM reception. Today and yesterday were PHENOMENAL for tropo. What with yesterdays MEXICAN GULF DX and today I have SUPER TROPO across the GULF to FLORIDA. I may try to put up the new mast tomorrow (if the winds die down-today 25-25 mph gusts make any antenna work prohibitive!) Steven Wiseblood Boca Chica Beach, TX (Steve Wiseblood, ABDX via DXLD) ** MOROCCO [non]. 2M MAROC AND AL MAGHRIBIA JOIN DIRECT-TO-HOME SERVICE IN NORTH AMERICA GlobeCast has added Moroccan broadcasters 2M Maroc and Al Maghribia to the lineup of 130 international channels available on GlobeCast WorldTV via Intelsat Americas 5. Both of these channels are free-to- air and broadcast 24 hours per day, targeting the enormous number of Moroccan immigrants in the United States. In addition, companion radio channels Radio 2M and Al Maghribia Radio are included in this distribution. GlobeCast WorldTV on Intelsat Americas 5 provides international broadcasters such as 2M Maroc and Al Maghribia with instant access to America's vast television market. GlobeCast makes it easy for these channels to tap into this enormous region with the power of Direct-to- Home satellite while maintaining control over revenue and content. (AIB newsletter March 30 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Escuché este 27/03 que Radio Nederland está usando repetidores que no están ni en Bonaire ni en Madagascar, para la nueva frecuencia de 11900 kHz. Parece que son las Islas Ascención. La frecuencia de 9895 ahora se usa hasta las 0200 UT, para luego cambiar a 7325. Pregunta: ¿por qué insistir en Madagascar si la señal muchas veces es pésima? Bonaire es la mejor opción, en mi opinión personal. 73s y buen DX (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Despite its distance, Madagascar is capable of putting in surprisingly good trans-equatorial signals; RN feels this is useful only during the B-seasons, however. The trouble is, RN has decided to sell or trade time on Bonaire to other broadcasters, so compromises must be made, even at the expense of RN`s own coverage. Don`t the higher Bonaire frequencies skip over you, anyway, next door in Venezuela? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Believe it or not, transmissions on 15315 kHz from Bonaire are not captured very well down in here, even when Bonaire is so close from Venezuela. But in 31 metres, signal from Bonaire is strong. I had forgotten that RN was selling hours of transmission through Bonaire facilities. 73s and good Dxing (Adán González, ibid.) Re: [dxld] IBB MUNICH MEDIUMWAVE CLOSING Hi Andy, Whilst acknowledging you still broadcast internationally on MW (although I did not know about the 05:00 dutch transmission), I am afraid you don't count as your MW transmitters are outside your boundaries. My count of 3 related to countries which broadcast internationally on MW from *within* their own boundaries. Sorry Old Bean. PAUL DAVID (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) But that was not implied by your original post which said that the closure of IBB Munich, which did not broadcast Deutsche Welle, meant that there were only 3 "international services on MW" after it closed. Using your definition there are more than BBC, Russia and Sweden anyway; WRTH lists these countries with international services on Medium Wave from transmitters in their own country in Europe: Albania uses 1458 for Albanian, German, Greek, Serbian and Turkish. Bulgaria uses 747 1224 for Bulgarian, Albanian, Greek, Russian, Serbian and Turkish. Croatia uses 1134 for English, Spanish and Croatian Finland uses 558 and 963 for Finnish, Swedish, Russian and Latin. Greece uses 792 and 1260 for Greek, Arabic and German Lithuania uses 666 for English Macedonian external service is on 810 in Albanian, Bulgarian, Greek and Serbian. Moldova (Dniestr Republic) uses 999 for Russian Ukraine uses 657 for Romanian. Debatable: Luxembourg - 1440 when not carrying CRI or religious clearly carries services Luxembourg based and clearly intended for reception outside of the Grand Duchy. Vatican - transmitter site in Italy though they claim it has special extra territorial status (Mike Barraclough, UK, ibid.) ** NEW ZEALAND. Auckland's relay of the BBC World Service changes frequency from 1476 AM to 810 AM on Friday 1 April. The change is scheduled for midnight on 31 March. This change is a precursor to the new TAB Racing Network starting up - in Auckland they will use 1476. Cheers, (Bryan Clark, NZ, March 29, greyline via DXLD) http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10117635 (via Kim Elliott, DC, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. KFOR-TV in OKC unveiled its new megawatt Doppler weather radar on March 28, make that million-watt! --- just in time for the spring tornado season. They really went overboard, spending most of their local news time plugging it over and over and over, and even pre-empted NBC Nightly News (or part of it, not sure). It`s on a high point SW of Norman & Moore (which was hit by the biggest tornado of all time a few years ago), since severe weather typically approaches from the SW or W, and they claim it can see more clearly and much farther away into the TX panhandle and east of Tulsa to the AR border. It`s the most powerful TV station weather radar in the world (along with six in other markets), leaving the competition in the dust, KOCO- TV and KWTV with their measly 250 kW radars --- just like a 100-watt bulb vs a 25-watt bulb, as demonstrated! This is in addition to its own old 250-kW radar still funxioning on the N side of the city at the station. One wonders if its development was a tightly-held secret; KWTV had another severe-weather special on Monday night and KOCO on Tuesday night. Obviously there is now no reason whatsoever to rely on those stations for weather warnings. Gary England and Rick Mitchell must be pulling out their hair --- well, one of them. Yes, OKC is an extremely competitive market, especially when it comes to weather ratings. More about it, including videos which might launch automatically if you`re not careful: http://www.kfor.com/Global/story.asp?S=3133246 (Glenn Hauser, Enid, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WTFK? I`d stay away from that radome (gh, DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3385, R. East. New Britain. 1046-1158 3/29. Strong, clear signal with Pidgin talks and announcements interspersed with occasional English, plus "south Pacific-flavored" music. ID and local time at 1100 and 1130. Several other 10 kW PNG's heard during same time period including 3235, 3260, 3345, and 3905.. First time since peak sunspot cycle years that I have ID'ed stations in this region with power of below 50 kW and first time heard multiple PNG's (Steve Bass, Columbus, Ohio, Drake R8B with Wellbrook 330S and RX Systems Mini-Windom Antennas, swl at qth.net via DXLD) ** PERU. Quito 29/3 2005 *** Tuesday edition: *** Recording of 1517.08 OCX2Q Radio Inca, Baños del Inca Very good propagation against Perú on mediumwave the last two mornings. This is a first time logging for me of Radio Inca, Baños del Inca on 1517.08 kHz. Listed name is "R. LV del Inca" but I just heard "Radio Inca del Perú"-ID´s. Womderful music and ID´s on this recording! Comments, photos and recordings at: http://www.malm-ecuador.com 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND. RADIO POLONIA BROADCASTING SCHEDULE 27 MARCH TO 30 OCTOBER 2005 ALL TIMES IN UTC HOME PAGE: http://www.radio.com.pl/polonia INTERNET AUDIO: http://www.wrn.org/ondemand ENGLISH 1200 - 1259 11850 9525 1700 - 1759 5965 7285 POLISH 1030 - 1059 7285 5965 1530 - 1630 6035 2100 - 2200 6050 7265 GERMAN 1130 - 1159 9525 5965 1530 - 1555 7270 1930 - 1955 6110 7240 ESPERANTO 1500 - 1525 7270 7285 1800 - 1825 7285 RUSSIAN 1100 - 1125 6180 7285 1300 - 1329 7275 6035 1430 - 1455 7180 1800 - 1829 6095 1900 - 1955 6050 7185 BELARUSSIAN 1330 - 1430 7180 6035 1630 - 1659 6050 UKRAINIAN 1430 - 1459 6000 1830 - 1859 7210 6095 (via Jacek Szymik, 40-001 KATOWICE 1, POLAND, March 29, HCDX via DXLD) On checking their web site (via the Home Page) all language sections list the schedule as for 27 March-30 October. This is as stated by Jacek Szymik. And all language schedules and frequencies are according to what he originally listed, with the exception of the German service at 1930. This was originally shown on 6110 and 7240, but the web site shows 6110 and 6160. I haven't listened to any of it and so I can't vouch for its accuracy - only for what's listed. 73s from (Noel R. Green [NW - England], March 30, dxldyg via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Looking around for something to listen to now that BBC is gone from 15190, nothing audible from France in English on 15615, but came upon a very good signal from VOR on 15605 which closed at 1500 March 28; English continued on somewhat weaker 15455. I see that 15605 is for Asia (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SCOTLAND [non]. Glenn - Here's the Radio Six International transmission schedule for A05 5105 kHz (50 kW via WBCQ, Monticello) 2300 - 0100 UT (Tuesday to Saturday) 2300 - 0200 UT (Sunday to Monday) 5775 kHz (20 kW via IRRS Milan) 1900 - 2000 UT (second Thursday of each month) 13840 kHz (20 kW via IRRS Milan) 0830 - 0930 UT (second Saturday of each month) 0700 - 0800 UT (second Sunday of each month) 88.2 MHz FM Stereo (500 mW via World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand) 0000 - 0300 UT (Saturday to Sunday) (Please note: our transmissions on this frequency will be in stereo from 2nd April) We are also likely to be testing during April or May on: 9330 kHz (50 kW via WBCQ Monticello) 9290 kHz (100 kW via Ulbroka) 7415 kHz (50 kW via WBCQ Monticello) 15725 kHz (20 kW via IRRS Milan) Best regards (TONY CURRIE, Programme Director, Radio six international http://www.radiosix.com March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA & MONTENEGRO [non]. 9580, International Radio of Serbia- Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 44434 English. YL and OM announcers with news about Serbia-Montenegro. YL gave station ID at 0540 followed by another YL with station ID. YL with some Serbian Financial news. 0553 Some music. 0554 YL gave station ID, schedule and web address. Slow instrumental music. 0557 I/S then TX off the air. This isn't in ANY of my databases, Passport shows it at 0430-0500 (perhaps winter schedule?). 0534 UT (Phil KO6BB Atchley, Merced CA, swl at qth.net via DXLD) This happens every year during the Week of Confusion as RSCG tries to compensate for our non-DST (gh, DXLD) R. Serbia y Montenegro anuncia a partir del uno de Abril el siguiente esquema: 1900-1930 7200 para España. 2300-2330 9680 para Latinoamerica (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellon), España, March 30, Noticias DX via DXLD) So they are making the DST shift on April 1 instead of 3, even tho it`s irrelevant in Latin America? (gh) ** SOMALIA [non]. 12130 kHz 28/3. Radio Horyaal, clandestina, 1743- 1800, somali, ID, comentarios, entrevista y segmento de musica local. SINPO 34322 (Jose Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellon) España, SANGEAN ATS 909, Antena siete metros de hilo, Noticias DX via DXLD) That confirms the A-05 frequency, but we also need to confirm the span of the transmission, which may have increased. Is it ¿Castellon or Castellón? I can never understand why Spanish writers leaving out accents on vowels still put the tilde on the n (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. Sudan Radio Service, good on new 17660 ex-15530, March 28 at 1530 with ``Youth Agenda`` program about rape and defilement; not clear exactly how they define defilement. Lasted 15 minutes with a hefty 5-minute musical break in the middle; to be continued next Monday. I can hardly wait (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. 4635, R. Dushanbe, 0041-0104, 0118-0137, Mar. 29, Vernacular, Local music between talks by various announcers. Brief Kor`an-like chant at 0054. Piano IS/fanfare loop at 0100, OM and YL with ID followed by anthem. Talk over music. Fair. Re-check at 0118 to a surprisingly good signal featuring pop-like music between alternating talks by OM and YL. No ID at 0130 (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage atnennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. BBC Medium Wave schedule A05: 1251 0200 - 0230 smtwtfs BBC Duchanbe 100 0 Dari C AS 1251 0230 - 0330 smtwtfs BBC Duchanbe 100 0 Farsi C AS 1251 0330 - 0400 smtwtfs BBC Duchanbe 100 0 Russian C AS 1251 0930 - 1000 smtwtfs BBC Duchanbe 100 0 Dari C AS 1251 1000 - 1030 smtwtfs BBC Duchanbe 100 0 Farsi C AS 1251 1330 - 1400 smtwtfs BBC Duchanbe 100 0 Uzbek C AS 1251 1400 - 1500 smtwtfs BBC Duchanbe 100 0 Dari C AS 1251 1500 - 1530 smtwtfs BBC Duchanbe 100 0 Tajik C AS 1251 1615 - 1700 smtwtfs BBC Duchanbe 100 0 Farsi C AS 1251 1700 - 1730 smtwtfs BBC Duchanbe 100 0 Farsi C AS 1251 1730 - 2000 smtwtfs BBC Duchanbe 100 0 Farsi C AS (Michael Bethge via Wolfgang Bueschel, HCDX Vol 27, # 11, Mar via MW News via DXLD) HCJB World Radio A05 Broadcast Schedule (28 March 2005 - 30 October 2005) (Believed to be from the same transmitter as above [Yangiyal] -- -- MW News editor) Southern Uzbek 1545 - 1600 1251 100 Russia & CIS 11___11 Uzbek 1545 - 1600 1251 100 Russia & CIS __111__ Turkmen 1600 - 1615 1251 100 Russia & CIS 1111111 Mailing Address: HCJB World Radio, 17-17-691, Quito, Ecuador S.A. Frequency Manager: Douglas Weber E-Mail: dweber@hcjb.org.ec FAX: +593 2 226 4765 (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, via HCDX, Vol 27, #24, 23 Mar via MW News via DXLD) HCJB half-hour fits nicely into gap in BBC usage of same frequency; casual listeners not in the know might assume BBC is also a religious broadcaster, or more to the point, that HCJB is not (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. I just noticed in Daniel Sampson's list at Prime Time Shortwave that Radio Thailand is using two US relays on 5890 kHz; one at 0030 and one at 0300. Reception was good, but the only problem is that the program seems to be a one-hour newsmagazine-type program, with the second half-hour being aired live from 0030 to 0100, and the first half airing at 0300. That, and it was full of promotional considerations, with an advertisement for a hotel being disguised as a feature on how a hotel provides for its business-class travelers, and a note at the end on which brand of computers was used to produce the program. :-) (Ted Schuerzinger, swprograms via DXLD) ** TUNISIA. R. Túnez Internacional sigue emitiendo en español por los 963 kHz a las 1900-2000 UT (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellon), España, March 30, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Glenn, here's something I read from the Action Ukraine Report. Of course, no frequencies given! (Walt Salmaniw, BC, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: UKRAINE AIRS CRIMEAN TATAR RADIO STATION By Helen Fawkes, BBC NEWS, UK, Friday, March 25, 2005 CRIMEA - A Crimean Tatar radio station has opened in Ukraine - the first time a dedicated station there has broadcast news in the Tatar language. Tens of thousands of Tatars were exiled to Central Asia by Soviet authorities and they were only allowed home to the Crimea in the last years of the USSR. Many Crimean Tatars in Ukraine say they are still treated like second class citizens in the Black Sea peninsula. But the launch of Radio Meydan is a sign of growing acceptance. On air 12 hours a day, seven days a week, Radio Meydan has traditional music as well as speech programmes. More than 250,000 Crimean Tatars have returned home after the mass deportation 60 years ago But life has been hard. There are problems with discrimination, housing and poverty. These are some of the issues which the radio station is aiming to cover. During last year's presidential election in Ukraine, Crimean Tatar leaders supported the opposition. Under the new administration of Viktor Yushchenko, they are now hoping they will be rewarded with a greater political role in the region. They also hope that this radio station will be the first of many projects which advance the culture of Crimean Tatars in Ukraine. -30- (via Volodya Salmaniw, DXLD) ** U A E. Open carrier of fair strength on 21605 March 29; I think it was around 1430 tho did not note the hour at the time. Much stronger than Saudi and Spain on its flanx, and in fact the best signal on the 13mb at the time; too bad there was no modulation. Can`t imagine this being anything but Dubai (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISENING DIGEST) ** U K. Because its farewell program in Portuguese on SW did not go out as scheduled March 27, BBC has actually rescheduled it for next Sunday, after a week`s break with no such broadcasts. Wonder if BELGIUM q.v. would do that for their penultimate? (gh): Segue mensagem recebida do jornalista Américo, diretor da BBC Brasil: Caro Célio, Muito obrigado pelo seu e-mail e pelo interesse na programação da BBC Brasil. A BBC Brasil informa que problemas técnicos lamentavelmente impediram a transmissão do programa BBC & Você, entre 19h30 e 20h00 de domingo, dia 27 de março de 2005. Lamentamos o fato, especialmente porque se tratava de um programa especial para marcar a última transmissão da BBC Brasil em ondas curtas. Acionamos nossa equipe técnica assim que fomos informados da falha na transmissão. Infelizmente, os técnicos só conseguiram resolver o problema por volta das 19h55 do horário de Brasília, tornando possível a transmissão apenas dos últimos minutos do programa. Pedimos desculpas pela falha e informamos que vamos repetir a transmissão da edição especial do BBC & Você no próximo domingo, dia 3 de abril de 2005, às 19h30. A transmissão será feita nas freqüências 9870 kHz, 15390 kHz e 11965 kHz e marcará o encerramento de nossas transmissões em ondas curtas. O conteúdo integral do programa também está disponível em áudio no site http://www.bbcbrasil.com no seguinte link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/portuguese/audio/050328bbcevoce.ram A BBC Brasil ressalta que está investindo no aprimoramento do conteúdo jornalístico dos nossos programas de rádio e do nosso site na internet. As parcerias com as principais emissoras de rádio do país serão incrementadas, com mais ênfase em programas curtos que se adaptam melhor às condições do rádio no Brasil. Aproveitam os a oportunidade para agradecer pelo seu interesse na BBC Brasil. Abraços, (Américo Martins, BBC Brasil, via Célio Romais, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** U K [non]. BBC Reception At 0245 UT Tuesday 3/29: 5975 -- (Montsinéry to Mexico / Central America) -- VG-E 9610 -- (Seychelles to East Africa) -- F-G BBC Learning English (s/on) 9750 -- (Seychelles to East Africa) -- G-VG (Sync detector with upper sideband to avoid HCJB) 9825 -- (Ascension to South America) -- G-VG (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, swprograms via DXLD) BBC After Changeover --- Some notes on listening the past couple days after the 3/27 sked change; this refers to reception here in the central US in St. Louis, MO on a Grundig Satellit 800 with a 20m random wire antenna: I listen in the US mornings, and had been listening to all three of 15190, 15565, and 17640 kHz at various times in the 1200-1700 UT range just about every day, depending on just what programming was being aired, for the past months. So now 15190 drops off right after "Outlook" and "Off The Shelf" but luckily 15565 and 17640 continue. The main change I notice is that I can no longer hear the hour of feature programming that precedes the hour of the "science block"; I'll have to catch that in the evenings. But the "science block" hour IS aired; I listened to "Go Digital" this morning. Of course, this is not as reliable as 15190 was; 17640 and 15565 have a history of being there and just fine one day and then being totally lost in the noise the next. They've been OK the past few days and we can hope for that to persist. NOTE that 17640 does NOT sign off at 1500 UT; it continues to 1600 UT. This is different from EVERY BBC regional-schedule list I printed out from the BBC website yesterday, and also differs from Daniel Sampson's new A05 "Prime Time SW" frequency list I also printed out yesterday. I'm hoping that this is not just a mistake at the transmitter site but instead is a mistake in the BBC's on-line listings (big surprise if THAT is the case! :-). The African service is coming in OK on 21470 kHz, except for a complete drop-out this AM at 1430 UT. I think the transmitter went off, but maybe it was a SID? Anyway, it returned to listenability later. "Analysis" (and therefore the mid-week "From Our Own Correspondent" was hearable today on that stream at 1445 UT (but just barely) but then was coming in with listenable quality at 1745 (if I'm remembering the time right). Also, 15420 kHz has a marginally-listenable signal during this timeframe. I'm getting programming that is slightly different from what is on the FSU/ME weekly program grid for 2-8 April (that I printed out yesterday) today on 17640 and 15565; I have to get over to the BBC website and print out regular-Europe and other schedules I didn't check yesterday (having had limited time at the library). I suspect that these frequencies are carrying different streams at different times. As of yesterday, those weekly grids were NOT available for later in April; they still displayed a "not available" note when you requested the later weeks. And the Americas grid wasn't available even for that first April week! What do those BBC website maintainers DO these days? Seems to be nothing --- Maybe they are all out picketing the staff cutbacks. You know, if the BBC is really doing all this garbage in order to save money, what they SHOULD do is to eliminate all these damn streams and return to only two -- one worldwide (including the feed to the local FM rebroadcasters via PRI to NPR here in the US) and one for Africa with the African-specific programming. Jeez! I encourage other SW listeners to post their experiences and recommendations as to times and frequencies to get the various BBC programs when the BBC isn't directing SW signals specifically to us here. At least the capabilities of SW propagation can work to our advantage at times! 73, (Will Martin, MO, March 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] What I wanted to say, and you might add this as a note, is that I am having quite a bit of difficulty matching what I hear with what the BBC stream-schedules say is on at a specific time. I've gotten so confused by now that I cannot recall just what frequency I heard "Analysis" on this morning. I was sure that it was at 1745 UT but now I am doubting everything... :-) But the general thrust of what I posted is still true; if propagation allows it, we can still hear much (if not all) of the BBC programming that their dropping 15190 otherwise cuts us off from, with just a little time variations. I realize that the on-line-listening you recommend avoids that, but I am an unreconstructed SWL fuddy-duddy, at least for now! :-) (Will Martin, MO, ibid.) I thought there was no more mid-week FOOC; the Americas schedule I consult for updating MONITORING REMINDERS CALENDAR, http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/worldservice/psims/ScheduleSDT.cgi?Sc=100951-1%3A%3A4&Pg=Pg&Ce=235056&Ft=1&Wk=1&WS.x=4&WS.y=8 shows Analysis 5 days a week now. 73, (Glenn, ibid.) I also noticed that some of the week-grids show just "Analysis" across the week, but they also show some blank spaces, so I just figured that the missing FOOC was just another mistake. But note that if you go to the BBC "Programmes" heading and pick out the FOOC programme and get that page up, you get an item on the right that you can click on that brings up a page of times at which BOTH the mid-week and week-end versions of FOOC are aired. Now, maybe that is a holdover from the old skeds. But I guess ANYTHING on the BBC website might be wrong now! :-) (Will Martin, MO, ibid.) Hi Will: I used to hear BBCWS between 03 and 04 with very strong signal on 12035 from Seychelles. We have had good signals from Seychelles even when FEBA was using their transmitters in the past. Though seem to be closing earlier for A-05, 12095 is another good channel in our early evening, as well as the best of all by now on 5975 till 0500. Frankly, I'm missing the tremendous signal BBC had till 1700 on 15190, that was by far the better site towards us. Perhaps after all BBCWS is playing to become a real DX station for the Americas. Let's see it the positive way (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, March 30, ibid.) WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A PUBLIC SERVICE INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTER? Some have reported here that in "Write On" last week, the head of distribution for the BBCWS used the term "business" to characterize the BBCWS. Many found fault with the use of that term, given that the BBCWS has a "public service" charter. The argument is that different methods of decision making and resource prioritization should apply to "public" or "public service" broadcasters than apply to commercial or religious broadcasters. Some points of differentiation are obvious -- a commercial broadcaster has ownership interests motivated -- at least in part -- by profit or cash generation. Public broadcasters don't have that requirement, though they do have accountability to their boards and, by inference, to those who contribute to fund-raising efforts, particularly here in the USA. How should broadcasters like the BBCWS, RNW and DW make decisions? Should their charters be modified to reflect media choices and options available in 2005? My own take is that the decision-making time horizon needs to be longer for public broadcasters -- they should be making programming and delivery decisions considering a longer time frame, not the most recent fiscal quarter -- and that public broadcasters should bias their priorities towards listener groups that are under-served by commercial radio. However, public broadcasters still need to be good stewards of the resources they've been given, and -- unfortunately -- have to be sensitive to political whims when it comes to budgets. Do you agree? Disagree? (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, March 30, swprograms via DXLD) ** U K. BBC Radio 4 Saturday 2nd April 2000-2100 UK time, 1900-2000 UT. THE ARCHIVE HOUR: DOWN THE WIRES. Matthew Parris uncovers the remarkable story of the first sound broadcasting service to operate in Britain. Using telephone lines to pipe in the audio of theatres, opera houses and news events into peoples homes, the Electrophone had a major impact. Included here are rare recently restored archive recordings from this lost era of radio broadcasting, providing a hitherto unheard glimpse of life in Victorian and Edwardian Britain (Radio Times via Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DXLD) WTFK? ** U S A. Radio Farda A-05 Schedule Persian 0000-0030 1170 1575 0030-0200 1170 1575 9615 9805 9865 0200-0400 1170 1575 9775 9805 9865 0400-0600 1170 1575 9510 9865 15185 15290 0600-0830 1170 1575 9510 15290 17845 0830-1030 1170 1575 15290 15690 17755 1030-1400 1170 1575 15375 15690 17755 1400-1500 1170 1575 9435 13870 17750 1500-1600 1170 1575 13870 15170 17750 1600-1700 1170 1575 13870 15170 17670 1700-1900 1170 1575 7105 7580 9760 1900-2000 1170 1575 5860 7365 9505 9540 2000-2100 1170 1575 5860 7190 9505 9960 2100-2130 1170 1575 7190 9505 9960 2130-2400 1170 1575 [MW = UAE] Radio Sawa A-05 Schedule Arabic 0000-0800 89.2 90.5 92.6 95.7 98.1 98.7 100.8 990 1260 1548 0800-1500 89.2 90.5 92.6 95.7 98.1 98.7 100.8 990 1431 1548 1500-2400 89.2 90.5 92.6 95.7 98.1 98.7 100.8 990 1260 1431 1548 (http://www.voanews.com via Alan Roe, WDXC via DXLD) ** U S A. Contrary to its posted schedule for this week of confusion, I am still hearing WWCR-1 on 9985, during the Spanish hour at 2200, which will include Mundo Radial Tuesday at 2230 (also Wednesday 2200, Friday 2215) before shifting an hour earlier and to 15825 next week. Al contrario de su horario publicado en http://www.wwcr.com/wwcr_transmitter/wwcr_transmitter_schedules.html se encuentra todavía en 9985 durante la hora en español a las 22 TU, que incluye Mundo Radial el martes a las 2230, miércoles 2200, viernes 2215, hasta la próxima semana a una hora más temprana en 15825. Transmitter #1 - 100 KW FREQ TIME (CST) TIME (UTC) DATES 9.985 4:00AM- 5:00AM 1000-1100 27 Mar 05-02 Apr 05 15.825 5:00AM- 4:00PM 1100-2200 27 Mar 05-02 Apr 05 7.465 4:00PM- 6:00PM 2200-0000 27 Mar 05-02 Apr 05 ????????? 3.210 6:00PM- 4:00AM 0000-1000 27 Mar 05-02 Apr 05 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I understand there were some last-minute changes to avoid a conflict; I assume everything will shake out from April 4 (gh, March 30, DXLD) ** U S A. KVOH must be running reduced-carrier, altho not intentionally. On 17775 at 1607 UT March 28, screaming preacher in Spanish made the S-meter jump with modulation; overall, quite distorted, not enough carrier like WBCQ`s `compatible` SSB. Looked around for spurs but did not find any; the signal on 17775 was not overpowering as it tends to be when the multiple spurs show up. KVOH should be put out of its misery, in more ways than one (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. BORN AGAIN: EVANGELIST SEX SCANDAL http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/294592p-252224c.html Popular California televangelist Paul Crouch - founder of the world's largest Christian broadcasting outlet, the Trinity Broadcasting Network - apparently has some scary lawyers. When one of them sent a terse letter to the new NBC Universal-PAX TV reality show, "Lie Detector," the producers shelved a scheduled episode featuring a male former TBN employee who claims to have had sex with the 70-year-old Crouch. "Crouch's lawyers threatened to sue everyone except for me," the show's host, Rolonda Watts, told Daily News contributor Jawn Murray. Crouch attorney Colby May, however, denied yesterday that he tried to put the fear of God into the show's producers. During the "Lie Detector" segment, which was to have aired March 15 on PAX, Crouch's accuser, Enoch Lonnie Ford, submitted to a polygraph examination conducted by Dr. Ed Gelb, the show's resident forensic psychophysiologist. I don't know how the test came out, and "Lie Detector" executive producer Mark Phillips refused to tell me. But it's safe to say that accuser Ford repeated allegations of a gay tryst with the conservative preacher - the subject of years of litigation. Ford received a $425,000 settlement from TBN after the network fired him in 1998. Yesterday, May told me he simply informed "Lie Detector" execs of a court order restraining Ford from publicly discussing his accusations. May said his letter noted that the court might hold the show and its producers in contempt for helping Ford violate the order. Phillips told me the Ford segment is still likely to air. "It was canceled temporarily, pending our own legal review," he said, adding, "I'm not subject to any restraining order." (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** U S A. The NBC/PAX agreement ends 6/30, and at least one message board has reported that PAX will go all-infomercials 7/1. I'd have to think the whole mess will go up for sale sooner or later. NBCU still owns Telemundo (Scott Fybush, NY, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. Dear Glenn --- There is a New Voice on the DSB Stations that Yosemite Sam was on. It says "Times Like This" --- From: ARRL NEWS LINE. They have traced the signal to the same Transmitter that broadcast the Yosemite Sam station. The Transmitter is located on an Indian Reservation in New Mexico. [Laguna Pueblo] (Thought You Might Want To Know) (Paul Armani, UT March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Glenn: -- Sorry for this rather late note, but KXNT/840 in Vegas was SILENT during certain wee hours of Sunday (3/27) morning PST. Noted their absence around 1100 UTC as I recall, revealing an unID with AP Network News at the top (KMAX?), bouncing an SAH against one other also looping N/S. Too much electricrap to hear WHAS, which used to be a nightly regular here in SoCal prior to the Vegas monster's existence. 73z (GREG HARDISON, CA, 0700 UT March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1660, WCNZ [Marco Island FL] is quite common on this side of "The Pond." It was noted this morning around 0530utc and seems to have dumped its overnight talk format in favour of rolling news from the AP network (Barry Davies, UK, March 28, ABDX via DXLD) Station is in the process of being sold to Starboard, so expect a change to Catholic Christian "Relevant Radio" in 90 days, that's what http://www.allaccess.com says. Sale price (along with non X-band satellite Jones Oldies sister WVOI/1480) was $2 million, below market value, which means seller gets tax write off. Stations run a stereo pilot, no separation. Last I heard at least WVOI had a "Stereo Synthesizer" to at least create a Stereo "effect", as the CE is pro- Stereo, but owners did not want to spring the extra cash for the Stereo STL. Not sure what Starboard intends to do since they only have one network, and will have two stations, or what they will do with the Stereo setup (Tony/Miami, ibid.) ** U S A. WLLL at 930 kHz in Lynchburg Virginia will be doing a DX test on Saturday April 2 from 12 midnight till 12:30 [0500-0530 UT]. The station will be running at their day power during the test. The test format will consist of non-standard music, morse code, and other interesting audio material. Reports can be sent to their standard mail address or to tony @ tonydeeradio.com Sorry for the short notice but an equipment adjustment must be made and I thought it would be interesting to do a quick DX test as well. In case anyone is curious in addition to being the owners of WODI in Brookneal Virginia, Tony and I do a bit of consulting for WLLL. 73 and good dx Saturday morning (Dave Marthouse, dmart @ pure.net dave @ wodiradio.com http://www.wodiradio.com March 29, NRC-AM via DXLD ** U S A. The CPC/DX Test of WIMA is going to be extended to (2) tests. The test(s) will be at 02:00-02:06 and 03:00-03:06 Eastern Standard, or 03:00-03:06 and 04:00-04:06 Eastern Daylight Standard time. Both tests will start right after WIMA starts their ID at the TOH. Test will conclude at xx:06:30 exact as the station has to get back into Coast to Coast AM. (we don't want to cut off our friend Art Bell!) (Frederick Vobbe, Publisher National Radio Club's DXAS, March 29, NRC-AM via DXLD) ?? The previously scheduled single WIMA test was supposed to be at 2:00 am EDT = 0600 UT. EST does not apply in OH on April 4, much as it should. Now I guess he means at 0700 and 0800 UT (gh) ** U S A. LOCAL RADIO STATION IS HEARD AROUND THE WORLD Public radio station WDVX of Knoxville is known for playing bluegrass and blues twenty four hours a day, but it's not just locals who are listening. WDVX attracts listeners from across East Tennessee. . . http://www.wbir.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=24445&provider=rss http://www.wbir.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=24445 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Includes video ** U S A. JERRY SPRINGER IS IN THE MIDDLE OF ALAMO CITY LIB-TALK BATTLE --- By W. Scott Bailey San Antonio Business Journal Updated: 7:00 p.m. ET March 27, 2005 Shortly before the November election, the Business Journal asked local radio executives and a communications industry expert why there was no real counter voice to the conservative programming filling this city's airwaves. The consensus was that such programming wouldn't work here. But now, two media companies are set to battle it out for progressive listeners here and in the middle of it all is outrageously outspoken TV personality Jerry Springer. In recent days, San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications Inc. has flipped one of its local channels from urban hip hop music to a liberal -- or what the radio industry bills as progressive -- talk format featuring Springer and others. Gone is KHTY-FM, and in its place is "progressive" KRPT-FM. Now Houston-based Border Media Partners' (BMP) Tom Castro says his company is preparing to flip one of its San Antonio stations. Castro says that "in a few months," KZDC-AM will switch from Spanish programming to a progressive format featuring the well-hyped Air America line-up. Among Air America's staples is actor/comedian/author Al Franken . . . http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7314346/ (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. NPR'S 'EDITION' TOP OF THE 'MORNING' By DAVID HINCKLEY DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Now that all the fall 2004 ratings have been crunched, the country's top morning radio show remains National Public Radio's "Morning Edition," heard here mostly on WNYC (93.9 FM, 820 AM). Like WABC and other talk stations, "Morning Edition" picked up listeners from the presidential campaign. NPR estimates 13.2 million listeners tuned in at some point during the average week, up from 12.4 million in the fall of 2003. While no firm numbers are available for Howard Stern, whom many would assume to be the country's top show, Talkers magazine estimates Stern's weekly audience at "more than 8.5 million." Part of the reason for the difference is that while Stern is now on 46 stations, "Morning Edition" is on hundreds of stations, in virtually every market. . . http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/294502p-252162c.html (via Brock Whaley, Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. Participación N 3 "Escrito En El Aire" Radio Centenario, Montevideo, Uruguay. El próximo Viernes 01 de Abril de 2005, a través del programa "Tripulantes de Alba" de Radio Centenario, conducido por Ana Laura Baggi y Martín Duarte, estaré realizando mi Participación N 3, con "Escrito en el Aire", un encuentro con las voces y sonidos de la historia, a través de una cuidada selección de grabaciones de archivo, reflejando el especial protagonismo que la radio ha tenido desde su aparición en la historia de la humanidad. "Escrito en el Aire", tiene una duración de 60 minutos y se emite desde las 01:10 hora local (0410 hora TU), hasta las 02:10 hora local (0510 TU) En esta tercer entrega: "La Guerra Malvinas Falkland a Través de la Radio". Su inicio el 2 de Abril de 1982, con el desembarco de las tropas argentinas. Transmisiones de la BBC en Español anunciando movimientos de barcos argentinos hacia las Islas Falkland, La Falkland Islands Broadcasting Statión con la participación del Gobernador alertando a la población sobre el inminente desembarco argentino, Radios de Buenos Aires anunciando la recuperación de las Islas Malvinas, el momento de la toma de las Falklan Islands Broadcasting Station y la salida al aire desde sus estudios de LRA 60 Radio Nacional Islas Malvinas entre otras grabaciones de radio y televisión. El esquema de Radio Centenario por onda media es el siguiente: Las 24 horas por los 1250 kilohertz, banda de 240 metros. En real audio parte del día, así como mayor información de la emisora en Internet entrando a http://www.radio36.com.uy Agradeciendo desde ya la difusión del presente material, reciba usted un cordial saludo y hasta la próxima (Gabriel Gómez, http://es.geocities.com/archivoradio/gabrielgomez.html March 28, Noticias DX via DXLD) Tested the stream here; OK (gh) ** VENEZUELA. Radio Amazonas, 4939.67, se ha vuelto a silenciar (Adán González, Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA, March 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Esta mañana escuchando a Radio Nacional de Venezuela en los 1310 kHz, presentaron el programa "En Contacto con los diexistas" y pude escuchar cuando nombraron a un colega diexista con el nombre de Manuel Méndez, con toda seguridad tienes que ser tú. La grabación la tengo por si acaso te interesa (José Elías, Fri March 25, Noticias DX via DXLD) Por favor José ¿Puedes dar más detalles de ese programa? ¿Se emite vía INTERNET? Gracias (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, ibid.) En relación a este programa, querido amigo, debo decirte que estuve atento cuando lo anunciaron, pero el programa "Contacto con los diexistas" es la lectura de cuatro cartas ó correos electronicos escritos por los radioescuchas. Apreciado amigo, esto es todo lo que te puedo detallar del programa; el mismo tiene una duración de tres o cuatro minutos. Atte: (José Elías, ibid.) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. SW Radio Africa: 27/03, SWRA heard on 15145 with jamming at station open 1600-1800 UT; this is their new listed frequency, as well as with severe jamming on 3300 from 1600 to 1900 UT in Harare (David Pringle-Wood, Zimbabwe, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SW Radio Africa, 15145, March 28 at 1627 with item about mock elections in front of the Zimbabwe High Commission in Pretoria being moved up from Thursday to Tuesday; fair signal, no jamming audible here. Not sure what ``SW`` stands for, but surely not South West (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SW Radio Africa`s website http://www.swradioafrica.com shows a different schedule with several frequencies gone, but a new one too; times here changed to UT; also refers to wrong meter bands, so not sure if something is missing; no more mention of 3230, 4880, 6145 which had been heavily jammed anyway: 1600-1800 15145 kHz 1800-1900 11770 kHz [not -2000 as I originally erred in yg post] 1600-1900 3300 kHz 0300–0500 1197 kHz MW Listened to 15145 opening at 1600, full of laughing and informality giving essentially the same schedule. Would not expect to hear 11770 due to DGS Antigua 11775, and that was the case at 1855 check (Glenn Hauser, March 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15145 at 1700, SW Radio, man and woman (called Violet) in English with Radio for Zimbabwe, "we are being jammed," gave alternate frequencies as 11700 and 3300, election coverage, much talk of corruption, telephone interview with General Secretary of South African Churches, "food scarce", "youth wasting away", IDed as "Newsreel on SW Radio" (letters "SW" pronounced as letters; I'm not writing an abbreviation for "Short Wave"), and "SW Radio Africa", and "Zimbabwe's Independent Voice", strong clear signal, after asking to tune to 11700, off abruptly at 1759, checked 11700 but inaudible (Eric Bryan, WA, 3/29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Eric, 1800-1900 frequency was supposed to be 11770; is that what you checked? Maybe not if they actually said ``11700``. 11770 no good here due to Anguilla 11775 (Glenn to Eric, via DXLD) The jammers seem to have found the new 15145 (1600-1800) as I heard the characteristic rough tone for at least part of that period yesterday (29 March). I couldn't confirm SW Radio Africa on 11770 at 1800-1900. On the question of transmitter location for these (Ascension or a UK site), the fact that they moved higher in frequency for the A05 period suggests a UK site, as the Ascension-Zimbabwe path is all in the southern hemisphere, and therefore would be more likely to require a lower frequency between March and October. The onset of winter conditions in Zimbabwe should work against the jammers as 11 and 15 MHz will become even less suitable for the very short hops that the jammers need (Chris "Death to Jammers" Greenway, March 30, dxldyg via DXLD) 8-minute audio piece about SWRA from WBUR`s Here & Now with Michael Goldfarb March 28: http://here-now.org/shows/2005/03/20050328_9.asp (via Sheldon Harvey, DXLD) claims SW stands for Short Wave Glenn - info re Zimbabwe (non) and SW Radio Africa - I think these times in UT would be Zim time less 2 hours. Cheers (Matt Francis, DC, March 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: We have an additional shortwave frequency for this critical election period in an effort to beat the jammers and give you complete election coverage. Starting tomorrow, Thursday 31st March we will also be broadcasting on: 12145 kHz in the 25m Band. This frequency is available to us for our full three hours of broadcast, 6 - 9 pm, Zimbabwe time [1600-1900 UT] and we're hoping that it will be a good signal, free of jamming. Don't forget we are also on the following: Shortwave: 6 - 8 pm [1600-1800 UT] 15145 kHz in the 19 metre band 8 - 9 pm [1800-1900 UT] 11770 kHz in the 25 metre band 6 - 9 pm [1600-1900 UT] 3300 kHz in the 90 metre band Medium wave in the mornings, unjammed! 5 - 7 am [0300-0500 UT] 1197 kHz [Lesotho] Please pass this information on and thanks to all our listeners who are so gamely tracking us across their radio dial! Here's to a peaceful, unrigged election, with a happy result (Gerry Jackson, Station Manager, SW Radio Africa, Tel: (44) (0) 2083871407, Mobile: (44) (0) 7789874019, via Matt Francis, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Religious Station on 9985 kHz --- Last week some Chinese listeners reported that there appeared a very mysterious religious station in Mandarin on 9985 kHz, 31 meter band. I have followed this station for two days. It starts from 1200 UT and ends at 1350 abruptly. What perplexes me most is that the station broadcast religious songs or hymns one by one and all the time. The songs were all in Mandarin Chinese, solo or chorus. No announcer, no radio ID and no announcement. The signal strength was very strong and I suppose that the power of the transmitter is at least 80 kilowatts! I checked B04 ILG database Premium Version and Nagoya DXers Circle's B04 Shortwave Frequency list and found no record, but WRTH 2005 says 9985 kHz is T8BZ - KHBN the Voice of Hope. I feel confused because KHBN Palau already broadcasts in Mandarin on 9965 kHz regularly. Is it a test transmission from KHBN? Here is the recording of the UnID on 1256 UT, March 28, 2005: http://jl.oicp.net/DXer/09985-050328-1256.mp3 I am a DXer in Mainland China. Welcome to http://bcl.bbs.net (Eric Zhou, Yangzhou, March 28, dxing.info via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SHORTWAVE AS MUSIC ++++++++++++++++++ CLAIRAUDIENT Glenn: This group uses shortwave and electronics in their music... http://www.clairaudient.org/ (Kim Elliott, DC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Links to some big mp3 files. I listened to Windsleepers, but only heard spoken-word poetry (gh) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ BAD NEWS ... CAMEL'S HEAD 'BOUT TO ENTER TENT --- COGNITIVE RADIO The FCC has released a Report and Order http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attach match/FCC-05-57A1.doc (MS Word format file) concerning "software defined radio" technologies. Deep inside the report is this interesting item: 22. In the Notice we proposed to allow unlicensed devices that employ cognitive radio technologies to operate at higher power in rural and other areas with limited spectrum use. While we are not adopting any changes to allow higher power operation by unlicensed devices in this Report and Order, we continue to believe that cognitive radio technologies hold great promise to allow such higher power operation without interference to other spectrum users. We expect to further consider the issue of higher power unlicensed operation at a later date. The rules recognize divergent perspectives on software defined radios. Some wish to adopt the U.S. Department of Defense standards while others prefer more of an open source Gnu radio approach. http://www.gnu.org/software/gnuradio/ Software radio has promises of offering "applications such as dynamic spectrum sharing, interruptible spectrum sharing, and rapidly reconfigurable secondary markets in spectrum use will be attainable with cognitive radios." (via Bill Smith, W5USM, March 29, DXLD) DRM +++ Item two: DRM, Digital Radio Mondiale broadcasts are definitely harming reception of regular, standard, AM double side band plus full carrier, A3 mode international shortwave broadcasts. Poorly adjusted transmitters used for the DRM transmissions are to be blamed according to experts, while other engineers think that there is no room for DRM on the present high frequency international broadcast bands due to what they describe as an unforesought incompatibility between AM and DRM. This has led to several chief engineers at stations suffering from interference from DRM transmissions asking for those DRM broadcasts to be placed on a segment of the assigned bands, effectively giving them a sub-band, something that in my opinion may prove to be a very wise move. In the meantime DRM, Digital Radio Mondiale continues to be heard by only a very small number of listeners, as low cost, practical receivers for DRM are still non existent. Your comments about DRM broadcasts are invited amigos, just take a little time to send me your opinion about DRM to arnie @ rhc.cu or via air mail, send a postcard to Arnie Coro, Radio Havana Cuba, Havana, Cuba (Prof. Arnaldo Coro Antich, RHC DXers Unlimited March 26, via ODXA via DXLD) Licensing arrangements are being undertaken for DRM consumer radios: http://www.vialicensing.com/products/drm/license_fees.html (via BBCM via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Scientists continue to forecast that upcoming solar cycle 24 will be the worst in many, many years --- as a matter of fact, the peak mean sunspot number expected is barely 75, something that will turn the frequency range above 20 megaHertz into the equivalent of a VHF band!!! So, start to prepare for much lower solar activity to last for a loooong time amigos !!! Communicating with ultra low power transmitters on the HF bands as done recently by radio amateurs has challenged some of the most advanced theories regarding communications using the ionosphere. Theoretical analysis done in the past prescribed a certain minimum effective radiated power at the transmitting site in order to achieve contacts via the ionosphere, but using powers in the range from 10 milliwatts down into the microwatt region, has shown the amazing fact that signals do get back to Earth under some very special propagation conditions. Another area of great interest explored by radio amateurs is transequatorial propagation, now in full swing here in the Northern Hemisphere. At CO2KK my ham radio station I am picking up amateurs from South America on the 6 meter band practically every day, with amazing signals considering the low powers used --- Even with a simple half wave wire dipole just 3 meters above my rooftop, I have made excellent two way contacts on the 50 megahertz band, 6 meters, with stations in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay and Chile during the equinoctial DX seasons (Prof. Arnaldo Coro Antich, RHC DXers Unlimited March 26, via ODXA via DXLD) The geomagnetic field ranged from quiet to minor storm levels at lower latitudes with minor to severe storm periods at the higher latitudes. The period began on 21 March with quiet conditions. By midday on the 21st, activity levels increased to unsettled to active with major storming at high latitudes as a weak coronal hole rotated into a geoeffective position. Activity was short-lived as conditions returned to quiet levels by late on 21 March. These conditions persisted through midday on 24 March when activity levels gradually increased to quiet to unsettled as a large, recurrent, northern coronal hole began to rotate into a geoeffective position. By 0600 UTC on the 25th, activity levels increased to active to minor storming. By midday on the 26th, the higher latitudes experienced major to severe storming. The reporting period ended with quiet to active conditions at middle latitudes with quiet to minor storming at higher latitudes. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 30 MARCH - 25 APRIL 2005 Solar activity is expected be at very low to low levels. A greater than 10 MeV proton event is not expected. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels on 30 - 31 March, 03 - 08 April and again on 22 – 25 April. The geomagnetic field is expected to range from quiet to major storm levels. A large, recurrent coronal hole high speed wind stream is expected to produce active to minor storm levels with occasional major storm periods on 02 – 05 April. On 21 – 23 April, a small coronal is expected to produce unsettled to active conditions. Otherwise, expect quiet to unsettled conditions. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2005 Mar 29 2215 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2005 Mar 29 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2005 Mar 30 80 5 2 2005 Mar 31 80 5 2 2005 Apr 01 80 10 3 2005 Apr 02 80 25 5 2005 Apr 03 85 35 6 2005 Apr 04 85 25 5 2005 Apr 05 90 20 4 2005 Apr 06 90 12 3 2005 Apr 07 95 5 2 2005 Apr 08 100 5 2 2005 Apr 09 100 8 3 2005 Apr 10 100 15 3 2005 Apr 11 100 8 3 2005 Apr 12 95 10 3 2005 Apr 13 95 12 3 2005 Apr 14 90 12 3 2005 Apr 15 90 12 3 2005 Apr 16 85 8 3 2005 Apr 17 80 5 2 2005 Apr 18 80 5 2 2005 Apr 19 80 5 2 2005 Apr 20 80 10 3 2005 Apr 21 80 15 3 2005 Apr 22 75 15 3 2005 Apr 23 75 12 3 2005 Apr 24 75 5 2 2005 Apr 25 75 5 2 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1269, DXLD) ###