DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-058, April 4, 2006 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 2006 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 SW AIRING OF WORLD OF RADIO 1310: Wed 0930 on WWCR 9985 Updated, plus tentative A-06 DST-shifted schedule: Full schedule, including AM, FM, satellite and internet, with hotlinks to station sites and audio: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html For latest updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.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 or http://wor.worldofradio.org WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS: www.obriensweb.com/wor.xml CONTINENT OF MEDIA 06-03: (stream) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0603.ram (download) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0603.rm (summary) http://www.worldofradio.com/com0603.html ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. R. Solh, A-06: 11665 0200-0900 40,41NW DHA 250 kW 45 deg 11675 0900-1200 40,41NW DHA 250 kW 45 deg 17700 1200-1800 40NE RMP 500 kW 85 deg (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX April 4 via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. R. Afghanistan tells Cumbre DX that their new 100 kW transmitter will carry a foreign service only. It won`t be a relay of the domestic service (Hans Johnson, March 10, Jihad-DX via Listener`s Notebook, April NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** ALASKA [non]. WWCR broadcaster (time buyer) and white separatist preacher Pete Peters says Alaskan courthouses are possessed by satanic spirits... http://www.anchoragepress.com/archives-2006/newsvol15ed13.shtml (Anchorage Press, 30 March 2006 via kimandrewelliott.com April 4 via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. I checked for A06 sched of Radio Tirana. Broadcasts are all audible but some days no transmission. We know about the transmitter problems. [rather main power billing problems so far, wb.] Albanian program is Mo-Su [i.e. daily], foreign service only Mon-Sat. All programs at exact frequency. Sign-on and sign-off times for all transmitters are not regular, sometimes sign-on 1-2 min after the beginning of the programme, sometimes before with Radio Tirana IS. Albanian program is ending with hymn irregularly between 2 and 7 min before the hour. ID and sched at the beginning of all programs. 15 min of news and act [?] mostly beginning with news about Prime Minister Sali Berisha. Second half of the external service 30 minute broadcasts with music. MW frequency almost audible here near Frankfurt at this time of the year. Only heard foreign service from 1800 UT on 1458 kHz with QRM of Sunrise Radio and Albanian service from 0630 UT to f/off [sic: fade- out or sign-off?] around 0700 UT. Serbian Service 2015-2030 UT on 6205 almost inaudible due to QRM IRIB in English on same frequency. English 2130-2200 .234567 Shijak 100 7465 310 degrees USA. not yet heard (Udo Krueger-D, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 3 via DXLD) Thanks Udo for your contribution. See hardware conflict at 2130-2200 UT. Yes, there is a collision of Shijak TX#2 and Antenna S-01(non- dir): Albanian 6205 kHz Tx.2 Shijak S-01 (OND) 2030-2200 UT and English 7465 kHz Tx.2 Shijak S-01 (OND) 2130-2200 UT. To toy with ideas: R. Tirana's English maybe will replace 2130 by 2030-2100 UT slot, 7465 kHz using Tx. 1 and antenna S-10 at 310 deg. Serbian on SW will probably move to 7465 1800-1815 UT on Tx. 2 and antenna S-01 non-dir, but search for an empty 6 MHz channel too. German on SW could be probably move to a later time segment, 7465 at 1931-2000 UT, and Italian could be moved back to 1901-1930 UT, also on 7465 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX April 4 via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 11710.82, RAE, Buenos Aires; 0302-0315 1 April. Classical music, into looped multi-language ID's between instrumental music, finally into French programming from 0306. Clear and good (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARMENIA. A-06 for V of Armenia, evening in Fr/Ge/En Mon-Sat: 1830-1930 9960 ERV 500 kW 305 deg to WEu \\ 4810 ERV 100 kW ND to ME (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 4 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. Radio Logos 6165 just got a lot easier to try and hear. For the new season, China is not on 6165 at 1000. Heard presumed Logos 1010 March 27th with religious music, man started talking 1028, but not in Spanish, Aymara? Faded by 1040 (Hans Johnson, Florida, Jihad DX via WDXC Contact via DXLD) ** CANADA. Now that RCI is starting an hour earlier in the mornings from 1300 UT, it encounters co-channel interference on two of its three frequencies. April 4 at 1321, RCI 17800 was under something else, and 9515 was mixing with something else in English, while 13655 was clear tho not up to full strength. 9515 still had CCI at 1413 recheck. I suspect 9515 is China, and 17800 is DW Hausa via Rwanda at 1300-1350, which must be aimed more or less this way (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Re Morris Sorensen: Was shocked and saddened to read on your DXLD about the passing of Morris Sorensen. I always enjoyed reading his DX logs, and he will be sorely missed in the DX Community. Rest in peace, Morris! (Eric Berger, Detroit, MI, April 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saul, Thanks for telling us. This is sad news indeed. I certainly noticed that his regular posts have been missing the past couple of weeks, but, (maybe naively), chalked it up to a busy life or bad conditions. Although many list members probably know him personally, learning this brings a few things to mind. The obvious one is that we just never know how long we have, and maybe even more important, when our contact with someone will be the last. Many of us may know our fellow hobbyists because of our common interest, but do we get to know that person in other ways? Just think of all the knowledge and collective experience on a list like this -- not just in DXing but probably all major facets of life. And one final observation. As in all other areas of life, we DXers can be either a friendly lot or a contentious one. To his credit, I don't recall ever seeing any cantankerous or hostile posts from Morris (Rick Lewis, List Moderator, AMFMTVDX at qth.net via DXLD) I was in Winnipeg last year and now really wish I had taken time to meet Morris. We had tried once before but we had to cancel our previous trip. I guess that's a good lesson for all of us-live life to the fullest, and don't assume you can always do or say something later --- you may never get the chance. Recently I expressed interest in seeing the new Canadian TV Guide format. Morris volunteered to send me a copy, with no expectation or desire for reimbursement. My and others' experiences surely indicate he was an asset to all communities --- nature, DX and the world in general. May he rest in peace (Matt Sittel, NE, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CANADA. Today CFFR-660 Calgary AB, which has been Oldies since it came on the air in 1984, today switched formats to all news, calling itself 660 News. This is the first all news station in the Calgary market excluding the CKO network outlet on FM (103.1 MHz) which went silent in 1989. It will be running head to head with CHQR-770, which is a mix of news and talk and is the top rated AM station in the market (share usually around 10). 73, (Deane McIntyre, VE6BPO, April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And so goes the last local AM station I actually listened to for the music (Nigel Pimblett, Dunmore, Alberta, IRCA via DXLD) After over 20 years as "66 CFR" in Calgary, Alberta, playing oldies of the 50's 60`s & 70's, I noticed this morning a complete format change. This Rogers Communications station is now IDing as 6-60 News Radio, sounding like sister Rogers Communications station News 11-30 (CKWX) Vancouver. The all news format includes the voice of Theresa Cruise whom many long time TSN (The Sports Network) listeners here in Canada will remember. Legal ID at the top of the hour includes the call letters CFFR, never heard when the station was branded "66 CFR". This station has been logged all over North America as well as overseas. 73 (Mick Delmage, Sherwood Park, Alberta, April 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GOOD NEWS COMES TO CALGARY RADIO WITH 660NEWS ROGERS ANNOUNCES PROGRAMMING FORMAT CHANGE FOR CFFR AM 660 http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2006/03/c1251.html CALGARY, April 3 /CNW/ - Rogers Media announced today a format change for Calgary radio station CFFR AM 660. Effective immediately, the station will become Alberta's first "All News Radio" station, 660News. This station will provide the most comprehensive, local, live and late-breaking news in the Calgary region. "On Monday, April 3rd, 2006 Calgaria nswill discover a new source for all their news, weather, traffic and sports information needs," commented Kevin McKanna, Executive Vice President, Alberta & Manitoba Radio, Rogers Media. "At Rogers Media we believe that our extensive experience with the "All News Radio" format will allow us to deliver a quality product that listeners will return to throughout their busy day." Calgary audiences will soon become familiar with the idea of a clock-based news wheel. With traffic and weather together on the ones, sports at 15 and 45 past the hour and business at 26 and 56 past the hour, listeners will know exactly when and where they can go to find the information they're looking for (via Kevin Redding ABDX via DXLD) ** CANADA. New X-Band AM station (1690, 1 kW-U) approved for Toronto ON by CRTC --- The CRTC has approved an application for a (mostly) Greek language AM station (1690, 1 kW) for Toronto: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2006/db2006-117.htm The station will also have some programming in Armenian, Romanian, Serbian and Bulgarian, as well as in English. The owner of the station is Canadian Hellenic Toronto Radio Inc. The coordinates of the (single) tower are 43 deg 43 ' 26 " N, 79 deg 16 ' 41 " W. (450 Comstock Road, Scarborough, to the east of the downtown core of Toronto). (Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, AB, April 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. April 4, well past 1400 UT when it should have started, the English broadcast of CRI via Cuba 13740 was providing only a continuous squeal with the otherwise unmodulated carrier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. CHINA/TAIWAN, The Sound of Hope International from Tanshui-TWN site changed to 18160 again. (x18160[started March 12], x17350[started Mar 18], x18180, x17330[Mar 22], wb.] 18160 CNR again in Ham Band / and ?? "Sound of Hope" from Taiwan too?? German Bandwatch [DJ9KR and DK2OM] reported inband broadcast station CNR on 18160 kHz again. Noted here in Europe on March 29th and 30th. CNR program is usually on air to jam "Sound of Hope" from Taiwan on this meter band, and somedays another - second - CHN station is on co- channel with the Firedrake jamming, also against Sound of Hope. Noted since mid Februrary, on either 18160, 17350, 17330, 17310 or 18180 kHz. German FCC Intruder Band Watch has been informed on this matter (wb, wwdxc BC-DX Mar 30 via DXLD) The other clandestine must still be operating on 18160 as I heard CNR on there this morning as early as 0645 UT. I really struggled to hear anything yesterday but signals are better today. There was a 'big' CRI signal on 17865 in French until 0658 and from 0700 with stations adjacent on 17860 and 17870 which I don't recall hearing previously - I couldn't copy either due to splatter (Noel R. Green-UK, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 1 via DXLD) To: Chris Cummings This is heard in Kenya and a complaint has been lodged with the Communications Commission of Kenya (Ted, E.H.M. Alleyne, 5Z4NU, Chairman/Secretary ARSK, Mar 30 via BCDX via DXLD) I reported this thing (again!) to Baldock on Tuesday 28th. They confirmed that they had it 'in the system'. If it is still there by mid April they will send an Appendix 10 complaint through to China. Apparently they have to be very diplomatic with the Chinese if they are to get anywhere with them! I was told that Baldock and Konstanz [both HFCC direction finding control stations, wb.] have been speaking on this particular issue. (Chris G4BOH, Chris Cummings; Mar 30 via BCDX April 4 via DXLD) ** CONGO DR [non]. Re 6-055 and 6-057, pronunciation: Glenn, in DR Congo, Okapi is pronounced like in French. Lingala language is spoken in DRC with some French accent, unlike Lingala spoken in the Republic of Congo, which sounds more "African". Greetings (Fernando de Sousa Ribeiro, Oporto, Portugal, April 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA. English from Voice of Croatia has been monitored 1805-1815 on 6165, Monday to Saturday (Edwin Southwell, UK, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** CUBA. 1020, Radio Reloj, unidentified site; 0608-0615 April 2. Huge signal and alone, Morse sounders (no Sunday chimes turned on, yet). And again tonight, 4 April, 0015+, good level and dominating the channel (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WRTH doesn`t know the location of the 1020 RR, altho it is listed. What the hell, I`ll look at their website http://www.radioreloj.cu just in case there is a detailed frequency list. Here it is, where else but on the contact page: http://www.radioreloj.cu/secfijas/contacto.htm but no 1020 listed! I also found http://www.radioreloj.cu/secfijas/lavoz.htm explaining the airshifts and how the announcers take their breaks to recuperate: La voz humana, en vivo, está presente durante las 24 horas de trasmisión de Radio Reloj. El locutor de esta planta tiene una permanencia de 4 horas en la emisora; de ellas, 3 ante el micrófono, tiempo en el que lee más de 15 mil palabras. Luego de 1 hora de estar leyendo noticias, el locutor recesa media hora; a continuación vuelve otra hora a la cabina y descansa nuevamente 30 minutos. Pasado este tiempo, completa su última hora ante el micrófono. En Radio Reloj el trabajo de los locutores es en pareja en la cabina, y en ese sentido adoptan dos posiciones: Locutor 1 y Locutor 2. En una información de formato de a dos voces, el Locutor 1 lee el primer y tercer párrafos, mientras el Locutor 2 lee el 2do y el 4to, y tiene la responsabilidad de dar la hora. Para poder descansar esa media hora, un tercer Locutor sustituye al que cesa temporalmente. Ese sistema es rotativo por horas; es decir, en una hora el Locutor ocupa la posición 1 y en su posterior hora de trabajo cambia para la posición 2. Cuando las informaciones, comentarios o entrevistas están escritas en formatos de una voz, el minuto lo lee completamente un mismo locutor. La noticia en un minuto Las cuartillas de a dos voces deben tener entre 15 y 16 líneas escritas, y las de una voz, entre 13 y 15. Si la información reúne ese requisito y el Locutor desde el comienzo lee a un ritmo adecuado, debe concluir en el minuto exacto. Sin embargo, puede ocurrir que algunos minutos los redactores los dejen un poco largos. Ante esa situación, el Locutor acelera el ritmo de su lectura, para poder terminar en tiempo el texto. A veces cuando la noticia queda corta, el Locutor la completa con las llamadas colas, que son efemérides importantes, datos curiosos, felicitaciones a personalidades. También puede darse el caso de que una información posea las líneas, en correspondencia con su formato, pero que tenga varios puntos y seguido. Esto implica que el Locutor realice pausas, y tenga que apurar el ritmo de lectura para terminar en el minuto exacto. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subdirector de Producción: Mario Martínez Locutores: Luis Ángel Alarcón Santana Grissel Hernández Rodríguez Rody Reyes Gónzalez Roberto Raúl Varona Graupera María Guillermina Mellado Iglesias Ana María Valdivia Pedro García Suárez Fernando Becker Lombard Gerardo Contreras Ruiz Mercedes Delaville Centeno Jorge Leonardo Jiménez Martínez Carlos Estrada Gallegos Eladio Aroldo Aguiar Rodríguez Pedro García Suárez Juan Elías Escalona Martínez Isabel Fernández Corrales José Luis Trujillo López Idania Martínez Grandales Yoel Navarro Garbey Laureano Céspedes Hernández Alain Amador Pardo Ibrahím Aput Eybaiter Virgen Ojeda Manuel Martínez Tamayo Marlon Alarcón Carbonell Elizabeth Cuba Sariol Alexei Martínez Verduit Magdiel Pérez Labrada Mauricio Lomonte Suárez Ariel Trujillo Zaldivar Dante Roche Álvarez Rafael Ibarra Toledo (via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** EGYPT. Registration for R. Cairo to NAm in English, A-06: 11950 2300-0430 6,7 ABZ 500 330 EGY ERU ERU (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX April 4 via DXLD) ** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA [nons]. U.A.E. ONU - R UNMEE (to Eritrea/Ethiopia) via VT in B05: 0900-1000 on 17670 DHA 250 kW / 255 deg to EaAf in English/Others Sun 1030-1130 on 17565 DHA 250 kW / 255 deg to EaAf in English/Others Tue In A06 most probably: 15135 0900-1000 48 DHA 250 225 1=Sun USA MNO MER Int 15135 1030-1130 48 DHA 250 225 3=Tue USA MNO MER Int (on request by Dave Kenny-UK, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 2 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 12120, R. V. of ENUF, *1700-1715, Apr. 2, vernacular, wind instruments and OM at sign-on, vocal music. OM at 1704; sounds like a recorded speech, more HoA music. Fair with constant data QRM (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverages, MLB-1, DTS-4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE [non]. Still striking at RFI: tuning across 15515 via GUIANA FRENCH, April 4 at 1340 heard an announcement in French apologizing for the grève and introducing music fill, which turned out to be rap in English, just what we need (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [and non]. DW English provided a good signal on 15410, in fact the only significant signal on the entire 19mb, April 4 at 0530 going into a half-hour feature on new music from Japan, ``a World of Music`` Tuesdays per the program schedule recently in DXLD, which does not show this frequency. But more comprensive DW A-06 sched shows it`s Madagascar, 320 degrees, favorable for us from the near-antipodes. Also found a very good DW signal in German at 1341 April 4 on 15620, which I took to be a relay, but listed as Wertachtal, 300 degrees to N&CAm at 12-14 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Wilsdruff-1431 still carries the wrong feed, noted right now with Japanese. Yesterday I showed this some colleagues in the office at Dresden: Look, how diversified the radio scene here is (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 1153 UT April 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Grecia. Según ha anunciado la emisora griega ``Amistad``, que es la sucesora de la antigua ``Voz de Grecia``, en la nueva temporada radial en las transmisiones para el exterior se ha incorporado, entre otras, una emisión en idioma español desde las 1430 hasta las 1500, frecuencia de 15650 kilohercios (Por Rumen Pankov, Versión al español: Mijaíl Mijailov, R. Bulgaria via José Miguel Romero, dxldyg via DXLD) The ``Filia`` program is one of their domestic services getting relayed on SW, but I don`t think it replaces the Voice of Greece; and the Spanish broadcast is nothing new (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR A-2006 schedules in official website Dear Friends, The official website of All India Radio has now been updated with the A-2006 schedules. Please click: http://www.allindiaradio.gov.in/schedule/fqsch.html The following are new stations listed: Vividh Bharathi: 1485 kHz Khaltsi 100.9 MHz Port Blair 100.9 Yercaud (Salem) 102.7 Manjeri 103.7 Gulbarga FM Rainbow: 101.9 Hyderabad 102.0 Visakhapatnam 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** IRAN. VoIRI Tehran's English service in A06 season: 6205 1930-2030 27,28 KAM 500 304 7205 1930-2030 27,28 SIR 500 313 7235 0130-0230 7-10,27 SIR 500 328 7370 1530-1630 41,49,50,54 KAM 500 110 9495 0130-0230 7-10 KAM 500 336 9635 1530-1630 41,49,50,54 SIR 500 105 9800 1930-2030 52,53,57 SIR 500 211 9925 1930-2030 52,53,57 KAM 500 205 15600 1030-1130 41 KAM 500 100 17660 1030-1130 41 KAM 500 109 and two marked 'presumed' reserve channels: 11650 1530-1630 41,49,50,54 KAM 500 100 ENGLISH-p 11860 1930-2030 27,28 SIR 500 313 ENGLISH-p (on request by Dave Kenny-UK, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 2 via DXLD) English from the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been monitored here at 1030-1130 on 15600 17660, 1530-1630 on 7370 9635, both these channels suffering co-channel interference, and 1930-2030 on 6205 7205 and 9925 (Mike Barraclough, England, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) Matches the above ** KALININGRAD. Re 6-057, is it still active on SW? Sure, there is at least Voice of Russia, German 0900-1000 and 1500- 1900 (during winter one hour later of course), at present always on 7330 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5925 1800 2100 29,39,40 KLG 100 115 RUS VOR GFC 7300 1345 1900 28,37 KLG 150 205 RUS VOR GFC 7330 0900 1000 28 KLG 120 245 RUS VOR GFC 7330 1500 1900 28,29,37 KLG 120 245 RUS VOR GFC 7370 1530 1900 28 KLG 150 205 RUS VOR GFC 11830 1400 1700 29SE,39N KLG 200 130 RUS VOR GFC (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KATANGA. QSL of Radio Katanga and other treasures found - enjoy on superb website of Finn Krone, Denmark. Great. http://www.krone-web.dk (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX April 4 via DXLD) ** LIBERIA [non]. ASCENSION ISL/LIBERIA, Star Radio Liberia 0700-0900 on 9525 ASC 250 kW / 027 deg to CeAf in English [but] still 0700-0800 UT in A06 season. 2100-2200 on 11960 ASC 250 kW / 027 deg to CeAf in English 5 kHz up on 11965 2100-2200 46,47 ASC 250 27 USA NEW MER (on request by Dave Kenny-UK, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 2 via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. re: Really measured 17700 kHz ?? Registered: 17695 1600-1800 37,46 ISS 500 185 French+Hausa F LBJ TDF LBJ transmissions via Issoudun: 7320 2200-0400 37,38,46,47,48N ISS 500 180 Arabic 9590 1900-2200 37,38,46,47,48N ISS 500 180 Arabic 11615 1700-1900 37,38,46,47,48N ISS 500 180 Arabic 11615 1900-2000 37E,38W,47,52,53E ISS 500 153 Various 15205 1800-1900 37E,38W,47,52,53E ISS 500 153 Various 15630 1600-1800 38E,47E,48,53 ISS 500 140 Var+Swa+En 15660 1600-1800 37W,46 ISS 500 204 French+Hausa 15660 1800-1900 37,46 ISS 500 185 Various 17690 1200-1400 37E,38W,47,52,53E ISS 500 153 Swah+English 17695 1600-1800 37,46 ISS 500 185 French+Hausa 17725 1100-1400 38E,47E,48,53 ISS 500 140 0705-030906 Var+Swa+En 17870 1600-1800 37E,38W,47,52,53E ISS 500 153 French+Hausa 21695 1100-1400 38E,47E,48,53 ISS 500 140 0309-291006 Var+Swa+En 21695 1100-1400 38E,47E,48,53 ISS 500 140 2603-070506 Var+Swa+En Very poor on 17695 at present, I guess. 73 wb. (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) But that schedule does not account for the 2-hour English broadcasts we are now hearing as announced, at 14-16 on 17850, 21695. Checking for V. of Africa`s new English service at 14-16, April 4 at 1404, 17850 had a strong open carrier atop VOA with a SAH, but it finally went off at 1405:40 or so. I would have suspected France, except the VOA relay is also via France. Then heard Voice of Africa from the Great Jamahiriyah ID, hilife music; // 21695 not audible this date (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11615, LJB, Voice of África vía Francia, 1837-1856, escuchada el 4 de abril en árabe en una emisión en directo, locutor con conexión directa con Senegal, especie de fiesta con presencia del presidente de la república de Senegal, entrevistas a los asistentes; se escuchan ruidos de la calle y música de fondo, locutor con ID ``Jamahiriyah al Ozma... arabía... Senegal``, aplausos y proclamas en francés, se escucha el himno nacional se Senegal, la gente cantando ``Senegal, Senegal... África, África``, locutora en francés con discurso, traducción al árabe por locutor. Se corta bruscamente, sin emisión por los 15205, SINPO 55555. 9590, LJB, Voice of África vía Francia, 1859-1905, escuchada el 4 de abril en árabe, reanudando el programa transmitido en directo por 11615, sin emisión desde ese momento, SINPO 55555. 15660, LJB, Voice of África vía Francia?? 1909-1919, Hausa? Locutor con comentarios y referencias a África, SINPO 34433. (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, SANGEAN ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [and non]. Re Olle Alm`s piece: That's a very good summary of "events" concerning the Libyan clandestine - Olle. I would suggest that you are receiving stronger signals off the back(?) of the ISS antenna sending 17620 and maybe other jamming signals. 17620 is consistently poor at my location and I assume this is why the other transmissions are difficult to hear 'over'/mixing with the clandestine. That one regularly booms in here. I also hear the noise jamming but at weak-ish strength and also assume - like you - that these may be from Libya itself. Perhaps intended as ground wave jammers? If - as seems likely - 17660 is via Krasnodar or Grigoriopol then it appears to mean that GTK Moscow is helping both sides in this current "argument"! I wonder why Russia and not TDF, who supply all of their other relays, should have been hired - and by whom? The Iranian style bubble jamming has not been heard recently - at least when I've listened. This was strongly received when on air. The coordinators would need to be 'in touch' with Russia, Libya, Gabon and ISS to align the jammers it seems! That's quite an expensive set up! (Noel R. Green-UK, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 1 via DXLD) I still do not 100% agree that African music on 17660-17690 until 1530 UT is coming from Gabon. I never receive programs from Gabon in a good quality on a that long period (from 1200 to 1530 UT) like this one. Beam should be directly to us. I also heard 1200-1400 UT on 17660 kHz with ID at 1200 UT ``Idhaatu-l Jamahiriya-l Uzhma`` which means Voice of the Great Jamahiriya = Libya and most time religious and popular songs (Udo Krueger-D, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 3 via DXLD) 17630 is directed to West Africa at 307 degrees, but all northerly transmissions at 350 degrees antenna field. (wb) 17630 0700-1500 37,46 GAB 250kW 307 degr. (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX April 4 via DXLD) ** LIBYA [and non]. Sawt al-Amel, 4 Abril. Saludos cordiales, hoy cuatro de abril en 17660 a las 1200 comienza emisión de música árabe, fuerte señal e identificándose. A las 1202 por la frecuencia de 17695 comienza la emisión de Sawt Alamel; un minuto después se corta y no aparece emisión por esa frecuencia hasta las 1238, libre de interferencias se mantiene hasta las 1300 que cambia a la frecuencia de 17695, manteniéndose sin problemas hasta que a las 1325 aparece la emisora de música afro-pop, anulando por completo a Sawt Alamel. A las 1333 se escucha de fondo la ID de Sawt Alamel, pero la fuerza de la música impide escuchar otro típo de emisión en esa frecuencia. A las 1359 termina la emisión musical en 17660 y a las 1401 Sawt Alamel en 17690, queda en esta frecuencia sólo la transmisión de música afro-pop (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) April 4 at 1347, found usual Arabic music and drumming on 17660; African music jammer on 17690 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. Radio Vilnius heard announcing English is now 0030-0100 on 11690, 0830-0900 on 9710, 1800-1830 on 666, 2330-2400 on 9875 (Edwin Southwell, UK, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. Radio Baltic Waves International is again rebroadcasting the UK online radio station Radio Mi Amigo on 1386, this time via a 50 kW transmitter in Klaipeda, each Sunday 2100-2300 UT. The last transmission of the current cycle will be on 30 April (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, via Steve Whitt, April 4, MWC via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6184.7, XEEP Radio Educación, México DF; 0550-0608 2 April. Classical music, 0602 XE orchestral anthem, Spanish woman ID. Good, and way low on the kilo's tonight (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Re 6-057, Radio Insurgente: Mexico a possible location for a low power transmitter. Doubt that Radio Insurgente is broadcasting from Cuba. Reception by various Florida DXers seems to indicate Mexico. Broadcast on 6000 from Cuba interfere with Radio Insurgente. Signal is consistently stronger in Naples than Pómpano Beach. Radio Insurgente seems to have the same strength and fade characteristics of La Voz Popular. La Voz Popular transmitter was found to be in rural Guatemala. [cf DXSF.] La Voz Popular transmitter was triangulated by the FCC (Robert Wilkner, FL, HCDX via DXLD) The 6-057 report on 6000.3 did not suggest RI was transmitted from Cuba, but it was unclear whether he really heard RI, or RHC, since the program content pertained to both Mexico and Cuba. And the reporter did not give his own location either (gh, DXLD) Sí! Claro! Creo que es México. 73s rw (Bob Wilkner, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Insurgente heard tuning up on 5999.9 from 2050 March 31st, came on 2102 with local instrumental music. The first identification was in Spanish, then there was one in English, "You are listening to Radio Insurgente, the voice of Zapatatista [sic]," The identification was cut off at this point by the next identification in French. There was also an identification in Japanese and a number of other languages. After the string of identifications there was programming in Spanish, with the woman announcer mentioning at the start "programa onda corta." (Hans Johnson, Naples, Florida, Jihad DX via World DX Club Contact via DXLD) Friday only, we assume be still the case (gh, DXLD) ** MOLDOVA. Summer A-06 of DMR Radio Pridnestrovye in Fr/Ge/En M-F: 1600-1640 NF 5910 KCH 500 kW / 265 deg to WeEu, ex 5960 for A-05 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 4 via DXLD) ** MONACO [non]. Trans World Radio`s UK address is now P.O. Box 606, Altrincham WA14 2YS. English schedule: 0700-0820 (Saturday 0715-0750, Sunday 0645-0745) on 9800 11865, 2215-2230 Saturday, 2215-2245 Sunday on 1467 (Allen Dean, Edwin Southwell, Patrick Travers, UK, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Radio Netherlands Saturday Connection changes names to Weekend Connection, as some stations are airing the program on Sundays, not Saturdays. The listener feedback portion of Weekend Connection is moved to a new program, Dutch Extra, described as an eclectic mix of items meant to contrast with Amsterdam Forum, which precedes it on the schedule. Bertine Krol, of Dutch Horizons, will also host Dutch Extra. Amsterdam Forum is scaled back to 40 minutes to make it easier to produce. Otherwise there are no programming schedule changes (Rich Cuff, Easy Listening, April NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. 6160, CFGB relay via CKZN, 1032-1045, Apr. 3, English, "Labrador Morning-Monday Edition" program with CBC news, local weather, sports news re Quebec Jr. hockey playoffs. Poor/fair (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverages, MLB-1, DTS-4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. Dear Glenn, As I write, the "How to Listen" url, http://www.rnzi.com/pages/listen.php#inet shows the following slightly amended A 06 schedule: UTC kHz azimuth 0655-1059 9855 0º 1059-1259 9870 325º 1300-1650 7145 0º 1651-1850 7145 35º 1851-1950 9630 0º 1950-2050 11725 0º 1955-0700 15720 0º At 2048, both 11725 & 15720 were audible while the webpage indicated 15720 only, then IS played for quite a while, but 11725 remained on... and is still on at 2114; that's a bit stronger than // 15720, which is weak & fluttery, and gets some QRM de B on 11724.9. Tuning to 11725 usb and using the 20 m T2FD, the B station almost vanishes and RNZI almost comes alive albeit still mediocre though readable; the NSAm/AUS 45 m inv. V reveals the R. Novas de Paz, Curitiba PR, Brazil. Yes, they may have planned to rely on HF DRM for distributing their signal to the Pacific islands, but wouldn't satellite be better... and less expensive too? The chief advantage of using HF DRM or "normal" H is that they're using something of their own while the satellite is not. The recent item in DXLD about the proposed IoM station on 279 kHz speaks for itself as far as DRM is concerned. I think we should stick together and start saying "PLC & DRM, no thanks!" 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, well, they did decide that colliding with WEWN on 9885 was not such a good idea, so have moved to 9855 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Nueva emisora peruana en onda corta? Mi amigazo peruano Alfredito Cañote, desde La Molina, Lima, Perú, me envía noticias de la siguiente captación de una emisora peruana en la onda corta que podría tratarse de una nueva estación desde el país andino: En 4620 kHz desde las 1900 hasta las 2300, escuchada Radio Espacial, desde Otuzco, QTH : Bolívar 354 Otuzco, La Libertad, Perú. El SINPO estaba en 44424 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Noticias DX via DXLD) Or possibly harmonic from 1540 or 770 but nonesuch listed (gh, DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. 11720, R. Pilipinas, 1843-1914, Apr. 3, vernacular/ English, Announcers with banter in English/vernacular at tune-in; reading listener mail. Various talks and music bits. Solid ID at 1910. Poor tho improving, needed USB to quell static (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverages, MLB-1, DTS-4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL [and non]. Portuguese vs Brazilian! They are still colliding on 15770, April 4 at 1402, talk in Luso from RDPI mixing with WYFR in Brazilian hymn. By 1433, WYFR was winning the battle. At 1657 on 17680, I also noted a subaudible heterodyne upon CVC La Voz, Chile, more intense when the latter faded a bit, no doubt RDPI as still scheduled (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. If RRI could get its modulation up to par, it would have a decent external service. April 3 at 2003 found fair signal but very low modulation on 15465.0 in Spanish, news with unnecessary stingers, mentioning Rumanía, also mentioned at 2027 recheck (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. A-06 schedule of Radio Romania Int.(* via Saftitza 50 kW): ARABIC 0730-0756 9770 11875 15340 17810 1500-1556 9595 11895 15240 17860 AROMANIAN 1600-1626 7135* 1800-1826 7235* 2000-2026 6175* CHINESE 0500-0526 15400 17780 1400-1426 11935 15225 ENGLISH 0100-0156 9690 11825 0400-0456 9780 11820 15110 17870 0630-0656 9655 11830 15440 17770 1300-1356 11830 15105 1800-1856 9635 11830 2130-2156 7210 9535 11940 15465 2300-2356 6140 7265 9645 11940 FRENCH 0200-0256 6135 9715 0600-0626 9655 11730 1100-1156 11830 11895 15250 15380 1700-1756 9535 11765 2100-2126 7250 9715 GERMAN 0700-0726 7225 9790 1200-1256 9515 11775 1900-1956 7165 7215 9590 9770 ITALIAN 1430-1456 7170* new time, ex 2030-2056 1630-1656 7135* 1830-1856 7130* ROMANAIN 0100-0156 9525 11970 0200-0256 9525 11970 0800-0856 11970 15270 15370 17805 Sun Curierul romanesc 0900-0956 11875 11945 15430 15450 Sun Curierul romanesc 1000-1056 11830 11990 15250 15380 Sun Curierul romanesc 1200-1256 7155* 11920 15195 1400-1456 9760 11965 1600-1656 7195 9690 1700-1756 9625 11865 1800-1856 9625 11765 2000-2056 9755 11785 RUSSIAN 0530-0556 7285 9555 1430-1456 9690 11955 1600-1656 7120 9680 SERBIAN 1530-1556 6175* 1730-1756 6130* 1930-1956 6110* SPANISH 0000-0056 9760 9775 11935 11970 0300-0356 6155 9645 9700 11725 2000-2056 11940 15465 2200-2256 9575 11940 UKRAINIAN 1500-1526 7210* 1700-1726 7240* 1900-1926 7175* (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 4 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Summer A-06 of Radio Radonezh in Russian: 1700-1900 on 6245 IRK 250 kW / 290 deg to WeEu (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 4 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Additional transmissions for Voice of Russia in DRM mode: 0800-1000 on 12060 MSK 035 kW / 265 deg to WeEu 1600-1800 on 9810 MSK 035 kW / 265 deg to WeEu (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 4 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. R. Tikhiy Okean can now be heard at http://www.ptr-vlad.ru/radio/ In the middle of the page they presently have MP3 audio files for all of March and April 1, 2 and 3. The Russian music and folk songs are great! (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT KITTS & NEVIS. 555 kHz, ZIZ R., Basseterre, audible on 31 Mar, 2303-2328, English, BBC WS relay for newscast till 2306, advertisements, local newscast 2309; 53442, adjacent QRM de Spain 558 + Algeria 549. Strong, steady signal only spoiled by that QRM. At this time at much earlier too, quite a number of Brazilian stations were audible as early as 2110 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. Re: ``Pretty good collision on 13710 kHz, March 27 at 1510 UT; couldn't stay with it to figure out, but my guess is Riyadh and Kashi (Glenn Hauser-OK-USA, dxld Mar 28)`` 13710 1300-1600 27-29 KAS 500 308 CHN CRI RTC 13710 1500-1800 37,38 RIY 500 295 HQ ARABIC ARS ARS ARS (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX April 4 via DXLD) ** SPAIN. The REE Spanish program grid at http://www.rtve.es/ree/progrm-cob.htm inexplicably omits the TIME column on the right for the portion to the Américas! It also omits the fact that Nuestro Sello, the classical music show, was heard on Monday at 2030-2100 on 15110, and presumably every weekday (Glenn Hauser, OK, April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. RUSSIA, A-06 of Southern Sudan Interactive Radio Instruction in English: 0630-0700 on 15535 ARM 300 kW / 188 deg to EaAf Mon-Fri (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 4 via DXLD) ** SWAZILAND. NATIONAL RADIO CATCHES FIRE April 4, 2006 By ANDnetwork.com A fierce fire has gutted down the Swaziland Broadcasting and Information Service (SBIS) double storey-building. The incident happened last Friday morning causing extensive damage to three offices utilised by the government propaganda newsletter - Swaziland Today. Police Spokesperson Superintendent Vusi Masuku squashed suspicion that the country's only radio station was bombed. Masuku said the fire was caused by faulty electricity wires. http://www.andnetwork.com/app?service=direct/0/Home/$StorySummary$0.$DirectLink$2&sp=l27809 (via Mike Terry, UK, dxldyg via DXLD) Not counting TWR (gh) ** SWEDEN [and non]. The Week of Confusion scheduling mixup at Montreal/Sackville continued for the entire week, but by April 2, 15240 was no longer via Sackville until 1500 in Swedish, just -1400 in English. April 4 check at 1344 found 15240 Sackville in English running some 10 seconds ahead of // 15735 direct from Sweden, with ``this month`s edition of GreenScan``, i.e. first Tuesdays (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. R Thailand in A-06 season: 1575 1030-1100 BAK 1000 145 THAI 1575 1100-1130 BAK 1000 145 Mon-Fri THAI 1575 1200-1230 BAK 1000 145 Mon-Fri THAI 1575 1500-1530 BAK 1000 145 Mon-Fri THAI 1575 2230-2400 BAK 1000 145 Sun-Thu THAI 5890 0030-0100 GB 250 190 ENGL 5890 0100-0200 GB 250 190 THAI 5890 0300-0330 DL 250 180 ENGL 5890 0330-0430 DL 250 180 THAI 6030 1130-1145 UDO 250 30 LAO 6030 1145-1200 UDO 250 284 BURM 7155 1900-2000 UDO 250 329 ENGL <<< 7260 1100-1115 UDO 250 144 VIET 7260 1115-1130 UDO 250 144 KHME 9570 0000-0030 UDO 250 276 ENGL 9680 1800-1900 UDO 250 300 THAI 9680 2000-2015 UDO 250 321 GERM 9680 2015-2030 UDO 250 321 FREN 9680 2030-2045 UDO 250 321 ENGL 9680 2045-2115 UDO 250 313 THAI 9830 1400-1430 UDO 250 132 ENGL 9835 1230-1300 UDO 250 132 ENGL 11685 1300-1315 UDO 250 54 JAPA 11685 1315-1330 UDO 250 30 MAND 11685 1330-1400 UDO 250 54 THAI 11870 1000-1100 UDO 250 138 THAI 11870 1200-1215 UDO 250 154 MALA 17655 0530-0600 UDO 250 321 ENGL - morning service to Moscow / Eastern Europe. (Wolfgang Büschel, BCDX April 4 via DXLD) ** TURKMENISTAN. Exact schedule for Turkmen Radio news in English is: Mon-Sat 1500-1510 on 5015, 1640-1650 on 4930. All confirmed during March (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, April BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) And T-stan does not observe DST, stays UT +5 per WRTH, Timeanddate.com (gh, DXLD) ** UGANDA [non]. /GERMANY R Rhino - closed ?? In B05 Radio Rhino International Africa in English from Jan 9: 1500-1530 on 17870 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg Mon-Fri to EaAf, [xWed/Fri] But I see the final date, 09 Jan to 28 Febr, 2006 on their website: http://www.radiorhino.org/ (on request by Dave Kenny-UK, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 2 via DXLD) ** U K . SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES IN BBCWS PROGRAMMING --- AND MORE FREQUENCIES DISAPPEARING The BBC World Service is making significant schedule changes with the launch of the A-06 broadcast season on 26th March. Many of these changes were announced last summer, when the BBC announced plans to emphasize news and factual programming on weekdays, with arts, music and feature programming on the weekends. Along with these schedule changes, unfortunately, come further reductions in shortwave service targeting the Western hemisphere. Frequency changes All frequencies targeting South America and Central America have been closed down; the only remaining shortwave frequencies targeting the Americas is the following service targeting the Caribbean: Transmissions will emanate from Montsinéry, French Guiana except for the 2100 transmission from the USA (Greenville?) 1100-1300 Daily 11865 2100-2200 Daily 15390 2100-2130 Mon-Fri 11675 2200-2300 Daily 5975 Gone is the early morning service from 0900 to 1100, the early evening service from 2300 to 0100, and the late evening service from 0200 to 0400 targeting South and Central America. It appears that frequencies targeting Africa and Europe were not substantially reduced, so these will become even more important for daytime listening. Based on the collective notes of listeners who posted frequency suggestion on the swprograms e-list one year ago, here are some alternatives. Africa programming: 0300–0600 7160 kHz 0400–0500 7120 kHz 1200–1600 17640 kHz (actually signs on 0800) 1600–2100 17830 khz (signs on 1100) 1600-1800 17885 kHz (West Africa), 15105 (North Africa) 1600–2300 15400 kHz Europe programming: 0400–0700 6195 1600–1900 12095 kHz (North Africa target, but the European stream) 1700–2100 9410 kHz As always, your mileage may vary widely with these alternatives. Programming changes There are significant structural changes in program timings – gone are programs beginning at 45 minutes past the hour. Instead, programs begin at :06 (after the news), :20 (World Business Report and Sports Roundup, typically), :32, :41 (Analysis, Business Daily), and :50 (Sports Roundup). Programs formerly timed at 15 minutes are now squeezed to 9 minutes. New programs Some cynics might think that the letters BBC now stand for ``Business Broadcasting Corporation``, because there is a dramatic increase in the number of business programs broadcast on a daily basis. Depending on which version of the BBC World Service you`re listening to, there are 9 to 12 editions of business-specific programming each day, along with the business segments that appear in Newshour and The World Today. A new, weekday 18-minutes business program is Business Daily (2132 M- F, 15390 kHz, Europe webcast, and XM). The BBC describes Business Daily as ``...a new 18 minute daily program to complement daily business and economics news on the World Service. Business Daily is a highly produced magazine programme dealing with global business and economics in the widest sense, focusing on issues and trends, providing context, reportage, debate, opinion and in-depth interviews, with a 3-minute business news update at the end. Other airtimes include 0141 (Sirius/XM), 0741 (Europe webcast), 1041 (Sirius/XM), and 1541 (Africa SW). Business Daily will also be available on-demand. Business Brief is a shortened version of Business Daily, and is described as ``A 9-minute debate on what really matters in the world of business and work``. It airs only on Sirius (and NPR`s service) at the following weekday times (unless days otherwise shown) 0050, 0450, 2120 (Sundays only), 2250 (Sundays-Thursdays). Culture Shock is a new weekly program that looks across the world at trends in cultural expression - what are people thinking, buying, doing and why. Airtimes and delivery platforms include Mondays 1532 (XM), 1932 (XM), and 2132 (Africa SW), plus Tuesdays 0032 (XM) and 0532 (XM), Saturdays 1632 (Sirius). You won’t hear Documentary 3 announced as such; it is a new documentary that replaces Masterpiece and will have the arts as a focus. Airtimes and platforms include Fridays 0806 (Europe webcast), 1106 (Europe webcast), 1306 (Africa SW), 1406 (XM) 1906 (XM and Europe Webcast), and 2306 (Europe webcast) plus Saturdays 0006 (XM), 0506 (XM), and 1306 (Africa SW). Documentary 3 will also be available on- demand, most likely. The Beat is a weekly half-hour magazine show which provides a journalistic guide to popular music globally and the industry that surrounds it. Airtimes include Thursdays 0832 (Europe webcast), 1432 (Europe webcast), 2132 (Africa SW), 2232 (Europe webcast), Fridays 0032 (Africa SW, XM) and 0532 (XM). Close Up is a weekly half-hour documentary taking listeners deep into creative trends, people and events, or giving new insights into well- established artistic movements and personalities. Fridays 0932 (Europe webcast), 1432 (Europe webcast), 1532 (XM), 1832 (Europe webcast), 1932 (XM), 2132 (Africa SW), 2232 (Europe webcast); Saturdays 0032 (XM, Africa SW) and 0532 (XM), Sundays 0132 (Sirius), 0732 (Sirius), 1732 (Sirius), Changes to existing programs Several programs are being renamed: Go Digital becomes Digital Planet; Health Matters will now be Health Check; People and Politics becomes Politics UK; Play of the Week becomes BBC World Drama; and, Write On becomes Over To You. Heart and Soul is extended to half an hour, incorporating facets of In Praise of God. It aims to bring understanding of the world’s main religions and the beliefs and actions of their followers, and explores the personal side of religious belief and gives insights into worship in different faiths. Outlook had been rumored to be dropped in favor of a new magazine program, but Outlook has now been recast as an hour-long human- interest current affairs program. Airtimes include weekdays at 0206 (Europe webcast), 0832 (Sirius; 30-minute edition), 0906 (Europe webcast), 1306 (XM, Europe webcast, Europe SW), 1432 (Africa SW; 30- minute edition), 1806 (Sirius), 2132 (Sirius; 30-minute edition), 2306 (XM); Tuesdays-Saturdays 0306 (XM). Programs leaving the air The end of March saw the last editions of the following programs: British News, Everywoman, In Concert, In Praise of God, Masterpiece, Music Review, The Music Biz, The Music Feature, Off the Shelf, Pick of the World, Sports International, White Label. Caribbean shortwave programming Overlaying the new shortwave schedule on the remaining Caribbean frequencies yields the following. News begins each hour. 1100: (M-F) Caribbean Report, Sport Caribbean, Caribbean Magazine, World Briefing, Analysis, Sports Roundup; (Saturdays) World Briefing, Politics UK; (Sundays) World Briefing, Heart and Soul. 1200: (M-F) Caribbean Business, Caribbean Report, Caribbean Magazine, Outlook (30 minutes); (Saturdays and Sundays) Newshour. 2100: (M-F) Sports Roundup, Caribbean Report, Business Daily, Sports Roundup (twice in the same hour); (Saturdays) World Briefing, Sports Roundup, Discovery (Sundays) World Briefing, Sports Roundup, The Instant Guide, Over to You. 2200: (M-F) World Briefing, World Business Report, (Mondays) Health Check, (Tuesdays) Digital Planet, (Wednesdays) Discovery, (Thursdays) One Planet, (Fridays) Science In Action; (Saturdays) From Our Own Correspondent, World Business Review; (Sundays) Documentary 1, Heart And Soul. Richard`s take It`s an obvious disappointment to see further reductions in shortwave usage that would be generally audible here in North America. That makes the BBC even more difficult to hear as a casual shortwave listener. Of course, the BBC continues to emphasize other delivery platforms, such as satellite radio, live webcasts, on-demand webcasts, and now podcasts. Off the Shelf will be missed by many, as the program became a habitual listen for many in the late evening. That seems to be a net loss. Business Daily seems somewhat redundant to World Business Report, but the focus on issues and trends, with a helping of analysis and insight, makes the program potentially worth a daily listen. The creation of a new documentary series should bring more variety in subject matter to the World Service, and variety is good. The loss of a British News segment is unfortunate; I remember when there was a 3 day/week program called Network UK that provided a good insight into domestic UK stories and events; alas, domestic British news is now underreported on the World Service. The next significant improvement I hope the BBC World Service adopts is a deeper archive of its non-news programming, such as From Our Own Correspondent, Assignment, and Analysis. The ABC’s Radio National generally has a four-week rolling archive, and that seems like a decent inventory. Other April features There is a one-time hour long special, London Calling, airing Sunday, April 2nd, at 1300 (XM, Sirius, Europe webcast), 1800 (XM) and 1900 (Europe webcast) that is slated to cover the end of several of the foreign language services. I am not sure if on-demand listening will be offered. Not sure if this will be Bush House spin or if an opportunity for debate will exist. Podcasting The World Today one-hour broadcast is now distilled down to a 15- minute podcast called World Today Select (Rich Cuff, Easy Listening, April NASWA Journal via DXLD) Too bad we didn`t know about the London Calling special in time, and I don`t find it ondemand either (gh, DXLD) I am told that the special will be archived as part of a special website charting the history of the World Service that should be launched by the end of Summer. Meanwhile "London Calling" is listed in the BBC Radio Player http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/worldservice_promo.shtml but the link is currently misconfigured. They're working on fixing the link but haven't said when it will be fixed (Rich Cuff, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Connects at 1800 UT April 4; now to find an hour free to listen to it (gh, DXLD) ** UNITED NATIONS [non]. Missing link? Hi Glenn, I was trying to get UN Radio today APR 4 at 1730z, scheduled English on 17810 and 15495, according to the A 06 schedule in one of your recent editions. Today on both channels (7150 was inaudible) when I tuned in at 1733 there was a tape loop of soft music that ended abruptly at 1745. Did the UN studio forget to send the program? A summer time shifting problem? And why cut it off at 1745 if the program is supposed to go until 1800? I did get the UN program last week at this time (Jim Renfrew, Byron NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Jim, Yes, I expect it was a feed/time/mixup problem, but is scheduled only until 1745 (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Just tuning around, April 4 at 1404, came upon some of the new VOA frequencies for Talk to America, first with news, such as 15490 which was strong but with echo. Once TTA started at 1405, I also found the old frequency via Philippines, 9760 carries TTA now, and it was running 2 or 3 words behind 15490. At 1432 also on 15580, which was ahead of 9760, but within a reverb of synchronizing with 15490. At 1434, good signal also on new 17720, running behind 15490. If Cairo is still on 15490 in Farsi as previously scheduled at this time, no sign of it here. 17720, 15580 and 15490 are too new to appear in the online references, so can anyone say what the transmitter sites are? O, I see Wolfgang also showed 17720 as São Tomé, 15580 Botswana, 15490 Lampertheim (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NEW VOA ENGLISH-TO-AFRICA PROGRAM STREAM LAUNCHED. VOA press release, 31 March 2006: http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2006-03-31-voa63.cfm See program schedule http://www.voanews.com/english/english-radio-schedule.cfm which shows all programs, but only the two shortwave frequencies available throughout the transmission. For all shortwave and medium wave frequencies directed to Africa, the user must exit the English- to-Africa web page, go back to the voanews.com home page, then find Frequencies, then find the page containing English frequencies http://www.voanews.com/english/about/frequenciesAtoZ_e.cfm The VOA English transmission to Africa at 2100-2200 UT, 10 p.m. in Nigeria, including the popular music programs (including jazz and country), was dropped to free up funds for shortwave frequencies for the rescheduled Talk to America, now at 1400-1500 UT, 3:00 p.m. in Nigeria. VOA's most successful frequency, 1530 kHz medium wave via São Tomé, though audible only at night, now signs off at 2100 UT, 10:00 p.m. in Nigeria. English program guide at voanews.com Program Guide http://www.voanews.com/english/about/ProgramGuide.cfm page still shows old programs, times, and frequencies for VOA News Now (kimandrewelliott.com April 4 via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. It is that time again! Melissa Scott has pulled Gene Scott off their programming this week to get commitments from the listeners. It is a 3 hour loop tape that began last night around 0200 Z. It will continue all week (Chaz Lambruzco, 1653 UT April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3 hours! Better(?) than three minutes; I had noticed her instead of DGS but could not bring myself to pause and listen for 3 seconds (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Hello Dean, Wonder if Voice of Joy is continuing in the new season on the same schedule as before, Saturday 1400-? UT on 6220 via Russia, or will there be changes? Regards, (Glenn Hauser to Dean Phillips, via DXLD) Glenn, New schedule for now is 1900 UT Saturdays on 6220. Hope you are having a blessed year! (The Voice of Joy Music Hour, Dean Phillips, April 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I was just barely able to hear the KCKN-AM 1020 DX Test Monday morning on my GE Superadio III in Detroit, MI. The first batch was 0217 EDT, with sweep tones only audible, way under KDKA. About 25 minutes later, it was a little better, with a sweep tone, Morse code, and sweep tones audible. Unfortunately, KDKA was the dominant force in here, and the only things I heard on KCKN were way under KDKA...had KDKA not been there, I'm almost sure KCKN would have gotten out very well. There was also a point in between where I thought I may have heard some Country music, but KDKA was so strong, I was unable to make out exactly what that was. Still, it's enough to count as a successful catch. Many thanks to the staff of KCKN for putting this test together! Regards, (Eric Berger, Detroit, MI, April 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AM DX (EDT): 1020, KCKN, NM, Roswell, 4-3, 0206-0330, P thru strong KDKA, DX TEST with classic country music, announcers, ads, sweep tones, Morse code ID’s, I was able to hear one voice ID (barely) NEW! STATE #44! I have heard 10 FM stations from New Mexico but that state would never show up on AM, until now! Many thanks to those that arranged and conducted the test! This was a much needed log. Oldies on 1020 is most likely KJJK, I have heard them during the wee hours a few times; in fact during the DX test I thought I heard Unchained Melody which didn’t make sense for KCKN. Good DX! (Michael Procop, Bedford, Ohio (Cleveland), amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) KCKN-1020's sweeps and Morse Code ID's (and the occasional bit of country music) made it here to the Boston area. It was well behind KDKA as you would expect, but - especially at 3:41 a.m. EDT (1:41 MDT, 0741 UTC) - the code and tones stood out well enough for a report. Though I was asleep at the time, I'd set up my Drake R8A with the Pogo MP3 recorder (which I had just jacked up with a 1 GB SD memory card). The use of that recently-acquired recorder for overnight audio capture went just fine. I used both feedlines to the east-west Flag antenna and phased them to null down WBZ-1030 (to the southeast). Besides reducing splatter from WBZ, this also reduced possible on-channel QRM from the two Venezuelans (R. Margarita, R. Calendario). Other than a powerhouse KDKA signal, the only other "stuff" noted on 1020 besides KCKN was the Cuban Reloj station, which luckily wasn't as strong as it is sometimes. Later in the day Monday, I moved the audio file to a laptop and used Total Recorder to snip out the clip of interest. This was forwarded with a short e-mail report to Don Niccum at KCKN, and a copy to DX test coordinator Les Rayburn. This is New Mexico #1 for me from eastern MA (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, Billerica, MA, USA, 15 miles / 24 km NW of Boston, NRC-AM via DXLD) Hi Mark -- Thank you for the interesting post. It seems most of the northern folks in #MWDX were having significant co-channel issues with Reloj in the null of KDKA last night, but I think most ended up getting good copy of at least the sweeps and code. Luckily, Reloj was never an issue for me here in Memphis. I initially tried to simply null KDKA with the Wellbrook ALA-330S loop, but NNE null on KDKA also pushed KCKN down too much. I fired up the DXP-5A phaser to phase the Wellbrook against a MFJ-1024 active whip, which cleaned things up rather nicely. I also have a local slopper a few miles from this QTH, Spanish broadcaster WGSF-1030, which fortunately wasn't much of an issue during the test. I used the outstanding Winradio G313e IF recording feature to record the entire 1010-1030 kHz spectrum from 0559-0724 UT. This allows me to record session to the pc hard drive and then to play back the session and use the entire range of G313 features to demodulate all signals with the 20 kHz bandwidth for best reception. During my initial play- back of the recording this morning, I found that I could tweak the signal for even better readability than my "live" session last night. This is a very impressive feature of the G313, now I only wish I could an even wider spectrum, like 50 kHz. I will go through the session this evening and record some of the best parts with Total Recorder, then convert them to .WAV tracks and burn to CD to include with my snail mail report. This is NM #2 for me, my records show I have a KPAR-1190 Albuquerque QSL around here from March 20, 1978, which if memory serves was also courtesy of a DX test, but I did not see the QSL. I know it has to be here somewhere, gotta dig deeper. =) Thanks to the good folks at KCKN who coordinated this maintenance test the the DX community, special thanks and huge kudos to Les for his outstanding efforts (Brandon Jordan, Memphis, Tennessee, Winradio G313e, Icom R75, Palstar R30C, Sony ICF-6800W, Ten Tec RX320, Member: NASWA, IRCA, NRC, AM DX Tests Info: http://www.dxtests.info ibid.) Well, I set up overnight recording for this one - I was really sick over the weekend, and needed the sleep. I honestly was not expecting to hear the test anyhow, since KTNQ is at 111 degrees from my location (though 26 miles away), while KCKN is almost due East. I figured that in order to null KTNQ enough, I'd wipe out my chances of hearing KCKN. But I tried anyhow, figuring that this is probably the only way I'd be able to get them, considering the signal that KTNQ puts in here. So I set it up for the best null possible on KTNQ & went to bed. This morning I copied the mp3 to my USB key, and took it to work. Unfortunately, the USB key took this opportunity to die on me, so I wasn't able to listen to the recording until tonight. Well, imagine my surprise, when at the :17 mark, I began hearing the morse-code IDs and sweep tones. I'm really impressed. I never expected to log anyone else under KTNQ, particularly a station 799 miles away. This is a real testament to the ability of the sweep tones and morse code IDs to penetrate through anything. This is NM #6 for me. Thank you to everyone who made this possible! (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA, DX-398 / RS Loop, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. I couldn't help feeling a little chill in the spine when I saw the small number of Air America stations as compared to thousands of holdings of the translator entrepreneurs! (Jim Renfrew, Byron NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, the Evil is likely to overwhelm the Good... 73, (Glenn, DXLD) ** U S A. Air America Arbitron Ratings --- Glenn: Just saw this in a conservative radio blog --- this must be why the Air America founders want to buy their own stations. Last time I checked, Air America wasn't even in the top 20 in New York City. Considering the fact that NYC only has something like 25 AM stations total, that's pretty sad. My guess is that the NY Times ran the puff piece today to distract attention from the sad rating news below... FYI, I'm not trying to make political points here, as I am a registered Independent (I was a lifelong registered Democrat, but became an Independent in 1999, when my party left me, not the other way around). I've also taken numerous courses in journalism, including broadcast journalism, and was an on-air newscaster on an FM station in the early 1980s. In fact, I've tried to listen to Air America many times over the past 2 years, but their overall program quality and broadcast professionalism absolutely suck (pardon my French), and their "announcers" have the maturity of some of the 9th graders I supervised when I was Station Manager at my high school carrier current station in the early 1970s. Aloha, (Craig Seufert (aka WPE1HNS from the old Hank Bennett days), Meredith, NH USA, April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2006/03/air-america-ratings-new-york-city.html Two days into the latest batch of big-city Arbitron radio ratings releases, not even one piece of good news has yet emerged for Air America. With the liberal radio network's second anniversary just days away, that leaves little to celebrate when it comes to real audience growth. After fresh numbers from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, San Diego and elsewhere, here's a quick scorecard: --- In New York City, temporary network flagship WLIB-AM showed losses. From an overall 1.4 audience share last month, it fell to a 1.2 this time around. In the broadest measurement of listeners, this critically important station still is unable to crack the top 20. Meanwhile, Limbaugh affiliate WABC showed gains: from a 3.4 to a 3.7. --- Still stuck in the Southland's bottom tier, KTLK-AM/ Los Angeles moved from a tiny 0.8 to this month's 0.9 share. In order to avoid continuing to pay station owner Clear Channel high fees to run Air America programming there, KTLK needs to see dramatic ratings improvement. A quarterly finish above 1.0 would help a bit. Conservative KFI held a 3.7 overall share. --- In Chicago, Air America's WCPT-AM hasn't budged, still turning in a miniscule 0.7 share. Since last summer, the station has been unable to show any growth. Rush's WLS-AM gained, moving from a 3.7 to a 4.0. --- Both Hub stations combined couldn't bring the slightest improvement for the liberal network, as WXKS and WKOX-AM/ Boston again reveal a paltry 0.5 share. Only three distant, tiny outlets showed up with smaller numbers. --- Especially ominous news has emerged from San Diego, where the previously somewhat successful KLSD-AM has seen gains erased. From a respectable 3.1 last fall, it's taken a huge hit, now down to a 1.8 share. Representing the second phase of a three-month ratings period, final Winter 2006 Arbitron figures will emerge in April. With nearly all of Air America's stations still ranked outside the top twenty, however, how could the network ever expect to attract a significant advertiser base? For the network's coming second anniversary celebrations, expect the bubbly to be covered by our friend George Soros (via Craig Seufert, NH, April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 99.9 MHz, FLORIDA, "WECX" Eckerd College, St. Petersburg; carrier current station, mid-day 1 April, with retro rock/punk music as noted near the campus. No trace of 96.3 MHz St. Petersburg reggae pirate or the long-defunct 96.7 St. Petersburg soul/funk pirates. (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W Visit my "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html or: http://www.geocities.com/geigertree/flortis.html DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. HIGHWAY STATIONS APPLY FOR A BOOSTER ATOP THE STRATOSPHERE KHYZ(FM), one of Howard Anderson's "Highway Stations" that cover the freeways from southern California to Las Vegas, has applied for a booster transmitter atop the Stratosphere Hotel in Las Vegas. The booster's antenna height above ground is listed as 337 meters (1,105 feet). Read about this neat and unusual application at the first URL below; the FCC's engineering summary is at the second URL: http://blog.recnet.com/?postid=76 http://tinyurl.com/l58pp (CGC Communicator April 4, via Kevin Redding ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. BLOWTORCH USED TO TOPPLE FOUR TOWERS AT KMIA(AM) Vandals took a torch and toppled four 197-foot towers that were part of a multi-tower array in Black Canyon City, AZ, authorities said Wednesday. Knocked off the air was Entravision's KMIA, 710 kHz, a Spanish station serving Phoenix. The towers have been the subject of a contentious lawsuit involving Black Canyon City residents opposed to the tower structures. According to Bob Dreste, KMIA was known as KUET before they flipped to Spanish three years ago. An old photo of two of KMIA's top loaded towers is included at the second URL. Bob writes, "Kinda odd now with four [KMIA] towers "Missing In Action." http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0330towers0330.html http://earthsignals.com/add_CGC/Images/KUET_2_twr.jpg (CGC Communicator April 4, via Kevin Redding ABDX via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. Re 6-057: No Horacito!!! Desafortunadamente no puede escucharse al SODRE en ninguna de sus frecuencias. La busco permanentemente. Es más: la última semana, desde Villa Elisa, frente al Rio de la Plata, en una zona excelente de escucha, también la rastreé en todas las QRGs pero nada. Otra, ya que estamos con Uruguay, que no está saliendo en onda corta es Emisora Ciudad de Montevideo, aunque convengamos que es muy irregular; opera sólo los fines de semana y generalmente comienza a operar en OC desde mediados de año hasta el Carnaval. Un abrazo, Horacio!!! (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, April 4, condig list via DXLD) Siendo así, se puede decir que, en este momento, Uruguay en radiodifusion de onda corta --- no existe (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, ibid.) ** UZBEKISTAN. Radio Tashkent [International] ceases service on April 1st, 2006. From tomorrow, April 1st, Radio Tashkent International will cease all foreign services of RTI, also on Internet. All appeals and protests of the international RTI audience was unsuccessful. Closure of RTI is a bitter reality (via letter from RTI, Mrs. Raisa Chismatulina-UZB, March 31, 2006) Originally in German? Would they say something about this directly in English? (gh, DXLD) I heard their English transmission 1330 March 31st via the internet. No mention of any closedown during the broadcast. Webpage is still up but news stories not updated since March 18th and audio feeds not working (Mike Barraclough, April 4, World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** VANUATU. Vanuatu now seems to operate 1900-0630 UT on 7260 kHz and 0630-1115 UT on 3945 kHz. But that could change at any time! (Barry Hartley, NZ, wwdxc BC-DX Mar 30 via DXLD) ** VATICAN. VATICAN RADIO STARTS NEW DRM BROADCAST TO NORTH AMERICA Starting from 26 March 2006 Vatican Radio has added a new broadcast to North America on 9750 kHz at 2300-2345 UT. This broadcast is scheduled till 28 October 2006 and is carried out from Santa Maria di Galeria, 60 kW, antenna 4/4/.5 beamed at 300 . (Source: Vatican Radio via DRM Software Radio Forum) # posted by Andy @ 08:50 UT April 4 (Media Network blog via DXLD) languages? o, ones & zeroes (gh) ** VIETNAM. Voice of Vietnam heard in English to Europe via Moosbrunn 1700-1725 on 9725. They mentioned that Quan Su Street is under reconstruction at the moment and all mail should be sent to 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam (Edwin Southwell, England, April World DX Club Contact via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. April 3 at 1630 noted unID station on 4743, drifting slowly upwards. Mostly IND/PAK style music with brief announcements. Carrier was fair but audio not too strong. Closed down at 1700 after brief announcement by female. Had by then drifted to 4744.5. Maybe AIR Port Blair or Leh with transmitter problem (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. April 4 at 1401, tone test on 15810. Probably Cairo, only station listed here, having just concluded Indonesian service (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Continued thanks for your great program - at a time when so many are giving up on shortwave, it's comforting to know you are still there (Phillip Dampier, NY) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ THE HD RADIO ALLIANCE All is not well in HD Radioland. A well known tabletop radio reportedly has noisy switching components and needs an external antenna (e.g. folded dipole) to receive much of anything. And before HD Radio can take off (if it ever does), other issues must be resolved including outrageous receiver prices and the lack of HD radios in cars. On the positive side, the broadcast industry is starting to promote HD Radio and multicast programming. The two URLs below let you see what is being told to the public, and to broadcasters. Flash: Boston Acoustics has decided to include a "second antenna" in its Recepter HD packaging. Consumers, who know nothing about antennas, are not going to be thrilled with this device. See the third URL below. All in all, HD Radio is the biggest series of missteps we have seen in a long time. http://www.hdradio.com/index.php (Consumer Site) http://www.hdradioalliance.com/index.php (Broadcaster's Site) http://www.rwonline.com/dailynews/one.php?id=8770 (New Antenna) INiquity's IBOC list http://www.ibiquity.com/cgi-bin/liststations?state=&go=Go%21 (Kevin Redding, Burnt Lizard, ABDX via DXLD) DREAM SOFTWARE FOR DRM With regard to software, it is now possible to download a full windows version of Dream from http://www.rarewares.org/aac.html about half way down the page under 'Dream Decoder', you will also require the qt- mt230nc.dll for which there is a link in the same block. I have been able to get very good results on 7265 kHz Deutsche Welle at around 0700-0800z using a Ewe antenna which is generally West to East, i.e. over the Pacific/U.S. to Germany. The same transmission is also heard on 6130 kHz but not as well. I use the Winradio G313i receiver, and the latest software which now allows you to send the IF stream directly to a sound-card. The Dream software requires you to be able to have an IF bandwidth of around 12 kHz. The Dream software is freeware, unlike the Winradio DRM software which requires you to purchase a DRM licence. Regards, (Mike Simpson, Penrith, NSW, Australia, April 4, ARDXC via DXLD) DRM: see also NEW ZEALAND; RUSSIA; VATICAN Enclosed a press release just received from Deutsche Welle, also posted at http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1953603,00.html (no English version found so far). Gist: The start of DRM receiver production for the mass market has been announced at a meeting of the DRM consortium at Istanbul (no further details given, just this plain sentence). Peter Senger again elected as head of the consortium for another two years (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: DRM RE-ELECTS ITS CHAIRMAN, ADDS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE POSTS, AND WELCOMES FOUR NEW COMPANIES TO ITS STEERING BOARD For Immediate Release: April 3, 2006 Contact: Siriol Evans, DRM, pressoffice @ drm.org Istanbul – During board elections held last week, the Digital Radio MondialeTM (DRMTM) consortium re-elected its Chairman, Peter Senger of Deutsche Welle, to a fifth, consecutive, two-year term. Senger has served as DRM Chairman since the consortium’s inception in 1998. DRM’s long-time Vice Chairman and Treasurer, Jan Hoek of Radio Netherlands, stepped down from his DRM role. After being appointed Director General of Radio Netherlands last year, Hoek had indicated he would leave the post as of this election. Radio Netherlands, however, remains on the DRM Steering Board. DRM elected two new Vice Chairmen -- John Sykes of the BBC World Service and Alain Delorme of TDF. Albert Heuberger of Fraunhofer IIS was elected to fill the Treasurer role. The voting took place in Istanbul last week, where DRM held its annual General Assembly and board meetings, this time hosted by Turkish Radio & Television (TRT) under the auspices of the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU). DRM’s elections take place every two years. The consortium also added three members to its newly created Executive Committee: Dietmar Schill of Sony International Europe; Pierre Vasseur of Thomson Broadcast & Multimedia (formerly called Thales); and Jochen Huber of TRANSRADIO SenderSysteme Berlin AG. The Executive Board will be chaired by Albert Heuberger of Fraunhofer IIS. The Executive Board consists of the aforementioned four members, as well as the DRM Chairman, the DRM Vice Chairmen, the Technical Committee Chairman (Donald Messer of Radio Netherlands) and the Commercial Committee Chairman (Michel Penneroux of TDF). Lindsay Cornell of BBC New Media & Technology was selected as Technical Committee Vice Chairman, and Gary Edgerton of WRN was chosen as Commercial Committee Vice Chairman. DRM elected four new companies to its 18-member Steering Board: Radio France, RadioScape Ltd., TRANSRADIO SenderSysteme Berlin AG and WRN. They join re-elected Steering Board members the BBC, Coding Technologies GmbH, Continental Electronics Corporation, Deutsche Welle, Fraunhofer IIS, Hitachi Kokusai Electric Ltd., Radio Netherlands, Robert Bosch GmbH, RTL Group, Sony International Europe, TDF, Thomson Broadcast & Multimedia (formerly Thales), T-Systems Business Services GmbH and VT Communications. The DRM consortium, founded in 1998, includes broadcasters, broadcasting associations, network operators, manufacturers, NGOs and others. The DRM consortium has nearly 100 members from more than 30 nations. DRM is online at http://www.drm.org. About DRM DRM is the world`s only open standard, universal, digital on-air system for short-wave, medium-wave/AM and long-wave. DRM has received the endorsement of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC). The system provides near-FM audio quality and excellent reception, even over long distances. While DRM currently covers the broadcasting bands below 30 MHz, the DRM consortium voted in 2005 to extend the system to the broadcasting bands up to 120 MHz. The design, development and testing phases are expected to be completed by 2007-2009. Interested consumers will be able to order DRM-capable radios online in the coming months. Consumers are advised to stay tuned to www.drm.org for product availability bulletins and ordering information. DRM Members Commercial Radio Australia (Australia); TDP, TDP Radio (Belgium); Nautel Ltd., Radio Canada International/CBC (Canada); Academy of Broadcasting Science of China, Communications University of China (China); RIZ Transmitters (Croatia); HFCC (Czech Republic); ESPOL, HCJB World Radio (Ecuador); Digita Oy, Kymenlaakso Polytechnik (Finland); CCETT, DIGIDIA, DRF Committee, Radio France, Radio France Internationale, TDF, Thomson Broadcast & Multimedia (formerly Thales) (France); ADDX, APR, Atmel Germany GmbH, Coding Technologies GmbH, Deutsche Welle, DeutschlandRadio, DLM, Sender Europa 1, Fraunhofer IIS, Georg-Simon-Ohm – University of Applied Sciences Nuremberg, Harman/Becker Automotive Systems GmbH, IRT, Medienanstalt Sachsen- Anhalt/Digitaler Rundfunk Sachsen-Anhalt, Micronas GmbH, Nero AG, Robert Bosch GmbH, Sony International Europe, SWR Südwestrundfunk, TRANSRADIO SenderSysteme Berlin AG, T-Systems Business Services GmbH, University of Applied Sciences - FH Merseburg, University of Kassel – Department of Electrical Engineering; University of Hannover, University of Ulm, VPRT (Germany); Antenna Hungaria, National Communications Authority Hungary (Hungary); Basamad College, Tehran (Iran); Hitachi Kokusai Electric Ltd., NEC Corporation, NHK (Japan); Samsung Electronics (Korea); Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting (Libya); Broadcasting Centre Europe, RTL Group (Luxembourg); Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (Malaysia); La Red de Radiodifusoras y Televisoras Educativas y Culturales de México (Mexico); Agentschap Telecom, Nozema, Radio Netherlands, Technical University Delft (Netherlands); Radio New Zealand International (New Zealand); Voice of Nigeria (Nigeria); Telenor/Norkring (Norway); Radiodifusao Portuguesa (Portugal); RTRN/Voice of Russia (Russia); Government of Catalonia, Cadena SER - Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión, Universidad del Pais Vasco, (Spain); SR International/Radio Sweden (Sweden); EBU, International Committee of the Red Cross, ITU, VSP - Verband Schweizer Privatradios (Switzerland); Arab States Broadcasting Union (Tunisia); BBC, Christian Vision, Digital One Ltd., Imagination Technologies Ltd., QinetiQ, RadioScape Ltd., VT Communications, WRN (U.K.); Broadcast Electronics, Inc., Dolby Laboratories Incorporated, Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation, Continental Electronics Corporation, Harris Corporation, Broadcast Communications Division, IBB/VOA, Kintronic Laboratories, Inc., National Association of Short- wave Broadcasters, Sangean America, Inc., TCI International, Inc., Texas Instruments Incorporated; Via Licensing Corporation (U.S.A.); and Vatican Radio (Vatican City). # # # (Siriol Evans, Director, Press & Communications, DRM phone: +44 1481 268246 cellphone: +44 7781 127019 fax: +44 1481 268247 pressoffice @ drm.org http://www.drm.org April 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ READING INTERNATIONAL RADIO GROUP, SATURDAY APRIL 8, ENGLAND The next meeting will take place on April 8th in Room 3, Reading International Solidarity Centre, 35-39 London Street, Reading. The meeting programme will include talk and audio on the the effect of shortwave radio during the Cold War, how we listen to radio today and how it might develop in the future and a look back at the start of UK commercial radio. We will be in the Global Cafe/Bar from 1400 and move into the meeting room at 1430. The meetings last about two and a half hours including a refreshment break. The meeting rooms are at the back, the entrance is via a small passage just behind the RISC shop or ask for directions in the shop or cafe. For further information email mikewb @ dircon.co.uk or phone 01462 643899 (Mike Barraclough, April 2, worlddxclub via DXLD) MUSEA +++++ BLETCHLEY PARK, ENGLAND Hello List, Bletchley Park National Codes Centre opened on Saturday 1st April from its closure on 1st November 2005. I went to see the new exhibition and was very impressed at what I saw. My own interest is well catered for by the Diplomatic Wireless Service exhibition in Hut 1 which is overseen by a very knowledgeable curator. Well worth a visit indeed, especially to those with an interest in spying, but also to those with Radio as an interest. GB2BP is a decent display with its antennae visible above Block B 73 (Paul G7VAK, April 4, monitoring monthly yg via DXLD) I visited Bletchley Park three years ago when they had a Wireless Waves Around Bletchley weekend. The curator of the Diplomatic Wireless Service exhibition, David White, gave one of the talks, Secret Intelligence Services and their communications. What impressed me was that he ignored his notes and spoke without hesitation for a sesquihour. Some of the information he gave has not been published. He then went to open the Diplomatic Wireless Hut and many tapped his knowledge further. It was not open at all times when I visited; the website now says it is open weekends only. Much of interest there for some Monitoring Monthly articles, I would feel. http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/ (Mike Barrraclough, ibid.) Well worth a visit, and because it hasn't been turned into an 'authentic multi media experience' has a strong atmosphere about the place. Lots to see, plenty of parking, and a pub just down the road if the on-site catering doesn't appeal. I think I may have visited about the same time as you, Mike. Cheers (Clive, G4SLU, ibid.) Most interesting, Clive; I too was at the Wireless Waves DWS talk by David White. His notes were hand written and apart from his turning the first page, remained untouched. I was seated by the podium. A really interesting insight to DWS activities indeed and David must have at least two books in him, given the distances he has travelled. The DWS exhibition is in Hut 1. In this new exhibition the ALVIS, NOREEN and ROCKEX machines can be seen and are the personal property of either David White or James Alexander. Lots of computing stuff too. There is a pub nearby, which as an enthusiastic teetotaler I have no need, named the 'Enigma Tavern'. 73 (Paul, G7VAK, ibid.) OLD THINGS Hi Glenn, when sorting out some old things at home, I came across several open-reel tapes with DX recordings I made in the 70s and 80s. Among them recordings from WGBS Miami (710 kHz), and Radio Líder 99 FM, Culebra, Puerto Rico (WZBS-FM?). I remember I picked up both stations with simple portable radios. I couldn't find the QSL-letters, just a bumper sticker and a leaflet from WGBS. Does somebody know what happened to these stations? They don't seem to exist any more. I wonder when it would be a good time to attempt transequatorial FM DXing via one of those "ionospheric bubbles". Perhaps some propagation wizard out there can tell us. Also found MW recordings from Cuba, Panamá, Colombia, all made with a cheap portable, and on SW several stations gone forever -TIRLR Radio Noticias del Continente (Costa Rica), Radio Clarín (Dominican Republic), Voice of Thai People, Radio Tahiti... nice times. I am transferring the recordings to digital audio before the tapes vanish! (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, April 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) After being sold, perhaps more than once, WGBS turned into ``Wacky`` WAQI, a major fueracubano outlet. There was a TE report from Paraná under PROPAGATION just recently, so you might have a chance now. Try within an hour or two after sunset (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ DXTUNERS UPDATE Hi Fellow Member, Welcome to our April 2006 DXTuners Newsletter. As usual and happily, lots of big happenings in the DXTuner Network, so we will jump right into news. First of all, the Rommele site is now online and doing business, after a long absence. This site will have 8 directional EWE antennas soon, but we are fixing the relay box as we speak, so currently 4 antenna directions are possible. This super site is in southern Sweden. Having directionality with super long-haul EWE antennas is every dx'ers dream. It is an antenna farm and does take up a lot of space, something most listeners don't have, of course. We use the Icom R-75 communications receiver here. We have several new receiver sites in the UK. The first is Chipping Campden. This is an excellent location 130m above mean sea level, with a discone a further 30m above that on a mast and has already demonstrated excellent receiving potential. Another new UK site is FM Cotswald Hills, giving good reception of local FM stations in the Cotswalds using a SQBM800MKII Ultimate whip antenna. The next new UK DXTuner is in Chislehurst, Kent, near London. It is currently equipped with a wire antenna, but will be upgraded to a better aerial soon. This new Chislehurst receiver is really something. We logged over 40 FM-pirates on this new receiver without any problem. The pirate scene is flourishing in the London area. Check it out. We have launched the DXtuner on Shetland Islands. The specific location is Sumburgh on the south end of Shetland. The current antenna is a discone, but will later be improved with an EWE antenna. The very popular Heathrow site will be offline for the time being. The operator is moving to a new location within the area. DRM Receiver in southern Sweden. We are soon launching a new software for the DRM receiver. DRM stands for Digital Radio Mondial. It is simply digital radio on shortwave with outstanding audio quality. The old software has been a little unstable. This is an exciting project here at DXTuners. While looking at DRM we have also launched a temporary FDM77 in Sarone, Italy. Sweden FM DX is back with a tuned low noise pre-amp 20dB with 1dB NF. The azimuth is aligned so it is accurate all 360 degrees around. As the amplifier is tuned, it removes unwanted adjacent noise. Even when tropo skip conditions do not exist, you can hear astoundingly far with this massive stack of antennas. Here is an update from the Las Vegas DXTuner site-op "April 24th we should be changing the receiver to an AOR-3000A to replace the PCR-100 with a damaged front end. Also will change the audio feed to stereo, with the AOR on Left channel and a trunked fire radio on the right channel. Listeners can use their audio balance control to select one or both radios. The fire radio will run free and is not controllable." Remember the Sydney node? This popular site will be returning soon, revamped with a NRD 525 receiver. Lisbon is waiting for a new radio to arrive, and soon will be online. We have all been eagerly anticipating this site, it will be an interesting location, as it is so close to northern Africa. Look for this one soon. We have as mentioned added a new site in Italy as well. The location is Sarone, and it uses the Elad FDM-77, with a 40 meter dipole. Great stuff. Also, we are looking at a possible new site in southwestern Ireland. And as I understand, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Iceland, and return of our NDB beacon site are all still in the works. Here is a note from the site-op at Helsinki "we're waiting for approval for a good QTH for the receiver. We plan to put a PCR-1000 to it, and a discone antenna for VHF/UHF and a dipole or a windom antenna for HF reception." The new Ireland receiver should be open for customers in a few weeks, with a Uniden Bearcat 780XLT. New Node Requests.. If you have a receiver you want to share with others on the DX-Tuner network, you are most welcome to contact us. The email address posted for new node requests was broken for a time, and we were not aware. So if you felt we ignored your email, we are sorry about that. We now have the link fixed, and you can check the grey box on DXTuners main page and actually contact us. Please do. DXTuners would like to thank all of our members for being friendly, and respectful to other listeners, and asking before tuning the radios. This helps to make our DXTuners Network a nice place for all of us to relax and have some fun with the radios on a lazy Sunday afternoon, for example. DXTuners membership includes newbies to shortwave listening, as well as some of the world's top DX'ers. We wish all to feel at home. There are friendships to be made, and much can be learned from veteran listeners. We at DXTuners are proud of our support team, and if you need help or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us using the "customer support" option, the link is of course on our main page. I would also like to suggest that new members check out our very good aids, FAQ's and Visual Guide. These will increase your enjoyment of the radios. We did not get to our new feature "site of the month" so it will wait until next news, but it will showcase in some detail a longtime site in the network, from the U.S.A. That's about it for this time. We hope you enjoyed the news and are enjoying your visits to the DXTuner community. Remember, the DXTuners Network home is at http://www.dxtuners.com/ Brad Wall, DXTuners Newsletter Editor, San Bernardino, California, USA http://www.dxtuners.com (via Han Hardonk, April 4, BDXC via DXLD) MANY SIRIUS SATELLITE RADIOS APPARENTLY NOT PART 15 COMPLIANT Many of the small FM transmitters built into Sirius Satellite receivers are apparently not FCC Part 15 compliant and, if so, should not be offered for sale to the public. This, because the transmitters appear to include some user-programmable frequencies that are outside of the normal FM broadcast band - frequencies that violate FCC Part 15 compliance requirements. Potentially affected are such popular Sirius receivers as the Sportster and Starmate. Details on this unfolding story are available at the first URL below. The second URL links to a related story in TV Technology magazine. Sirius has not responded to either of two inquiries made by Communications General Corporation, the publisher of the CGC Communicator newsletter. http://earthsignals.com/add_CGC/Letters/Sirius_on_FM.html http://www.tvtechnology.com/dlrf/one.php?id=1222 REPORT FROM OUR SAN DIEGO "ENGINEER AT LARGE" I've noticed driving on the San Diego freeways that 87.9, 96.9 and 106.9 MHz are being used for either iPOD-casts or as the FM frequencies for XM/Sirius. It is surprising how many times I'm driving alongside someone using these so called Part 15 transmitters. I am detecting one of the mini-FMers about four times a week driving on I-52 or I-8. Mostly hear Stern PODcasts or live Sirius Stern shows. Sometimes someone is flipping channels on a satellite receiver! EXTENDING THE RANGE OF PART 15 AM TRANSMITTERS Last week's Communicator showed how easy it was to turn up the power on a C. Crane Part 15 FM transmitter so it covers greater range and presumably violates the Part 15 signal strength standards. This week, one of our readers points us to a web page (URL below) for increasing the range of a Part 15 AM transmitter. Whether the proposed antenna modifications violate Part 15 standards has not been determined, but we note that one of the linked "Customer Letters" reads as follows: "Thanks for your patience with me. I'm reaching out in one area about 4 miles and have the town I live in [population 1000] covered." http://antenna18431.tripod.com/antenna.htm (CGC Communicator April 4, via Kevin Redding ABDX via DXLD) REPAIRING DAMAGED CELLPHONES - AN EXOTIC TRIP Cellphone subscribers wanting defective handsets replaced under warranty will most likely ship their phones to a massive facility in Fort Worth, Texas, where each day a force of almost 1,500 technicians evaluate the merits of about 50,000 claims. Terry Maxon of the Dallas Morning News was allowed to follow his defective Motorola RAZR through the process and provides a most interesting view of a splinter industry which most mobile customers have never heard of and will likely never see. http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060327/news_mz1b27triage.html (CGC Communicator April 4, via Kevin Redding ABDX via DXLD) A GENUINE UNDERGROUND TRANSMITTER AND AN EXQUISITE ANTENNA The transmitter building for KMLT(FM), Thousand Oaks, CA is buried underground to satisfy the community's "Open Space" land-use requirement. See how this new installation grew from a set of plans into a unique facility by visiting the photos posted at the URL below. By the way, the transmitter is separated from the antenna by about 700 feet, and the good looking antenna mast is simply a heavy-walled PVC pipe. This was quite a project. Congratulations to all parties involved. http://www.cellularpcs.com/thumbnails.php?album=13 (CGC Communicator April 4, via Kevin Redding ABDX via DXLD) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ NEW RULES FOR DAYLIGHT SAVING [sic] TIME START IN 2007 Beginning in 2007, daylight saving time will start on the second Sunday of March and will end on the first Sunday of November. Intended to promote energy conservation by starting daylight saving [sic] three weeks earlier and ending it one week later, the change is part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. http://encarta.msn.com/text_761574472___0/Daylight_Saving.html (CGC Communicator April 4, via Kevin Redding ABDX via DXLD) TIME FOR A MEMORABLE EVENT This Wednesday at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be: 01:02:03 04/05/06. Burma Shave (CGC Communicator April 4, via Kevin Redding ABDX via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Space Weather News for April 3, 2006 http://spaceweather.com Solar activity is suddenly increasing. The biggest sunspots of the year are crossing the solar disk; one group is longer than 10 Earth diameters and poses a threat for solar flares. Meanwhile, astronomers are monitoring a large and delightfully complex prominence dancing long the sun's limb. Whether all this will translate into magnetic storms and auroras remains to be seen. Please visit http://spaceweather.com for pictures and updates (via Emily Keene, PA, ABDX via DXLD) SF was up to 100 on UT Tue (gh, DXLD) Geomagnetic activity ranged from quiet to unsettled levels at all latitudes. One isolated period of active conditions was observed at high latitudes midday on 31 March. Solar wind speed ranged from a high of about 420 km/s early on 28 March to a low of near 275 km/s late on 02 April. The IMF Bz did not vary much beyond +/- 5 nT the entire period. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 05 APRIL - 01 MAY 2006 Solar activity is expected to be at predominately very low to low levels with isolated moderate activity possible through 09 April. No greater than 10 MeV proton events are expected. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels on 16 – 22 April. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet to unsettled levels for the majority of the period. From 14 – 17 April, active to major storm conditions are expected due to effects from a recurrent coronal hole wind stream. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2006 Apr 04 2123 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2006 Apr 04 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2006 Apr 05 105 12 3 2006 Apr 06 105 12 3 2006 Apr 07 105 10 3 2006 Apr 08 100 5 2 2006 Apr 09 95 5 2 2006 Apr 10 90 5 2 2006 Apr 11 80 8 3 2006 Apr 12 75 5 2 2006 Apr 13 75 10 3 2006 Apr 14 75 25 5 2006 Apr 15 75 35 6 2006 Apr 16 75 20 4 2006 Apr 17 75 15 3 2006 Apr 18 75 10 3 2006 Apr 19 75 5 2 2006 Apr 20 75 5 2 2006 Apr 21 75 7 2 2006 Apr 22 75 7 2 2006 Apr 23 80 7 2 2006 Apr 24 85 10 3 2006 Apr 25 95 8 3 2006 Apr 26 100 8 3 2006 Apr 27 100 5 2 2006 Apr 28 100 5 2 2006 Apr 29 100 8 3 2006 Apr 30 100 8 3 2006 May 01 100 8 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via DXLD) ###