DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-156, September 5, 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 1285: Mon 1800 WOR RFPI [repeated 4-hourly thru Tue 1400] Tue 2330 WOR WBCQ 7415 [usually] Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 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 1285 (high version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1285h.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1285h.rm WORLD OF RADIO 1285 (low version): (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1285.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/wor1285.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1285.html WORLD OF RADIO 1285 in true SW sound of Alex`s mp3 (stream) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_08-31-05.m3u (download) http://www.dxprograms.net/worldofradio_08-31-05.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO 1285 downloads in studio-quality mp3: (high) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1285h.mp3 (low) http://www.obriensweb.com/wor1285.mp3 WORLD OF RADIO PODCAST: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml (currently available: Extra 58, 1281, 1282, 1283, Extra 59, 1284, Extra 60, 1285) ** ANTARCTICA. ANTARCTIC QSL GALLERY. Gianni, I1HYW, informs OPDX that the Dynamic DX Charterhouse http://www.ddxc.net and the Worldwide Antarctic Program's WAP http://www.ddxc.net/wap "NEW" QSL Antarctic and Sub Antarctic's Gallery is now available to visit via their Web pages. Just to summarize: The Gallery contains 677 pictures, split into 53 Albums and 11 Categories. They are continuing to insert more Antarctic pictures such as Bases and operators (there are more than 1000 waiting to be on added to the gallery). (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 Sept 5 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 6214.2 kHz, R.Baluarte, Puerto Iguazú, noted on 25 AUG 2332-2344, Spanish, religious program, phone-ins; 34342 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [non]. ?CHINA 5049.92, 1409-, ?Guangxi FBS, Nanning, Sep 5. This is a tentative logging. There is a station heard, not in Chinese, and not the AIR station. Possible Vietnamese, which is listed on at this time. I'm reporting this just to alert listeners that there is a station off-frequency, and it's not ARDS, so beware! Fair reception. (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The Chinese has been on 5050v all along, making ARDS` choice of that frequency problematic from the outset (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6134.8 kHz, R. Santa Cruz, Stª Cruz de la Sierra, observed on 26 AUG 0941-fadeout 0955, Spanish, talks, music; 15441 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL – Desde primeiro de setembro, a Rádio Oito de Setembro, de Descalvado (SP), voltou a transmitir, em definitivo, pelas freqüências de 1590 e 2490 kHz. O novo transmissor, previsto para ficar pronto em 60 dias, será de 1 kW. Os relatórios de recepção devem ser enviados para: Rádio 8 de Setembro, Rua José Bonifácio, 765, Centro, CEP: 13690-000, Descalvado (SP). Ou, por email, para: rscapin @ gmail.com As informações são de Rafael Scapin, de Descalvado (SP). Desde Colatina (ES), Domingos Alfredo Loss informa que é boa a sintonia da Rádio Oito de Setembro, de Descalvado (SP), em boa parte do período noturno, na freqüência de 2490 kHz (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Sept 4 via DXLD) As I already pointed out, how convenient that the -900 kHz image of 2490 falls on 1590! Checking WRTH 2005, whose Brazilian MW listing appears to be complete without a low-power cutoff like they impose on USA listings, making them useless, since the Brazilian list even includes 250-watt stations, we find only one station in SP on 1590, and not this one. While depending on the distance between Descalvado and Cabreúva, there could be a new low-power on 1590 in the same state, it seems likely to me that this ``1590`` reported for R 8 de Set is actually just an image of the SW frequency which someone may have heard and mistaken for a real MW frequency. Or does the station itself claim to broadcast on 1590 as well as 2490? I am not about to manually, or rather visually search 23+ columns of fine print for a matching station key number on some other MW frequency to that shown for 2490 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. It seems Brazil has its ``cheaters`` too: EMISSORAS COM ALTA POTENCIA DE IRRADIAÇÃO Há várias emissoras na banda de ondas médias que possivelmente a noite não diminuem a potencia do transmissor. Como podemos chegar a esta conclusão? Estando ouvindo uma emissora em que seus sinais chegam com 30 dBs durante toda tarde e continua com os mesmos 30 dBs noite adentro, é de se prever que não baixaram a potencia do transmissor! Uma emissora que opera durante o dia com 10 kW e à noite passa a transmitir com 0.25 kW terá uma queda no sinal. Mas a noite tem emissoras com tamanho sinal que 10 kHz abaixo ou acima, não se consegue ouvir nada em virtude da interferência, ou como dizem os radioamadores, ``bigodeira`` infernal. No Brasil tem emissoras como a Rádio Nacional de Brasília que devido aos seus objetivos realmente tem que trabalhar com uma boa potencia para atingir pessoas nos lugares mais distantes, bem como outras com programação voltada para a cultura brasileira, como a Rádio Mec, Rádio Cultura de São Paulo dentre outras. Qual o interesse do ouvinte de Santa Catarina, ou do Paraná para um noticiário sobre problemas de esgoto, ou de falta d´água no Rio de Janeiro, muito veiculado no jornalismo destas grandes redes? Se uma rede tem afiliadas no Brasil inteiro, porque algumas delas trabalham com alta potencia nos seus transmissores. Algumas certamente provocam interferências em outras afiliadas na mesma freqüência em outros estados! A emissora local aqui em itaúna em 1520 kHz, apos as 18 horas de Brasília é sobremodulada por emissoras que estão em torno de 500 quilômetros de distancia. Embora a maioria das emissoras a noite estejam com a mesma potencia. realmente não dá para acreditar que sinais que encostam o ponteiro do medidor lá no final sejam de 0.25 kW (Wilson Rodrigues - Itaúna/MG, BRASIL, @tividade DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 11725 kHz, R. Novas de Paz, Curitiba PR, 24 AUG 2040-2100*, religious program, songs; 34443, adjcacent QRM. 11815 kHz, R. Brasil Central, Goiânia GO, 24 AUG 2114-2200, news & sport, advertisements, TCs, A Voz do Brasil 2200; 45444. 11829.9 kHz, R. CBN Anhangüera, Goiânia GO, 24 AUG 2134-2200, newscast "Jornal da CBN - 2ª edição", advertisements, slogan "CBN-Anhangüera, a rádio que toca notícia", A Voz do Brasil 2200; 44443, QRM de station in Arabic. Also on 04 SEP 1714-..., football match report; 15431. 11915.1 kHz, R. Gaúcha, Porto Alegre RS, 24 AUG 2145-2200, ads, news bulletin "Correspondente Ipiranta", A Voz do Brasil 2200; 34443. 11925 kHz, R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo SP, 29 AUG 2117-2136, news, traffic info, weather & ads all in news magazine "Serviço Bandeirantes"; 34433, QRM de China (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also reported many other Braz lower bands ** CANADA. CBC/SRC --- A DOZEN ARTICLES SIGNED OFF AT BARGAINING TABLE After restarting negotiations this week, the Canadian Media Guild and CBC management have reached agreement on 12 articles. Among the articles agreed to are: - hiring and promotion - jurisdiction - turnaround - technical change - new work methods - internships - statement of qualifications - out-of-country work - parental leave - transfer and relocation The two sides will continue to maintain contact on Saturday and Sunday (Canadian Media Guild Sept 2 via DXLD) What`s left? SEPT. 2, 2005 - TALKS CONTINUE WITH MINOR PROGRESS MADE CBC and CMG continued discussions today on the outstanding issues. We are pleased to report that we have made some progress at the table and have reached agreement on Turnaround, Hiring and Promotion, Transfer and Relocation, Jurisdiction, Parental Leave, Technological Change, Introduction to New Work Methods, Statement of Qualifications, Out of Country Work, and Internships. While we are very pleased that we’ve made progress, we still have important issues to deal with. The parties will continue to review the outstanding issues and have agreed to maintain contact over the weekend. We will update you again early next week (CBC Sept 2 via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC'S TRASH IS CIUT'S TREASURE By Tabassum Siddiqui Published: Thursday, September 1, 2005 http://www.thevarsity.ca/media/paper285/news/2005/09/01/News/Cbcs-Trash.Is.Ciuts.Treasure-975345.shtml Students missing the dulcet tones of Andy Barrie when they turn on their radios first thing in the morning will be able to hear the CBC radio host on campus airwaves starting next week. Barrie and a team of CBC producers and technicians from radio, television, and the cbc.ca website will be working with U of T's CIUT 89.5 FM to produce and air a two-hour daily local morning program called Toronto Unlocked starting September 5 from 6 to 8 a.m. The program is expected to continue daily throughout the ongoing CBC lockout. The public broadcaster locked out 5,500 employees belonging to the Canadian Media Guild on August 15 after negotiations for a new contract broke down. CMG members have been walking the picket line since, and some employees have started blogs and podcasts while CBC television and radio gets by on reruns and patched-together broadcasts. Barrie, host of CBC Radio's Metro Morning, Toronto's top-rated morning show, will be joined by program regulars Jim Curran (traffic), Kevin Sylvester (sports), Jill Dempsey (news), and Here and Now's Matt Galloway (entertainment) on Toronto Unlocked. "The hundreds of thousands of people who depend on us every morning aren't getting the show they deserve, since the CBC has locked us out. We miss our microphones and our listeners, and thank CIUT for letting us volunteer our services to do what we love best," Barrie said in a statement. The unique partnership with CIUT is being hailed as a new lease on life for CBC employees left dormant by the lockout. The collaboration is also beneficial for CIUT, as the community radio station may very well find itself in the position of having the top morning show in the city if enough of Metro Morning's usual listeners tune in. "CBC's local morning programming had a huge audience and, to the credit of all involved, served a great public good. During this dispute, this audience is not being satisfied and the need for local information programming is not being met. Both CIUT and the CBC occupy public airwaves, so we are pleased that some CBC producers and technicians have volunteered to continue to provide local programming for listeners in Toronto on CIUT," said CIUT station manager Brian Burchell. The CBC and CMG resumed negotiations yesterday, but the two sides still have a long way to go before reaching an agreement, said CBC management spokesperson Jason MacDonald, explaining that about 40 key parts of the union's contract with the broadcaster still need to be negotiated. The main issue at stake is job security. MacDonald said CBC management has no issues with its employees working alongside CIUT during the lockout. "Clearly our journalists all have a deep commitment to what they do... If they want to do those sorts of things while they're locked out, they're entitled to. But the focus needs to be on working towards an agreement... and getting back to doing the things we do (at CBC)," he said. Canadian Media Guild spokesperson Arnold Amber is more effusive about the project, saying that similar partnerships are currently under way in Calgary and other cities across Canada. "When the CBC locked out 5,500 employees, it locked out an incredible number of talented people who love to broadcast, and it unleashed all this incredible energy and power, and we believe that it's all to the good," Amber said last night. "If you're a public broadcaster, you want to keep the voice of public broadcasting alive. We're very happy and excited that they're doing it." Toronto Unlocked begins airing on CIUT 89.5 FM Monday (Sept. 5) morning at 6 a.m. [1000-1200 UT]. Stay tuned to The Varsity for an upcoming feature about your campus station and its newfound programming (via Ricky Leong, DXLD) Similar story: http://www.ciut.fm/events.html and the station allegedly webcasts (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHAD. 6165 kHz, R. Nationale Tchadiènne, N'Djaména, audible on 25 AUG 1634-..., vernancular, talks; 33441, strong QRM de HRV [Croatia] (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Hola Glenn, Saludos desde Catia La Mar, VENEZUELA. A pesar de su aparente reactivación el pasado 2/09, Radio Líder ha tenido una fugaz reaparición. Al menos yo no pude captarla ni el 03/09, ni el 04/09 y mucho menos el 05/09. El canal de 6140 kHz era ocupado, por el contrario, por Radio Habana Cuba y una potentísima señal de La Voz de Turquía, a las 0300 UT aproximadamente. Por lo general, Radio Líder llega muy fuerte por acá. 73s y buen DX (Adán González, Catia La Mar, Estado Vargas, VENEZUELA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. Shortwave Sep-04 0437 0438 7205 Radio Lubumbashi Lubumbashi Congo, Democratic Republic of (capital Kinshasa) 50 AM 33233 French WiNRADiO WR-G313e Spanish Fork, UT, USA N40.10 W111.63 J. Carlyle Burt (shortwave log community via DXLD) You may wonder why I may seem to go hunting for mistaken loggings. Most don`t matter, but some, if true, would be big DX news, and in case they are, should be investigated. OTOH, leaving erroneous info unchallenged is also a disservice! This looks like a list-logging using a very old list. A search of DXLDs for 2005 finds only three mentions of Lubumbashi, with the pertinent discussion being in 5-009, following up on 5-008, when someone else guessed they were getting Lubumbashi on 7205, but in the evening instead. WRTH 2005 only mentions 7435, not 7205, tho 7435 does not seem to be reality either. PWBR ``2005``, now more than a year out of date, does not list this on 7205. So what could it have been? There is only one station listed during that semihour. First, EiBi A-05: 7205 0430-0500 G BBC P SAf /AFS Elucidated by a matching listing in HFCC A-05: 7205 0430 0500 52 MEY 500 335 1234567 270305 301005 D G BBC MER 3484 That is, BBC in Portuguese via South Africa, 335 degree azimuth, which is rather favorable for western North America. If Lubumbashi is on there at the same time, it`s getting creamed in Africa. With a 3-level signal it ought to be possible to distinguish French from Portuguese, for starters. I see nothing in the way of confirmatory details, but this logging program forestalls the ability to include them! Am I beating up on Mr Burt? No, on his report. If he had sent it to me directly asking for advice or confirmation, I would have given it, privately. But now it has been published for anyone to see, believe, and even emulate. This is but one of a large group of loggings by him of more common stations, which appear at a glance to be accurate. This is what endears me to people such as Hans Johnson and Bob Padula, who have banned me from their organizations, feeling that it is ungentlemanly to contradict a fellow hobbyist. Let the errors flow on! And remember that when reading Jihad or EDXP, which also desperately want to control who gets to see their info (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. EQUADOR – Para 2006, a HCJB – A Voz dos Andes prepara uma série de cartões QSLs que retratam as ilhas Galápagos. As fotos foram feitas por um integrante da Seção Alemã da emissora. As informações foram veiculadas no programa Aventura DXista, de três de setembro, apresentado por Allen Grahen [sic] e Juan Carlos Chamorro (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** FINLAND. I just received 3 beautiful QSLs + many stickers, a letter and the CD with "Nylon Bear" on my reception of SWR Nov 06, 2004 and Feb 02, 2005 (Erik Køie, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window Aug 24 via DXLD) ** GREECE. Dear John, NA TA EKATOSTISIS, happy birthday. Please send my e mail soon if you listen the frequency 9420 MHz. The damage fixed. Regards (Babis Charalampopoulos, Sept 4, ERT via John Babbis, MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Friend Babis: Thank you for your birthday greetings. As for the Avlis frequency of 9420, when I checked during the 0000-0100 UT period, I got a SINPO of 35333. But, at 0200, 0300, nothing on that frequency. Right now, at 0316 we have 5865 with SINPO of 25333; 7475 is practically dead with interference from a station on 7470, and 9420 is still dead. Welcome back. I hope that the problem with the Avlis 3 transmitter gets resolved soon. Maybe you need to dump that one and try another one of the VOA-donated transmitters Regards, (John Babbis, Silver Spring, MD, USA, via DXLD) Dear John, Thanks for report I am going right now to Avlis. Regards (Babis Charalampopoulos, ERT, 0512 UT Sept 5 to John Babbis, via DXLD) Dear Friend Babis: Avlis 3 is back on the air. At 1900 UT to Europe, the frequency of 9420 is barely audible and very noisy. Only portions of the program can be heard because of annoying degradation. Perhaps it will be better at 0000-0400 to North America. Regards, (JOHN BABBIS, Silver Spring, MD, USA, Sept 5, via DXLD) KALA NEA (GOOD NEWS) --- At 2240 UT, 9420 is SA KAMBANA with SINPO of 55555; 7475 is SINPO 45444, 9375 is SINPO 35434; and 12105 is SINPO 25332. Thessaloniki on 7450 is SINPO 45444. Regards, (John Babbis, Silver Spring, MD, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. 3291.04, GBC, Sparendaam, 0900-1000 fade out, Aug 10, made an attempt to return to the air. Carrier only with no signal but exact frequency as previous Guyana log. They seem to be attempting to return to the air and watch this frequency from 0900 (Robert Wilkner, FL in Dxplorer via DSWCI DX Window Aug 24 via DXLD) Unless the carrier was the numbers station Adán hears (gh, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [and non]. THE LAST EMPTY TV CHANNEL IN NORTH AMERICA --- There's an allocated TV channel in North America to which no TV station has ever been allocated; decades after it was assigned, that frequency space is empty. Can you guess which channel it is? But it's now attracting attention as a "pristine" spot to assign for new Part 15 uses Posted on September 05, 2005 (Harry Helms, Sept 5, future of radio blog via DXLD) I don`t have to guess; I know (gh, DXLD) Viz.: THE LAST EMPTY CHANNEL --- THE STORY BEHIND CHANNEL 37 http://www.tvtechnology.com/features/news/n_the_last_empty_channel.shtml News: by Andrew Dart, DALLAS The band of frequencies from 608 to 614 MHz is commonly known as TV Channel 37, but it has never been occupied by any over-the-air television station in North America. It is a quiet channel reserved for radioastronomy, and since July 2000, has also been allocated for medical telemetry equipment on a co- primary basis. The pristine condition of Channel 37 has gone unnoticed by almost everyone--including many broadcast professionals. But upon close examination, it is a conspicuous gap in an otherwise crowded, lucrative, and gradually shrinking broadcast band. On a Web site about the old DuMont network, Channel 37 is listed as once having been used by WGOV-TV, Valdosta, Ga; however, FCC records do not indicate that WGOV has ever been assigned to a television station. Thirty years ago, the emptiness of this channel wasn't remarkable because UHF stations were somewhat uncommon except in the largest markets; several channels were practically empty. Deregulation, especially in the 1980s, introduced radical changes in the broadcast industry, which led to a steady stream of new TV stations. There were 176 UHF stations on the air in 1970, but that number increased to 752 UHF stations by 2002. In the same period, the total number of TV stations (VHF and UHF) doubled, from 862 stations in 1970 to 1,714 stations in 2002. With this one exception, the UHF channels are filling up. CHANGING BOUNDARIES When the boundaries are moved between one service and another, or new services displace old ones, the FCC's reallocation decisions are (supposed to be) based upon the public interest, convenience and necessity. This usually means that spectrum space is allocated in such a way as to generate the greatest benefit to the national economy's bottom line, the gross domestic product. Because the demand for RF bandwidth constantly increases, TV Channels 70 to 83 were reallocated for common carrier and private radio land mobile use in 1970. Other reallocation actions followed, affecting Channels 14 through 20, and eventually all TV channels above 51 will be reclaimed. PART 15 DEVICES Currently there are proposals to let users of Wi-Fi devices and other systems operate under Part 15 of the FCC rules on vacant TV channels. Locally vacant TV channels have been used in the past for wireless microphones as well as medical telemetry. But it remains to be seen if appliance operators can make accurate assessments about whether or not a TV channel is really vacant. Spectrum squatters can sometimes encounter or generate unfortunate surprises. In 1998, WFAA-DT signed on using RF Channel 9 and caused unexpected problems for medical telemetry users in Dallas hospitals, which had been using Part 15 devices on this suddenly not-so-quiet channel. WFAA-DT shut down for awhile so that the interference problems could be resolved, even though the station had no obligation to protect Part 15 users. Fortunately the interference problems were quickly resolved, and this incident served as a warning to others around the country in similar situations. Soon after the Dallas incident, and similar incidents around the country, Channel 37 was allocated for medical telemetry on a co-primary basis. Transmitters in this service operate indoors (inside hospitals) with an ERP of less than 1 Watt, so this channel is still very quiet. RADIOASTRONOMY The communications act states that one of the objectives for competitive bidding, that is, the auctioning spectrum space, is the "efficient and intensive use of the electromagnetic spectrum." Quietly listening for signals from outer space doesn't seem "intensive." So it is surprising that the FCC has protected this channel because radioastronomy generates no revenue and appears to have no tangible end product. Astrophysicists engaged in radioastronomy attach considerable importance to the maintenance of this allocation, since without it there would be a large gap between the 410 and the 1,400 MHz allocations in one of the most interesting parts of the spectrum. The band at 608 to 614 MHz is of special importance for worldwide Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations. There is a well-known hydrogen line -- and a radioastronomy allocation -- at 1,420 MHz, but there isn't a specific frequency in the 608-to- 614 MHz range that is of interest. Radioastronomers use as much bandwidth as they can for their observations, not just specific narrow frequencies, and they deal with extremely weak signals. The signal received in a typical spectral observation of a strong source is less than 10 to 18 Watts. If a typical 1 milliwatt garage door opener were operated on the moon, it would be one of the strongest radio sources in the sky as seen from a terrestrial radio telescope. Obviously then, high-power broadcast signals on Channels 36 and 38 are of great concern to the people who depend on Channel 37 being kept quiet. OTHER APPLICATIONS There may be practical uses for Channel 37 in works of fiction. Telephone numbers in the range of 555-0100 to 555-0199 are reserved for fictitious use in radio, TV and film. These numbers are generally recognized as invalid placeholders. Similar uses come to mind for Channel 37, in cases where a speaker would like to make a hypothetical example without naming anyone in particular, in the same way that you might use "example@whatever.com" in a discussion of e-mail protocol, without intending that anyone take it literally. Channel 37 should not be considered wasted spectrum space, just because it is quiet. It is simply an anomaly of which most Americans - - even most broadcast engineers -- are unaware. Andrew K. Dart, CSTE is based in Dallas (via Helms, DXLD) ** LIBERIA. 5470, R. Veritas, 2250-2258*, Sept. 3, English, Hi-life music with random talk-over by OM; i.e. "Gotta work hard, no food for the lazy man!". Full IDs mention FM and SW frequencies. Whisper quiet devotional followed by Lord's Prayer and sign-off announcements. Fair at best (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverage antennas, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Somebody tell those folks they can`t be whispering on a low-power SW transmitter! OTOH, it`s just as well this nonsense be inaudible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LUXEMBOURG. Just checked http://www.radioluxembourg.co.uk/ and noticed that they've added a link to http://www.digitalradiodr.com At the moment, that site just reads "You have reached Digital Radio DR" with a further link to the RTL group Home Page at http://www.rtlgroup.com --- But apparently they're setting up a site to (presumably) explain their new DRM services (Andy Sennitt, Sept 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 1630, XEUT, Tijuana BN, Piano/guitar music. Surprisingly beautiful mix of music that brings to mind how long it's been since I've heard good music on MW. 0418Z. 4-Sep 1700, XEPE, Tijuana BN, San Diego State Aztec football. 0409Z. 4-Sep (Jay Heyl Orange, CA, AR7030+/Quantum QX Pro, ABDX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. MÉXICO | Direcciones para que escriban sus cartas manifestando sus opiniones para que regrese Radio México Internacional Onda Corta, XERMX-OC Hola amigos (radioescuchas, diexistas e integrantes de la radiodifusión internacional por onda corta): El motivo de la presente, es hacerles llegar direcciones de correos electrónicos y postales para que ustedes redacten y envíen sus cartas incluyendo en ésta su dirección particular, manifestando que quieren que vuelva Radio México Internacional (RMI). Como también ha ocurrido ante los anuncios de diversas emisoras internacionales de la onda corta, mucho se agradecerá que lo divulgan en los espacios y programas diexistas. Antecedentes Dicha estación inició transmisiones a finales del año de 1969, pero desgraciadamente a lo largo de más de 30 años su calidad y cobertura de transmisión se fue perdiendo, en parte a que algunos de sus transmisores se iban quedando descompuestos. Para febrero del 2004 la actual directora del Instituto Mexicano de la Radio (IMER) grupo al cual pertenece Radio México Internacional, decidió e informó sobre el cierre de la emisora. Finalmente fue el 1 de Junio de 2004 a las 18:00 horas (tiempo local) cuando se escuchó por última vez la radiodifusora y se apagaron el transmisor que emita en los 9705 kHz. Acciones tomadas A pesar de que radioescuchas y diexistas mexicanos enviaron sus opiniones respecto al cierre de XERMX-OC a la directora del Instituto Mexicano de la Radio. Pero la directora decidió seguir a delante con dicho desmantelamiento. Sus argumentos de la directora fueron: que se iban a gastar mucho dinero para la reparación de los transmisores de la estación y otro fue que la onda corta en la actualidad es obsoleta y en desuso, y que por otra parte el futuro de la radio y en particular para el IMER es la Internet. Ya para el segundo bimestre del año 2005, se empezó el desmantelamiento del centro emisor (planta transmisora) de XERMX-OC, incluyendo sus transmisores y antenas. En la actualidad Algunos de sus transmisores con que todavía emitía RMI, fueron donados para la frecuencia de onda corta de Radio Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, así como algunas de sus antenas (antes de que fueran destruídos y vendidos como fiero viejo por la autoridad del propio IMER). El edificio en donde se albergaba los transmisores de RMI, lo ocupan como bodega del archivo muerto (archivos de documentos). Notas adicionales: Además de la estación XERMX-OC, dos estaciones del mismo IMER fueron afectadas: la primera fue XEBCO-AM 1210 kHz llamada "La poderosa voz de Colima" ubicada en Villa de Álvarez, Estado de Colima fue traspasada al gobierno del estado de Colima, la cual se llama actualmente "Conexión 1210 AM"; y la segunda es XETEB-AM "Radio Mar" ubicada en Tenabo, Estado de Campeche en donde actualmente está cerrada. Por otra parte, la estación XERF-AM 1570 kHz "La poderosa" del mismo IMER que transmite desde Ciudad Acuña, Estado de Coahuila. En el año 2004 adquirieron un nuevo trasmisor de 100 kW para aumentar su potencia y llegar a Estados Unidos de América, y así difundir mensajes a la comunidad de mexicanos que se encuentran en ese país. Ustedes se preguntarán qué fué de la estación XEQK-OC 9555 kHz "La hora exacta" (la emisora hermana de XEQK-AM 1350 kHz en onda corta) pues su transmisor de 500 watts se desconoce que fue de él, por lo cual ya no existe. [siglas OC eran XETT --- gh] Tu carta Si bien, la emisora ya fue desmantelada. El objetivo es que con tu carta y la de otros más, hagan eco en las autoridades del país, en particular al presidente de México para que regrese XERMX-OC, Radio México Internacional. Para lo cual, se necesita forzosamente comprar nuevo equipo de transmisión (transmisores y antenas) para que regrese al aire. Por lo que si debe de existir dinero la compra del equipo. Un ejemplo de ello es la carta enviada por Miguel Ángel Rocha Gámez. La cual se anexa a continuación: La Ascensión, D.G., Chih. 9 de agosto de 2005. C. Vicente Fox Quesada. Presidente Constitucional de los E.U.M. Palacio Nacional. México, D.F. Señor Presidente: Todos nosotros, como humanos, estamos propensos a cometer errores. Usted, debido a la a la función que desempeña, que implica agobiantes responsabilidades, no puede ser la excepción y con más razón a causa de sus múltiples preocupaciones por que cada día tengamos todos una patria más humana y generosa. Durante su gobierno, usted ha cometido un serio error: el designar directamente, o que alguna persona en que usted depositó su confianza, escogió a otra para un cargo en el que cometió una gran estupidez. La estupidez a que me refiero concretamente y a la que me he referido en cartas anteriores a usted y de las que no he tenido una respuesta además del acuse de recibo de las mismas, es el cierre de la emisora oficial mexicana para el extranjero, XERMX Radio México Internacional. Radio México Internacional con su habitual raquítico presupuesto otorgado por as respectivas autoridades enviaba al mundo el mensaje de calidez y fraternidad muy propias de México, difundiendo al mismo tiempo el arte y la vida nacional en todos sus aspectos. Lamentablemente funcionarios de su régimen, sin duda burócratas ineptos sin más interés que ocupar un puesto bien pagado en el gobierno --- y no una función a desempeñar --- cerraron esta emisora de ondas cortas. Existimos en todo el mundo decenas de millones de escuchas habituales de radiodifusión en ondas cortas. Por ello, numerosos gobiernos de todas las ideologías políticas invierten en radiodifusoras internacionales. El hecho de que yo pueda sintonizar en mi localidad sin dificultad con un receptor portátil más de treinta radiodifusoras en castellano, que se ubican en naciones en la que no se habla castellano, demuestra la utilidad y vigencia de las ondas cortas. Por lo mismo, es necesaria la reactivación de Radio México Internacional. He sabido que uno de los equipos transmisores de baja potencia que empleó Radio México Internacional va a ser cedido para nuestra máxima casa de estudios, a ser empleado por Radio Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, lo cual es acertado, porque esa emisora que promueve valores culturales y nacionalistas tan necesarios hoy y siempre, tendrá mayor cobertura, y por que habemos mexicanos que no disponemos localmente de opciones radiales educativas en nuestras localidades. Así, Radio Universidad cubriría solo una parte de esa carencia, por que en realidad se requieren un mínimo de diez transmisores similares a este los cuales deberían ser operados por las universidades de las entidades federativas. Presento mis propuestas para Radio México Internacional: a) reactivación en el menor tiempo posible. Existe en IMER y en otras partes el personal capacitado para hacerlo rápido y bien. b) transmisiones en castellano las 24 horas del día. c) algunas horas diarias de transmisión en otros idiomas, como inglés, francés y portugués. d) empleo mínimo de tres transmisores de cuanto menos 100 kilovatios cada uno en amplitud de modulación, para cubrir con señal clara el Continente Americano. e) Empleo de dos transmisores de 20 kilovatios en modalidad de DRM (Digital Radio Mundial). Señor presidente: Radio México Internacional puede y debe ser reactivado en el tiempo que aún le queda a usted en el gobierno. Los oyentes de ondas cortas no sabemos quién ordenó el cierre de la emisora nacional, si las "instrucciones" vinieron de la Secretaría de Gobernación, o de la Dirección de Radio Televisión y Cinematografía o del Instituto Mexicano de la Radio, o directamente de la Presidencia. Se cometió un error al hacerlo. Un error que puede usted corregir, hoy. Todavía tiene tiempo para hacerlo, señor presidente. Quedo a sus órdenes: Profr. Miguel Angel Rocha Gámez. Acacias 2002, Centro. 31820 Ascensión, Chih. Tel.: 636 692 0543. profesor_miguel @ yahoo.com.mx Hasta aquí el texto de esa carta. Los invito a sacrificar unos minutos de su valioso tiempo y tomen una acción similar, usando en la carta el tono que consideren adecuado. Y Miguel Angel Rocha Gámez nos comenta que los mensajes de radioescuchas que le escribieron al respecto diciendo lo siguiente: Sí, he recibido mensajes de suerte, felicitaciones, que pantalonzotes, que prospere la iniciativa, etc., respecto a la carta recientemente enviada por mí a la Presidencia de la República sobre el espinoso asunto de Radio México Internacional. Sí, y seguramente voy a seguir recibiéndolos, pero, para qué? Mejor participa también en esta iniciativa, ¿Qué te impide hacerlo? Algunas voces serán más fuertes que una, siempre. Escribe, usa el tono que más consideres adecuado, busca y seguramente encontrarás mejor forma de hacerlo, también puedes emplear otros argumentos, por ejemplo, en ese momento yo no pensé sobre los excedentes por ingresos petroleros que está recibiendo nuestro país, debido a la alza del petróleo. Envía copia a las dependencias en listadas abajo, y a otras que creas también tienen incumbencia aquí. Recuerda que existen los diarios y otros foros en donde podemos extender nuestro campo de acción en esta pelea, si tienes oportunidad en estos medios... pues adelante. En esos casos es mejor hacerlo por correo postal porque influye mucho más, que con el uso del correo electrónico, pero usa ese último si no tienes más opción. Las direcciones son las siguientes: Vicente Fox Quesada Presidente de la República Residencia Oficial de los Pinos Casa Miguel Alemán Col. San Miguel Chapultepec 11850, México, Distrito Federal Correo electrónico: vicente.fox.quesada @ presidencia.gob.mx Secretaría de Gobernación Reforma No. 99 PB Col. Tabacalera, Delegación Cuauhtémoc 06030 México, D.F. Correo electrónico: transparencia @ segob.gob.mx Dirección General de Radio, Televisión y Cinematografía Roma #41 Col. Juárez, Delegación Cuauhtémoc 06600, México, D.F. Correo electrónico: buzonrtc @ segob.gob.mx Instituto Mexicano de la Radio Calle Real de Mayorazgo #83 Col. Xoco, Del. Benito Juárez 03330 México, D.F. Correos electrónicos: webmaster @ imer.com.mx Directora General del IMER Sra. Dolores Beístegui de Robles. Correo electrónico: dolores.beistegui @ imer.com.mx SNN, Sistema Nacional de Noticiaros del IMER Correo electrónico: noticias @ imer.com.mx De ante mano gracias, por tu carta y cooperación para revertir esta situación, que sin duda es un reflejo de lo que pasa en muchos aspectos en México. Atentamente, Roberto E. Gómez Morales, Ciudad de México, Distrito Federal, MÉXICO (via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) [much later:] Saludos cordiales, recuerdan este mensaje desde Mexico, y la campaña que se realiza para que regrese Mexico a la Onda Corta, pues bien acabo de recibir mensaje de la oficina del Presidente de Mexico: Estimado José Miguel: El C. Presidente de la República, Lic. Vicente Fox Quesada, recibió su correo electrónico que amablemente le hizo llegar en días pasados. Con el objeto de atenderle mejor, le solicitamos amablemente que por este mismo correo nos envíe su nombre, dirección completa con código postal y si cuenta con número telefónico incluirlo, misma que nos permitirá atender y dar trámite a su asunto Reciba un saludo cordial, A T E N T A M E N T E, La Coordinación de la Red Federal de Servicio a la Ciudadanía (via José Miguel Romero, Spain, Sept 5, Noticias DX via DXLD) What does C. mean as in C. Presidente? A form response (gh) ** MYANMAR. Re 5-155, UNIDENTIFIED, 31m: Analog dial, yes. Sounds about right, given the bottom of hour sign-off and staid presentation, as well as the fact that when I turned on my receiver later (and fiddled around only with the fine tune knob), I heard BBC WS (the 9740 you mentioned?), and then a program from the "Voice of Hope" (the slogan) in Karen (it mentioned a 9735 frequency) at 9 pm local time. That raises another question tho: the music program heard on Saturday featured fairly recent songs from Western artists. On that day's program was Westlife's "And I", and N'Sync's "Crazy for You". Isn't Western music kinda banned in Myanmar? Meanwhile, also heard VOA in Vietnamese that same day (not the same freq tho). (Varakorn Ungvichian, Thailand, DX LISTENING DIGEST) There have been other reports of surprisingly western music from Yangon, I think. But you are a lot closer to Myanmar than I am. You could probably hear them on MW at night, 576 kHz with same programming as on SW including English. Unless a local station blocks it (Glenn, ibid.) ** NIGERIA. BBC OFFICIAL HAILS TIES WITH RADIO NIGERIA | Text of report by Radio Nigeria from Abuja on 5 September [Presenter] The country director of the BBC in Nigeria, Miss Bilkisu Labaran, has paid tribute to the management of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN, for the tremendous progress the corporation has made in the recent past. Miss Labaran was speaking to Radio Nigeria in our network studios here in Abuja after meeting with the director-general of the FRCN, Dr Eddie Iroh. [Labaran] We are partnering the FRCN and it is precisely the purpose of this visit to thank the FRCN for their partnership, for their cooperation because the FRCN is a really important partner for the BBC World Service [word indistinct]. The vast network that the FRCN has in Nigeria, and its growing reputation over the years in Nigeria, is wholly impressive. We thought we want to come and identify with this success and congratulate FRCN and thank them for their partnership. [Presenter] Miss Labaran said that the changes which have taken place in FRCN have enabled the BBC to renew and arrange for its traditional partnership with Radio Nigeria with greater confidence. The new partnership, she said, covers such areas as training and manpower development, the BBC's voices project which uses programmes aimed at supporting the fight against HIV/AIDS and the recent chain project which the BBC World Service has started to assist the process of reform in both FRCN and NTA [Nigerian Television Authority]. [Labaran] One very important aspect of our partnership with FRCN is training with [word indistinct] opportunities and one of the things that I am really pleased with this agreement is that we are in a position to offer training, more training opportunities to FRCN using BBC's programme expertise and [words indistinct] to Nigeria because a key element of the capacity building is the training more Nigerians into more and more national skills to a certain extent so they can operate anywhere in the world. [Presenter] Responding, Dr Iroh said the FRCN places great value on its association with the BBC which dates back to the origin of what is now the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria. [Iroh] I personally have always regarded the BBC as the grandmother of all the radio broadcasting. I once said that BBC is to broadcasters what Big Ben is to timekeepers. We have a lot of relationship with BBC. Our first foreign director generals were from the BBC. The origin of radio in Nigeria is also BBC. So to be able to renew that partnership in the modern time has been part of the success story of today's FRCN and we are benefiting from their expertise, from the generosity [word indistinct] because you must say to yourself, why would a radio service that is in itself in competition with us be so willing, ready [words indistinct] to support us, to help us to share their expertise and their facilities with us? Source: Radio Nigeria- Abuja in English 0600 gmt 5 Sep 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Wantok Radio Light, 7120: They sent me a nice looking, full data "Village Hut" QSL-card, full data prepared postcard and no data personal letter with station info in 44 days for SAE (used), mint stamps and cassette recording. V/s David R. Olson, Chief Engineer who is from the Seattle area and a Ham (KL7K). He is there training nationals to take over the station operation and maintenance. He will leave when the training is done, so might be a good idea not to wait too long before sending a report (John Sgrulletta, NY in Dxplorer, Aug 19 via DSWCI DX Window Aug 24 via DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA. Do you know that there is a small hotel in the radio house in Bratislava, Slovakia? I visited it last June, and it's a very nice one. More info on http://www.penzionpodpyramidou.sk In Slovak, it is Pension under the Pyramid! (Christian Ghibaudo, France, DSWCI DX Window Aug 24 via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. STAFF OF SOMALI RADIO STATION AFFILIATED TO DEPUTY PREMIER ON STRIKE | Text of report by Somali newspaper Ayaamaha website on 5 September The staff of the Voice of the People radio that supports the deputy prime minister, who is also the foreign minister, Husayn Aydid, have reportedly gone on strike, to protest against the non-payment of salaries and poor conditions. Reports say the staff have been working without pay since Husayn Aydid left the country [to attend peace talks in Kenya]. The radio is still on air, but no-one is heard, since it is playing music throughout. The strike coincides with the presence in Mogadishu of Husayn Aydid. Reports says Aydid was invited to visit the station, but declined, and this made the staff angry. When Husayn Aydid returned to Mogadishu, he announced that the radio station would be handed over to the federal government. Source: Ayaamaha website, Mogadishu, in Somali 5 Sep 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK? ** SUDAN. SUDAN/USA: AGREEMENT ALLOWS RADIO SAWA TO BROADCAST ON FM | Text of report by US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) website on 5 September The US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) has taken steps to dramatically expand the reach of its radio broadcasts to the people of Sudan. The BBG has signed a letter of intent with the government of Sudan that will allow its popular Arabic-language broadcasts of Radio Sawa to be heard on FM in Sudan. The agreement provides for up to 12 FM transmitting locations in Sudan's main population centres and will enable greater access to accurate and objective news and information from Radio Sawa 24/7. The BBG currently broadcasts to Sudan solely during night-time hours from a distant AM transmitter. These new FM stations - which will be operated and maintained by the Sudanese - will allow Radio Sawa to reach new audiences in Sudan with news and information at all hours of the day. Pending finalization of a long-term bilateral agreement with the Sudanese government, the BBG is planning for the first station to become operational in the capital city Khartoum in December 2005. Radio Sawa seeks to effectively communicate with the youthful population of Arabic-speakers in the Middle East by providing up-to- date news, information and a mix of Western and Arabic popular music on its 24/7 FM and mediumwave radio stations throughout the region. Its secondary target audience is news-seekers of all ages. Radio Sawa is committed to broadcasting accurate, timely and relevant news about the Middle East, the world and the United States, to the highest standards of journalism, as well as the free marketplace of ideas, respect for the culture of its audience, in a style that is upbeat, modern and forward-looking. Source: Broadcasting Board of Governors website, Washington, in English 5 Sep 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK x12? ** TAIWAN. DRM on MW here: see DIGITAL BROADCASTING ** TIBET. THIS IS WHAT I HEARD RECENTLY ON MY AOR AR7030PLUS WITH 25+40 METRES LONGWIRES: NEW 4940.0, 2330-2345, CHN, 27-08, Spurious, Xizang PBS, Lhasa, Tibet. Tibetan announcements, Chinese rhythmic music, weak, spurious signal heard // 4905 and 4920 with 15221. No other spurious frequencies were noted. This was not the Voice of the Strait which also broadcasts on 4940, but rarely is heard in Europe! AP-DNK (ANKER PETERSEN, SKOVLUNDE, DINAMARCA, @tividade DX Sept 4 via DXLD) Strange; 4905/4920 mix should appear on 4935 (gh) ** U S A. WWCR`s George McClintock has carried out extensive monitoring surveys in several parts of the world, checking out the signals of WWCR and its US competitors. These are displayed in pdf color-coded charts via http://www.wwcr.com/wwcr_sales/wwcr_monitoring.html For example, the Peru chart answers the question of whether WWRB is actually audible in South America. With the exception of ONE HOUR on 5085, none of its frequencies were ever audible (indicated by red) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Tuning around this morning at 1323, I heard a distorted mix on 8765. That is, 7465 plus 1300. The audio from one of them was in sync with WWCR 7465, not the WHR frequencies carrying the same program. There was a woman preaching on the other, presumably WNQM. (There is no 1300 anywhere near here). 7465 is as usual extremely strong here, and the spur may be 80 dB down, but it is making it out, interfering with some utility noise (Glenn Hauser, OK, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Three from KJES --- KJES (that's "King Jesus Eternal Savior" to you non-FCC types) tends to be one of the weirder evangelical shortwave stations. They employ heavily-medicated-sounding prayer readings and chants from children and adults alike, in addition to simple religious folk songs which seemingly go on for hours over beds of subliminal prayer-mumbling. They broadcast from a place called The Lord's Ranch in New Mexico and have a highly creepy station identification which is awkwardly read by a small child. But, in certain fluke moments of peculiar propagation and signal chaos, KJES occasionally crosses the line from lip-biting strangeness to an inexplicable burlap-dress beauty. Here are a few of my favorite examples. Simple Hymn KJES 8/1/2005, 7555 kHz (0154 UTC) Sullen Singing Robot Children KJES 8/1/2005, 7555 kHz (0154 UTC) His Love Is Everlasting KJES Freq / Time Unid (2002) posted by shortwavemusic at 01:52 1 comments Audio links under 7 August at http://shortwavemusic.blogspot.com/ Like John Adams or Steve Reich (anon. Comment, ibid.) (Shortwave Music blog via gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WWL is on 5835, 250 kW from South Carolina. Heard with good sig here in Gilbert, AZ (Kevin Redding, 0306 UT Sep 5, WTFDA via DXLD) That would be WHRI; checked at 0335 and it is not // 870, but I think it was running about a minute behind, as I heard a URBONO ID go by. 5835 is scheduled 0300-0500, then switching to 7315. [Later:] 5835 still going at 0545, contrary to the posted WHRI schedule, so what else is new? Timed the delay behind 870 and it is about 70 seconds. Internet feed? 73, (Glenn Hauser, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WWL website http://www.wwl.com/Article.asp?id=114239 gives this schedule (local times) [CDT = UT -5]: Monday 10PM-Midnight on 5.835 MHz 0300-0500 5835 Tuesday-Friday Midnight-6AM on 5.835 MHz 0500-1100 5835 7AM-9AM on 11.785 MHz 1200-1400 11785 9AM-3PM on 15.285 MHz 1400-2000 15285 5PM-7PM on 9.840 MHz 2200-2400 9840 Saturday Midnight-7AM on 5.835 MHz 0500-1200 5835 9AM-Noon on 15.285 MHz 1400-1700 15285 6PM-7PM on 9.840 MHz 2300-2400 9840 7PM-9PM on 5.835 MHz 0000-0200 5835 10PM-7A on 5.835 MHz 0300-1200 5835 Sunday Midnight-7AM on 5.835 MHz 0500-1200 5835 9AM-Noon on 15.285 MHz 1400-1700 15285 1PM-5PM on 15.285 MHz 1800-2200 15285 (via Andy Sennitt, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) gh added UT, kHz I just heard URBONO switching from 11785 to 15285 at 1400 (without any announcement so listeners would know!). This is Monday, not Tuesday. On weekdays 15285 is normally in use instead of 11785, a weekend-only frequency at 1200-1400. Fortunately today, the usual Chicom jamming on 15285 is not a factor. For the second time in its history, LeSea is performing a public service. The fact that they are able to blow away most or all of their usual programming for this on at least one transmitter speaks volumes for the value of their usual programming. BTW, URBONO are running what are called ``commercials`` now, but they all seem to be related to the emergency situation, such as insurance companies, etc. This also puts CBS Radio news on the hour on SW, and WHR must have been pulling their hair out when their reviled Pres. Clinton was on for a few minutes around 1415. But who knows about it in the general public? I have heard NO mentions of the SW relay on the URBONO feed. WHRI IDs are stuck in abruptly every half hour, interrupting programming. Fortunately, they have saved us from having to listen to the entire Onward Christian Soldiers each time, but they are still longer than necessary. This transmitter is now developing a squeal, but it is slight so far. [Later:] 15285 just went off at 1500 UT after being on only one hour, contrary to its all-day schedule on the WWL site! Then I checked the WHR site which of course has not been updated to include this new service, but it does show this for Angel 1 at 1500 UT weekdays: 1500 Mo-Fr 1100 AM 0200 PM Monday - Friday Off the air until 1800 UTC today - - 15.285 Mhz So they are following their usual 3-hour break anyway! It looks like most of the programming replaced is LeSea music and preaching, so that can be done at no financial loss. Presumably the gaps in the posted URBONO relay schedule are times when they do have paid programming to keep running. Now I wonder if this is being done as a sheer public service, or is URBONO buying the time, even if their anchor doesn`t know about it? At 1456 a caller from Houston asked if he could hear WWL on SW, but the host did not know the answer, referred him to online streaming! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, they do say it's "tentative", so it looks as if they're making it up as they go along. Maybe WHRI hasn't told its technical staff the details yet (Andy Sennitt, 09.05.05 - 5:53 pm, Media Network blog via DXLD) Back on 15285 at 1800. Signal dropped down at 2000, perhaps antenna change or just propagation as 15285 stayed on with LeSEA programming, and more LeSEA music after 2100. Per sked above URBONO resumes at 2200 on 9840 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WWL on shortwave – WHY? Regarding the new WWL relay from "WHRI" --- The real question is "why?" Anyone who has access to a working radio in SE Louisiana, coastal Mississippi and Mobile can hear WWL crystal clear on 870, not to mention the plethora of Clear Channel, Entercom, etc. stations on AM and FM now simulcasting. I can hear them (WWL) here in Clearwater, daytime. And they are now streaming beautifully on the Internet, for anyone who might actually have access in the affected area, and for all of us outside the zone. Who needs (or would tune, or have the ability to tune) to SW? How foolish to waste kW $$$ on such, vs. WHRI (WHSB?)'s LeSEA parent donating the wattage-per-hour cost to where it's needed most (Terry L. Krueger, FL, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It's up on 15285 right now, 1806+ GMT, Sept. 5th (apparently up at 1800 today). Audio streaming on 15285 is about 70-seconds behind the live, on-air signal (as per monitoring 870 kHz directly from my Clearwater, FL site). I presume WHRI is capturing audio from WWL's Internet stream, as 15285 is only just over a second behind the stream. Considering far more have Internet access, vs. crummy, antiquated shortwave audio, I think it's mostly a waste. That said, I would say that it's certainly unique programming, better than the usual fare from WHRI, VOA, et. al. If there is any justification for shortwave relay, shame again on our alleged government for not doing this instead of a commercial broadcaster (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida. ibid.) Subject: WWL & Internet --- Confusing... while 870 monitored audio is about 70-seconds ahead of the WWL Internet stream, how come newscasters and program hosts (call-ins) keep saying "good morning" (this, from 2 p.m., 1 p.m.+ Central). At first I wrote it off as a tired newscaster who lost track of time. But several are saying "good morning" so what's up with? [later:] Hmm, live TC that was accurate just now --- guess they are all just in a daze. ********************************************************************** "Every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be fired, Director Michael Brown especially." [Louisiana State Rep. Karen Carter] ********************************************************************** (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe it`s just an NO thing --- people stay up late partying, so it`s still ``morning`` after noon (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I was just scanning the usual 5-6 MHz collection of domestic and religious broadcasters last night and stumbled upon the rebroadcast of WWL also. When I heard it (about 0130 ELT [even tho he is in NB he is giving time in EDT = UT -4 = 0530 UT]) there was a phone-in conversation with someone wanting information, and it was interrupted by a "This is World Harvest Radio International" ID for about 5- seconds. So, WHRI is rebroadcasting the New Orleans radio collective from their transmitter site in South Carolina. Here is what the WHRI web site says about that transmitter site: Transmitter Location: Cypress Creek, South Carolina USA Latitude: N 32º 41' 03", Longitude: W 81º 7' 50" Transmitter: Brown Boveri SK55 Antenna Model / Gain: (10)T.C.I.-611 Dipole Curtain (2) Thomcast Dipole Curtain / 30, 60 million watts ERP Satellite Audio Carrier: Galaxy 4R, Transponder 15, 7.46Mhz An unexpected catch, for sure. Went to dead air at 1058 UT, World Harvest Radio ID at 1059, cut off on mid-sentence and now carrier is gone at 1100. Looking elsewhere (Brent Taylor, VE1JH, Doaktown, NB, ABDX via DXLD) I saw the installation when fairly new and owned by the other group. Very nice set up, and very rural. This is near Estill, SC. I heard them but I'm under 100 miles away --- 60++?? and it was very weak and fluttery. I was getting very little high angle skip (Powell E Way, SC, ibid.) I'd been wanting to hear WWL for days, but couldn't find an Internet stream, and of course 870 is impossible here, due to my local KRLA. When I caught up on my email & saw the info on the SW feed, I tuned it in on 15285. It was somewhat usable off of the whip, but fading deeply. So I strung a temporary longwire about 5' off the ground, along the fence between my house & the neighbor. Probably about 80- 90'. Connected it to the end of the whip, and BAM! Solid signal, with only slight fading. Not bad for a continent away. That lasted about 5 minutes, until they went dead on 15285 at 3:00 PM PDT [2200 UT --- but that wasn`t back with URBONO, was it? --- gh]. I can't make much sense out of the schedule, regarding which frequency they should be on today, so I went to the WWL website, and I guess they're streaming now, so that's the way to go for now. I think the SW feed is a great idea, especially from such a powerful transmitter. I just wish my DX-398 did a better job off the whip. The stream is great though for listening at the office, where SW is impossible (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA, DX-398 / RS Loop / 18" Box Loop, ibid.) Re 5-155: ``Southwest Alabama listeners can hear the station patchily during the day. At night, the 50,000-watt transmitter can be heard clearly in Alabama and in parts of 41 other states. [so what would be the nine states it supposedly can`t be heard in? AK, HI, WA, OR, CA – then what, ID, MT, or ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT? - gh]`` Er, make that eight states, since AL was part of the 42. Put MT, VT and what else? back in. I.e., assuming the first 5 are correct guesses, only 3 of the remaining states mentioned can be out of WWL`s range --- maybe ME, NH, ID. Per the NRC-AM Log 2005-2006 there are several low-power 870 stations on at night in states as close as MN, but it`s safe to assume they don`t have the clout to prevent WWL from being heard anywhere in their states. OTOH, the 42-state coverage area claim in this day and age is an exaggeration (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO STATION SERVED AS VITAL LINK FOR ITS STRANDED LISTENERS By SARAH MCBRIDE Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL September 5, 2005 2:16 p.m. Source: http://online.wsj.com/public/article/0,,SB112593946786731856-JTj2Lb7XiZNrBO6KMzxxSAXFfMk_20060905,00.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top (via Ken Kopp, dxldyg via DXLD) Another WWL story, not blocked iPods Didn`t Reach Out To Katrina Victims, Radio Did From Corey Deitz, Your Guide to Radio. Sep 1 2005 Opinion Traditional Radio has taken quite a beating over the last few years: FM has been derided as too cluttered, repetitious, and formatted; there’s a whole generation of young people who have never even listened to an AM radio station. To them, it is as foreign and archaic as something called ``vinyl`` records. But, that's just the beginning. Traditional Radio has been pummeled by new satellite competitors including XM and SIRIUS, iPods and other mp3 players, streaming Internet Radio, Podcasting, and even cell phones and PDAs. The Federal Communications Commission, fueled by an absurd and reactionary small amount of people, has brought pressure to bear on AM and FM stations in the form of record indecency fines for programming which for previous decades it either lackadaisically ignored or punished with only a slap on the hand. . . http://radio.about.com/od/tragicevents/a/aa090105a.htm (via Kim Andrew Elliott, DXLD) Yes, it`s about good old WWL AM (gh) I was monitoring several Emergency SSB Nets earlier today, including the ALA Emergency Net. Someone mentioned a phone-patch request. The NCS immediately jumped in and commented that it'd be a great idea if everybody who could, would look in that back closet or basement shelf, and dig out their phone-patches --- suggesting there was going to be plenty of use for them for some time to come. 72/73 (Ed Tanton, N4XY, Sept 4, swl at qth.net via DXLD) ** U S A. AMATEUR COMMUNITY ASKED TO GIVE KATRINA EMERGENCY NETS CLEAR FREQUENCIES http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/09/05/100/?nc=1 NEWINGTON, CT, Sep 5, 2005 --- Several HF nets continue in operation to support Amateur Radio`s response to the Hurricane Katrina emergency. ARRL asks all members of the Amateur Radio community who are not taking part in disaster relief or recovery operations to give these nets as much elbow room as possible --- 5 kHz or more on either side of the net frequency. Nets already are having to deal with less- than-ideal propagation, and any interference --- even if it`s unintentional --- can make their job all the more difficult. Special Counsel Riley Hollingsworth of the FCC`s Enforcement Bureau says the FCC has not issued an Emergency Communication Declaration (ECD) for any emergency net frequency. ``Section 97.101(c) gives priority to emergency communications at all times,`` he points out, noting there have been very few problems with interference during the current emergency. Given the overall level of cooperation so far within the Amateur Radio community, Hollingsworth told ARRL that he does not anticipate the need for the FCC to issue an ECD. The FCC is aware of all emergency net frequencies, however. The primary nets and their frequencies are: The West Gulf ARES Emergency Net: 7.285 MHz days/3.873 MHz nights Health and Welfare traffic: 7.290 MHz days/3.935 nights Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN): 14.265 MHz and 7.265 MHz (as needed; reports indicate this frequency can vary somewhat, depending upon QRM) The West Gulf ARES Emergency Net --- organized under an agreement among the ARRL Louisiana, Mississippi and South Texas sections --- has been handling emergency and priority traffic only. The net has been operating around the clock. The Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) has been concentrating on emergency and priority traffic, although it has been handling health-and-welfare inquiries on the air and via its Web site. The 20-meter SATERN net has been activating daily at 1400 UTC and continuing until the band closes, with as many as 1000 stations are checking in each day. ``Amateur Radio is absolutely critical in the operation,`` SATERN National Coordinator Pat McPherson, WW9E, told ARRL. ``We do all of our emergency communication on it, and this past week we have done a lot of rescue assistance.`` Given the fickle propagation this past week, it`s possible that active nets may be audible one minute and below noise level the next. Also, even active nets experience extended periods of relative calm in traffic flow and may appear to have secured operation. So, the best approach is to avoid operating on or near known net frequencies altogether. In his recent statement to the amateur community on the Katrina crisis, ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, called on all stations who are active in Amateur Radio emergency nets to be professional and disciplined whenever checking in. ``Net control is a difficult job at best, so be respectful. If you have traffic, fine, but if not, please stand by.`` McPherson says the thing that makes the SATERN net work is its interface with hams who are not traditionally part of the net but show up from all over just to help out. This holiday weekend, that included ARRL staffer Bill Moore, NC1L, at the helm of W1AW, who helped handled some emergency traffic on the SATERN net and took a couple of stints as net control. McPherson says the SATERN Net would not be successful without the support of the Amateur Radio community at large. ``It seems in these crises that the entire ham world is on our frequency waiting to help, and that is why we have been blessed with success.`` Copyright © 2005, American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO REFERENCE – HURRICANE KATRINA PAGE http://www.radioreference.com/wiki/index.php/Hurricane_Katrina This page offers up links to many of the live scanner radio traffic currently being streamed on the Internet, including Baton Rouge, Houston, San Antonio and others (via Larry Van Horn, Brasstown, North Carolina & Michael Rochon, Windsor, Ontario) LOUISIANA HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS OFFICE http://www.ohsep.louisiana.gov/ GULF COAST NEWS http://www.gulfcoastnews.com/ GulfCoastNews.com was established to provide the most comprehensive information available online regarding the Mississippi Gulf Coast. From GCN you can get the latest local, state and national news, check out traffic from our Traffic Cameras link, get information on every local and state agency, DEADLY KATRINA http://www.deadlykatrina.com/ This is a collection of stories and reports on the storm`s aftermath. STORM DIGEST http://www.stormdigest.com/ Another site similar to Deadly Katrina KATRINA AFTERMATH BLOG http://katrina05.blogspot.com/ METRO BLOGGING NEW ORLEANS http://neworleans.metblogs.com/ BLOGS OF WAR – HURRICANE KATRINA http://www.blogsofwar.com/category/hurricane_katrina (all: Radio HF Internet Newsletter, Sept 5 via DXLD) ** U S A. KATRINA DAMAGE SATELLITE PHOTOS. You may find the following resource useful: http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/katrina/KATRINA0000.HTM Resolution is extraordinary, even minor bits of damage (such as fallen tree limbs) can be seen. I suppose those of you who know where broadcast facilities are, can see if they still exist using this (Curtis Sadowski, IL, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. WEATHERING THE STORM --- TV news operations face enormous obstacles in delivering critical news By Allison Romano -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/5/2005 http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6253842.html?display=Feature&referral=SUPP&referral=SUPP (via Curtis Sadowski, IL, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. I also tend to not believe things that I just hear floating around. Trying to sift the verifiable facts from rumor during this calamity is very dicey. I have *no* desire to get into politics on this list. But I can share a very strong source of information that I've been following since last Tuesday. It is a blog written by a fellow who has been hunkered down in the 10th floor of a New Orleans building on Poydras St. since before the start of Katrina. He is still there, and still has much breaking news to report first-hand. It is quite a remarkable blog, and I put a lot of stock in what he has to report. He specifically relayed info about mass policeman defections in NOLA, along with 2 suicides. The defection info was primarily on Sept. 1st, and the suicide info I'm referencing was on Sept. 3rd. He also manages to pass along his experience and observations without choosing sides politically. I doubt the hundreds of thousands of souls who are utterly screwed care much whether Democrats, Republicans, Whigs or Tories rescue them. Nor do I. Here is the link to the blog. It should link you to the calendar view. I found this blog to be very coherent and authentic. http://www.livejournal.com/users/interdictor/calendar Best wishes and counting my blessings, (Todd Sprinkmann, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. EDITORIAL: NOT ACCEPTABLE --- OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_09.html#077073 Dear Mr. President: We heard you loud and clear Friday when you visited our devastated city and the Gulf Coast and said, "What is not working, we're going to make it right." Please forgive us if we wait to see proof of your promise before believing you. But we have good reason for our skepticism. Bienville built New Orleans where he built it for one main reason: It's accessible. The city between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain was easy to reach in 1718. How much easier it is to access in 2005 now that there are interstates and bridges, airports and helipads, cruise ships, barges, buses and diesel-powered trucks. Despite the city's multiple points of entry, our nation's bureaucrats spent days after last week's hurricane wringing their hands, lamenting the fact that they could neither rescue the city's stranded victims nor bring them food, water and medical supplies. Meanwhile there were journalists, including some who work for The Times-Picayune, going in and out of the city via the Crescent City Connection. On Thursday morning, that crew saw a caravan of 13 Wal- Mart tractor trailers headed into town to bring food, water and supplies to a dying city. Television reporters were doing live reports from downtown New Orleans streets. Harry Connick Jr. brought in some aid Thursday, and his efforts were the focus of a "Today" show story Friday morning. Yet, the people trained to protect our nation, the people whose job it is to quickly bring in aid were absent. Those who should have been deploying troops were singing a sad song about how our city was impossible to reach. We're angry, Mr. President, and we'll be angry long after our beloved city and surrounding parishes have been pumped dry. Our people deserved rescuing. Many who could have been were not. That's to the government's shame. Mayor Ray Nagin did the right thing Sunday when he allowed those with no other alternative to seek shelter from the storm inside the Louisiana Superdome. We still don't know what the death toll is, but one thing is certain: Had the Superdome not been opened, the city's death toll would have been higher. The toll may even have been exponentially higher. It was clear to us by late morning Monday that many people inside the Superdome would not be returning home. It should have been clear to our government, Mr. President. So why weren't they evacuated out of the city immediately? We learned seven years ago, when Hurricane Georges threatened, that the Dome isn't suitable as a long-term shelter. So what did state and national officials think would happen to tens of thousands of people trapped inside with no air conditioning, overflowing toilets and dwindling amounts of food, water and other essentials? State Rep. Karen Carter was right Friday when she said the city didn't have but two urgent needs: "Buses! And gas!" Every official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency should be fired, Director Michael Brown especially. In a nationally televised interview Thursday night, he said his agency hadn't known until that day that thousands of storm victims were stranded at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. He gave another nationally televised interview the next morning and said, "We've provided food to the people at the Convention Center so that they've gotten at least one, if not two meals, every single day." Lies don't get more bald-faced than that, Mr. President. Yet, when you met with Mr. Brown Friday morning, you told him, "You're doing a heck of a job." That's unbelievable. There were thousands of people at the Convention Center because the riverfront is high ground. The fact that so many people had reached there on foot is proof that rescue vehicles could have gotten there, too. We, who are from New Orleans, are no less American than those who live on the Great Plains or along the Atlantic Seaboard. We're no less important than those from the Pacific Northwest or Appalachia. Our people deserved to be rescued. No expense should have been spared. No excuses should have been voiced. Especially not one as preposterous as the claim that New Orleans couldn't be reached. Mr. President, we sincerely hope you fulfill your promise to make our beloved communities work right once again. When you do, we will be the first to applaud. (NOLA.com via DXLD) ** U S A. It's Shameless Self Promotion time! I produced two one hour documentaries on honky tonk music for NPR this past spring, and they're airing over the coming year as holiday specials on various stations at different times. Tomorrow they're playing on KCRW in LA. I invite you to check out these programs at KCRW.org via their live stream. September 5, KCRW 1 to 3 pm (Pacific Time) [2000-2200 UT] --- Honky Tonks, Hymns and The Blues --- Host Paul Brown --- NPR's Paul Brown opens the dance hall door with a foot-tapping, smile-on-your-face special, featuring legendary musicians and the story behind the sounds. Developed from segments that aired on Morning Edition (TM), "Honky Tonks, Hymns & the Blues" weaves music and conversations with artists and others to document a uniquely American musical heritage. We trace the meteoric rise of The Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers and how the guitar made its way from parlor instrument played by society women to the mainstream America and on to dominate country music. Electrified and diversified the strings start to swing along with Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, then make room for accordion with Flaco Jiménez and more. From Murray Street Productions and NPR. Cheers, (David Goren, Sept 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Posted in advance on the dxldyg. I heard & enjoyed (gh) ** U S A. One more note on a format change - Salt Lake gets its first talker FM. Had my friend that works at Bonneville (he does traffic for KSL) call me to tell me that Bonneville had fired everyone that was a member of the Star 102.7 staff. The station was Hot AC and had been for years. It was put on the air by Simmons and was part of the big shuffle when Simmons sold a bunch of their stations to Bonneville. My friend had originally worked for Star. Well, star is no more. The people were all fired, except for a couple of sales people and Star 102.7 is going to become KSL-FM --- a simulcast of KSL-AM. If you visit their web site http://www.star1027.com then you'll see the big change wasn't supposed to happen until Monday September 5th. However I was listening to them last night and was listening to some talk show and a guy that sounded like Sean Hannity; may have been him. So apparently they've started to simulcast. This is the first FM talker in the Salt Lake market. And it's not a true FM talker, but just a simulcast. The only other thing that's been tried and failed miserably was a All-Sports FM (106.5 the Score) and that was about 10 years ago (Reporting from BFE, Podunkville Michael n WYO Richard, Sept 4, ABDX via DXLD) KSL will simulcast radio on FM band --- News and talk: The move displaces KQMB's adult contemporary music format By Bob Mims, The Salt Lake Tribune http://www.sltrib.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=2997250 Fans of Doug Wright and other KSL Radio shows soon can hear their favorite programs - and in some cases hear them more clearly - on the FM dial. Beginning at 5 a.m. Tuesday, Bonneville International Corp. will start simulcasting its top-rated KSL-AM News-Talk programming on 102.7-FM, the home of KQMB-FM. "Going FM [with KSL radio] should make it easier for people to listen to us in office buildings, where AM has had some problems," said Rod Arquette, vice president of radio news and programming for Bonneville in Salt Lake City. "And FM is shown to appeal to younger audiences, too." KQMB-FM, also known as Star 102.7, had struggled for market share this year, ranging between numbers 12 and 15 in Arbitron's ratings for the Salt Lake City-Ogden-Provo market. As of Friday, the "hot adult contemporary" station was on automatic broadcast, music director Mike Nelson and other staff having left, pending the station's switch to KSL-FM. Arquette said the staff's departure was routine in such cases. No decisions have been made on if or where the station's crew may next work within Bonneville, though some are expected to stay on with the company. "They were in a very competitive environment," Arquette said. "There are probably seven other stations out there trying for the same audience, in what is already an over-radioed market." Efforts to contact Nelson Friday were not successful. Bonneville International, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Deseret Management, currently operates 38 radio stations and one television station, KSL. By expanding KSL-AM's broadcasts onto the FM dial, Bonneville hopes to further strengthen the grip held by its No. 1 rated station in Utah. KSL-AM held a 7.6 share in the latest Arbitron ratings, easily surpassing Bonneville's KSFI-FM, an adult contemporary station, and KUBL-FM, a country station owned by Citadel Broadcasting (tied for No. 2 with 6.3 shares). "This is a very good business decision for us," said Bruce Christensen, Bonneville's senior vice president and market manager. It also is "a strategic move for us to even better serve our listeners." The station was one of 15 bought by Bonneville in a December 2003 deal with Simmons Media Group. Alan Hague, vice president of programming and operations for Simmons Media, congratulated Bonneville on its decision - and announced his company, too, has its own FM talk radio plans for Utah. Pitched as the "first original FM talk station in this market," 97.5 KFMS debuts at midnight Monday. "We're going for a younger, smarter, better [audience]," Hague said, noting longtime KALL talk show host Tom Barberi would be among the station's offerings, along with conservative commentators Jerry Doyle and Michael Savage. Clear Channel, another leading Utah broadcaster, did answer a request for comment (via Kevin Redding, ibid.) ``The only other thing that's been tried and failed miserably was a All-Sports FM (106.5 the Score) and that was about 10 years ago.`` ... but that would probably have worked fine today because there are so many FM talk stations now. Frequency/ band should have no effect on people's desire to hear that station's talk radio/news programming, and in fact, poeple would finally be able to listen inside a large downtown building with FM. It's all a false mentality thing (at least it was years ago) that AM=talk and FM=music. The FM simulcast should be stereo, because KSL's audio chain should already be wired for that, but they quit in 1991 (were Kahn ISB, but never C-QuAM). (Darwin Long, Thousand Oaks, CA, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. MILLIONS OF REASONS FOR A CARIB STATION By DAVID HINCKLEY, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com Monday, September 5th, 2005 The millions of people expected on Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway for today's West Indian Day Parade is the best possible evidence, said long-time radio host Bob (Spiceman) Frederick, that the city needs a full-time Caribbean radio station. "Here's an enormous community that's hungry for a voice and starving for information," he said. "But we have no full-time radio station where they can get it. It's a huge void." A couple of years back, ironically, two stations were almost all Caribbean programming: WLIB (1190 AM) and WWRL. But WLIB became Air America and WWRL became a talk station on weekdays, with Caribbean programming on Saturdays. Both stations said when they changed formats that even though they had loyal, enthusiastic audiences, they had trouble converting that to ad revenue. Frederick, who was music program director at WLIB for years, said he understands the problem but is convinced there must be a way to solve it. "As you see on Eastern Parkway," he said, "we have millions of people. They spend billions. Someone has to want them." There has also been concern that radio ratings services have undercounted Caribbean listenership - thus lowering ad rates and not reflecting how large the audience really is. Some Caribbean programmers have also said it's deceptively hard to program to this community because, despite its size, it is internally diverse in terms of music and information. Frederick said that issue can be solved with diverse musical programming and the kind of aggressive linkups both WLIB and WWRL have done. The New York station hooks up with stations in Jamaica, Antigua, Barbados or other islands, getting the news from there and enabling New Yorkers to greet relatives back home. "Without a full-time station, those vital links are gone," said Frederick. "We need them." Frederick himself runs "Island Radio," a 5- 7 a.m. daily show on WPAT (930 AM), and he said response "has been terrific. ... But it's just a start." If anyone doubts the need, he said, they should scan the dial in Brooklyn and hear all the "pirate" Caribbean stations. "I think the number now is about 18," he said. "They wouldn't need to exist if we had a full-time legitimate station." (via Brock Whaley, DXLD) 18 pirate stations?? (Brock) WTFK? ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Re 5-154 UNIDENTIFIED: Dear Mauno, Thanks for your message. I can confirm the Polisario Front is still active on 700 kHz, e.g. 30 AUG 2116-... rated 55444 (!) // to 7460, and that 1550.2 kHz is still providing the carrier I mentioned, like yesterday too. To assume 100% they're behind the carrier on 1550.2 is, however, speculation as it may well be something else, even if my DF indicates south. To be frank, I haven't observed them mornings. Best 73 & good DX, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DREADFUL DRM NOISE I apologise if this is posted to the wrong site, but can anyone tell me what the dreadful noise is, that appears around 7140 kHz, between 1000-1400 BST [0900-1300 UT]; in fact, there seem to be three broad spots, approximately 5 khz apart, which leads me to wonder if there are three "digital" stations there (John Cleeve, BDXC-UK via DXLD) It's Radio Luxembourg English service with DRM tests to the UK on 7145 (Mike Barralcough, UK, ibid.) via GERMANY in this case May I interject a note of criticism of the apparently heralded DRM, based on personal observation and also it seems Mr Cleeve's listening. I know I'll be filed as an old fashioned reactionary but surely if DRM causes so much off channel noise it's a non-starter as if, has been pointed out by other members, it in effect uses more band space (its own send frequency plus at least one corrupted spot) it can hardly, in these days of economical use of bandwidth, e.g. satellite/terrestrial digital TV as opposed to UHF analogue, be argued as feasible as a proper replacement of AM or even FM even allowing for the lower powered senders required. Whilst I realise I'm in a minority it seems in BDXC I am sincerely of the mind that 'if it ain't busted don't replace it with one that is!' Surely it would be more logical, given sales levels of 'ordinary' AM and FM radios to the general public, to work to improve send quality of AM and FM and more sensible frequency allocation of low power stations, using perhaps segregated parts of the Medium Wave and VHF-FM bands rather than the 'pick and mix' so called 'system' used now. Part of the reason I see a total mess-up with DRM is obviously stations will tell the radio authorities they must keep their pre-DRM channels rather than be shepherded to a DRM section of the dial where if they interfere with others, they will only mess up other DRM stations. However, it does seem a gaggle of members are in the opinion anything new is bound to be better. Presumably they still have their RCA Videodisc players, Betamax VCRs, Sinclair C5's - all brilliant out of the wind and weather but they didn't, by their introduction, make anything redundant. No piece of equipment was made functionally obsolete by their invention and they didn't prevent development - where as DRM certainly does (Rog Parsons (BDXC 782) Hinckley, Leics., ibid.) 11815 kHz: DRM 2? This morning Sept. 4th, at 0900-1000 UT, on 11815 kHz I noted that the DRM transmission planned as Virgin Radio from Moosbrunn (Austria) emits a noise completely different from the 'well' known wide-hash and the positive fact is that - with a Degen DE1103 - the frequencies at +-5 kHz were absolutely not interfered (Luca Botto Fiora, ibid.) Questa mattina, tra le 9 e le 10, su 11815 kHz ho notato che la trasmissione in DRM riportata come Virgin Radio da Moosbrunn (Austria) emette un rumore completamente diverso da quello oramai conosciuto e relativo a tale tipo di emissioni e il fatto positivo è che - con un Degen DE1103 - le frequenze a + o - 5 kHz non erano affatto disturbate (Luca Botto Fiora, playdx yg via DXLD) TAIWAN/USA: LEADING BROADCASTER CSBC INTRODUCES HARRIS DRM SYSTEM | Text of press release by Cincinnati-based Harris Corporation on 1 September Cincinnati, 1 September: Harris Corporation's Broadcast Communications Division today announced that Cheng Sheng Broadcasting Corporation (CSBC), a leading broadcaster in Taiwan, has successfully launched a Harris DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale) system to provide digital radio broadcasts throughout Taipei and the surrounding areas. CSBC becomes the first broadcaster in Taiwan to hit the airwaves with DRM, introducing the standard's excellent audio quality to the region. The DRM system is installed with the customer's Harris DX-15 transmitter that is diplexed onto CSBC's existing tower. CSBC can transmit both its main channel analogue and DRM broadcasts over the same tower. The result is a truly cost-effective way for CSBC to get on the air with DRM ahead of its regional competition. "Cheng Sheng Broadcasting Corporation recognizes the global trend of digital radio technology acceptance and understands the many benefits that come with its adoption," said Mr Chen, Te-Huang, manager of the engineering department for Cheng Sheng Broadcasting Corporation. "Not only will it bring an improved audio experience to our listeners, but DRM provides the opportunity to explore supplementary services that will bring new financial opportunities to our organization. Harris presented a cost-effective plan to help CSBC become the first broadcaster in Taiwan to provide a DRM transmission. This gives us a clear competitive advantage over other regional broadcast organizations and gets us up to speed with the technology before others have even started." Harris is a charter member of the DRM Steering Board, and is active in the development of DRM technology and standards. With the world's largest installed base of high-power AM transmitters - including approximately 1,500 DX mediumwave transmitters and power blocks worldwide - Harris is in a unique position to propel DRM acceptance. Harris also continues to promote DRM through a series of demonstrations. In 2005, Harris has participated in or sponsored demonstrations in Mexico, South Africa, Vietnam, China, Thailand, Romania, and Australia. Harris offers a DRM on-air upgrade kit that is designed to make the digital transition as swift and easy as possible for countries that support the format. It can easily be installed into any of Harris' DX, 3DXTM and DAXTM AM transmitters currently operational in the field. The Harris DRM on-air upgrade kit features a content server to encode audio and combine it with digital programme information to create a single bandwidth-efficient, digital bitstream that is sent to the modulator. A DRM modulator situated in a rack beside the transmitter accepts the digitally prepared signal, creates the CODFM signal for transmission, and provides phase and magnitude signals to the transmitter. DRM is the only universal, non-proprietary digital AM radio system with FM quality sound available to markets worldwide. Besides providing FM quality audio, the DRM standard has the capacity to integrate data and text. This additional content can be displayed on DRM receivers to enhance the listening experience and bring additional advertising revenue to the broadcaster. "DRM's international acceptance is following a path similar to the growth of HD RadioTM in the US," said John Hall, manager of AM products and programmes with Harris Broadcast Communications Division's Radio Broadcast Systems business unit. "Like HD Radio, we expect that this ascending technology will take off over the next few years as broadcasters realize the possibilities for a stronger signal, improved audio quality, and additional revenue opportunities. Broadcasters ready to explore DRM today prefer a solution they can install and test within their existing transmitters. Harris offers an affordable, technically sound DRM solution that allows broadcasters to discover the many benefits of this digital radio without making an overly aggressive financial commitment. We are pleased to be the first supplier of a DRM system in Taiwan, and CBSC is an excellent example of how forward-looking broadcasters will drive the acceptance of this standard internationally." Source: Harris Corporation press release, Cincinnati, in English 1 Sep 05 (via BBCM via DXLD) WTFK? All this verbiage and they never get around to mentioning WHERE the DRM signal is. Apparently AM from mentions of that, rather than FM or SW. In WRTH 2005 Cheng Sheng has MW transmitters all over the island, but Taibei is 819 kHz with 5 kW. Since it is ``diplexed`` on the same tower, that implies a separate frequency for DRM (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ SOLID STATE RECEIVERS: ALWAYS ENERGIZED OR JUST WHEN USING? This may stir up a hornet's nest of controversy along the lines of "do you leave your computer on all the time." But I really want to know what other ABDXers do and their rationale. To stick my neck out first: I leave my [Drake] R8B continuously energized. I disconnect the antenna when I'm not DXing, this being an area where lightning occurs very frequently. My rationale is that the surging that occurs when you turn a receiver on shortens the time until something zaps...especially in the power supply. Charles the giraffe-neck DXer (Charles A & Leonor L Taylor, Greenville, North Carolina, ABDX via DXLD) Charles, this is indeed an interesting question. With my Drake R8 that recently bit the dust, I always turned it off when not in use, then turned off the power bar it was plugged into. It ran rather warm, so I thought I was doing it a favour. But then it bit the dust due to apparent power supply problems. But I do have a theory. I used my R8 for a lot of quick checks. Down in the basement, put in a load of laundry, take 2 minutes to do a quick daytime check of a few key frequencies, then back upstairs. I think the frequent powering on and off of the R8 was hard on the filter caps - 6800 Uf 25 volt - and the 10 and 5 volt regulator. In hindsight, if I had keep it switched off normally, but turned it on Saturday mornings and left it on for weekend checks while doing chores it would have been easier on it. So folks, be careful about turning on any rig for really brief time periods, only to turn it off again (Phil Rafuse, PEI Canada, ibid.) In the old days I rewired my Hammarlund HQ-150 for a while with a separate power transformer to operate the filaments of the tubes continuously, but with the B+ switched on and off. I believed then, and still do, that the single greatest problem for electronic devices is the thermal stress - basically, mechanical stress due to expansion and contraction on power-up and power-down. The idea was that a large part of the heat radiation from the tubes came from the filament. A side benefit was that the set would come up instantly, and close to being on stable frequency, when the B+ was turned on. Downsides are mainly that this would cause a lot of scrutiny by the fire marshal if you were unlucky to have a house fire that could be, rightly or wrongly, blamed on such a kludge. The presumption in this kind of case, is that you screwed up, when you put together such a circuit. A related problem is inrush current on power-up. The resistance of the filament wire inside a tube is low, when cold, and repeated power cycling can eventually cause separation of connections someplace. I thought that running the filaments only was a compromise between all- off, and all-on (constant heat generation). Back then, the wire running to pins on an octal socket would not normally stress thermally (though there might be a cold solder joint) Today with solid state circuits, a thermal stress problem involves separation of metallic contact layers inside components. Possible failure modes are complex and involve different scenarios that I am far from expert in, but my thought would be to leave solid state equipment turned on continuously, if (1) you are comfortable with the cost of the power drain, (2) are satisfied that the thermally active components are spec'ed well enough so that they don't overheat, (3) the equipment is well ventilated, possibly involving a separate cooling fan and (4) is protected so that any kind of input mains overcurrent [115 VAC supply] will instantly trip off. Item (2) is the only one that isn't under your direct control, but it should be possible to back-fit a set with beefier components. You might approach (3) by mounting the set in a cabinet so that there is a directed air exhaust flow from the fan, along with a motion sensor that would kill the set power if the fan rotation fails. There exist noiseless fans. Draw a comparison with commercial equipment which is spec'ed to run 24x7x365. Hope this is of interest (Bob Foxworth, FL, ibid.) Very much of interest Bob, in light of my Drake R8 woes. After reading your post, Charles' recent post and thinking things over, my theory is that either the filter caps shorted or the diodes shorted due frequent full powerups, power downs - keeping in mind that the power supply is supposed to work 24/7 on the R8 as long as it`s plugged in. With the partial short of the caps or diodes or both, the rougly 14 volt unregulated power supply was reduced to lets say 7 volts - enough juice to run the 5 volt regulator but not the 10 volt regulator. Thus, the display would function etc. in the "off' mode, but when the power switch was pressed a hashy scream results from the speaker, variable with the volume pot. If I were to attempt the repair myself, I would install a fuse in the transformer's secondary to protect it against shorted diodes or caps. One method of troubleshooting would be to remove the filter caps and diodes from circuit [I may be able to do this via unplugging connectors] then applying 13.8 volts regulated DC to the DC input jack which is designed for 11 to 15 volts. Trying this before blew the DC fuse, but this makes sense if the filter caps and/or diodes were resulting in a partial short. If the above such test worked, I'd replace the filter caps, rectifier diodes, and transformer with equivalent or even heavier duty ones. I might design in some bottom vents under the power supply area. The R8 has top vents, but no bottom ones, and air flows a lot better with both top and bottom vents. For my boatanchors, I'm a big fan of current inrush limiters. I might rig up an external box current inrush limiter - current appropriate - for the solid state rigs too. Thanks for contributing to such a timely discussion! (Phil Rafuse, PEI Canada, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ PAA STAR PARTY AURORA Some really nice auroral displays were noticed at the annual Peterborough Astronomical Association's Star Party at the Buckhorn Observatory, especially on Friday evening where we saw a nice green glow hugging the northern horizon and some really pronounced spikes (like some teenage girls used to sport in their hair). Apparently this has been caused by a high speed flow of the solar wind that has been buffeting Earth's magnetic field. This strong flow is still in effect and we should be on the look out for more auroras in the night sky and auroral conditions on our radios. (Mark Coady, Editor, Your Reports/Listening In Magazine Co-Moderator, ODXA Yahoogroup, Ontario DX Association Chair, Light Pollution Awareness Committee, Peterborough Astronomical Association http://geocities.com/luckywimpy Sept 4, ODXA via DXLD) ###