DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-122, July 25, 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 NEXT AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1281: Mon 1800 WOR RFPI [repeated 4-hourly thru Tue 1400] Tue 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Tue 2330 WOR WBCQ 7415 [occasional] Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 Wed 1600 WOR WBCQ after hours Latest edition of this schedule version, with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL]: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1281 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1281h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1281h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1281 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1281.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1281.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1281.html WORLD OF RADIO 1281 in true SW sound of Alex`s mp3: (stream) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_07-20-05.m3u (download) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_07-20-05.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO 1281 downloads in studio-quality mp3: (high) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1281h.mp3 (low) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1281.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO PODCAST: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml (currently available: 1277, Extra 57, 1278, 1279, 1280, Extra 58, 1281) ** ALASKA. From another 4-day DX-pedition to Queen Charlotte Islands [see DX-PEDITIONS below]: Aerobeacons, from 1115 Jul 24. I don't have my database with me for LW aerobeacons, but I heard quite a few more voice Aerobeacons. With 6 yesterday, and 5 today that's 11 total. I've only heard 2 or 3 of these services in the past. I'm not 100% sure that they're all in Alaska but I suspect so (Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Queen Charlotte Is, BC) Now that I'm home, here is some updated information, courtesy of the excellent http://www.navaid.com website All up to date and clears up any confusion. I am referring to both of my aerobeacon loggings: I don't have my database with me for LW aerobeacons, but I heard quite a few more voice Aerobeacons. Here's the list: 245: 'Transcribed aviation weather broadcast is suspended'. Listed as HNS Haines, AK Fair. Location 59.21N/135.43W. 251: Aviation weather for Bethel, Kodiak, etc. Listed as OSE Oscarville Bethel, AK. Location 60.79N/161.87W. 338: Aviation weather for Valdez Harbor field, Valdez city (missing), Cordova, etc. Listed as CMQ Campbell Lake, Anchorage AK. Located at 61.17N/150.05W. 371: Aviation weather, and synopsis for the Western Aleutians, Central Gulf coast, Kodiak Is, Bristol Bay, etc. poor. Listed as PDN Port Heiden, AK. Located at 56.95N/158.65W. 379: Area forecast for Kodiak Is. Good. Listed as IWW Wildwood Kenai, AK. Location: 60.60N/151.21W. Alternatively could also be AHT Amchitka, AK located at 51.38N/179.26W. With 6 yesterday, and 5 today that's 11 total. I've only heard 2 or 3 of these services in the past. I'm not 100% sure that they're all in Alaska but I suspect so. I added this information upon arriving home: An interesting sideline to dxing here on the Charlottes is listening for Aviation beacons, and especially those that have voice transmissions which I never hear in Victoria. This morning I was able to hear six different transmissions. My database appears to be woefully out of date, so I'll need to search more up to date sources. Help finding these would be appreciated. On 209 kHz, the following was heard: 'The transcribed aviation weather forecast is suspended.' I have OYN, Nome listed on 208. Will need further research. I checked the excellent site at http://www.airnav.com and 209 is listed as CYT Yakataga, AK at 60.09N 142.49W, but they don't indicate any voice. Furthermore, I also heard the same message on 260 kHz. My sources do not list any Alaskan on 260. The closest is RL, Riboo WA and EU Frank, Eugene OR. More study is needed. Airnav.com lists ESS Wessels NDB at Middleton Is, AK. Location 59.42N/146.34W. Aviation weather for Alaska was heard on 277 kHz. Weather for Kodiak Island, Bristol Bay, Cook Inlet, etc. I have ACE Kachemak, Homer AK listed. Location 59.64N, 151.50W. 355, also has the same aviation weather. Nothing listed on 355, but 356 lists HHM Hotham, Kotzebue, AK, FOX, Fox AK, and GRP Granite Point, AK. More research again needed! AirNav.com lists Saldo NDB at King Salmon, AK. Location 58.74N, 156.78W. 394 is listed as RWO Woody Is., Kodiak, AK. Confirmed. Located at 57.77N, 152.32W. They mention that, 'pilot weather reports are requested'. Included weather for Dutch Harbor, Eastern Bering Sea, the Aleutians, and the Gulf of Alaska. Finally, 411 was heard well with aviation weather. Nothing listed in my databases, but 412 lists FXW Farewell Lake, AK. Included weather for Dillingham, Kodiak (temperature on 13 deg F....Brrr!). ILI Iliamna, AK. Located at 59.75N/154.91W. Come to think of it, I wonder if US aviation weather uses degrees Celsius? (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Queen Charlotte Is, BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) William Hepburn's TWEB site is generally the most current that I'm aware of to keep abreast of various LF weather broadcasts, with Alaska having many. I occasionally hear some from Alaska here in inland northeast Oregon, though more often in the winter season. http://home.cogeco.ca/~dxinfo/twb.htm (Steve Ratzlaff, IRCA via DXLD) Maybe what Walt consulted for his annotated logs above? (gh) 530, ADK, Adak, Jul 22 1152 - First time heard here (although regularly heard in Grayland, WA). Fair to good with ADK in Morse. 650, KENI, Anchorage, Jul 22 1302 - Looking for KHNR, Honolulu but instead heard this Alaskan. Good with a weaker co-channel. 670, KDLG, Dillingham, Jul 21 1400 - Local ID, as well as for other low power NPR stations. Normally KBOI dominates this channel. Unfortunately, I had just fallen asleep 'at the wheel' and didn't notice the MD had run out. I'll try again tomorrow. The distant Alaskans seem to have a window in the morning after the TP stations have faded away, and before the lower 48 stations again dominate the airwaves. Interesting. I assume with the high sun and very long days of summer, the ionosphere does not favour a northerly propagation path to Alaska for long during the day. I'm assuming this will be the opposite in the winter. 670, KDLG, Dillingham, Jul 22 0357 - Good reception of 'The World Cafe' well over the usual co-channel KBOI, but as is so often the case, presumed KDLG faded down just at the top of the hour, so no definite ID this time. 670, KDLG, Dillingham, Jul 23 1159 - ID for KDLG, Dillingham and into the BBCWS. Good reception. 780, KNOM, Nome, Jul 21 1406 - Another new Alaskan for me, with ID, weather for Western Alaska. Fair. 790, KCAM, Glenallen, Jul 21 0410 - Local ads and a local softball game, play by play. At 0413, heard: 'Proud sponsor of Glenallen softball'. Good reception. At 0459 Focus on the family program finished. No ID at the TOH, but did include a quick 'KCAM, Glenallen' at 0501:30, and into USA network news. I tuned in again at 1436 to hear Glenallen and Copper River Valley weather forecast (45 degrees and mostly sunny), and then onto weather for Anchorage, Valdez, 40 Mile Country, and Fairbanks. Time check for 6:39. No ID then. 850, KICY, Nome, Jul 23 1450 - Probable reception with religious songs 'He has the whole world in his hands', etc. Poor with major splatter from CBC 860. No ID heard, however. 890, KBBI, Homer, Jul 22 1421 - Time check for 6:21 and local Homer ads. 920, 1059-, KSRM, Soldotna, Jul 24. Another new Alaskan for me, with ID as, 'KSRM, now in our 38th year'. Fair to good with a few weak cochannels. 970, KFBX, Fairbanks, Jul 22 1422 - Time check for Fairbanks, and local job opportunities. Poor with lots of atmospheric noise. Local programming. Not bad for 5 kw in the morning, with the sun high in the sky! Heard again the following evening at 0357 with more local ads, and mentions of Fairbanks, but as frequently happens, it seems, it faded away just before the TOH, so no ID, but back up at 0401. My luck! 970, KFBX, Fairbanks, Jul 23 1347 - Finally heard an ID at poor to fair level as, '970 News radio KFBX'. Then, 'do your part to keep Alaska's wildlife wild'. I've now heard and ID'd about 3/4 of the Alaskan MW stations. 1170, KJNP, North Pole, Jul 21 1429:30 - Another new one for me, with the weather for North Pole: 'Here in North Pole, 47 degrees'. No call sign heard, though. Fair. 1170, KJNP, North Pole, Jul 22 1359:50 - Good strong signal, over a weaker co-channel with 'You are tuned to 1-1-7-0, KJNP North Pole Alaska'. I had to look up on GeoClock where North Pole was. Clearly no where close to the actual or magnetic pole, so why the name? [to enhance local PO biz around Xmastime --- gh] (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, HCDX via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA [and non]. WAP MEETING. Gianni, I1HYW, announced that the WAP (Worldwide Antarctic Program) will hold its 2nd annual meeting along with the 4th DCI Meeting (Italian Castle Award) in the City of Mondovi' (CN), North Italy, next September 17-18th. Forum activities will include QSL Managers, WAP Special Editions, WAP Awards and more. More info about the program, as well as articles and information about Antarctica, available at: http://www.dcia.it/ http://www.ddxc.net/wap (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. Just heard what seems to be LRA 36 playing such a silly song --- as silly ball games are --- Ave María by Bisbal at 2055. Can anyone else confirm this?. Signal barely audible. No way this one can reach further from Tiquicia North, as conditions have been terrible recently. SINPO 15241 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, July 25, dxldyg via DXLD) If your receiver can tell 15476 from 15475, that would be a big clue, and also whether it signed off around 2100. Why don`t you e-mail them with this program detail for confirmation? (gh, DXLD) Solar-terrestrial indices for 25 July follow. Solar flux 84 and estimated mid-latitude A-Index 5. The mid-latitude K-index at 2100 UTC on 25 July was 1 (8 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours (SEC via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 5400 lsb, Radio Diez, 0226-0305 Jul 24, man and woman talking in Spanish hosting program of Latin Rhythms. Two short and one long time pip at top of the hour during music selection. Low modulated apparent ID shortly thereafter followed by more talk and vocals (Rich D`Angelo, Wyomissing PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) These SSB relays pick up a variety of Buenos Aires stations. This one is originally on MW 710, yet just calls itself Radio 10 (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 2310, VL8A, Alice Springs, Jul 21 1044 - Very good reception with cricket play by play. Parallel to weaker 2325 VL8T, and 2485 VL8K (with its characteristic humm). (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2310, VL8A, Alice Springs, Jul 23 1321 - Superb reception with Cricket play by play. Parallel 2325 equally excellent from Tennant Creek (VL8T), whereas 2485 Katherine VL8K is good (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, HCDX via DXLD) ** BELARUS. 5970, Radio Belarus, *0200-0234 Jul 20, instrumental music followed by multi-language station ID including English. Man opened English broadcast with ID, schedule and mailing address. News followed by a program of mainly talk features. Multi-language IDs at 0230 followed by program in Belarus. Poor to fair with // 7210 poor (Rich D'Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheeet via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Re 5-120: Radio Pio XII frequency should be 5952.5, not 5925.5 (José Bueno, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4753.45, UNIDENTIFIED ? Jul 21 0423 - I have no idea who is on this off frequency at this time in AM mode. Weak but in the clear (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4753.41 ?BRAZIL, Rádio Educação Rural, Campo Grande, Jul 22 0427 - This is my guess for my unID of last night, and still here today. I listened for a while, and it appears to be in Portuguese, hence my guess. Any verification from out there? (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, HCDX via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. 6090, Radio China Intl. [sic] (via Canada?) 17 July 2005 at 0420-0430. YL in English with talk on Chinese fishing fleet. ID at 0412. OM with sports and weather for various major world cities. Strong signal. Heavy QRM from Caribbean Beacon. Fair (Joe Wood, Greenback TN, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Noticed the same collision the other night myself. This has been going on since at least the beginning of A-05, and obviously no one cares to resolve it. CB has always been on 6090 since its inception and no doubt is extremely reluctant to move. Its signal is so strong that CRI is wasting its watts by using 6090 too, but hey, who cares? They have plenty of other times and frequencies. For that matter, so does the defunct DGS (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 5025, Radio Rebelde, Jul 21 0434 - Not on the air when first checked at this time, but present at a weak level at 1000 with Buenos días, and mentions of North America and Cubano. Must be using either a back up transmitter or antenna system (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5025, Radio Rebelde, Jul 22 0435 - Rebelde is back with a much stronger signal than last night, but still suffering from slop, from a very messy transmitter on 5030.07 (University Network, Costa Rica with Dr. Gene Scott rambling from beyond the grave!) (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, HCDX via DXLD) Was inbooming here around 0400 UT July 24 (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA. 9595, Radio Rebelde, 1031-1050, programa "Haciendo Radio". Noticias del mundo, noticias deportivas. Identificación: "Seguimos Haciendo Radio, noticias de la cultura". 24222 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, escuchas realizadas en Reinante, costa del Mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Is 9595 correct? Had been on 9505, and 9600 (gh) ** CUBA. Top item on the RHC news at 1450 UT July 25 on 11760, 11800, 12000: hunger strike in Sweden in support of the five Cubans unjustly jailed as political prisoners in the US. Not a word about the Cuban journalist unjustly imprisoned in Cuba who is on a hunger strike, as mentioned recently in DXLD (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 4919.0, Radio Quito, La Voz de la Capital, 0512-0610, 23- 07, canciones, locutor con comentarios entre las canciones, identificación a las 0524: "Radio Quito, La Voz de la Capital", a las 0600, locutora, noticias, "Aquí la informacíon, La Voz de la Capital". 24222. También escuchada 0512-0540, 24-07, con canciones en español y musica andina. Hacía cerca de 3 años que no escuchaba esta emisora, que años atrás se recibía bastante bién y casi a diario por aquí. Si no hubiera visto que la reportaban de vez en cuando, habría pensado que había desaparecido. Ni siquiera cuando estuve en la zona del Caribe la había podido sintonizar, así que me llevé una buena alegría al escucharla de nuevo. Era una buena confirmadora de informes de recepción, enviando QSL, banderín, adhesivos, etc. (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, escuchas realizadas en Reinante, costa del Mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, RN-Bata, 2252-2255*, July 19, Just caught the end of their lengthy NA at sign-off. Fair (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. VOICE OF ANTI-AMERICA --- "Radio France Internationale is like most other French media, but more so. Not to be confused with "public radio," RFI is part and parcel of the government-owned and controlled Radio France organization that stretches across the FM band from France-Inter to France Info. But RFI is more directly controlled than its fellow stations; it is the voice of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, known by its geographical nickname as the Quai d'Orsay (comparable to Foggy Bottom), which is itself a state within the state. Governments come and go; the Quai d'Orsay endures. France's international influence shrinks, but the Quai struts to the four corners of the globe. The last vestiges of French grandeur." Read the rest of this highly critical article at http://www.techcentralstation.com/072505E.html (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DXLD) Reads more like a rant than a journalistic article. The author offers no proof of the points made. Useful, IMHO, only with regard to the knowledge that such things are being said (apparently unchallenged) in some quarters. But it adds really nothing to the conversation. In fact, the author doesn't seem to be interested in a conversation -- which is, to me, the primary fault in the whole enterprise (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, ibid.) See SWEDEN FWIW, the rant indicates a great deal of listening-time put into RFI (in French), even tho lacking specific citations (gh, DXLD) I would agree with Henrik that the article has some validity; control of the French state media by the French political elite, which is increasingly being shown to be corrupt and self serving, has been an issue for as long as I can remember. Here is a recent piece on their activities during the referendum on the European constitution. "Publicly-owned media in France are broadcasting sheer propaganda to the public, and this absence of any pluralism or any attempt to represent and discuss the point of view of those who want to vote 'No' to the Treaty is profoundly undemocratic" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4568819.stm (Mike Barraclough, UK, ibid.) But they do have commercial media in France, don't they? (I realize that is not the central issue; just confirming that alternative opinions are available through the media generally.) jaf (John Figliozzi, Half Moon, ibid.) ** GREECE. Glenn: In reference to Greeks Everywhere on VOG, Saturdays at 1400-1500 UT via Delano on 9775; a reply (with my English translations) --- "Dear John, Greetings from Greece. I just saw your e-mails and I apologize for all this, but the technical staff in our program has neglected my instructions; that is why you heard music. I am trying to settle this matter and prota o theos, to Savvato tha akousete mia ixografimeni palaioteri ekpobi (before God, this Saturday you will hear a prerecorded old broadcast). Again my apologies. Filika (In friendship). Katerina" (John Babbis, MD, July 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4052.5, Radio Verdad, Chiquimula. Esta emisora continúa fuera del aire por el momento, desde hace aproximadamente 10 días (Manuel Méndez Lugo, España, July 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. 670, KPUA, Hilo, Jul 22 1300 - What a difference a day makes. Yesterday it was Dillingham, AK on this frequency at this time. Today, ID for this Hawaiian instead at good level. 760, KGU, Honolulu, Jul 22 1309 - 'You are listening to Back to the Bible: Your questions, God's answers'. I'm thinking this is most likely the Hawaiian. Good reception (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, HCDX via DXLD) 830, 1259-, KHVH, Honolulu, Jul 24. ID for 'Newsradio KHVH 830, Honolulu'. Good reception. I was trying for the Alaskan KSDP, Sandpoint. I did hear NPR programming earlier in the hour, so I'm thinking it was them. No sign of them now (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Queen Charlotte Is, BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 900, KNUI, Kahalui, Jul 22 1220 - One of my favourite stations when vacationing on Maui. Lovely Hawaiian music well over local station, but faded out before any definite ID, and Victoria's 'Village 900' became dominant (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, HCDX via DXLD) ** HONDURAS. 4819.2, HRVC La Voz Evangélica, Tegucigalpa, 0455-0610, 24-07, reactivada esta emisora, luego de 3 años fuera del aire. Programa religoso, español, locutor y locutora, música y canciones religiosas. A las 0522, identificación por locutora: "La Voz Evangélica de Honduras" y a las 0524 por locutor: "La Voz Evangélica de Honduras". Música "con este tema te damos las gracias por haber estado conmigo". 24222. Otra buena alegría con la reactivación de esta emisora religiosa, que además era una magnífica confirmadora de informes de recepción (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, escuchas realizadas en Reinante, costa del Mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4819.1, HRVC, La Voz Evangélica, Tegucigalpa, 0503-0550, 25-07, Por dos días consecutivos se escucha esta emisora por el noroeste de España. Hoy con señal más clara que ayer. Canciones religiosas, locutora, varias identificaciones: "La Voz Evangélica de Honduras". "La Voz Evangélica de Honduras, la radio del evangelista". "Nuestra misión es evangelizar nuestro país". Comentarios y canciones religiosas. 24322 (Manuel Méndez Lugo, España, July 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4819.15v, La emisora HRVC - La Voz Evangélica, Julio 25, 0500-0530. Escuchada transmitiendo canciones cristianas, anuncio solicitando apoyo económico para poder continuar el ministerio radial y también el programa " Mi tiempo con Dios ". Recepcion fue de buena a fuerte (Dino Bloise, Icom R-75, Hollywood, FL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The station in fact was reactivated at 2200 UT on July 23. They were inactive for the past three years. They also carry IDs of their regional stations, so you might also hear some other MW QRGs mentioned in their IDs. I am trying to guess what your recorded ID says, but I'm at the office now, and can't use the speakers at a higher volume. You might try the WRTH and see in the mediumwave section. There should be a station listed on 1040 kHz by the same call HRVC, but with different location. That's your ID (or should be). I'll try to provide a full transcription of their IDs tomorrow. Please let me know if you find your ID in WRTH, I don't have mine with me now. Best 73 (Élmer Escoto, San Pedro Sula, HONDURAS, July 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See 5-121; following logging predates the above? (gh) 4819v, LV Evangélica, HRVC, fair-good at 0225-0328 with a wide variety of religious and gospel [sic] music; Spanish ID at 0249; station info at 0259; ID at 0312; two IDs with call letters at 0321 & 0328; still good at 0355 recheck 7/22 (Jim Ronda, Tulsa OK, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Or does he mean UT 7/23, as implied by the following logs? (gh) 4819.14v, LV Evangélica, tnx to alert from Jim Ronda-OK, heard from 0515 Jul 23, pretty good strength but heavy QRN. Religious songs, brief announcements; ID 0615, fuller ID 0625, into talk. They stayed on all night, and they were still there at 1000 (weakly). URL is http://www.hrvc.org/ but most of it is under construction (Jerry Berg, MA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 4819.15v, HRVC - LV Evangélica, July 23, 0450-0740. Thanks to Jim Ronda for tip. Religious programming in Spanish, songs, both religious and ballads, many IDs. Varied from poor at tune-in (heavy static) to good after 0550. Seemed to have a slight drift around .14-.15 (Ron Howard, CA, ibid.) 4819.1v, La Voz Evangélica (HRVC), 0354-0412 Jul 23 and 0300-0335 Jul 24, thanks to Jim Ronda tip noted with man preaching in Spanish with organ music in the background. Next night caught nice ID and frequency announcement between musical selections. Good signal (Rich D'Angelo, PA, ibid.) ** INDONESIA. 3344.96, RRI Ternate, Jul 22 1340 - Parallel to 3325 Palangkaraya with a sports play by play. Lots of mentions of Bali, Pontianak, Kalimantan, and Gorantalo. Great reception on both (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, HCDX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4925, RRI; Jambi, July 24, 2327 with Indonesian pop music, local ID and IS, male announcer with presumed news and reports from correspondents. Weak/fair but won't last much longer with Jambi already in full daylight at this hour (Mark Veldhuis, Netherlands, Icom IC-R75; Wellbrook ALA-1530, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. ONLINE PROGRAM GUIDE CASTS A WORLDWIDE NET By DAVID HINCKLEY, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER http://www.nydailynews.com/07-21-2005/entertainment/story/329937p-281976c.html One of the biggest frustrations for radio listeners is the lack of any program guide comparable to the ones available for TV viewers. Another, perhaps slightly lesser frustration is that it's often inconvenient to record radio shows for later listening. http://www.RadioTime.com would like to solve both those problems. The Dallas-based Internet company offers a free online program guide for tens of thousands of radio stations, from global giants like the BBC to college stations in the New York suburbs. It then offers a free connection to any station that streams on the Net. For programs not streamed, like Howard Stern's, listeners need a tuner, which RadioTime happens to sell ($39). RadioTime also offers what CEO and founder Bill Moore describes as "TiVo for radio," a feature that will record any program at any time and send it to a computer as an MP3 file for future listening. The recording service costs $39 a year, with a combination price of $59 for a tuner and a recording subscription. "Radio has programs somewhere on any subject you could want," says Moore, from cigars, Scuba-diving or polka music to political discussion in South Africa. "The problem is that most people don't know they exist or, if they do know, can't access them. We provide the information and make the connection possible." Using RadioTime.com requires basic knowledge of a computer. It's not hard, Moore says, though most listeners are still more comfortable with "old radio," where they turn it on and tune it in. "All the new technologies, from satellite to Internet and podcasting, add up to maybe 5% of radio listening," he says. "But the average person listens to 20 hours of radio a week, so there's obviously a lot of potential." RadioTime.com launched in 2002, and Moore says its biggest push now is simply making people aware that it exists. It has 50,000 users a month, he says, and hopes to raise its profile through partnerships with hardware companies that make MP3 players or Internet services like Yahoo. "We're moving toward what Amazon does," says Moore. "We want to offer not only the listening and taping services, but recommendations. We can guide people based on their personal preferences." (via Bob Thomas, CT, DXLD) I see WORLD OF RADIO is included, news to me, found via search: http://www.radiotime.com/toppicks.aspx?p=0&st=0&t=%22World%20of%20Radio%22 Are they making $$ off my non-commercial show? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. The statement "Keep in mind there are a LOT of new subscribers due to a giveaway for a FREE year`s usage with a new car" is false. As of March 31 of this year only 426,300 XM subscribers were "freebies"; the rest were paid subscribers (in other words, only about 8% of XM subscribers receive "free" programming). The source for this --- along with other financial data for XM --- is XM's latest 10-Q filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which can be viewed at: http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/doctrans/finSys_main.asp?formfilename=0001193125-05-097631&nad= On a personal note, I'll add that my wife and I drive two 2005 Toyotas equipped with XM, and we're paying for service for both under the XM Family Plan. If someone knows how to get XM for free, please tell me! It's normal for new businesses to lose money in their start-up phase, especially ones with large capitalization requirements (like launching satellites). The key is how well a new business stays on track toward positive cash flow (meaning you can keep operating without requiring additional investment) and eventually profitability (meaning you are generating a return on that investment). In a couple of key metrics -- - subscriber growth and expected date of profitability (2006, per XM's SEC S-1 filing for their IPO) --- XM is either ahead of their projections (with subscribers) or on target (for profitability). This can be confirmed by viewing XM's SEC filings and doing a Google search for financial information on XM. Perhaps someone is lumping XM in with Sirius. IMO, Sirius has grossly overpaid for programming, especially Howard "lion in winter" Stern and Nascar (XM's Hugh Panero didn't seem too upset at losing Nascar to Sirius), and I don't think such programming will attract enough subscribers to justify the cost. The big difference in the stock prices of XM and Sirius is because XM is in a much stronger financial position than Sirius; Sirius got out of the gate late and has a significantly larger fixed cost base (for example, Sirius has studios in NYC while XM is in northern Virginia). Bluntly, I wouldn't be surprised if Sirius isn't eventually acquired by a larger company with deeper pockets. Microsoft has been making a lot of noises about broadcasting lately --- "Radio World" columnist Skip Pizzi is a Microsoft employee, although they never disclose that fact --- and they could be a player for Sirius, as could General Electric. Regardless of what happens to XM and Sirius as companies, their infrastructure and subscribers lists will have value for other companies and their satellite services will continue. Here are some posts I've recently made to my blog about satellite radio: http://futureofradio.typepad.com/the_future_of_radio/2005/07/xm_acquires_wcs.html http://futureofradio.typepad.com/the_future_of_radio/2005/07/nab_president_w.html (Harry Helms W5HLH, Wimberley, TX EM00 http://futureofradio.typepad.com/ ABDX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. A NEW PAN-LATIN AMERICAN TV CHANNEL First broadcast for Latin channel By Iain Bruce, BBC News, Caracas A new pan-Latin American TV channel, Telesur, has begun its first broadcast from the Venezuelan capital, Caracas. It is backed by the governments of Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba and Uruguay who say they want it to promote Latin American integration. Last week the House of Representatives voted to enable the US administration to begin broadcasting its own TV signals to Venezuela. The US plan is intended to counter what it called anti-US propaganda. A few minutes later than scheduled, just after midday Venezuelan time, Telesur's presenter, Patricio Villegas, welcomed viewers to "this new television station of the south". In its first broadcast, the channel's president, Venezuelan communications minister, Andres Izarra, told viewers in as many as 23 Latin American countries that Telesur was not directed against the people of the US. 'Time for change' The station was, he said, "erupting onto the international scene" to counter cultural imperialism, which he said had gone unchallenged in the region for 50 years. Several international advisors to the new channel, including the Pakistani-British broadcaster and activist Tariq Ali, spoke against the attempts on Capitol Hill to get the US government to counter Telesur with broadcasts of its own. But in a live telephone link, President Hugo Chavez expressed confidence that Telesur had "scored the first goal". The time had come for a big change, he said, and Telesur was part of that change. The channel's first news programme began with a critical report on the failures of the mission in Haiti led by Brazil, followed by another on the plight of refugees in Colombia - a sign that it is not only in Washington that Telesur may be ready to ruffle feathers (via Andy O`Brien, dxldyg via DXLD) A long contentious thread about this mainly on the condig list is pending for next issue (gh) ** IRAN. 9495, "V. of Justice", 0140-0152, July 19, English, News and commentaries re Iranian virtues; US and Zionist atrocities. Fair (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9595, V. of Justice in English to NAm with news, then commentary at 0130+, male and female announcers, good signal (Tim Davisson, Norton OH, 7/24/05, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Were they really on 9595 instead of 9495 on this occasion? (gh) ** IRAQ [and non]. CHRISTIAN BROADCASTING GROUP WANTS TO REACTIVATE IRAQI SW STATION [but see below] Power Broadcasting, which describes itself as a multi-denominational religious broadcaster, is appealing for financial assistance in the construction of a shortwave broadcasting station in Papua New Guinea. According to its website, "Our broadcasting station when completed will be capable of reaching up to one billion potential households. Listeners in Indonesia, Burma, Pakistan, Afghanistan will be able to hear the word." The group also wants to raise funds to reactivate the Balad Relay Station, better known to DXers as Salah el Deen, built in Iraq for the Saddam Hussein regime and destroyed by bombing in the first Gulf War. It was equipped with 16 x 500 kW transmitters, although it was never used at its maximum capacity. Members of the public are invited to donate money to finance "working lunches" with US Senators and Congressmen to lobby for Christian broadcasters to be given access to this facility. Power Broadcasting says that "Religious broadcasters must be allotted transmitter time on Balad, so as to keep any 'Radio War' between the US and Iran from heating up into a true war." Some research appears to have been done, apparently in collaboration with Thalès, the company that constructed the station. The website says that all 16 transmitters can be fully refurbished on-site for under US$ 2 Million, according to Thalès. It also says that "the Switch Matrix building was damaged by a missile during the 1st Gulf War, all shortwave transmitters need minor fixing to work properly again, mainly replacement of older parts. There is a lack of equipment to permit full use of the broadcast antennas aimed towards Afghanistan, Pakistan, Burma & North Korea - America's sworn enemies in the region." Media Network does not have any information about this company. We are always suspicious about groups that invite donations but do not provide any background information about themselves, no contact address, not even an E-mail address. The spelling errors and amateurish appearance of this site do not seem to be the work of a professional company. So does anyone reading this have more information about Power Broadcasting? Power Broadcasting http://cbc.svserver.com # posted by Andy @ 18:31 UT July 23 (Media Network blog via DXLD) This was already discussed in DXLD a few issues ago. Everything about it seemed fishy to me (gh, DXLD) POWER BROADCASTING: A HOAX We've now received information confirming our suspicion that a website claiming to belong to "Power Broadcasting", and asking for money to build a shortwave station in Papua New Guinea and reactivate the Iraqi shortwave site at Salah el Deen, is indeed a hoax. The item which we published on Saturday about this has now been removed - however, we will be happy to cooperate with anyone investigating this matter, in the hope of identifying the individual(s) concerned. Please send any relevant messages to media@rnw.nl and do not post information as a comment in the Weblog. Thank you. # posted by Andy @ 09:38 UT July 25 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 2850, KCBS, Pyongyang, Jul 21 1047 - Good to very good reception with a Korean play. Not the usual martial style for a change. Parallels heard include: 3220 (with cochannel), 3350 (loud buzz), 3959.73 (fair), and 9665.50 (buzz). (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. FRESH CALLS FOR MORE RADIOS AND BROADCASTS TO NORTH KOREA At a Freedom House sponsored symposium held earlier this month in Washington, DC, acclaimed human rights activist Natan Sharansky spoke of the need to increase radio broadcasts into North Korea similar to Voice of America programming that he had said was so helpful to the refuseniks in the USSR. North Korean defector Kang Cheol-Hwan cited also the need for radios, since the regime allows only those with a frequency fixed onto the state approved stations to be distributed. Writing in FrontPage magazine, Lt. Col. Gordon Cucullu says that "If something as small as an Ipod can do all the things that tiny device is capable of doing, then a functioning AM/FM radio with antenna ought to be fashioned that could be manufactured cheaply and anonymously and smuggled into North Korea by the hundreds of thousands. If as Kang and Sharansky say, and other refugees affirm, information is the key to ultimate freedom then we in the free world ought to devote much more resources to ensure that we can fulfill the promise of JFK to ``let the word go forth from this day forward``. I`ll guess that we could manufacture and distribute a million tiny radios cheaper than the cost of one smart bomb strike." Read the full story: Sharansky Takes on North Korea http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=18855 # posted by Andy @ 13:50 UT July 25 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** LATVIA. 9290, R. Tatras Int'l, 2217-2233, July 22, English, Continuous format of pop oldies between repeating ID announcements and promos. First announcement was "Greetings to friends in Europe, Latvia, Slovakia, Scandinavia and the Baltics..." with mentions of broadcasting on the " (??) Satellite network carrying RTI". The promo was for a July 22nd event featuring the MTV Beach Party Tour. Fair/poor, best listening in USB (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA? 9290, 22 Jul, Radio MTV, 1802-1845, inglés, locutor identificando a Radio MTV con música DJ, entre otros temas el "Asereje", comentarios sobre un DJ, SINPO 54444 (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellón), España, SANGEAN ATS 909, Antena Telescópica, Noticias DX via DXLD) What is Asereje? ** LIBERIA. LIBERIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM LAUNCHES FUND DRIVE The Liberian Observer reports that the Liberia Broadcasting System has launched a fund drive to obtain a shortwave transmitter and television transmitters, in order to extend LBS broadcasts nationwide. The station's main building has been in ruins since the 1990 civil crisis. Transitional Government Chairman Charles Gyude Bryant, launching the fund-raising awareness program for the resuscitation of the station Friday, said everything would be done to meet the needs of the station through its budgetary allotment. # posted by Andy @ 10:07 UT July 25 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** LIBERIA [non]. 11965, ASCENSION IS., Star Radio, Monrovia, Jul 21 2123 - ID as, 'You are listening to Star Radio from Monrovia on the FM and the shortwave'. S6 signal and in the clear. Easy to follow English (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11965, Star Radio (via Ascension), 2153-2159*, July 22, English, OM with Liberian sporting news; passing mentions of "Star Radio". Cut off mid-sentence at 2159 followed by a snippet of French talks. Wonder what that was? Fair; best listening in USB (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9525, ASCENSION ISLAND, Star Radio, 0755-0821 Jul 22, man with Sports News in English followed by a woman with the same but in a local language. ID at 0800 "This is Star Radio broadcasting from Monrovia, Liberia." Next program was called People Talk featuring a man announcer talking to two men about conflicts in southern district (things appear just fine now). Fair to good signal with moderate fading (Rich D'Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. 7320, FRANCE, Voice of Africa (Tripoli), 2209-2228 Jul 19, man announcer speaking in Arabic. Segment of instrumental music at 2215 followed by three time pips and English ID. A man announcer with news in English followed by another man with news in French. Fair (Rich D'Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 4810, XERTA, Radio Transcontinental de América, 0527-0550, 23-07, locutor, comentarios religiosos, canciones. Al igual que la semana pasada, mucho ruido y señal muy débil. Hay que separar la señal en LSB. 24221. También escuchada 0530, 24-07 con igual señal (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, escuchas realizadas en Reinante, costa del Mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEPAL. 5005.32, Radio Nepal; Khumaltar, July 24, 2340 weak but in the clear, except for some occasional CW QRM. Native music with flutes and male vocals. Male announcer at 2344, but undermodulated so too little audio to make out anything. Fading out. 73 (Mark Veldhuis, Netherlands, Icom IC-R75; Wellbrook ALA-1530, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEPAL. NEPAL GOVERNMENT SACKS 21 PRO-DEMOCRACY TV JOURNALISTS | Text of report by Indian news agency PTI Kathmandu, 25 July: Nepal's royal government, which has been relentlessly targeting the media since King Gyanendra's takeover, has sacked 21 journalists of state-owned television for taking part in pro-democracy agitation. The management of the state-owned Nepal Television (NTV) has decided arbitrarily to lay off pro-democrcay journalists en masse, sources in NTV were quoted as saying today. Twenty one district reporters of Nepal Television have been sacked for their involvement in the movement to demand complete press freedom launched by Federation of Nepalese Journalist, the federation, an umbrella organization of Nepalese scribes, said in a statement. Sri Narayan Shah, from Dhanusha district and Prem K.C. from Nepalgunj, also FNJ's Banke district president are among the 21 journalists, who were "illegally" sacked by the government-owned television, according to the FNJ. Most of those sacked by the NTV have been associated with the television for several years and some of them are with the channel for a decade, FNJ said. Expressing shock at the development, the FNJ said the "unjust" and "undemocratic" action was motivated by the journalists' solidarity to restore complete press freedom in the country. "We call for an immediate reinstatement of our sacked colleagues and call on the government to respect press freedom of the independent media and mediapersons," said FNJ Secretary Balram Bania. Following the February 1 Royal takeover, the government has imposed press censorship, banned newscast on FM radios and arrested several journalists. Source: PTI news agency, New Delhi, in English 1524 gmt 25 Jul 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. 9895, 21 Jul, Radio Tour de France, 1202-1232, en alemán u holandés, identificándose como "Radio Tour de France" en francés, cuñas en varios idiomas, información sobre el Tour por corresponsales, separado por un tema musical entre información e información, SINPO 55444 (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellón), España, SANGEAN ATS 909, Antena Telescópica, Noticias DX via DXLD) Radio Nederland had special coverage of the TdF thruout July, which got little attention since none of it was in English, AFAIK. The closest thing to this transmission in the current online schedule is: 0759-1500 (Sat/Sun) Flevo 9895 191 500 Dutch SW Europe And this was presumably expanded to other days of the week (gh, DXLD) This is not actually a Radio Netherlands programme. It's a relay of Radio Tour de France, the special programme produced by our domestic service colleagues at NOS. This happens every year. I wasn't even aware that it includes languages other than Dutch, but I'm pretty certain that, as Glenn says, there isn't any English in it. I do normally enter this in the technical schedule, but the attack of chickenpox that I suffered a few weeks ago led to some things not getting done, for which I apologise. The details were, of course, on our Dutch Internet pages (Andy Sennitt, Radio Netherlands, HCDX via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. For the past several days at least, KXOK-TV, channel 32, Enid`s only local TV station, has been showing usually jittery frozen frames, changing a few times per minute, from the America One network, including black and white westerns, as at 2157 UT July 25, and usually no audio. Their satellite downlink is obviously very sporadic and nothing is done about it. Apparently running on automatic, no one caring or paying attention. This also wastes a valuable cable channel (18) --- well, not so valuable, but still; Cox is certainly obliged to carry it as it transmits from a couple blox away. I bet this couldn`t happen if the satellite feed were analog from one end to the other, but still there is no excuse (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3290, Radio Central, Boroko, Jul 21 1056 - Good signal level, but mostly used USB to avoid an intermittent ute on LSB. Local vocals, and Pidgin talk. S7 signal. No TOH ID, but switched to the National news at 1102. At 1154, there was a time check for 6 minutes to 11. Later USB had a Russian fisherman net. At 1201, Central province was mentioned as well as '3290 kHz in the 90 meter band', and signing off until '12:00 tomorrow afternoon'. Then the PNG anthem, and off at 1203. The two Christian stations are only poorly propagating, i.e. 4960 and 7120, with the latter only being present as a het. Did they move frequencies already, as they had planned? Possibly Wantok Radio Light adjusted their NVIS antenna to reduce propagation further afield (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, July 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1737 kHz, KUT (Beacon), Jul 21 1042 - weakly heard at this time. 1208- Jul 24 Beacon station heard only weakly today (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Queen Charlotte Is, BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3235, Radio West New Britain, Jul 22 1329 - S6 to S7 signal, with the usual very enjoyable PNG programming, with a real local flavour. Announcements at 1338. Off sometime by the TOH. 3235, Radio West New Britain, Jul 23 1328 - Good to very good reception with greetings reading long lists of names. No other regional stations were on at this time. 4890 on with excellent reception, and CRN 4960 only poorly herd, and 7120 Wantok Radio light, also poor. Interesting that at 1400, there was a time check for 4:00 (I think), then dear air, and a major drop in signal level to fair only. Did they change transmitter or antenna at that time? I've never noticed this drop before. [1400 UT = local midnight in PNG --- gh] 4960, Catholic Radio Network, Jul 23 1402 - Reception now fair to good, compared to a half hour ago (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, HCDX via DXLD) 7120, (Presumed) Wantok R. Light, 0935-1000+, July 24, Vernacular/ English, Ballads in language booming in a tune-in. Whisper-quiet OM at 0944; presumably in Pidgin. English ballads followed and more talks as static levels increased thru 1000 until the signal was useless. Announcer`s audio still too weak to ID here in ECNA tho still impressive for mid-summer (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Scott, is one of your Bevs aimed at PNG? Seems unlikely from your location. Time to raise more questions about whether WRL is really running only 1 kW NVIS (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 7390, Golos Rossii, Jul 21 1215 - Russian Orthodox programming with an S9 + 10 signal, and then a Russian religious ballad. Still have to get used to hearing religion from the state broadcaster in Russia! Transmitter is in Vladivostok, so accounts for the phenomenal strength (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 9996, 0417-, RWM, Jul 24. Another offshoot to regular SW DXing. Noted an unmodulated signal on 9996 so I offset to 9996.2 to hear in LSB (or use CW). Double pips from the 9th to the 14th second. Data transfer started at 0420 until 0424:55, and then again from 0425:00 to 0429:55. A steady carrier tone from 0430 until 0437:55, and then RWM repeated over and over again in Morse from 0438 until 0440, and then back into regular unmodulated time pips. CW mode works well to listen to them. Excellent level. Transmitter, I think is in Moscow. I wonder how to demodulate the data stream. Didn't sound like any mode I've heard before. Any ideas? (Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Queen Charlotte Is, BC) ** RWANDA. 6055, Radio Rwanda, Kigali, 2030-2100, 21-07, locutor, vernáculo, música africana, francés. Esta emisora se escucha entre las 2030 y las 2100, ya que hasta las 2030 está en esta misma frecuencia Radio Eslovaquia Internacional con programa en español, y a las 2100 Radio Japan con programa en inglés para Europa (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, escuchas realizadas en Reinante, costa del Mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N de Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ST. PIERRE AND MIQUELON. FP (Update). Paul, FP/K9OT, and Peg, FP/KB9LIE (YL), should be on the air from Miquelon (NA-032) shortly after 0000Z on July 30th. This is their fifth annual trip to Miquelon and Peg's 10th anniversary as a ham. Preferred band-modes are 30-40-80 CW for Paul and 17-20-40 SSB for Peg, other bands depending on propagation and conditions, 100 watts to single-band wire verticals on the Atlantic Ocean. They plan to be active in the RSGB IOTA Contest as Single-Ops, and Paul will be in the North American CW QSO Party. Visit their Web site at: http://www.mhtc.net/~k9ot QSL via their home callsigns (same address), direct or by the bureau. Cards received with insufficient return postage will be answered via the bureau. No eQSLs (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** SERBIA & MONTENEGRO [non]. Hi Kai and Glenn, Re: latest DXLD: 7200 kHz 1300-1430 can be found in the summer 2005 frequencies, which are published on the web site http://www.wrth.com 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5019.89, SIBC, Honiara, Jul 21 1003 - Pidgin news, with mentions of Honiara, Prime minister, national parliament. ID for SIBC, Honiara at 1007:30. Voice of Salvation also mentioned at 1013. Always a real pleasure to listen to them! (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. 9770, SLBC, 0101-0118, July 24, English, Fast paced announcer between "crooner" ballads with Sunday morning greetings and requesting listener calls from India and Sri Lanka. Fair signal tho announcer talks way too fast to fully comprehend (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN. 9505, 1700-1715, 23-07, Sudan National Broadcasting Corporation, Omdurman. Arabic news about Darfur read by a woman, ex 7200 which was covered by QRM 32332, strong QRM from BBC World Service in English on 9510 and R Bulgaria in French on 9500 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX via DXLD) ** SURINAME. 4990, Radio Apintie, 0154-0314 Jul 21, English lyric pop vocals ("Endless Love") with a man announcer with Dutch talk and ID at 0205. More pop vocals including another Endless Love with brief talk segments at 0230 and 0300. Poor with a lot of static (Rich D'Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheeet via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Cf FRANCE. This article carries a lot of personal opinion, editorializing rather than journalism, that`s true, but what if the author is right? For whatever it is worth, the stuff reminds me of what I am getting on the Swedish state radio and TV, the government- inspired "political correctness" as expressed by TT, the sole news bureau of the Kingdom of Sweden. I do not know what Radio Sweden is up to, but the home service on radio and TV (and the main newspapers) are being carefully watched by the ranting but accurate blogsite http://www.spectator.se (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, July 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. THAI POLICE SUSPEND RADIO BROADCASTS IN NORTHERN PROVINCES | Text of report in English by Mongkol Bangprapa, carried by Thai newspaper Bangkok Post web site on 24 July Police Region 5 commander Panupong Singhara na Ayutthaya has suspended radio broadcasts of some stations in some northern provinces that have been operated by a fertiliser firm using frequencies owned by the Royal Thai Police Office. The suspension followed complaints by the Thai Local Broadcasters Network (TLBN) that seven stations in Chiang Mai, Nan and Mae Hong Son set up by Chang Song Pi Nong Co have interfered with the signals of several community radio stations, which had been opened before but which were broadcasting with much less transmission power. The police were forced to step in [in] the absence of industry regulator the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), which has yet to start work. TLBN chairwoman Sakao Suebsaicheu said some units of the police office had signed contracts with that company, a fertiliser distributor, for the use of police frequencies to operate several FM radio stations with very high transmission power of 1,000-5,000 watts, or even 10,000 watts, and with 120-metre high transmission towers. The concessions, awarded in the name of security promotion and benefits for the police force, usually last 15 years, Ms Sakao said, adding, however, that those police units were at a disadvantage. She said the firm, which runs commercials on its stations, would have to pay each contract partner only 30,000 baht a month and payments would be made six months after the broadcasts began. Each police unit was allowed to use only three hours of the 24-hour airtime free of charge, she said. On 12 April, the Police Region 5 approved Chang Song Pi Nong Co's request to set up seven more stations in some districts of Chiang Mai, Nan and Mae Hong Son, allegedly in breach of the frequencies management law which bars allocations of new frequencies and the issue of licences for new radio stations until the NBC is established, Ms Sakao said. She said those new stations allegedly tried to evade the law by "borrowing" police frequencies already in use in nearby areas. In Chiang Mai, the firm's stations allegedly had jammed the signals of some community radio frequencies, forcing them to have to lodge complaints with Police Region 5, Ms Sakao said. Pol Lt-Gen Panupong said he had settled problems by suspending the operations of the firm's stations. Neither Chang Song Pi Nong's stations nor rival community stations were legal but community stations came first, Pol Lt-Gen Panupong said. "Conflict occurs when the NBC is still not here to deal with it so I have had the company stop the operations because those community radio stations were there before," he said. He believed other police regions would do the same if radio signal interference problems arose. Source: Bangkok Post web site, Bangkok, in English 24 Jul 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** TUNISIA. MOSAIQUE FM WEBSITE ACTIVE, LIVE AUDIO AVAILABLE Speaking at a news conference in June 2005, Noureddine Boutar, general director of Tunisia's first private radio station Mosaique FM, stated that the station's website would be active from the 1 July 2005. However, checks revealed that this was not the case. Boutar has now stated in an article on the Tunisian news website http://onparle.detunisie.com that the website would instead launch officially on the 25 July. According to the article, at least four domain names for the station's websites have been registered, all of which link to a principle website. These are: http://www.mosaiquefm.net http://www.mosaicfm.com http://www.mosaiquefm.com http://www.mosaicfm.net The principal website will be at http://www.mosaiquefm.net The mosaicfm.net and mosaicfm.com domain names were originally registered on 11 December 2003, with mosaiquefm.net and mosaiquefm.com created on 12 November 2003, the article explained. Live audio available Checks on the 22 and 23 July showed that none of the URLs listed above were available. However, a further check on the 24 July revealed that all the sites were up and fully functioning. A live audio stream of Mosaique FM was available from all the URLs. Programming consisted of music (both Arab and western, in various languages including English, French and Arabic). The audio quality of the stream was good. Two audio streams, under the "Le Live" link, are available, one labelled "20 kbps" and the other "48 kbps". Occasional drop-outs of audio were noted. The website is in French and includes programme details and news (mostly of an entertainment or sporting nature). Frequencies for the station as listed on the website are 94.9 MHz for the greater Tunis area, 90.3 MHz for the northern suburbs of Tunis and 88.9 MHz for Hammamet. Mosaique FM is the most popular station in Tunisia according to recent market research and launched in November 2003. It was the first private radio station licensed in Tunisia after the 2003 decision of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Source: BBC Monitoring research 24 Jul 05 (via DXLD) ** U K. Despite the marginal fidelity, I am finding it much more convenient to listen to BBCR3 Proms concerts ondemand during the following week rather than live. Another strange thing about these files, besides their steadily descending bitrate, is that most of them are much longer than the actual concert, such as Prom 9 which has 40 additional minutes of R3 programming; this time I kept listening to a show about the art scene in Mozambique. Shortcut to Proms Player: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/proms_promo.shtml (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {Furthermore, no doubt by means of cookie deposits, one may close such a file, turn off the computer, and the next time you go to it, get an offer to take up exactly where you left off. I`ve not run into this feature elsewhere.} ** U S A. Kenneth Y. Tomlinson was interviewed by Brian Lamb, for almost an hour on C-SPAN Sunday night. Comes across as a reasonable fellow who merely wants balance in public broadcasting, lamenting that not as many stations put WSJ in prime time as do NOW. He is convinced Bill Moyers is unbalanced, and denied a number of charges against him Moyers made in his remarkable speech a couple months ago, clips of which were played. I don`t find this in a Video Search (yet?) at http://www.cpsan.org (Glenn Hauser, OK, July 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 25950 FM, KOA studio link (presumed), Denver, 1830 July 25. Weak to fair sporadic E opening allowed reception of this studio link. Much fading but occasional full quieting here. Conservative Fox News talk radio format with discussion of 911 and terrorism. "We report, you decide". Local ads, and Denver traffic report including mentions of I 25 and southbound 225. I thought I heard a weak "KOA" ID in the noise (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. En la temporada de pico del ciclo solar anterior, recuerdo que en 27590 había un grupo de filipinos radicados en Los Ángeles (USA) que llegaban "como pedrada de indio zurdo" casi las 24 horas. Incansables los tipos hablando tagalog sin parar (Élmer Escoto, Honduras, Conexión Digital July 24 via DXLD) ``like a left-handed Indian casting a stone`` literally, but what means it really? (gh) En este instante 2150 UT [25 de julio] se están abriendo las condiciones en la frecuencia de los 11 metros. Estoy escuchando estaciones de Guatemala y México haciendo llamados. Atte: (José Elías, Venezuela, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Try the freebander calling frequency 27455 (gh) ** U S A. Aquí estoy en 15825 kHz captando con dificultad a WWCR pero entendiendo todo lo que se dice a la espera del colega Glenn y su programa Mundo Radial a las 2115 UT. [Luego:] De nuevo saludándote para informarte que la señal de WWCR se fué al fondo, casi a nivel de ruido antes de comenzar Mundo Radial; parece increíble que en tan pocos segundos la propagación se haya perdido por completo. El ruido se tornó insoportable. Prácticamente lo único que escuchaba eran las culebrillas de la frecuencia, una especie de sonido que se alarga como burbujeos é interfiere todo. Lo de culebrillas [little wriggling uproars?] de la frecuencia lo inventamos hace mucho tiempo con amigos que transmitiamos en la banda de los 11 metros. Pude escuchar entre todo el ruido presente en la frecuencia la voz del colega Glenn H. Recibe un fuerte abrazo querido amigo (José Elías, Venezuela, condiglist via DXLD) I`m not surprised 15825 doesn`t make it very well into Venezuela, as it is really aimed at 46 degrees toward Europe, and you are right off the side, altho the rhombic antenna does have some side lobes. I see azimuths are no longer shown on WWCR`s online transmitter schedule; I looked this up in FCC A-05. I wonder if WWCR-5 or WWCR-6 will have an antenna not aimed somewhere in the NE quadrant?? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WBCQ Info from AWWW & me --- I called into Allan Weiner WorldWide Friday evening (UT Sat 7/23/05 0000 hour); if you missed hearing my dulcet tones, listen for me almost at the end of one of the repeats. Anyway, I asked Allan to repeat the info he had rattled off earlier in the program about the transmissions from the ship and the plans for August. Here's a summary: From the ship: Monday-Friday on 7415 2 PM - 3 PM Eastern (UT 1800-1900) Saturday & Sunday on 9330 Noon - 4 PM Eastern (UT 1600-2000) Monday-Thursday on 5105 10 - 11 PM Eastern (UT Tues-Sat 0200-0300 till the end of July) In August, 5105 will be Good Friends Radio 7 PM - 12 Midnight Eastern every evening except Fridays, when Lost Discs Radio will be simulcast on 5105 from 10 PM - 11 PM Eastern (That`s 2300-0400 and 0200-0300 UT) That's what he said; sadly, he doesn't use UT but always refers to Eastern time. I'm interpreting that latter statement to really mean that Good Friends Radio WILL be on Friday nights but replaced during the 10 PM-11 PM (0200-0300 UT Sat) hour by Lost Discs which is also on 7415 kHz at that time. I've edited the above to stick in UT equivalents. What I'm not sure of, and meant to ask Allan, but couldn't get it out before he wanted me off, was whether the broadcasts specifically "from the ship" are actually *programming* originating on the ship (music & talk, I would guess) or if they are just relaying the same scheduled programs that would have been fed from the studio in Maine to the transmitters. If you look at the on-line WBCQ schedule, there ARE programs listed on those frequencies at those times already in some cases, mainly Good Friends Radio. So if the ship is just being used as an intermediate Internet relay point in the chain of audio between the originator and the transmitter input, what good is it and what does it prove? For that matter, even IF there is programming originating from on board the ship in a studio with mikes and audio players, what difference does THAT make? It could as easily be a remote studio in somebody's apartment or basement anywhere. I still haven't figured out the whole purpose of the "radio ship" itself. Are they going to eventually go a- sailing and use some satellite Internet relay to originate programming from other places on the globe with unique-to-that-region material and participants, or what? 73, (Will Martin, MO, July 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) From something AW said before, the ship is parked in a very visible place in Boston harbour with a sign on it advertising WBCQ, SW, and Good Friends [gospel huxtering] Radio. And they enjoy being aboardship for old times` sake. Remember when they were planning to go to Belize aboard a pre-WBCQ vessel and do as you suggest? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi from Des Moines, Iowa! Here is a site about the history of radio in Des Moines. It is underway. In years past I had the honor of working with the two gentlemen putting it together. BEWARE of the KCBC reference. There are strange pictures there! http://desmoinesbroadcasting.com/ Doc. (Tom Gruis, EdD, KØHTF, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ** U S A. There's a TV call change on the way in PENNSYLVANIA, where Penn State is trying to streamline the identity of its public radio and television services. This fall, WPSX (Channel 3) in Clearfield will become WPSU-TV, sharing the calls of public radio WPSU (91.5 State College). (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch July 25 via DXLD) I DXed WPSX-TV soon after it came on the air many years ago as a drop- in between Philadelphia and Cleveland; it was not in my lists, so my first guess as to its location was Punxsutawney, and that turned out to be pretty close; only should have been WPXS (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. 4939.8, R. Amazonas, 0933-0946, July 19, Spanish, Lively Spanish music and OM between selections. Quick ID at 0945. Weak with static (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 6165, ZNBC, July 25, 0245-0259, Fish Eagle IS (I still enjoy hearing this one), Anthem, woman in English, TC, African music, fair-poor. The IS was // to 4910, which was much poorer, but both then went into different programming. Was in the clear until totally covered by R. Nederland *0259 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. Re 5-121: Christian Voice Zambia site. Some more details can be found in a QSL letter that was mailed to DXers in 1995 (quote from the HCDX archives): QSL - Verification of Reception --- Thank you very much for your reception report which we have recently received. Christian Voice is a charity, and has only a small team of staff. We have been pleased, but surprised, at the number of letters from shortwave enthusiasts around the world. As such, we have found ourselves at times overwhelmed by the quantity of responses required, and we would like to apologise for any delay incurred in answering your letter. Radio Christian Voice is very pleased to confirm the accuracy of your report, dated 25 March 1995 concerning our shortwave transmissions from Zambia. It is encouraging to hear from those that enjoy what they can hear of us. We pray that the Lord will bless you as you continue to tune in to the Voice. For your information, Christian Voice is based 35 km South West of Lusaka, Zambia's capital. We are on an 8000 acre farm, and the buildings here include transmitter, generator, studio, production, technical services, canteen, administration and multi-track recording studio. The site is full of mango and jacaranda trees, and although still a building site, is nearing completion. From our site, we look down over the farm to the Kafue river, which flows into the Zambezi river and in to the vast, man-made Lake Kariba and then over Victoria Falls. We are right in the bush, about 25 km down a dirt road. It is a haven for bird watchers, common species including the red hornbill, blackeyed bulbul and blue waxbill. Aside from the farm animals, we see bushbuck, wild tortoises and rabbits, as well as numerous snakes such as pythons and black mambas on the farm and occasionally on the radio station! Zambia is a truly democratic country, with multi-party politics, and is positively following painful international monetary advice. It is presently suffering, as is the whole region, from drought, but through careful planning and relief work, it is hoped that the country will see through the long summer months to the rains in December. For safaris, Zambia is fast becoming a top destination for those wanting to see "The Real Africa". On safari, you'll rarely see another human being, although you will see lion, elephant, rhino, buffalo, leopard and many other big game animals. Walking safaris are one of the highlights, and there are many vast game reserves worth visiting, including the Kafue National Park and South Luangwa National Park. Christian Voice launched on 1st December 1994, and broadcasts at 100 Kw using a Continental 418 E transmitter and TCI log periodic array antenna. Future plans include extending broadcasting hours and the launch, subject to local permission, of an F.M. service for Lusaka. Our programming includes gospel music, Bible teaching, general interest programmes such as travel, health and agriculture The programmes are mainly made here in the Christian Voice studios and are made by Africans for Africans. Our current broadcasting schedule is 0930-1700 GMT on 6065 kHz and 1700-2030 GMT on 4965. [HISTORY] Thank you for your letter and we hope you have another chance to tune in again soon. Signed for Christian Voice (Zambia) Ltd: Andrew Flynn, Transmitter Engineer (via Daniel A. Robinson, HCDX, 19 Oct 1995 via Trutenau, DXLD) Re Christian Voice Zambia site coördinates. "15S30 028E15" are those which Christian Voice itself uses for its HFCC registrations (code: LUS). As we know, HFCC coördinates may not necessarily be as accurate as we wish (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, July 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. 11735, (Presumed) RTZ, 2044-2100*, July 23, Vernacular, Arabic-style music with YL between selections. OM at 2055 with very weak audio, YL again then NA at signb-off. No discernible ID noted. Poor (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. I'm listening to an unID station on 840. Never IDs except "840 Gold". I'm assuming a Canadian, since they don't legally ID. Confirmation anyone? (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2004-2005 NRC AM Log shows only one Canadian on 840, CKBX in 100 Mile House, which is // CKCQ 920 ``Wild Country``. Here`s a likely prospect in the NW USA: KKNX, Eugene OR, ``Solid Gold Radio`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks, Glenn. My bet is that it's the Eugene station. Oregon (and WA, Idaho and Nevada) all came in on the Charlottes sometimes all day long --- a nuisance for trying to hear Alaskans! 100 Mile House is not too far away, but I usually look for local ads with a Canadian flavour, and weather of course in degrees C (Walt Salmaniw, now safely home in Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. My number 1 big puzzle (please help!) is 1575, which generally was stronger than the usually stronger 1566 HLAZ. I tuned in 1575 just before 1300 to hear: "National Anthem", followed by a short possibly an anthem. Faded down quickly, but thought I heard "Armed forces" as well. Could this be one of the Japanese AFN stations? Generally I heard reasonably good signals from all over the Pacific, without any one region dominating. Perhaps Japan was best if I had to pick (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, dxldyg and HCDX via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1575, 1246-, unID, Jul 24. I'm puzzled by this frequency. There was a weakly heard station on this frequency. Never strong enough to positively ID. I'm sure it's not the VOA. I've heard them from home frequently, and this doesn't sound that official. If I stayed on the Charlottes, I'd make it a point to monitor it every morning. Recall I heard some unusual English here the other morning (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Queen Charlotte Is, BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) There are certainly no AFN stations other than Japan in As/Pac WRTH 2005 frequency list; haven`t checked PAL. We can dream of a previously undiscovered station on some heretofore unbroadcasting island (gh) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Re 5-121: Been hearing music on 6878 kHz on and off mainly around 2250 onwards; anyone help on this one? Best Regards (Christopher David Lewis, England, July 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I have seen some logs of unID station on 6877/78 kHz and also here in Quito is a carrier on 6877.83 kHz but very, very weak so I can not say anything about language etc. 73s (Björn Malm, Quito, Ecuador, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It's Pirate Music Italy; see DXLD 5-113 (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ VOLODYA SALMANIW IN THE QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS, BC I'm back on the Charlottes for four days. This time, I erected 3 antennae: My original mini-Beverage at 350 degrees and terminated at the north end, 30/210 unterminated 400' miniBeverage, and a 120' random wire at 70/250 degrees. I noted the latter was often best on the tropical bands. Fellas, the first morning of the round the world virtual DX-pedition is under my belt. Results were rather mediocre, in my opinion for MW, and more interesting on the tropical bands. I did hear a few new Alaskans. I don't think there was anything new for me for Trans Pacific. I'll be looking forward to reading how the others fared, and I'm hoping that tomorrow will yield more interesting DX. Here's my catch. Incidentally, I used 3 antennas (well really only 2 for MW: 2 mini-Beverages measuring 350 and 400' respectively, aimed 170/350 and 30/210 degrees. Still using 12 volts, although the power should be hooked up very soon. The electrician was installing the panel in the power house. I hear that the telephone workers are striking, so no internet access that way for a while, I'm afraid. I'll be leaving early Sunday morning in any case back to Victoria. [see ALASKA, AUSTRALIA, BRAZIL, CUBA, HAWAII, INDONESIA, KOREA NORTH, LIBERIA [non], PAPUA NEW GUINEA, RUSSIA, SOLOMON ISLANDS, UNIDENTIFIED] Day two: Well another morning has passed, and conditions were MUCH superior to yesterday's for sure! I began DXing a bit later at just before 1100 UT and immediately found the bands to be alive. Most split frequencies had good hets on them. The big difference was the value of my short 120' random wire running very close to E/W. This was the best wire for many split frequencies, mostly because of the attenuation of North American signals, allowing for the numerous TP signals to propagate. That short length of wire provided excellent DX right up until sunrise at which time the ambient noise on that antenna rendered it useless for MW. This is in stark contrast to yesterday when that antenna was next to useless except on SW. I'm taking part in a world-wide virtual coastal DX-pedition, linking DXers from the United States, Canada, Scandinavia, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and perhaps elsewhere. I'll be eager to read their loggings! Final morning on the Queen Charlottes 24 July 05 Well, this morning was slightly abbreviated as my Father-in-law picked me up at 0645 local, and I had to be totally packed by then. Again, Japan practically had the entire MW band to themselves yet again. I will be very interested in ascertaining whether this is a local phenomenon characteristic for the Charlottes, or more an issue of propagation conditions in general. I did have some fun hearing many more aeronautical voice LW beacons. I do need a better database, though. Today's beacon logs will have to be identified later as I left my list in my luggage (I'm typing this sitting in YVR, Vancouver airport waiting for my connecting flight to Victoria). Again I was pleased with my short random wire running close to due E/W (120' or so). If this antenna continues to perform in its very quiet manner, basically nulling many of the lower 48 stations that spoil much of the Beverage antenna characteristics here, then I'll very likely erect one across my property near the sand dunes, and run it across the property to my east to achieve a "mini-Beverage" length. Assuming this property remains undeveloped (I hope so!), it will be an ideal site to conceal the bulk of my antennae without the problems of having to cross the road to reach the large land parcel to my south which had been my original plan (Walt Salmaniw, Tow Hill, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC, dxldyg and HCDX via DX LISTENING DIGEST) NOTE: Walt`s full report with all loggings, including lots of MW from AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND and other Pacific islands and Asian countries, his clam and crab hunting, progress on his homebuilding, antenna plans, appears in three separate postings in reverse order archived here: http://www.mail-archive.com/hard-core-dx@hard-core-dx.com/msg09501.html http://www.mail-archive.com/hard-core-dx@hard-core-dx.com/msg09500.html http://www.mail-archive.com/hard-core-dx@hard-core-dx.com/msg09499.html (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GRAPHIC GAFFES & AUDIBLE ATROCITIES +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ On CBS 60 Minutes, July 24, 2005, at 2322 UT, Leslie Stahl referred to British Columbia (Langley, specifically) as being in ``Northwest Canada``. The briefest glance at a map should make it obvious that BC is in SOUTHWEST Canada. In fact you can`t get any more southwest than BC. Perhaps another case of bleedover across the border from the so- called ``Pacific Northwest``, which is really the Pacific Northeast, or the American Northwest (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ SPOKANE BROADCASTING Fellows MW DXers: As many of you may already know, I am working on a web site dealing with the history of broadcasting in Spokane. I have posted numerous pages with lots of hopefully interesting information. Some of things of interest are copies of old QSLs I received from the CPRV (Committee for the Preservation of Radio Verifications) collection at the Library of American Broadcasting, Univ. of Maryland, pictures of many of the stations and towers, and histories of several stations taken from archives left by old time Spokane radio people. Some of it dating back to the early 1920's. I hope you will find it interesting and any feedback is appreciated. Please keep in mind that some of the pages are incomplete because I am still adding things. I wish to publicly thank those who have helped provide material for the web site. The URL is http://spokane.philcobill.com/ (Bill Harms, Elkridge MD, July 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ Comments for: Docket # 99-325 - HD-radio standard by iBiquity Dear sirs, To begin with, I have no personal relationship with any broadcast entity, nor am I affiliated with any manufacturer or marketer of broadcasting or receiving equipment. I am a private radio- listening citizen of the United States of America. Therefore, I am making a relatively unbiased judgement on this topic. These comments relate to he adopted digital HD-radio standard developed by iBiquity, and pertain solely to use of HD-radio on the AM broadcast spectrum 530-1710 kHz. The HD-radio standard developed by iBiquity currently being implemented, referred to as iBOC henceforth, has serious coverage and interference issues that appear to be routinely overlooked. AM-band iBOC HD-radio creates sideband interference grossly in excess of what the NRSC analog standards sought to reduce or eliminate. Signals on two adjacent channels below, and more noticeably, two above, are badly afflicted by a "whizzing" type heterodyne, even if the iBOC station is below "city-grade" signal strength. If that station were also digital, the stream of both stations would potentially be adversely affected by those two stations being two channels apart. Even worse would be the interference between two digital stations one channel apart, such as during nighttime skywave propagation. Here are real-life examples of this type of interference currently being noted at my location in Thousand Oaks, CA. All stations mentioned by call letters were formerly readily-discernable in standard analog mode without a digital carrier present. KMJ 580 - creates additional obliteration of KTIE 590, some background hash on 570 KLAC, and a slight "whizzing" heterodyne on KOGO 600. KMJ is nearly 200 miles from here, by the way! KOGO 600 - obliterates KAVL 610 and KTIE 590, and creates a "whizzing" heterodyne on KIGS 620 and on KMJ 580. KTIE listeners in their primary San Bernardino service area report objectionable hash-like interference within the station's primary contour. KFI 640 (prior to their tragic antenna collapse and reversion to their backup antenna and transmitter last January) - "whizzing" on KGDP 660 and on KIGS 620. 630 and 650 obliterated. KMXE 830 - severe obliteration from 810-850. At 820 kHz, a traveler's information station operates in Los Angeles for the Hollywood Bowl. This TIS is no longer audible beyond 1/2 mile from their transmitter in Hollywood. At 810 kHz, a traveler's information station operates in Los Angeles for the University of Southern California. That station now receives a strong "whizzing" heterodyne. Evening regular KXTA 840 is obliterated, and KOA 850 plus KGO 810 receive strong "whizzing" heterodynes until KMXE shuts off their iBOC exciter for the night. KTNQ - Total obliteration of KCHJ 1010 and KJDJ 1030. KURS 1040 now receives a "whizzing" heterodyne, as does KCEO 1000. People report interference even in and around San Diego for these two stations, their primary service areas. KNX 1070 - strong "whizzing" on KMAP 1050 Frazier Park and KCAA 1050 Loma Linda, right into their primary service areas. Obliteration of 1060 and 1080 occurs. A strong "whizzing" heterodyne on city-grade XEPRS 1090, whose primary service area targets Los Angeles and San Diego, is also present, and is noticeable right into San Diego County. KDIS 1110 - Causes additional interference to XEPRS 1090. KAFY 1100 from Bakersfield is obliterated. 1120 is obliterated. KSDO 1130 from San Diego receives strong "whizzing", right into their primary coverage area in San Diego County. These seven above-mentioned iBOC HD-radio AM stations receivable in my area have caused : -Seven otherwise readily-discernable stations to completely disappear from useable reception on the AM band, -Fourteen stations are now afflicted by objectionable interference, -TWENTY-EIGHT AM broadcast channels have incurred marked interference to their noise floor - this is 24% of the entire AM band - nearly a QUARTER of the AM broadcast band now suffers some type of interference from just these seven iBOC stations alone! Imagine if ALL AM stations converted and went to iBOC HD 24 hours a day! Nighttime use of the iBOC system will create unacceptable levels of hash-like interference, rendering the band a useless service unless you are very close to a station's transmitter. Fading and co-channel signals will also preclude viable use of the standard. An air-traffic safety issue exists from iBOC stations operating on 530, 540, or 550 kHz. Digital sidebands from these stations can potentially interfere with non-directional aeronautical navigation radiobeacons (NDBs) operating between 510 and 529 kHz, which are used for on-approach alignment. The aircraft's automatic direction-finding (ADF) unit may fail to correctly function in the presence of a strong iBOC HD sideband, thus causing a potential navigation hazard and safety threat to air traffic using those navigation aids, especially during IFR (instrument-only) conditions. The iBOC HD-radio standard for AM also has serious coverage issues. You have to have a very strong city-grade signal to consistently and reliably use it in digital mode. Also, stations cannot modulate their analog portions at up to 125% like possible with good old-fashioned analog C-QuAM AM stereo. Consequently, coverage of the analog will also be less, and with narrow, muddy sound quality and an ever-present buzzing background hash. Fewer listeners will be reliably reached either in analog or digital. This is not servicing the public interest, and is a step backward. Those who tune in to stations from bad signal areas, such as office buildings or rural and suburban areas, will suffer greatest. Coverage loss and interference due to iBOC HD radio presents a public safety issue. Weather and national security warnings may not be receivable to a public relying upon stations to provide them, particularly in bad-reception areas where a formerly fully-modulated analog signal once could reach, or was not interfered with by an iBOC station. Advertisers doing business with broadcasters are sure to see a decrease in their potential as well, since a smaller portion of the coverage area will reliably be able to receive the station's signal. AM iBOC HD-radio is bad for the advertising business. Additionally, iBOC digital has spurred the practice of stations intentionally degrading their audio quality outside of the use of digital operation by leaving their bandwidth brick-walled at 5 kHz around the clock. Even stations that have not implemented iBOC HD- radio (like those of Clear Channel Corporation) have brick-walled their audio 24 hours to 5 or 6 kHz. This causes an analog splatter that is very annoying - a "creaking" or loud "chirping", which is much more destructive than the splatter from stations using a standard NRSC curve. Stations that are iBOC HD should be required to return to NRSC bandwidth at night to prevent this phenomenon, as should any non- digital using similar masks. The narrow brick-wall bandwidth mask should ONLY be used to keep the digital signal intact DURING DIGITAL TRANSMISSION. Extraneous use of it should not be allowed, in order to prevent "chirping" splatter, and to let users hear the audio more clearly. Purposeful degradation of audio quality is not in the public interest, as it is harder to hear for some people. Just as when the Federal Communications Commission took the badly- failed "marketplace" approach to selection and implementation of an analog AM stereo standard during the 1980s and early 1990's, there again seems to be little urgency displayed by receiver manufacturers to add the new digital decoding capability to radios. Even though there are seven AM HD-radio stations on the air in my area, I cannot go out to any retail store at this time and buy a radio to receive them in HD. If I could, it would cost me several hundred dollars. That is because few receiver manufacturers are willing adopting it because they are not mandated to add the capability, and the price is high for the few that do, as iBiquity can keep charging very high license royalties for it, further slowing its adoption. Had there been a mandate in the early 1980s to require analog stereo for both AM and FM in all stereo-type receivers, we wouldn't have such a widespread audio quality issue with AM broadcasting, and such an urgency now to suddenly move to digital as fast as possible. The move now is so fast that no receivers yet exist at brick-and-mortar stores like RadioShack, Best Buy, Circuit City, WalMart, and the like, for the general public to simply walk in and purchase at a reasonable and affordable price. I urge you to equally consider Cam-D as an alternative HD-radio consideration --- a more stable digital standard developed by Leonard Kahn and is currently in testing. Cam-D provides stability during nighttime fading, allows stereo on both the digital and analog portions of the signal, and most importantly, does not create sideband interference at the horrendous levels that the currently-prolific iBOC system has associated with it. My urgency for the Commission is to either consider an alternative digital system that is less-flawed (such as Cam-D), or to enhance and provide incentives for stations to return to analog AM stereo broadcasting (and allow both the C-QuAM and ISB systems for different signal and time of day situations), and to re-allocate stations to allow for greater bandwidth and fewer nighttime co-channel problems. Implementing iBOC HD-radio is just an ultimate step backward from an AM broadcast band that was functioning just fine to begin with and serving its listening audience with a fair amount of interference-free service. An easier fix, such as mandating both analog AM stereo standards in all radios would have been far easier and cost-effective for the broadcasting industry, for manufacturers of radios, and would be far more supportive of the public interest than forcing unproven and flawed digital HD-radio technology upon them (Darwin Long, CA, July 24, ABDX via DXLD) CEA URGES FCC TO ADOPT IBOC DIGITAL RADIO STANDARD --- Jul 25 2005 http://blog.ce-pro.com/news/industry/2532.html Arlington, Va. -- The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has filed a comment with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in favor of adopting one standard set by the National Radio Systems Committee (NRSC) for In-Band/On-Channel Digital Radio Broadcasting (IBOC Digital Radio), saying that the parameters of the NRSC-5 standard will help manufacturers, broadcasters and consumers invest in IBOC digital radio. "CEA is enthusiastic about the process and success of digital radio," says Gary Shapiro, CEA president and CEO. "To continue this growth, the Commission must specifiy the technical parameters of the IBOC digital radio signal in order for all receiver manufacturers to have confidence that the equipment they build will work for anyone listening to IBOC digital radio anywhere in the country." The CEA also said that the FCC should allow permanent authorization for multiple audio streams. "CEA urges the Commission to immediately provide permanent authorization for multicasting and datacasting and to incorporate NRSC-5 into its rules. We know a single IBOC digital radio standard will provide companies with the confidence needed to succeed in the market," Shapiro says. Related: http://www.ce.org (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ NEW TESTS OF BPL SHOW INTERFERENCE TO RADIO SERVICES http://futureofradio.typepad.com/the_future_of_radio/2005/07/new_tests_of_bp.html Microwaves & RF magazine conducted their own tests of the radio interference potential from BPL, and finds an existing system in Connecticut generated considerable interference throughout the HF and low VHF radio spectrum. http://www.mwrf.com/Articles/Index.cfm?Ad=1&ArticleID=10753 (Posted on July 25, 2005, Harry Helms, Future of Radio blog via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ HIGH NOON EFFECT Hello Glenn, Pascal wrote me, that you are interested in the High-Noon effect. In the Netscape search engine "High-Noon +radio waves`` I find in an overvieuw many items about this subject. Useful information on http://www.hamuniverse.com/anttheory1.html Best regards and 73' (Cor van Soelen, Vlissingen, The Netherlands, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ``High Noon Effect`` seems to be something rather more specific, than a passing searchengined reference to ``high noon`` (gh, DXLD) HIGH NOON MG PROPAGATIE N.a.v. de zogenaamde High Noon propagatie, ben ik eens in mijn archief gedoken en vond zowaar wat informatie van KN4LF met zijn 7 Day Propagation Outlook 2003-17. Toch vraag ik mij af of we het hier niet hebben over gewone wintercondities op de MG waarbij de D laag is verzwakt waardoor verder afgelegen stations dan verder komen dan in de zomer. KN4LF geeft aan dat de D laag zo verzwakt kan zijn dat de MG signalen door de D laag gaan (of wat daarvan nog over is) om dan tegen de E laag te reflecteren. Als dit allemaal klopt (theoretisch klinkt het goed) zou dus High Noon MG propagatie alleen voorkomen in de winter ( zie ook KN4LF) en bij lage zonnevlekkenactiviteit. Ik realiseer mij nu dat er in de afgelopen winter soms dagen waren dat MG stations onwaarschijnlijk sterk doorkwamen die anders niet te horen zijn. Het duidelijkste voorbeeld zijn Spaanse MG stations die afgelopen winter 's-middags rond een uur of 1300LT met prima signalen te horen waren. Dit heb ik zo'n drie of vier keer waargenomen. Eerder werd gesproken over het Moegel-Dellinger effect. M.i. is dat hier niet aan de orde. Dat komt alleen voor bij hoge zonnevlekkenactiviteit en gaat over een zeer versterkte D laag waarbij zelfs KG frequenties door de D laag worden geabsorbeerd waardoor complete radiostilte optreedt. Alleen VLF signalen worden dan gereflecteerd aan de D laag. Zie: http://www.veron.nl/amrad/art/delling.htm 73 (Max van Arnhem, BDXC via DXLD) Viz.: KN4LF 7 Day Propagation Outlook 2003-17 A Propagation Observation --- As an Amateur Radio Operator and 160 meter enthusiast I regularly monitor MF propagation conditions. During daylight hours while I toil in my website design business, I monitor a 10 kW expanded band broadcast station, WCNZ 1660 kc from Marco Island, FL. The station is approximately 140 miles SSE of my QTH here in Plant City, east of Tampa. I use my 160 meter 1/4 wave inverted L as the listening antenna and the station puts in a decent signal of at least S9. But throughout the daytime hours including at local noon time the station signal arrives via skywave, with peaks at +20 over S9, fading down to S3 with phase distortion. Conventional propagation wisdom holds that sky wave propagation on medium frequencies does not occur at daytime due to total D layer absorption. The D-layer, which is at an approximate height of 30-60 miles in the mesosphere, totally absorbs daytime medium frequency RF signals "most of the time". I say most of the time because at high latitudes, during the winter season and especially at the low part of a sunspot cycle, penetration of RF signals through the weakened daytime D-layer and then refraction via the E-layer does occur. True to form during the Winter season of 2002-2003 I regularly observed sky wave propagation on 160 meters at local noon time on 1845 kc and occasionally WSM 650 kc in Nashville, TN. A group of stations here in Florida meet on this frequency, the Old Florida Amateur Radio Transmitting Society! However one might expect a ground wave signal only in late Spring with a high Sun angle here at 27-28 deg north latitude, especially during a higher part of Cycle 23. But as the daily solar flux level drops under approximately 110, the skywave propagation continues to occur (Thomas Giella, via Arnhem, BDXC via DXLD) So this is not really something that peaks or happens, at high noon; it is merely the persistence of night-like conditions, which I and many others have observed on MW, especially in mid-winter with lower sun angles, higher latitudes. But, now comes the translation of the original item in Dutch (which was apparently translated from German), that this concerns high-noon MW openings in SUMMER (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Here is the translation of the German text. The strange thing is that we've never seen it mentioned anywhere else. I didn't notice it either before. I was just thinking about this text because Niko noticed Spanish and UK low power stations around mid-day. 73, (Guido Schotmans, Belgium, July 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Fundamentally counts the rule of thumb that optimal MW-DX is only possible if the signal path lies in complete darkness. In this case the space wave is reflected by the F2 layer. A complete contradiction - and by these means at first absolutely inexplicably - is the fact, that one can hear Spanish medium-wave stations with an unexpectedly good signal in Germany in the midsummer high-noon around 12 hours local time. This is going hand-in-hand together with the fact, that in summer- noons at 12 o’clock (High Noon) the sun radiates with such an intensity on the D layer, that it suddenly gets quite different properties. The D-layer will no longer let the space wave go through (and withdraw energy at the same time), but reflects under the influence of the high solar radiation all space waves reaching it. Particularly this effect appears in times with numerous solar flares, in the 11-year cycle, a time in which also particularly often, the described Mögel Dellinger effects [sudden ionospheric disturbances, SW fadeouts] appear. However, the effect decreases very fast, as soon as the sun leaves the sky zenith again. Literature tip: Ionosphere and wave propagation (see reader's service at the end of the book!). Source : Siebel-Verlag Rundfunk auf Mittelwelle(ISBN 3-89632-027-0) (via Guido Schotmans, DXLD) ###