DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-060, April 9, 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 SHORTWAVE AIRINS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1311: Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WOR WBCQ 7415 Mon 0500 WOR WRMI 9955 Wed 0930 WOR WWCR 9985 Latest edition of the above: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html For 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 ** ALBANIA. Hi Glenn, Heard Radio Tirana on its allocated 7465 kHz, strong and in the clear at 2130 UT. 9920 at 1845 is okay, but suffers from adjacent QRM. Best Regards (Christopher Lewis, England, April 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 26 MAR, 0855 UT, 2380 KHZ (1190 x 2), LRA15 Radio Nacional San Miguel de Tucumán. Argentina. Castellano. Música instrumental Tango. Hora Exacta. "...las seis de la mañana, en punto. Argentina se informa, por Nacional." Fuerte. Buena Calidad. 26 MAR, 0905 UT, 2540 KHZ (1270 x 2), LS11 Radio Província de Bs. As. Castellano. Entrevista telefónica sobre los precios y calidades de la carne. Cambios en la carta de la Casa Rosada. Fortísima. Calidad Superlativa (Adán Mur, Ñemby, Paraguay, Conexión Digital April 9 via DXLD) ** ARMENIA. Hi Glenn, cf. 6-059, different names for Armenian External Radio: The German ID is "oeffentliches Radio Armenien" which means Public Radio of Armenia in English. So there aren`t different names used. 73, (Patrick Robic, Austria, April 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ASCENSION. QSL: 11855, NHK Radio Japan via Ascension. Full data 'water-borne Doll Festival' card, with schedule, report forms, in 135 days, 28 days after posting a follow-up on their web site (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AZORES. Re 6-059: EST??? I guess he means EDT = 0200 UT April 5 (gh, DXLD) Yes, 2200 EDT = 0200z. And I got the frequency wrong, too, it's 693. I guess I was excited! (Jim Renfrew, NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) QRDRM: see ITALY ** BELARUS [and non]. Interesting interview with Swedish veteran DXer Ullmar Qvick available on internet at http://www.tvr.by/eng/progrb.asp In the right hand margin of the homepage click on "Listen in English 07.04.06" (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, April 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Better hurry, since it seems they availablize only the latest broadcast. Yes, very interesting. Runs from 11 to 25 minutes in the downloaded file. UQ is multilingual, and says he speaks Albanian better than English. BTW, this way you get to listen to the nice music of Minsk in stereo (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) re 6-059: J.D., I think that Radio Belarus is pretty much a write-off here in North America. On the west coast they're virtually never heard due to the poor state of their transmitters and much too low choice of frequencies. I used to hear them from time to time on 11960 in our local evenings, but they haven't used that frequency in our evenings for years. As they still are heard in the European evenings, I bet they are still "attempting" a pseudo North American service, but more likely aiming their transmitters at the few Europeans up at the time you are looking for (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, April 8, HCDX via DXLD) ** BELGIUM [non]. BELGICA: Después de varios meses de ausencia, Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal (RVI), retornó a la onda corta y al presente presenta este esquema de emisiones en idioma Dutch: HORA UTC KHZ DESTINO 0600-0700 P-13685 Europa [S/SE] 0700-0800 R-9590 Europa [S/SO] 1700-1800 M-13685 Europa [S/SE] 1800-1900 S-9590 Europa [S/SO] Centros retransmisores: (M) Moscú, Rusia (P) St. Petersburg, Rusia (R) Rampisham, UK (S) Skelton, UK QTH: R.V.I, P.O.Box 26, B-1043 Bruselas, Bélgica. E-mail: info @ rvi.be Web: http://www.rvi.be (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital April 9 via DXLD) Were they really off? WRTH 2006 page 446 has a similar time-shifted schedule for B-05 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4545.04, Radio Norteño, Canaviri, 0935-0943, April 03, Aymara/Spanish, talk about the Movimiento al Socialismo, announcement by female in Spanish: "...ahora...con el Programa Nacional de Alfabetización...", 33322 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, HCDX via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. R. San Miguel, 4900.65, 0250-0255* April 2, tentative, with CP music, Spanish announcements, abrupt sign-off. Poor, weak (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4556.94 [Unid], Noted April 4 through 9 with strong carrier; little or no audio. Rogildo F. Aragão has noted Radio Paitití, Guayaramerin, Beni near this frequency. 4844.88, R. Norteño, Canaviri _Not noted_ 0930 to 1040 on 9 April. Also checked 4545v and found nothing. Excellent signal on 8 April. 5680.71, Radio La Voz del Campesino, Sipe Sipe, from 0920, melodic Andean flutes - 9 April ~ 1005 - 1040, no ID but several clear mentions de Bolivia, long string of numbers read by om - 8 April 73 (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach - Florida, HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. R. Novas de Paz, 9515, 2335-2400+ April 1, Portuguese talk, ads, jingles, ID, Portuguese ballads. Fair; // 6080 poor, weak (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Re 6-059: Olá Célio, Aqui em Limeira SP, distante 150 Km de São Paulo, o áudio da Rádio Gazeta em 49m e 31m está, realmente, com uma sintonia irregular, espúrios em frequências anterior e superior. Em 49m interfere na Rádio Guarujá Paulista de forma severa, espalhando o áudio a mais frequências.A Gazeta já não é mais a mesma. Falta manutenção nos transmissores. Um abraço (Luiz Chai, Limeira SP, April 6, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. R. Aparecida, presumed, the Portuguese YL on 11855 under WYFR OM preaching in Spanish with a slight het, 2305 UT April 8. The YL was probably preaching too, but hey, we can never get enough of that! As for the name Aparecida, it literally means ``appeared``, so I suspect derives from some imagined apparition of the BVM, right? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You are right. Aparecida is the "Lourdes" or "Fatima" here in Brazil. This is a city, along the highway BR 116, about half-way between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. At 1340 UT R. Aparecida transmitters on 5035, 6135 and 9630 kHz. Best reception in Curitiba on 9630. They have also 11855 not used at present time (Denis Gillet, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. QSL: 6010, Radio Sweden via Sackville. Full data (except site) 'Stockholm/Nybroviken' card with schedule, bookmark tag, in 130 days, 23 days after posting a follow-up report on their web site (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE. Estimados amigos: Reciban mi más cordial saludo; espero que al recibir la presente se encuentren bien junto a los que más quieren. Les escribo para hacerles las siguientes consultas: 1 --- Para los radioescuchas mayores, ¿alguien tiene recuerdos de una antigua radioemisora llamada "la Voz de Chile"?, un amigo vinculado a las telecomunicaciones me comentó de esta radioemisora que transmitió en onda corta hasta fines de la década de los 70. 2 --- Si volviera a aparecer una radioemisora en onda corta desde Chile, como las radioemisoras de algunos países que dependen de sus respectivos gobiernos, y esta tuviera la instancia de atender a radioescuchas, y enviar tarjetas QSL, ¿qué opinan al respecto? (Patricio De los Rios, Doctor en Ciencias (UACH), Universidad Católica de Temuco, Facultad de Recursos Naturales, Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas y Químicas, Casilla 15-D Temuco, CHILE, Noticias DX via DXLD) Hola Patricio; paso a responder a algunas de tus preguntas en cuanto a lo que yo sé sobre el tema: 1º.- La Voz de Chile era el programa para el exterior de Radio Nacional de Chile, que transmitía en onda corta, primero, en los años 70 en 15150 y luego en los años 80 y a principios de los 90 en 15140 kHz. Y era fácilmente sintonizable aquí en España, ya que utilizaba un transmisor de 100 kW de potencia. Por la semana, de lunes a viernes, transmitían su programación en varios idiomas, español, inglés, francés, alemán, etc. con una duración de una hora cada uno, más o menos, identificándose como "La Voz de Chile"; luego, los fines de semana emitía fútbol y programas locales, identificándose como "Radio Nacional de Chile". Una cosa muy parecida a como hace la rádio pública argentina R.A.E., Radio Nacional. Confirmaba fácilmente los informes de recepción con tarjeta QSL; para ello había que enviar las cartas a la casilla 244-V Santiago, Chile. Yo tengo una muy bonita QSL del año 1978 en la que, en el reverso se puede ver un espectacular amanecer sobre la cordillera y dice: "Chile, un país donde renace la esperanza" (en español, inglés y francés); luego en el anverso dice: "QSL La Voz de Chile, transmisiones internacionales de Radio Nacional de Chile, agradece y confirma su report del 3 de 3 de 1978 a las 2232 GMT, en la banda de 19 m. 15150 kHz". A principios de los años 90 dejó de transmitir y luego sus transmisiores en Calera de Tango al sur de Santiago, fueron vendidos a Voz Cristiana. 2º.- Fue una pena que Radio Nacional de Chile hubiera dejado sus transmisiones en onda corta y, naturalmente, sería muy bueno que volviese a emitir para el exterior, divulgando la música, cultura, costumbres, noticias, etc, de Chile, pero creo que esto, hoy en día, sería una tremenda utopía. Si Radio Nacional se cerró a principios de los 90 y en aquellos tiempos no había comenzado el declive de la onda corta. ¿Qué decir hoy con los satélites e internet?. Creo que al gobierno de Chile ni se le ocurriría analizarlo seriamente. En aquellos tiempos, había otras emisoras privadas de Chile que transmitían en onda corta, Radio Agricultura, Radio Cooperativa, Radio Minería. Las tres dejaron ya hace mucho que dejaron la onda corta y las dos primeras pueden escuchar por internet, la última desapareció como tal, pasando a ser una emisora religiosa: Radio Santa María Guadalupe. Como curiosidad, había por aquel entonces, una emisora de señales horarias que transmitía la hora oficial en Chile "Chile Playa Ancha Radio", Centro de Telecomunicaciones Marítimas de Valparaiso, y que irradiaba en 8677 kHz con una potencia de [¿un?] kW de la que tengo QSL del año 1991; luego creo que dejó de transmitir en la onda corta. Actualmente, creo que sólo quedan en Chile en la onda corta Radio Voz Cristiana, muy fácil de captar aquí en España, Radio Esperanza de Temuco en 6090 kHz, muy dicifil de captar aquí en España, de la que tengo QSL de hace unos 6 años y Radio Parinacota, en 6010 kHz que debe de estar sólo en el aire esporádicamente ya que alguna vez es reportada por el colega Arnaldo Slaen. En el WRTH siguen apareciendo otras emisoras en la onda corta chilena, tales como Radio Triunfal Evangélica desde Santiago en 5825 kHz con 0.1 kW de potencia, Radio Santa María, en Coyhaique en 6030 kHz, con 10 kW de potencia y Radio Patagonia Chilena, también de Coyhaique con 1 kW. de potencia, pero estas emisoras tienen que llevar años fuera del aire. Así que los amigos colegas chilenos, que tan bién hacéis el boletín de Federachi, creo que deberías comprobar y certificar que estas emisoras están muertas y comunicarlo al WRTH para que desaparezcan de sus listados. Y nada más, un abrazo para todos los colegas chilenos (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, ibid.) ** CHINA [and non]. Firedrake banging away on 15510 at 1909 April 7, but its victim only slightly weaker. At first it did not sound like Mandarin when a man was talking, but did once a woman took over at 1910. This would be R. Free Asia via Tinian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. UNKNOWN LOCATION. 5985, CRI in Swahili, 1715-1745, with a programme that seemed to be 100% focused on Kenya, excellent "local" quality signal: perhaps Meyerton? 73's, (Vashek Korinek, RSA, April 8, DXplorer via Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Vashek, only Beijing is noted in registration file y e t. Followed by BBC Meyerton 250kW 76deg in French SoAF HR 2/1/0.3, but at 1800 UT. B u t why not a 'veiled' broadcast via Meyerton-AFS in southern winter? RTC/CRI played a similar puzzle, when inaugurated CRI's Albania relay site in Europe, but registered these frequencies in use, put at Kashi-far western China location. 5985 1600-1800 48SW,53NW BEI 500 257 CHN CRI RTC 5985 1800-1830 53S MEY 250 76 G BBC MER 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGESET) ** COLOMBIA. Marfil Estéreo, 5909.92, 0630-0700+ April 1, reactivated with Spanish announcements, IDs, ads. Variety of campo music, Spanish pops/ballads, rancheras. Strong, but occasional weak RTTY QRM. Not heard the next night (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. UNIDENTIFIED. Can anyone help me with an unID Spanish station noted this morning around 0530 on 680. The format was classical piano music and later traditional Jazz. There may be a possible ID at 0532. You can hear the clip at http://www.geocities.com/barry.davies25@btopenworld.com/mypage.html Initial thoughts here for Fe Y Alegria Cumana but what do you think? As usual any help appreciated (Barry Davies, UK, MWC et al., via DXLD) Regarding Barry Davies` unID on 680, I could not get anything definite out of the recording, but this should remind us that RTVC is upgrading its MW network of 50-100 kW relays around the country. 680 e.g. does not appear in the WRTH 2006. See 6-018 and 6-059 (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) I'll leave it to others to translate, but from the mention of Colombia, I strongly suspect that this was the same station that I heard at 0400 UT, ID'ing as Radio Nacional de Colombia. I believe the transmitter site is Barranquilla, but I don't have any info beyond that (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF Ottawa, ON, IRCA via DXLD) Many thanks for your input which are also supported by Glenn Hauser. I think I will report it as tentative, hi, as the lady is only announcing music titles rather than an ID! (Barry Davies, UK, ibid.) The spoken announcement refers to the music selections only. I think Glenn Hauser is on the right track here (Henrik Klemetz, April 7, MWC via DXLD) Many thanks, Glenn, for the input. At times it was quite a beefy signal so 50 kW would fit. I guess I'll go with a "tent." in the log book. Henrik Klemetz confirms (sadly) only music titles rather than ID announced by the YL announcer: 680 HJ * * Radio Nacional de Colombia Barranquilla (tent.); classical piano MX & traditional Jazz F 0530 6/4 BD (thanks to Glenn Hauser, Henrik Klemetz & Barry McLarnon for help) (Barry Davies, MWC via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA [non]. RFPI in LIBYA: q.v. ** CUBA. Glenn, Do you have any experience of hearing Rebelde on 1470 please? The ID was very clear and typical 'RRRRebelde'. Jan Alvestad confirmed the audio clip. I heard it here in Yorkshire on 6th April at 0501 UT. It popped out of a mix so I can't give you any more details, but I do have a recording that I can send you from home later. Radio Banderas Cárdenas is listed as the only Cuban in WRTH on this frequency - could this have been carrying Rebelde? 73s (Andrew Brade, April 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Andrew, No, but I am not very active MW DXing. It is not at all unusual for various Cuban stations to relay other networks, especially late at night. After all, they all belong to the government. But it is also possible that another transmitter has been put on the frequency without that coming to light before this. 73, (Glenn to Andrew via DXLD) ** CUBA. On FM! Great tropo opening to Cuba noted at 2128+ GMT today, 7 April (5:28 p.m. EDT). 96.7 MHz, Radio Rebelde, unknown site, Ciudad de la Habana; the first one heard today, often local level and stereo, Cuban pop vocal, then female with ID and news headlines at 2130, back to music. Parallel 1180 kHz. Standard Rebelde audio, not "Rebelde F-M" feed. Stereo. 99.1 MHz, Radio Musical Nacional, unknown site, Ciudad de la Habana; 2145 tune-in to female opera, quickly confirmed Musical as parallel 590 kHz. Very good at times, stereo. 99.9 MHz, Radio Cadena Habana, Marianao, Ciudad de la Habana; 2153 tune-in to Cuban-accented Spanish man, short fill music. Turned out to be baseball game coverage. "Esta es Radio Cadena Habana" canned ID by man at 2204, back to game. Good on peaks, stereo. Thus far, no other Cuban FMers (or Yucatán/Quintana Roo, México) stations coming in. Great stuff! First Musical Nacional and Cadena Habana FM logs ever for me (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DIEGO GARCIA. AFRTS QSL received from Marshall C. Bennett from Diego Garcia per E-Mail, in 8 days (Joachim Thiel-D, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 5) On 2006-04-05 bennettmc @ dg.navy.mil said: Dear Sir, 05 April 2006 I am writing in response to your reception of our radio broadcast. That is in fact our frequency that you picked up. The signal is sent to us from the States then routed through us after we've applied our station ID to broadcast to the island. The frequency you heard (4319 kHz) is our nighttime frequency from 2100 to 0900 UT. Our daytime frequency is 12579 kHz. (...) Since I've been here on the island I have had to work very little with the radio since it work very well and requires little maintenance (so far). (...) My primary role here is to insure x-mission of the incoming channels and of our local live radio shows to the rest of the island. I'm glad you enjoyed receiving us and wish you well with your hobby (Marshall C Bennett, Naval Media Center, Diego Garcia, via Joachim Thiel-D, wwdxc BC-DX Apr 5 via DXLD) ** EGYPT. R. Cairo, 11950, April 8 at 2302, good signal but low modulation as YL was giving program summary, starting with current time of 1:02 --- have they heard of GMT/UT? Do they really expect North Americans, to whom this is directed, to prefer Cairo time? Previews included 1:15 News in Detail; 1:55 Lighter Side of the News; 2:00 Arabic by Radio; 2:15 News in Brief. Not helped by some splatter all the way from 11970 RN Bonaire in Dutch aimed 350 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also SYRIA ** EL SALVADOR [non]. Re 6-059: El Salvador kaput: USA: 17705, Voice of Athens via Delano FL [sic]; 1841-1850+, 7-Apr; M in Greek with phone call & Greek music; ID as "A Voz Atena" at 1850. S25 sig. // spur on 17837.1; tnx to tip from Glenn Hauser (Harold Frodge, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also GREECE [non] That`s Delano, California; and ID probably ``Edho Athena`` (gh, DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 27 MAR, 1017 UT, 15190 kHz, Radio Africa 2. Guinea Ecuatorial. Inglés. Programación evangélica. Fuerte. Buena Calidad (Adán Mur, Ñembý, Paraguay, Conexión Digital April 9 via DXLD) Rarely reported any more, and suspected to be inactive, or not on the air all the time. S. Aoki`s A06: 00946E0148 AFRICA 15190 R. AFRICA 1700-2300 1234567 English 50 164 Bata GNE 15190 R. AFRICA-2 0700-1100 .23456. English 50 164 Bata GNE 15190 R. EAST AFRICA 0600-1630 1.....7 English 50 164 Bata GNE But also watch out for CRI, Kashi, which he also shows with English during the 1000 hour on 15190 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. V. of the Tigray Revolution, 5500, *0355-0410+ April 1, sign-on with IS, 0400 vernacular talk and local Horn of Africa music. Weak in noise; // 6350 very poor, weak under RTTY station (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. Pirate: 6912, Apr 6, 2055-2130, Unknown: All Europe Radio AER. Lähetteli "Ghostbuster"-tyyppistä musiikkia ja kuulutteli englanniksi testilähetyksessään. Lähetystehoa ilmeisesti 18-20 wattia -oman ilmoituksensa mukaan. IRL/ENGL? SINPO 1-23332 Paremmin USB:llä sai selkoa. AHE (HCDX online log via DXLD) The ä is assumed, based on identical garble as received in those spots. Since HCDX was established by a Finn, even tho he and it are USA-based now, Finnish-language input is attracted. Well, yes, many years ago 6910v was the hangout of R. Dublin, Irish pirate (gh, DXLD) ** FRANCE [non]. It`s rather unclear when RFI is supposed to be scheduled, perhaps affected by the strixe. Among other dates, on April 8, 15515 via Guiana French ran until 1400*, not -1330; from tune in at 1353 with vocal music in French, ``RFI Musique`` ID, then same in Spanish and English, and into reggae with English lyrix. Off abruptly at 1400* without so much as an aurevoir (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. QSL: 6130, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Baltic Radio via Jülich. Verification e-mail statement from DTK-Jülich, in 10 days time. v/s: Walter Brodowsky e-mail: Walter Brodowsky @ t-systems.com 6130, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Baltic Radio via Jülich. Direct Verification e-mail statement in response to a e-mail report to this address info @ mvbalticradio.de Reply in 24 hours, promised to send a QSL card via postal reply. v/s: Roland (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GOA. 9810, GOA-INDIA, AIR Panaji, 0134-0202, Apr. 4, Vernacular, Hindi music at tune-in. Commentary re America and Iraq. Fanfare intro at 0142; OM with various soundbites-rough audio, fanfare again at 0158, YL with ID, music thru thruout. Fair but choppy (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R75, 200'Beverages, MLB-1, DTS-4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. 31 MAR, 1514 UT, 17360 KHZ, BLS, Olimpía Radio, Grecia. Griego/Inglés. Identificación bilingüe. Fuerte. Calidad Excelente. 31 MAR, 1520 UT, 22745 KHZ, BLS, Olimpía Radio, Grecia. Griego/Inglés. Identificación bilingüe. Fuerte. Calidad Excelente (Adán Mur, Ñemby, Paraguay, Conexión Digital April 9 via DXLD) Maritime station (gh) ** GREECE. VOG on 9420 at 0230, April 8th; traditional and pop music program, man seemed to give schedule and frequencies in Greek at 0250, then long tone at 0252, then dead air to 0256, then woman "This is Athens. You are listening to the Voice of Greece", this followed by anthem-interval signal, then man in Greek with ID, and repeated; this tx heard well here lately, sometimes as early as 0000 with reliable reception and interesting music; SINPO 45544 and sometimes better (Eric Bryan, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE [non]. VOG relay via Delano, 17705, lost audio feed, just open carrier for a good many minutes before and after 1900 UT April 7 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also EL SALVADOR ** GUATEMALA. Radio Cultural Coatán, 4780 kHz, heard at 0230 UT on 07 Apr 2006 (9:30 PM CDT on Thursday 06 Apr 2006). Totally surprised to hear them with such strong, clear signals! They were as strong as Rebelde 5025 kHz! Many mentions of "Radio Cultural Coatán" by male announcer along with Christian melodies played on a marimba. Heard them using my Radio Shack DX-396 and its telescoping whip antenna. I'm hoping the 60 Metre SW band will become as active as it was back in the late 1970's!! 73 and GREAT DX! (Stephen Ponder, N5WBI, Houston TX, USA, dxhub yg i.a. via DXLD) What few Guatemalan SW stations remain, unfortunately all of them gospel huxters by law, I think you will find, can provide such good signals due to their proximity, especially to Houston. At least some of the `culture` remains with marimba, even if they won`t play native heathen Mayan music on it. As for 60m becoming active? Dream on. More and more stations are disappearing forever (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, uh... do you mean propagation-wise, or the number of stations actually USING the band? If it's the latter, I wouldn't hold my breath for it, unfortunately. So many local stations that were formerly on the tropical bands have simply abandoned their aging, hard-to-get- parts-for shortwave transmitters and set up FM stations and networks. 60 meters and 90 meters are like ghost towns these days. Of course, these are the same broadcasters, particularly in Latin America, that have also largely abandoned the AM broadcast band. (When's the last time you logged, say, El Salvador on the BCB? Or Guatemala, for that matter!) Then again, ALL of shortwave is beginning to seem like a wasteland -- at least if you want to listen to something other than U.S.-based preachers (what's Glenn Hauser's term for them, "Bible huxters"?). (Randy Stewart, Springfield MO, IRCA mailing list vi DXLD) ** ICELAND. 189 kHz doing fairly well again this evening, although the S9+20 static crashes are the limiting factor to hearing it well (Steve NE Oregon Ratzlaff, April 6, IRCA via DXLD) I don't think this station takes any notice of the A and K indexes! It's been in here virtually every night since Jan 1. It's in here tonight at a fair level, if, as you say, you ignore the static crashes. For me this season, it has been the most frequent TA heard. Several years ago that honour went to Norway-153. The following season it was Norway-1314. Both have been in here many times this season, but no where near as often as 189. At present I only have about a two hour window of darkness from my location here to Europe, so it won't last much longer. Plus noise levels are increasing towards summer levels. Almost time to think of other pursuits (Mike in St Isidore AB Stonebridge, IRCA via DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR Bangalore service on 9425 at 1720, April 8th; woman in English with concert of traditional music; woman with news in English at 1730 with coverage of Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, and domestic items; SINPO 35323, but often much better (Eric Bryan, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 11620, AIR Bangalore, 2209-2221, Apr. 7, English, YL with news headlines re Nepal and Aligarh. "GOS-AIR" ID followed by commentary re India and Arab Gulf states relations. Program "Radio New..(???)" at 2215 re US/India relations and Indian economy. Fair (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R75, 200'Beverages, MLB-1, DTS-4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. Gone again. No sign of a signal on 9525 from VOI, at 1330 April 8. When on until 1400, can be counted on for a nice variety of music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. THE AURAL TIMES http://www.auraltimes.com/ VIA Yahoo Weekly Picks Sometimes the events of the day are so bad, only a little song can salve the psychic wound. That's why The Aural Times provides such a valuable service in "singing the news so you don't have to." Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, this clever site gives a melodious treatment to all the news that's fit to sing (via Sheldon Harvey, Radio HF Internet Newsletter, April, via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. GETTING THE FREQUENCY GRANT ROBERTSON From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Since the inception of satellite radio, consumers have been forced to choose between two competing networks, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc., depending on the kind of hardware they buy. But new documents show the rival companies have designed a receiver capable of carrying both services — a development that could significantly alter the competitive landscape of the emerging industry. However, despite spending more than $5-million (U.S.) on the project, XM and Sirius have no plans to let consumers in Canada or the U.S. get their hands on the devices. Though the broadcast licences granted in the United States call for the development of compatible technology to give consumers more flexibility, a loophole only requires the companies to design the radios — they don't actually need to make or sell them. In Canada, the decision is being left up to the industry. Since neither company has much incentive to introduce new radios that would make it easier for consumers who pay a monthly fee to jump to the competing service, the blueprints are likely to be shelved. ``We signed an agreement with XM Radio ... to develop a unified standard for satellite radios,`` say documents filed by Sirius to the Securities and Exchange Commission. ``In 2005, we substantially completed the design of a radio capable of receiving both services.`` Despite the revelation, a spokesman for Sirius said the companies have no intention to take the matter further in the U.S., while XM said in an e-mailed statement there are no plans to bring the dual-service receivers to market in Canada. Complete story at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060404.wsatradio0404/BNStory/Technology/home (via Harry van Vugt, Windsor, Ontario, Canada} ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. $99.99 a month! Buy a shortwave (bw): SIRIUS INTRODUCES MARINE WEATHER DATA SERVICE Wednesday, April 5, 2006 The satcaster is introducing a separate service aimed at boaters --- a marine weather data service featuring on-demand access to detailed weather information for the boating community. Sirius says its Marine Weather Service will first be available over the E-Series high-performance multifunction navigation displays from Raymarine. "This is the first time that Sirius is integrating a data information service into marine electronics products, and we are very pleased to be working with Raymarine to make this service a reality," says Sirius SVP/Services Larry Pesce. "Our extensive nationwide satellite footprint, combined with our ability to cover hundreds of miles off the U.S. coasts, makes our service unique to boaters. Our current offering will provide no less then 14 data elements ranging from weather radar to buoy reports." Cost for the U.S.-only service begins at $29.99/month for the base Mariner package and up to $99.99/month for the Professional plan, which includes both the weather and audio service --- Jeffrey Yorke, R&R Washington Bureau (radioandrecords.com via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** ITALY. Saludos cordiales, hoy en 7130 a las 2110, terminó el servicio en portugués de la Rai; sin embargo cuando tendría que haber empezado el servicio en español, quedó en el aire una señal sin emisión. Lo mismo en 6110 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, April 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. ITALIAN ELECTIONS Rai International - Newsletter del 7 aprile 2006 RAI INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER DEL 7 APRILE 2006 ----------------------------------------------- Un caro saluto a tutto il pubblico abbonato alla newsletter di Rai International. Vi segnaliamo che da questa settimana parte la nuova edizione di Tutto Cinema, un programma radiofonico di Rai International dedicato al cinema italiano. Da lunedi' 10 aprile la puntata sara' dipsonibile sul sito in modalita' Podcasting. Per avere maggiori informazioni visitate il sito di Tutto Cinema: http://www.international.rai.it/tuttocinema/index.php Ecco ora i principali programmi della prossima settimana. ************************************************ Le NOVITA' della settimana dal 9 al 15 aprile 2006 ************************************************ INFORMAZIONE --- Elezioni Politiche 2006 La lunga diretta sui risultati elettorali in TV e alla radio Su tutti i canali lunedi' 10 e martedi' 11 aprile http://www.international.rai.it/speciali/voto2006/programmazione.shtml (via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) It appears there will be special election programming, but are there any specific times and SW frequencies given? Of course not! One eventually finds a link to SW frequencies, but those are only the regular ones, including the sport-specials on weekends such as ``Calcio Tim [sic] Cup``. The newsletter links to many other pages about Rai programs coming in the next week, seemingly all in Italian (who cares about the shell of a multilingual external service?); one may subscribe at http://www.international.rai.it/info/newsletter.shtml (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Ciao, RAI started to broadcast in DRM, via Milano Siziano transmitter, on 693 kHz. Power is supposed to be 100 KW. Last night at 2230 UTC 7 April 2006 it broadcast RAI Radiodue, in parallel with FM Radiodue. The same this late morning 8 April 2006. Some audio problems in the night, perfect in the morning. You can find other info in my blog http://rxreport.blogspot.com/ (in Italian) RX: CiaoRadio H101 + Dream Software Ciao (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italy, April 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This will probably mean good bye to another TA frequency (690). DRM is the most serious threat today to the fantastic hobby of DX'ing. If you love DX'ing - fight against DRM! (Arnstein Bue, Norway, HCDX via DXLD) 693 kHz at 1830 UT RAI Milano in DRM mode, -- and V. of Russia, Oranienburg Zehlendorf Germany on equal level in southern Germany. Fine Russian folk songs could be noted though. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, April 8, HCDX via DXLD) Just noted in my files that Milano-Siziano ran in fact 100 kW AM carrier power on 693 until the frequency had been closed down in May 2004. So they will have to keep the DRM power 7 db below 100 kW, i.e. at about 20 kW. Right now I hear on 693 VOR Sodruzhestvo via Zehlendorf (AM/DRM simulcast). A DRM hiss is present underneath but could well originate from the Zehlendorf transmitter itself. I am quite curious how both DRM signals from Zehlendorf and Siziano will co-exist. No actual reports posted in the concerning thread http://www.drmrx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1379 so far (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [non]. NHK Warido, reconfirmed with western classical music show UT Saturday April 8 at 2311-2355 with solo violin music by Bach on 15265, via Bonaire at 170 degrees for SAm, good here, but fading down toward the end. I still don`t know the name of the show in Japanese. Occasional announcements mentioned ``Ba-ha`` which may be Japanese for Bach. Altho this is in the Sunday-morning ghetto where classical music tends to land on stations playing some classical but not full time, cf USA [non] CVC, I am delighted that NHK still does it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JORDAN. 11690, R. Jordan, 1547-1609, Apr. 4, English, Classic rock program with Boston, Yes and Rainbow. Full ID at 1600 followed by usual Arab state news re Palestine/Israel; US/Iraq, local weather. Press Review program at 1608. Fair/good with co-channel slop(BBC-?) after 1600 (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R75, 200'Beverages, MLB-1, DTS-4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. V. of Asia, 15210, Apr. 5th, 0900 with O=4. After the end of the KBS World program in French, IS and clear ID "Yoginun Asia Pangsong imnida" followed by FM & AM QRGs and news in Korean. Don't know if this is an exceptional occurrence or a regular relay. QTH: Deva, Romania. Receiver: SONY ICF SW 7600 G. 73-s, (Cristian Mocanu, bclnews.it via DXLD) What is this ``Voice of Asia``? I don`t find it mentioned in the WRTH. Some other, perhaps domestic service of KBS? The name has been used in the past for services from other countries (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH [and non]. Hi everyone, I have a radio friend in South Korea that works as a contract engineer for the US. We talked on the phone the other night for 2 1/2 hours discussing Korean Radio, including the AFKN stations. They have internet phone between Korea and the US. The connection was pretty decent. Only a couple times was there any break up. They live about 50 miles South of Seoul. The problem with DXing from Korea is the huge noise level, caused by poor grounding of the powerlines and florescent lights everywhere. I presume to conserve on power. So buzz is everywhere. I heard first hand the dial from end to end over the phone stopping on each 9 kHz spot. The radio had to be taken outside, as the noise was worse in the house. Even stations that come in at S9+10DB were covered by noise. The powerhouses on the dial were 603 & 972 kHz, running super power. They held their own fine. HLAZ has never been received there, although HLKX 1180, the other FEBC station is quite decent. As far as the AFKN stations, they do not get out. They seem weak and run lower power than what is reported in the WRTH. So, if an AFKN station was heard in North America, it would be one great catch. One other thing, where they are located no NK were heard. The frequencies were pretty much blocked by jammers. South Korea must block most NK signals. 1053 we hear, but apparently there was a jammer on about all of the NK frequencies. 73, (Patrick Martin, OR, IRCA via DXLD) One thing I noticed when visiting Japan last year was that the North Korean on 1080 was mixing with a jammer that sounded very similar to the one we hear on 1053. Didn't notice any others, but guess the jammers are set up to be effective in South Korea, not North America, or even Japan. Bill Harms, do you have any knowledge of these jammers, either technical or sociological (like, why does South Korea figure they're necessary, or is North Korean programming really that inspiring?) best wishes, (Nick Hall-Patch, Victoria, B.C. Canada, ibid.) Nick, Bruce is 50 miles South of Seoul and he may be right inline for the jammers too. I heard them over the phone and all of them (6 or 8) all sounded the same as the one on 1053 that we hear. In fact I heard that one over the phone too. The powerhouse South Koreans at his QTH was 603 & 972. But the strongest station he had was an AFKN station on 1440, as he is 1.5 miles away from the 1 KWer (Patrick Martin, ibid.) Is it? Don't you remember the remarkable daily reception of P`yongyang on 655 in the seventies? The sabre-rattling martial harangues were so stirring I found myself only wearing drab coveralls as I marched off to work the fields of my small Vancouver Island farm. Furthermore, I didn't understand a word of Korean. Now that's effective! (Colin in Victoria B.C. Canada Newell, Drake R8 - Kenwood R2000 - Wellbrook ALA100, ibid.) A certain pair of Dxers with the initials BP and CH were on the verge of marching around the DX table at Grayland last year, overcome by P`yongyang-inspired passion. Never mind the DX - the comrades were swept away by the martial music and endless speeches about the fatherland and its father. Later the running imperialist DXer dogs returned to their Drake receivers, but the seeds of future revolution had been planted deep inside them (Chuck Hutton, ibid.) North Korean programming has to be one of the worst in the whole World. It has not changed in the 44 years I have been at the dials either. Their one TV station with repeaters runs continuous scenes with their army marching and marching and marching too (Patrick Martin, OR, ibid.) ** LAOS [non]. For the record, Hmong Lao Radio confirmed an hour earlier than before, as in the WHRI schedule, both Sun and Sat at 1300-1400 on 11785 (Glenn Hauser, OK, April 2, 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [and non]. [RFPI-Announce] Corrected text for Libyan Conference --- Dear Friends: Please see below the corrected text for this release. It includes a direct link to the Conference agenda and how to tune into the webcast. Our apologies for the multiple messages! Yours in Peace, RFPI Staff [Viz.:] The 9th Provisional World Parliament has been rescheduled: Let's Give It Another Try!! Join RFPI's General Manager and CEO, James Latham and long-time RFPI producer Jean Parker as they cover the 9th session of the Provisional World Parliament live from the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Join us for what will be one of the first live Internet broadcasts from Libya as we bring you the deliberations of the Ninth World Parliament, and African Children's Parliament. In the tradition of community radio, we hope to have your participation as well with a special call-in via the internet through Skype and Yahoo! Messenger. Come join us beginning April 10th with the inauguration of the African Children's Parliament, through April 13th when the Provisional World Parliament comes to a close. Find out what's new under the Sahara Sun when RFPI sets up its studios in Libya! To tune in, click on or copy and paste the following address into your mp3 player: http://mp3server.taifun.ch:8004/listen.pls If you have trouble connecting, drop us an e-mail: info @ rfpi.org?subject=TechnicalSupport For background and other information on the conference please visit the World Constitution and Parliament Association's website at http://www.radford.edu/~gmartin/PWP%209%20-%20agenda%20and%20legislation.htm The netcast schedule will be posted on RFPI's web site as soon as it is available. Technical Note: As of this notice, we fully anticipate having a live audio stream in real time from the event. However, several technical issues are still being resolved. At the very least, we will bring you the meeting with a slight tape delay. The audio content will also be available as podcasts soon after it is uploaded to the Internet. So, whether we're live or we're slightly tape-delayed, we hope to see you there! (RFPI April 8 via DXLD) Whew, they`ll have their hands full. The Radford page is very long full of articles, multilingual, including Esperante. A lot of the activities are in the local morning, so rather inconvenient for North American listening if carried live, anyway (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** MOROCCO. 711 kHz, RTM-"R", Dakhla, observed on 01 Apr, 1050-..., Arabic, pops, mostly Arabic; 55453, but extremely weak audio, so easily missed under strong QRM at night. Like with Algeria, quite a number of RTM transmitters that would be easily detected because of their power are simply off for some reason. Among those: Agadir 774, Safi 909, Agadir 936, Tanger 999, Beni Makada 1053, Agadir 1197, Marrakech 1233. 1637.9 kHz, RTM-"A", Rabat (harmonic of 818.95), fairly audible on 31 Mar, 2202-..., Arabic, newscast, ID, Arabic music; 35342. This seems to be typical of this transmitter in Rabat (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 5040.4, R. Myanmar (presumed), Apr 7, 1338-1355, English lesson; long series of questions and answers: ``Number 27`` and the question is given, followed by ``The answer is...``; continues with English grammar: ``... modifies the noun. Now let`s move onto the next sentence``; 1355-1409 in vernacular, weak; poor-fair. The last time I heard this type of English lesson here was back in Feb 2004 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, with T2FD antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As DSWCI DX Window reminds us, the name of the station, not the country, is supposedly Myanma, without the R (gh, DXLD) ** MYANMAR [non]. Came across Radio Free Asia IDs in English every few seconds mixed with some rustic music, at 1328 April 8 on 9455. At 1330 with a few seconds of SAH overlap, another weaker station took over. This was R. Free Asia Burmese service, then KTWR Guam in Bodo language (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI has again readjusted its A06 schedule, which reads as follows as per the station webpage: UTC kHz azimuth Area 0655-1059 9885 0º Pacific 1059-1259 9870 325º NW Pacific 1300-1650 7145 0º Pacific 1651-1850 7145 35º NE Pacific 1851-1950 9630 0º Pacific ditto 15720 0º " 1950-2050 11725 0º " ditto 15720 0º " 2050-0700 15720 0º " Information dated 07 APR: RNZI is silent between Sat. 8 APR 2214-0700 & Sun. 2115-0700 UT due to essential installation work at the Rangitaiki HF site. One thing that annoys me every time they amend its schedule is the lack of a small note on the webpage indicating the actual date when it (the amendment) takes (or took) place. Instead, and in the case of the A06, they keep labelling it as "26 Mar 06-29 Oct 06", as if the schedule in question was issued the way it's being present right from the date it became effective. Unfortunately, this is only typical common practice with many other broadcaters; while others fail to punctually update their schedules on the webpage. Regrettably, our RDPI is one of them, not to mention it often fails to disclose schedules when the season changes, let alone disclosing the new one in advance, at least for a few days' time. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, April 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Right on! 7145 quite good here at 1302 April 9 with news by YL. Can`t remember hearing them on 41m before, at least since the 7.5 kW days (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORFOLK ISLAND. VI9, NORFOLK ISLAND. Bill, VK4FW, informs OPDX that everything is basically in place for their special operation to Norfolk Island. All equipment is about to be freighted in, and the following operators are all confirmed (with 2 more still trying to finalize their travel arrangements): Ron/VE7NS, Eddie/VK4AN, VK4DV, John/VK5PO and Bill/VK4FW. Bill states, "They still have a spot for a good CW operator. As plane flights are very much full, it is ever increasingly hard to actually get a flight between May 24th and June 21st." The team fully realizes that this DXCC entity is not highly wanted. However, they believe that the opportunity to be part of the 150th anniversary of the landing of HMS Bounty Mutineers is a very special reason to participate in the festivities. They will have 3 complete stations on air for the total time they are there operating SSB, CW and RTTY. The operators will make use of N1MM logging program which will keep all the operators in touch with general propagation as well as grey line times. There will be 2 QSL routes available to make sure that everyone has a way of getting a QSL card. There will be 2 different QSL cards available (one full color and one a standard single color). All direct QSL cards are to go to: ODXG, PO Box 612, Childers, 4660, Australia. Donations of 5 USDs or more will get special priority when QSLing begins. QSLing will be very quick. The other QSL route will be via the bureau address to be supplied soon. Please note that 2 USDs or IRC are required for standard postage. Envelopes received with insufficient postage will be sent via the bureau system. The team would like to thank the following for their support: ODXG, VK4CY, VK4NEF, VK6NKG, VK4FW, VK4AN, CAL-AV Labs, TET EMTRON and VK3AJJ. Further donations are appreciated to offset the cost of freight. Please feel free to contact them if you have any further queries at: vi9ni @ westnet.com.au (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 April 3 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Dear Glenn, I am sorry to bother you with this question, but I believe you could be of great help on this one. In December I managed to hear a station on 1240 AM relaying WWLS 640. I heard the station during a Dxing expedition to Finnish Lapland. I was lucky enough to hear a local break within the syndicated sports show. What I heard was a promo for a morning show on WWLS. In addition to 640, the frequencies 104.9 and 1550 AM were mentioned in this promo. However, 1240 was not mentioned. According to all available information I have been able to gather (including WWLS' own website), KADS appears to be the only station on 1240 relaying WWLS. As you appear to be up-to-date on all radio developments in Oklahoma, I wonder whether you could confirm that KADS really is the only WWLS- affiliate on 1240. Your reply would be deeply appreciated. 73's! (Antti Aaltonen, Espoo, Finland, April 6, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Antti, I wish I could give you a definite answer, but KADS is the only 1240 station in OK I can normally hear. I see in the current NRC AM Log, it is listed with ESPN, but not with The Sports Animal/WWLS network. That info is apparently out of date. Of the other 3 stations in OK on 1240, KBEL in Idabel (far southeast corner) is also with ESPN so that would appear to be a possibility. I suppose the best thing now would be to contact WWLS and/or KBEL directly. The log gives their phone numbers in case you need them. 73, (Glenn to Antti, via DXLD) Graveyard DX Achievements of OK stations, by NRC members, in miles: KVSO OK Ardmore John Wilkins Wheat Ridge, CO 585 KADS OK Elk City Bill Hale Mountain Home, ID 1027 KOKL OK Okmulgee Karl Jeter Stone Mountain, GA 682 (NRC E-DX News April 10 via DXLD) So there is NO record for KBEL in Idabel. And if Antti were an NRC member, looks like he could claim KADS. Have not heard KBEL myself, but should go after it when travelling in E or S OK (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. TV STATION SPENDING BIG TO UPGRADE AERIAL COVERAGE With springtime severe weather rumbling its way into Oklahoma, KWTV NEWS 9`s new helicopter will be able to reach wall clouds faster with a high-definition camera to capture superior images. The commitment to broadcast tornadoes, ``ominous`` clouds and circulations from the air quickly separates Oklahoma City from other TV markets that aren`t as interested in the massive cost. Officials at NEWS 9 bought a Bell 407 helicopter that is top of the line for news aircraft. The average market value of such a helicopter is $1.5 million. The helicopter was introduced Monday during the station`s newscasts. The red and black helicopter will have a new name, SKYNEWS 9, and will feature a high-definition camera on the nose that officials said offers three times the optical zoom capability and six times the image resolution as Ranger 9, the TV station`s previous helicopter that was sold to KOTV-6 in Tulsa. It also has 400 more horsepower than Ranger 9, is about 35 mph faster and can carry five people instead of two. Greg Ward, NEWS 9`s news operations manager, was in Tennessee this past week to test the new tool. ``If we had severe weather in Stillwater, instead of it taking 30 minutes to get there, it would take, say, 22,`` Ward said while aboard the helicopter. Despite the hefty price tag, station officials said this market demands excellent weather coverage, which also allows TV stations to broadcast faster other news such as car chases or wildfires. ``It`s very exciting for us to be able to have a tool like this to enhance what we do. It`s going to make covering news a lot easier for us,`` said Blaise Labbe, news director at NEWS 9. ``It`s going to change the way news is covered, and it`s going to change the way viewers see news from the air.`` (source? via Keith S., Moderator, OKCTalk.com ``The Pulse of Okla.City`` April 4 via DXLD) I know what is coming next. Channel 5 will bring SKY-5 back to their station with all new equipment. And/or KFOR will get a new Chopper 4 or add new equipment to the existing one. Most of us should be used to the Weather Wars by now. Last year it was radar envy; this year it will be helicopters. At the beginning of [last] Spring, Gary [KWTV 9] introduced us two MOAR, then Rick [KOCO 5] showed off his brand new Advantage Doppler HD, then last but not least Mike [KFOR 4] showed off his not one but, two brand new radars. I keep waiting for one of them to come on and say "Now we have five radars. One downtown, One NE, One NW, One SE and One SW. We will be able to tell you where every raindrop hits with pinpoing accuracy." [sic = a combination of pinpoint and pingpong] Oh, do not forget the free umbrella, if the forecast was wrong? Thanks, FOX25; by the way, how is the weather in the Carolinas? Why don't one of the stations make it interesting, if the forecast is wrong. The hottest reporter on staff will come wash your car in a G- String (OklaCity_75 ibid.) Channel 5 has huge problems. They share Sky 5 with the other Hearst Argyle Stations, so that's why we don't see it very often. It's funny; the article says they [KWTV 9] sold the old chopper to Channel 6. hmmmm... Channel 9 and Channel 6 are both owned by David Griffin (Patrick, Moderator, ibid.) I had forgotten SKY 5 was back in the day when they were owned by Gannett Television. If I remember right, the helicopter they were using during the wildfires was from Kansas City. I looked up the pilot`s name online and it matched to a Hearst-Arglye station in Kansas City (OklaCity_75, ibid.) Yeah, Hearst-Argyle has one chopper that they share among their stations. Really puts Channel 5 at the back of the pack when severe weather comes here. They have no chopper (Patrick, Moderator, ibid.) It may just be a fancy helicopter to some, but I know that the fire department was appreciative of it today. The fire chief flew in Skynews9 today, as he was surveying the wild grass fires along the Canadian River (Keith S., Moderator, OKCTalk.com "The Pulse of Okla. City", ibid.) ** PERU. 4620.51, Radio Espacial, Otuzco 0956 -1030 "...onda media ...Perú" at tune in; rooster sound effects, música linda - 9 April 73 (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach - Florida, HCDX via DXLD) ** POLAND. POLAND'S RADIO MARYJA ACCUSED OF ANTI-SEMITISM Poland's controversial religious broadcaster Radio Maryja, which has become the mouthpiece of the ruling conservatives, was chided on Tuesday by a media ethics group for airing "primitive, anti-Semitic" views. The country's Media Ethics Council called on Radio Maryja - the self-proclaimed "Catholic voice in your home" - to stop broadcasting what it called xenophobic views and urged the state media watchdog to take action. "We were shocked by this blatantly anti-Semitic broadcast. Unfortunately, it plays into a series of anti-Semitic statements aired by Radio Maryja," Magdalena Bajer, the head of the Media Ethics Council, told Reuters. The Council is an arm of the Polish Journalists' Association which attempts to police its own media industry. It said Radio Maryja ran an opinion piece which alleged that Jewish groups had sought bribes from Poland in the early 1990s in exchange for their support in the post-communist country's efforts to join the NATO military alliance. The broadcast, which went out last week, repeatedly suggested Jews were taking advantage of the Holocaust for economic profit, repeatedly referring to Jewish groups as "Holocaust incorporated," it said. The incident is an embarrassment for Poland's ruling conservative Law and Justice party, whose leaders regularly appear on Radio Maryja and its sister television network Trwam, ran by maverick priest Tadeusz Rydzyk. Poland's Catholic establishment has tried to crack down on Rydzyk for allowing politics to take centre stage over church doctrine, but his media remain a powerful political force. "This is a party radio, so how can it say it's Catholic," Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek said of the broadcaster this week. Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz has said Radio Maryja is one of the few places that allowed him to fully explain his thoughts without being interrupted by journalists. Government spokesman Konrad Ciesiolkiewicz said the prime minister had no plans to stop appearing on Radio Maryja. "It is up to the media regulator and courts to decide if this is anti-Semitism. We do not comment on all radio and television broadcasts but I stress that respect should be given to all groups," Ciesiolkiewicz said. Radio Maryja and the media watchdog were not available for comment on Tuesday. (Source: Reuters) # posted by Andy @ 09:39 UT April 5 (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** ROMANIA [non]. Christian Radio Armonia from the town of Iashi is on the air every Saturday from 16 to 1630 hours on 6245 and 7390 (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, R. Bulgaria DX April 7 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) Rumen has reported this one before, but is he aware this is really only a program on Trans World Radio, via Russia, Armavir? (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. QSL: 7525, TWR via Irkutsk. Full data E-Mail .pdf file QSL, showing photo of Puttalam (882 kHz) tower, with accompanying QSL statement imposed. This in response to posting my report on TWR's web site: http://www.radio882.com.Reply in 12 days. v/s: E. Daniel Devadoss (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Local Radio Kuban from the town of Krasnodar was heard in Sofia on March 28 between 06 and 0630 hours on 9495 kHz (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, R. Bulgaria DX April 7 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA. Received a QSL card in 25 days from Radio Slovakia for my reception report sent on 13 March 2006 via e-mail. My report outlined my reception of Radio Slovakia's English-language service on 7230 kHz from 0117 UTC to 0130 UTC on 13 March 2006. The announcers listed the website Radio Slovakia URL as http://www.rsi.sk and the English- language service's e-mail address as englishsection @ slovakradio.sk The card was signed "Good to have you join us! Pete Miller" and has a beautiful picture of Bratislava Castle on the front of the card. 73 and GREAT DX! (Stephen Ponder, N5WBI Houston TX USA, dxhub yg i.a. via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. QSL: 15160, Radio France International via Meyerton/ SENTECH. Full data verification letter in 24 days, after posting a e- mail report to this address: Otto Kathy ottok @ sentech.co.za v/s: Kathy Otto (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. REE, 17595, not aimed at Brasil, but without embargo carrying ``O Espanhol no Brasil`` show as IDed at 1840 April 7, following a phone interview in Brazilian Portuguese about the music scene in Madrid. 1841 into language lesson, Spanish for Portuguese speakers, but it was mostly in Spanish with a Brazilian interjecting from time to time. Interesting discussion of the differences between the two languages, which native speakers of both would do well to monitor in order to render the other non-native language more accurately. ``Manzana`` is used in Spain for ``cuadra`` (or quadra) in Latin America, meaning block as in a rectangular area bounded by two sets of parallel streets in a city; despite that manzana is also the name of a fruit in Spanish (apple). Gender difference: ``color`` is masculine in Spanish, feminine in Portuguese (another one we run into more often is signal: ``la señal`` but ``o sinal``). Off at 1855*. This is more of a show within the worldwide Spanish service than a separate Portuguese service specifically for Brazil, probably lacking such status as that would be bureaucratically inadvisable. Besides, it`s a 3 pm east Brazilian time, inconvenient for a wide audience there. REE Spanish to SAm on 11680, April 8 at 2308 // 9620 talking about Basque issues, with QRDRM on 11680. That would be Kuwait 11670-11680 as scheduled to NEAm on ``11675``, 22-02, 350 degrees, 120 kW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN [and non]. Some terrible and variable propagation has prevented confirmation of some schedules. I have heard REE English to NAm at 0000 on 15385. It fades out within minutes. A couple of others don`t hold well. There have also been wrong languages run on some outlets, wrong relays, dropouts, late starts, abrupt closes, varying modulation, etc. (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, April 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SW broadcasting is obviously too complex an undertaking for many of the people now in charge of doing it. Or they just don`t give a damn. Much of the problem is the disconnect (sometimes literally) between studio and transmitter, often not even run by the same organization, even if within the same country (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. Dear Glenn, My apologies. SLBC old frequency should have read as 7301.5 rather than 7031.5. Sorry for the typing error. Yours sincerely, 73 (Jose Jacob, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA. R. Damascus, 12085, April 8 at 2300 good carrier, but very low modulation and lo het of about 150 Hz from CRI, easily recognizable by the CRI opening theme. This is Xi`an, 354 degrees, where else but to Siberia. Closest to an ID I got was ``República Árabe de. . .`` Nothing audible on 13610, but WBCQ, very strong on 9330-CLSB also had the usual slightly wavering het no doubt from Syria. Meanwhile, nearby Cairo 12050 in Arabic was very strong and adequately modulated, unlike English on 11950; see EGYPT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. "Concern at BBCWS [language] cutbacks" – article. See http://www.epolitix.com/EN/News/200604/daeb30d0-c6d0-4acc-9c15-c898b7472d51.htm Interesting quote: "The MPs also warned that the World Service's English output must continue to include "a significant proportion of programmes which promote British culture and Britain's creativity to overseas audiences". ""It is this mixture of programming which is the World Service's attraction and a characteristic of its success," they said. ""We recommend that under no circumstances should the World Service's English language programming be allowed to evolve into just a news and information service."" I think most here share that sentiment (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) ** U K. Saludos, amigos de la radio. He tratado de escuchar el servicio en español de la BBC en estas noches recientes y no logro encontrarla por sus frecuencias habituales. ¿Será debido a lo mala de la propagación? o ¿habrán recortado las horas de emisión? 73 (Dino Bloise, FLORIDA, EEUU. April 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Esto es todo que encontramos aunque con fecha atrasada, en: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/tuning_in/newsid_4294000/4294086.stm Onda Corta FRECUENCIAS DESDE EL 30 DE OCTUBRE DE 2005 Diario 03:00 a 04:00 GMT Centroamérica y Caribe 6110, 7325 ¿Trataba de sintonizar la emisión anterior más temprana? Para B-05, hubo 00-01 en cuatro frecuencias, dice WRTH. 73, (Glenn, ibid.) ** U K. RADIO WAVES: PAUL DONOVAN: ROYAL RECEPTION The Queen`s 80th birthday this month has spawned many programmes, which on radio begin this week. Radio 4`s Archive Hour, on Saturday, recalls the tours: she and her husband must be one of history’s most widely travelled couples. On Easter Monday, Radio 4 also chronicles the way royal biographies have evolved from hagio-graphy to hatchet jobs, and offers the first of five extracts from books that steer between the two extremes. On April 21, the birthday itself, Radio 2 will mount a celebratory evening and Classic FM promises listeners’ favourite royal music. How many of these programmes, if any, will Her Majesty actually listen to? That is a mystery. . . http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2101-2120201,00.html (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. Could anyone who can hear WWCR on 15825 before 2100 UT Friday please check whether World of Radio (1311) is on as scheduled at its new Fri 2030 time? 15825 is barely audible here under best of circumstances, and we are having a storm-induced high noise level. Severe weather and even tornados near Nashville may have pushed it off the air anyway; can`t be sure 13845 or 12160 are on but 9975 certainly is. Thanks, (Glenn, 2045 UT April 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello Glenn, WOR is on 15825 at 2049 UTC, Regards (Jean-Michel Aubier, France, ibid.) Glenn, coming in at 444 here in Caversham, England - great signal (Stephen Howie, 2052 UT April 7, dxldyg via DXLD) Many thanks, gentlemen. Nice to have such good feedback in our group, and to know that as poor as the signal may be here, WWCR is getting WOR well into Europe (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. I am also trying to check out reception of WRMI, which now carries WORLD OF RADIO three times a weekend on 9955. UT Sat April 8 at 0400, WOR 1310 aired instead of 1311; Jeff said he couldn`t get the new files uploaded in time, same with last week`s DXPL at 0430, but the remainder would be 1311. However, I couldn`t hear 9955, so had to check out the webcast. UT Sun at 0458, 9955 was at first inaudible as Radio República was ending, then faded in and out at the start of DXPL at 0500. That`s the risk of using such a high frequency in the middle of the night, ``riding the MUF``, but WRMI seems committed to it, and maybe works better toward the target area Caribbean/South America. Next WOR opportunity: UT Mon 0500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. QSLs: 9840, Truth for the World via WHRI. Full data PPC, signed and stamped, to a follow-up report. 15285 [sic], Truth for the World via WWCR. Full data PPC, signed and stamped, in 4 months, 32 days, after postal follow-up report to this address: Truth for the World, P. O. Box 5048, Duluth, Georgia, 30096-0065, USA. Also a statement that they do not provide QSL Cards (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Things getting tough at the ministry of the late Dr. Gene Scott? I was checking stations splashing others. R. Slovakia is splashed; their 5930 English to North America at 0100, splashed by 5935 WWCR. Blunt talk by YL on how it is; what it`s going to be; how it`s going to be. Call in: who`s going to stand with me? Not only a financial commitment, but vote of confidence. The YL not happy with criticism of the cathedral, its operation, services, music and the YL entrusted with it. I monitored part of it Tuesday night at 0110 UT. She pretty much said on air, Don`t like it? Leave! YL is Widow Scott. Same message as above on other three frequencies; 6090 [Anguilla] is one I found. Address was a loop tape played over and over (Bob Thomas, Bridgeport CT, April 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. QSL: 7415, radio six international via WBCQ, Monticello. Full data 'around the clock and around the world Scotland' QSL Card, with radio news sheet, in 34 days, for postal report (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Following information extracted from a letter received in the mail today, Friday, April 7, 2006, from KJES in Vado, NM. ``About KJES radio. We have a 50 KW shortwave transmitter, made by ELCOR electronics from Costa Rica. Our antenna is a Create Design of Japan, rotatable log periodic. It stands 96 feet off the ground. We are 4394 feet above sea level in the midst of the Chihuahua desert. We have been on the air since June 22, 1992. The first year was one of constant frustration. The transmitter was a prototype from ELCOR, it was the first 50 KW they manufactured. But now things are working fine for the most part.`` 73, (Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, Manassas, VA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. CVC La Voz, via Chile, 17680, the only significant signal making it thru on 16m, besides their relay of China on 17625, Sunday April 9 at 1319. Not even Spain 17595 was making it. Despite the timeshift in Miami, this is still the weekly ``arts`` hour, but jarring interruption by rap riff repeated several times, as if the automation or CD player were acting up. This happened again at 1347, so maybe they do it deliberately, unable to get away from this crap completely for even one hour a week. Otherwise, bits of classical music such as Concierto de Aranjuez at 1319, then at 1322 a talk about Leonardo da Vinci`s Mona Lisa, 1350 on his cuisine; in Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also CHILE Solar-terrestrial indices for 08 April follow. Solar flux 91 and mid- latitude A-index 5. The mid-latitude K-index at 0900 UTC on 09 April was 5 (90 nT). The mid-latitude K-index at 1200 UTC on 09 April was 4 (55 nT). The mid-latitude K-index at 1500 UTC on 09 April was 4 (41 nT). Space weather for the past 24 hours has been moderate. Geomagnetic storms reaching the G2 level occurred. Space weather for the next 24 hours is expected to be minor. Geomagnetic storms reaching the G1 level are expected. (SEC via DXLD) ** U S A. FLINT RADIO TOWER COMES DOWN --- WFDF CUTS ITS LOCAL CONNECTION --- By Kevin Holmes http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=local&id=4060455 GENESEE COUNTY (WJRT) - (04/06/06) One of the nation's oldest radio stations is cutting its local connection. The local towers that transmitted WFDF's signal to Flint and mid-Michigan have now come down. It has been part of the community since 1922. One of the nation's oldest radio stations is now gone. "It's sad there's a lot of legacy that goes to the history of this station. The people who grew up in this area are so fond of what WFDF was," said Chris Araut. That includes Flint radio legend Les Root. Root, who just celebrated 50 years in the business, joined WFDF in 1970. "It was one of the great radio stations in Flint. It did everything. It connected with the audience." That connection is now gone. Earlier this week, crews cut the wires on the three radio towers that transmitted to thousands of homes each day, closing the books on WFDF and closing the books on an important piece of history. "Even when the competition, when other stations went on the air and when FM became popular, WFDF maintained a listening base despite all the challenges," Root said. WFDF is now operated by Radio Disney and uses a tower South of Detroit, in Monroe County. If you live in Flint, you can still listen to WFDF, but many say the connection with the city will never be the same (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Includes video report ** U S A. If you are DXing on Saturday night, and hear Ian Punnett with "Coast to Coast Live", you can verify the affiliate at the following URL http://www.coasttocoastam.com/gen/page1389.html?theme=light The page gives ... Metro (market) Station (Call Sign) Frequency Wattage (I sent them an AM Log so let's hope someone got it right). and Airtime. Note that Airtime is the station's LOCAL time. Also, call signs in orange are links to the station's web site (Frederick R. Vobbe, W8HDU, Lima OH 45805-1835, NRC E-DX News April 8 via DXLD) ** U S A. Fines: KWYS-920 West Yellowstone, Montana has been fined $7000 ". . . for willful and repeated violation of Section 73.1125(a) of the Commission's Rules by failing to maintain a meaningful managerial and staff presence at the KWYS main studio." It seems an FCC inspector from the Seattle office found the main studio locked with no station personnel present, only a sign referring persons seeking the public file to see a realty agency, located across the hall, for instructions on how to gain access. A representative from the realty company told the agent that no one associated with KWYS had been present at the studio for the last few months and that he had an agreement with the station to let anyone to see the public file if requested. The agent contacted the owner's office in Ketchum, Idaho, who told the agent that KWYS was run remotely from Ketchum and that he or KWYS's contract engineer could arrive at the station in three to four hours to complete the inspection, but no sooner. ``Not good enough. Pay up``, sayeth the FCC. That's probably an entire year's billing for a station in that market! (Bill Hale, AM Switch, NRC E-DX News April 10 via DXLD) ** U S A. Late KCKN-1020 report from NC --- Was away this week and just now played back my recording from last weekend. I thought what the heck; knowing I had 3 things working against me. KDKA, horrible static, long distance. Amazing! Both the sweep tones and the cw cut through several times during the 2 hour period. I have one absolutely great cw ID that made the trip. Put me down for NM, Les! Thanks a lot for arranging this. My first NM and I think my furthest west (need to check). (Russ Johnson, Lexington NC, auto-pilot set up: Sony 2010, mini-bev pointed west, recorded onto mini-disc via Intermatic digital timer, April 8, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. Re 6-059: OK all you radio Buffs: Last chance to Get an Aircheck of WHWH 1350 Princeton, New Jersey after the legal ID at midnight tonight 4/7/06 I will be turning off the transmitter May WHWH rest in peace (Neal Newman, CE, April 6, ABDX via DXLD) Advance notice was given in the dxldyg (gh) ** U S A. Disco sucks! Posted at 4:21 PM on Thursday, April 6, 2006 in entertainment and musings. In honor of the start of another season of, as Glenn Hauser puts it, "stupid ball games," I present an article that originally appeared in a Chicago newspaper that documents the events transpired on July 12, 1979 at Comiskey Park in Chicago during Disco Demolition Night. It's interesting to compare this "big news story" to the steroid, cash, and corruption-soaked ball game of today. I found the writer's fifties-era writing style to be particularly interesting when looking at this in the context of almost thirty years of hindsight. The horror at Comiskey --- by Bill Gleason . . . http://www.rfma.net/archives/000720.html (Radio Free Mount Airy via DXLD) ** U S A. NOT SURPRISED AT LOW AIR AMERICA RATINGS - AND REPLIES posted April 6, 2006 I am not surprised that, as the Chattanoogan has reported, Air America on WDOD 1310 has caused listeners and ratings to "tune out, turn off and drop out." . . . http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_83318.asp (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) They`re not all rednex (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. The Twilight Zone --- Before the majority of the amateur community celebrates K1MAN's Forfeiture Order, we ought to take the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of our rules enforcement. Overall, Riley Hollingsworth is doing an excellent job. However, there is something more than a bit disturbing about the serious lack of enforcement in the K1MAN case. The FCC issued NALs [Notices of Apparent Liability] to K1MAN in 1990 and 1991. Those NALs were never collected. In fact, nothing at all happened in the K1MAN case for another 8 years, until 1999 when Riley Hollingsworth began writing semi-annual letters to K1MAN. Another 6 years passed without effective enforcement, and in 2005 Baxter received another NAL. Almost a year passed, and in 2006 he finally received a Forfeiture Order. Presumably Baxter was contacted about these issues prior to the issuance of his previous NALs in 1990 and 1991. In fact, Fred Kleber (K9VV) a ham who passed traffic during the 1985 Mexico City emergency stated, "On numerous occasions over this period, Mr. Baxter operated his radio station in a manner that created interference to an established Mexico City earthquake relief health and welfare net." Complaints were made in 1985 regarding that interference. So let's round off the number of years of ineffective enforcement to an even 20. It's actually 21 and counting, but let's give the Commission the benefit of the doubt. If Baxter ignores the Order (and it appears that's what he intends to do) then the FCC will be forced to ask the Department of Justice to sue K1MAN to recover the $21,000 he owes. Question(s) How long will the suit take? What are the chances that the US Attorney will recover the full amount owed? Will the amount recovered offset the cost of the Commission's labor and expenses plus the cost of the US Attorney's labor and expenses? Simply put, the FCC began receiving complaints about Baxter 21 years ago and they specifically mentioned Broadcasting and Pecuniary Interest in the previous NALs dating 15 years ago. Hundreds of complaints and 21 years later, Baxter's still on the air. Sadly, recovery of a mere $21,000 will not begin to cover the amount of taxpayer money spent pursuing this rules violator. What does this tell us about the so-called "enforcement powers" of the FCC? It tells me that there has been a truly egregious and pathetic lack of any real action in the K1MAN case for more than 20 years. It also tells me that the tax payer is getting royally screwed, and I haven't heard that anyone has gotten any enjoyment out of it, with the possible exception of Baxter himself. Please don't mistake me. I support the FCC in this and I support Riley's efforts. He is usually able to negotiate compliance, and I applaud him for that, but we have to face the fact that this case has been allowed to languish in the FCC twilight zone for 21 long years. Is it time for the amateur community to come together to write a petition for rulemaking, or to take other steps, including asking our legislators to change our laws in order to make it easier for the Commission to enforce the amateur rules in a timely, efficient, and cost-effective manner? As William Gladstone is supposed to have said, "Justice delayed is justice denied." What do you think? (Brian Crow, K3VR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN. Surprisingly good signal on 15570 with VR IS, April 7 at 1828, so what is coming up? Nothing: went off at 1830* after scheduled 1800 Portuguese to WAf, which typically lasts well under a semihour. Also, DRM buzz April 8 at 2317 on 9745-9755. This is the recently- added half-sesquihour to NAm direct from Vatican in binary language (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. RNV via RHC, April 8 at 2308 on 13680 // 11760, excerpt of an HCF speech; why is he always complaining about something? Such negativity! Like last A-season, 13680 again collides with CRI in English via Canada at this hour. Commies vs Commies! They were about even on this occasion with a SAH of 75/minute (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. Radio Voice of Vietnam was reported between 16 and 1630 hours in English on four frequencies: 7220 kHz to the Middle East, 7280 kHz to Europe, 9550 kHz to North America and 9730 kHz to Central Asia. Reports say it is on the air also in English at 17 hours on 9725 kHz and at 19 hours on 7280 kHz (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, R. Bulgaria DX April 7 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) 9550 to NAm? Aimed 290 degrees; I don`t think so (gh, DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. Hi Glenn, News about the broadcast situation back here. It`s like a sitcom script reading this. But as there are only clowns/ goons running this nation`s broadcasting ?network? Pockets Hill, Highlands, Harare, Zimbabwe, BTW is the headquarters for all broadcasting, TV & radio. 73 (David Pringle-Wood, Zimbabwe, April 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: POCKETS HILL SABOTAGED --- Zim Standard By Foster Dongozi WHILE state security agents went on a wild goose chase on an alleged arms cache in Mutare, the national broadcaster, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings, was being sabotaged, The Standard can reveal. The ZBH headquarters, Pockets Hill in Highlands, which is heavily protected by armed soldiers, had its Internet and surveillance cameras disabled. When film footage from surveillance cameras was viewed by security personnel, it showed two men who sneaked into the studios in the middle of the night. The two men could not be identified, but it has been confirmed they are certainly not members of ZBH staff. Reliable sources at ZBH told The Standard that the sabotage was committed on the fifth floor, above the office of Rino Zhuwarara, the company's executive chairman. Although the incident happened in February, a veil of secrecy has been thrown over the issue. Senior officials at ZBH and the Ministry of Information are reportedly fighting to have the sabotage swept under the carpet. Insiders said the sabotage could have been the work of one of the factions battling for the control of ZBH ahead of President Robert Mugabe's anticipated retirement. As a result of the sabotage, security at ZBH has been beefed up. "Even in the newsrooms and offices, we are seeing a lot of security people on the prowl in the corridors," said a ZBH staffer. Strangely, while senior officials at ZBH professed ignorance about the breach, sources at ZBH were adamant that the intrusion took place. Jennifer Tanyanyiwa, the ZBH corporate secretary said: "Please be advised that there was absolutely no interference with ZBH operations and that can be confirmed by the non-interruption of our services." The Internet and surveillance cameras usually do not affect broadcasting in any overt manner. Tanyanyiwa continued: "Further, it is the first time that we are hearing that there were people captured by surveillance cameras interfering with operations and we would actually appreciate if you could provide us with further details so that we can institute investigations because as far as we are concerned, no such thing ever occurred." Zhuwarara also professed ignorance of the sabotage. "I am not aware of that. It is something that I would take seriously as it concerns the security of ZBH. When workers are negotiating for salaries, they will tell you anything." The workers said management was trying to keep the issue secret in order to preserve their jobs (via David Pringle-Wood, DXLD) Hi all, 6612 kHz, has always been a harmonic of 3306, Radio Zimbabwe (ZBC, Gweru, Zimbabwe). Hey, I put that thru to WRTH as a decent listing for "another" country (David Pringle-Wood, Zimbabwe, April 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ HAMFANZ.COM http://www.hamfanz.com --- The ORIGINAL amatuer radio talk show site: featuring the entire 3.840 group including Art Bell w6obb, and starring a 'cast of dozens', including YOUR favorite HAMS and Short Wave Listeners (SWL's)! See also http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HamFanz/ It is a group of hams and shortwave listeners and some fans of Art Bell's Coast to Coast program. Thanks for your help, Glenn. I've been a silent fan of your shortwave reports for many years (Tom Gleeman, KE6YNH, 73, San Diego, CA, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tom was looking for a ``progressive`` US SW station to review; I had to disappoint him (gh, DXLD) INTERNATIONALES RADIO IN EUROPA, SITUATION UND ZUKUNFTSPERSPEKTIVEN That`s the title of a book advertised in the February issue of Radio Journal. It came out early in 2005, with contributions from people working at a variety of stations, including Uta Thofern (DW), Gundula Adolfsson (R. Schweden), Nicolas Lombard (swissinfo), and Wolf Harranth (ex-ORF). No overall author is given, nor number of pages. It costs 19.95 Euro from Gardez! Verlag, Richthofenstrasse 14, 42899 Remscheid, Deutschland. Email: info @ gardez.de but no website is given. Perhaps someone could find more info on this online (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ DSWCI 50 YEARS JUBILEE, DENMARK, MAY 5-6, 2006 Please visit http://www.dswci.org/dswci50 for more details regarding the Jubilee! So far 28 members and DX-friends from Japan, U.S.A., Italy, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Scotland and Denmark have confirmed their participation, some with wives! These lectures have been fixed for the Friday and Saturday afternoons, May 05 and 06: 1. Andrew Janitschek: "Radio Free Asia: More Than Shortwave". 2. Bjarke Vestesen: "DXing in Florida". 3. Toshi Ohtake: "DX-ing in Japan year 2006". 4. Risto Vähäkainu: "DX-ing in Finland year 2006". 5. Robert Kipp: "Revive "Radio St. Helena Day" Project". 6. Dario Monferini: "The National DX Meeting in Mexico 2005". 7. George Brown: "Report from NASWA Winterfest in Kulpsville 2006". 8. Recording from a DX-Window broadcast from Radio Denmark 1967-69. (Petersen and Wernli) For your DX-ing at the DX Camp, do not forget to bring the April issue of SWN and the latest two DX-Windows. The brand new, 8th edition of the Domestic Broadcasting Survey can also be purchased in Vejers. It is planned to be published at the end of April. More details in the next DX-Window (Anker Petersen, Ed., DSWCI DX Window April 6 via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ WHERE DO THEY COME UP WITH THIS STUFF? WLAC Nashville, TN --- Last night, April 8 UT at 0220, WLAC 1510-Clear Channel host Mark Christopher admonished his listeners to be sure they only listened to AM during severe weather, because listening to FM "takes more juice, and will eat up your batteries faster." I am not kidding! I was listening to check out their storm coverage. As you know, very severe weather in the Nashville area Friday night, and "Mr. Wizard" here is giving out far fetched information like that. What a public service (Brock Whaley, WH6SZ/WPE4IPK, Lilburn, GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, I suppose with higher fi, you might be inclined to turn the volume up louder on an FM than AM signal (gh, DXLD) So you wouldn't want to tune into any of the Clear Channel Nashville FM stations that they announced were simulcasting WLAC-AM? They even gave legal id's for the FM's on 1510-WLAC. Maybe I should confine my TV DXing to VHF since UHF often requires a separate oscillator in the UHF tuner, and I'm sure the few milliwatts of current that it draws is reflected in my electricity bill. LOL! (Brock Whaley, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ! If you *REALLY* grasp at straws, you *could* argue that older (tube-type) FM radios *did* draw more power than AM-only sets. Then again, the AM/FM sets almost always drew all that extra power even if they were they were tuned to an AM station - simply listening to WLAC instead of WWTN wouldn't save any power at all. I suppose it's *possible* that modern solid-state radios also draw less power on AM. I'm sure the difference is negligible (like trying to save gas by taking the fuzzy dice off your rear-view mirror: the weight reduction *will* improve fuel economy, but you'll never see the difference!) WLAC's competitors in the talk format are all FM, so I guess I'm not surprised to see FM-bashing going on. The other side of it is... that with yesterday's storms, the electrical activity was pretty intense; if you were more than 10 miles from the WLAC towers (the worst-hit area was just about that far) you probably wouldn't have heard much over the static! WLAC really suffers from their high dial position. I'm barely 20 miles from their towers & frequently log DX under (and occasionally over!) their night - and even day - signals. Locally, WLAC's 50,000-watt signal is approximately competitive with a 6,000- watt FM. -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View (Nashville), TN EM66, http://www.w9wi.com ibid.) Following the WLAC radio "fact." Since WLAC is on 1510, and directional at night, and WSM is on 650 and non-directional, wouldn't WSM have a stronger groundwave signal then WLAC? Both are 50 KW, so if the WSM signal is stronger, I wouldn't need as much audio or IF gain by a radio to receive them, and thus save the amount of power drawn by the amplifying stages my radio. WLAC did not mention this (Brock Whaley, ibid.) Yep, WSM sure does! I'm not sure what WSM was doing for storm coverage (was too busy helping keep the TV storm coverage on the air!). WSM's better groundwave signal isn't so much because of the non-directional antenna (especially as the worst of the storm happened before sunset, while WLAC was still non-directional). But WSM's much lower dial position provides a much better groundwave signal. Of course, WSM's news staff has been decimated, but they are co-owned with WWTN-FM so I suppose they did have the resources to do a decent job of storm coverage. I saw a note somewhere where one FM station was simulcasting us (WSMV-TV), don't remember which FM. All the big ones are group-owned. ``Maybe I should confine my TV DXing to VHF since UHF often requires a separate oscillator in the UHF tuner, and I'm sure the few milliwatts of current that it draws is reflected in my electricity bill.`` ... (though these days, usually there's only one tuner for both VHF and UHF and no difference in circuitry in use or power draw. It was certainly different in the tube days!) Well, if the WLAC announcers can get some of the WNRQ-FM (or other CC Nashville FM) listeners to stay permanently with WLAC, it'll be that much easier for the AM announcers the next time their contracts come up for renegotiation ... (Doug Smith W9WI, ibid.) WSM seemed to be wall to wall when I tuned in around 5 PM Eastern yesterday afternoon. And my DX TV is a $10 black and white Goodwill special. Very selective. Separate VHF and UHF tuners, but solid state. No drifting 6AF4's here. Now my 1952 tunable Sutco VHF booster is a different story. One 6J6 tube. Razor sharp tuning once it settles down. Regards, (Brock Whaley, GA, ibid.) FURTHER THOUGHTS ON THE ETÓN S350DL & FM Hi, all! I wanted to add something to what I wrote before about the Etón S350DL and how it performed on FM weak signal-reception. I suppose I spoke too soon and perhaps evaluated the FM performance of the S350DL too hastily. An e-mail exchange off the group prompted me to try it out again on the weaker FM stations here, and I will retract my earlier completely negative comments. I CAN, in fact, receive local but weaker FM stations on the S350DL, but it turns out that the reception is dependent on the position of the radio and the orientation of the whip antenna to a greater degree than I had suspected. The radio will pick up these stations depending on whether it is standing upright or laying on its back, if I am holding it or take my hand away, if I adjust the whip to extend horizontally but without the segments of the rod expanded, etc. It varies with each station. When I tried it before I was not exercising all these variables. Of course, this means that you cannot just leave the radio sitting on a table and tune the FM frequency you want; you have to tune it and fiddle with the position and the antenna until you get what is "just right" for that particular station. So it does work; it's just not all that user-friendly. 73, (Will Martin, MO, April 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM – THE BBC WORLD SERVICE DISTRIBUTION CHAIN Via een link van het DRM forum kom je bij een leuk artikel hoe de BBC zijn DRM uitzendingen in elkaar zet [in English]: http://www.ebu.ch/en/technical/trev/trev_306-drm_bbc.pdf Bezoek ook eens mijn website, deze zal (on)regelmatig wijzigen http://home.wanadoo.nl/hanhardonk/ Now also available in English. Groeten (Han Hardonk, Netherlands, BDXC via DXLD) DRM: see also AZORES; ITALY; SPAIN; VATICAN POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ARRL ALLEGES MISREPRESENTATION BY BPL OPERATOR, SLAMS LACK OF FCC ACTION --- April 3 2006 The ARRL has once again called for the immediate shutdown of the BPL pilot project in Briarcliff Manor, New York. In a March 29 letter that takes both BPL operator Ambient Corporation and the FCC to task, the League documented continued interference on Amateur Radio frequencies at various points of the Westchester County system. The ARRL has filed five previous interference complaints about the system, the first dating back to October 2004. The system operates under an FCC Part 5 experimental license. http://www.arrl.org/ (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ SOLAR ECLIPSE MONITORING During the Sun Eclipse on March 29 a number of stations on the lower frequencies which usually are not audible in Bulgaria at this time, were received as follows: Radio Free Africa from Tanzania on 1377 kHz, Radio Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 1197 kHz, Radio Armenia on 1395 kHz, Radio Libya on 1125 kHz and others. Similarly, a number of stations on short wave below 7 MHz had enhanced signals (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, R. Bulgaria DX April 7 via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) DX OUTING - ROWLEY, MA - Thurs., 6 APR (initial comments) An after-work mini-DXpedition planned for Wednesday had to be delayed a day because of some spring snow followed by cold temperatures and high wind. Because of the delay till Thursday night, I won't have a full report by Bruce's next IDXD deadline (Friday), but here are a few highlights of my first coastal DX car session of the 2006 "outdoor DXing season". I arrived at the Rowley, MA salt-marsh area just after 6 p.m. EDT (2200 UT), more than an hour before sunset. Since the water level in the marsh seemed too high for running out a BOG or the 60 m spaced phased verticals, I stuck with the old reliable car-top set-up of the 2 m per side square broadband loop and the 3 m active whip. These were phased with the homebrew DXP-6 to produce an approximate cardioid pattern with a null "slewable" up to 40 degrees each side of due west. The Drake R8A, as usual, was the receiver of choice. Transatlantic signals were noted as soon as I fired up the equipment. Midband seemed better than high band this time around and it soon became apparent that this was a "pipeline" opening strongly highlighting the Canary Islands, Azores, Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Spain, and Portugal. The truly monster signals (I mean close to pegging the meter) were from Morocco-612, Canaries-621, Azores-693, Mauritania-783, Algeria- 890.95, Algeria-981, and Morocco-1044. Most of these are both big power and coastal. The one that took me by surprise was Azores-693. It's listed as just 10 kW but it was coming in like a megawatt with a great hard-rock program and Portuguese talk at 8:27 p.m. EDT / 0027 UTC. It was parallel to 837 and to Madeira-603. After DXing from the house all winter, I had kind of forgotten how crushingly loud the TA signals can get out at the salt-marsh, even with antennas considerably inferior to my home set-up. Off-channel Africans in the form of Guinea-1385.92 (some audio) and Angola-1484.52 (het against Spain) were noted. 1566 was checked for TWR Benin, but just a lot of WQEW slop there. Infrequently heard Morocco-936 had the edge on that channel early (2307 UT); more-common Spain ruled it later. R. Sawa Djibouti was good on 1431, but the Persian Gulf region Sawa's and Farda's weren't making much of a show. Indeed 1548 was just a het, but 1550 had the RASD Algeria clandestine rolling over WDZK-CT at times. Not surprisingly, Ceuta-1584 was in early and loud, though SER-Spain did pop atop at times. Best Portugal was 1035; 963 was there too, but lots of CHNS slop on that channel. Spain was all over the place, no surprise there, but watt-for-watt the Moroccans, Canaries, and other somewhat more southerly stations had the edge. France was in on 945, 1206, & 1557 but not at all-time greatest strengths. Interestingly there was a second signal mixing on 945: Angola or São Tomé perhaps? UK, Germany, and other northern Europeans were generally out of the show, typically covered by southern-Europe / northern-Africa stations. A big highlight was a smashing pipeline to Algeria around 0055 UT. Seldom-logged Algerian stations on 666, 702, and 783 dominated those channels for a while with programming parallel to the big guns on 549 and 890.95. Most of these shore outings produce at least one surprise. This was tonight's. I was impressed. South America was represented by a showing of São Paulo, Brazil on 1100 blasting over little WHLI-NY; Fortaleza, Brazil on 760 usually over the rat-pack there; and some Venezuelans with 750 about the best. Bermuda-1160 was running even with WSKW-ME when I phased out NJ's WOBM & WVNJ. I couldn't figure out what the BBC parallel would be since 5975 seemed inactive. Caribbean splits (535, 555, 895) were only "so-so". TA's were definitely the main event. I left the site at 9:12 p.m. local / 0112 UT with the last log in the book being Canaries on 1008 with a thumping signal that pushed back the WINS slop most of the time. I'll see what I can add to the logbook from home over the weekend and I'll have a full report out soon (Mark Connelly - Billerica, MA, USA, DXpedition site: Rowley, MA: 42.744 N / 70.830 W), NRC-AM via DXLD) LINKS TO RECENT GEOMAG LISTINGS The first 3 months of 2006 are now available online: January: http://www.ircaonline.org/Geomagnetic_Indices_0601.pdf February: http://www.ircaonline.org/Geomagnetic_Indices_0602.pdf March: http://www.ircaonline.org/Geomagnetic_Indices_0603.pdf (Paul Swearingen, NRC E-DX News April 8 via DXLD) Most ya in DXLD ###