DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-104, July 17, 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 AIRING OF WORLD OF RADIO EXTRA 69: Wed 0930 WOR WWCR1 9985 Complete schedule including non-SW stations and audio links: 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 DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS July 18: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** ALASKA. Here's a look from the roof of 106.3/107.9 KSUP Radio in Juneau, Alaska! http://pajk.arh.noaa.gov/cams/juneau_southeast.jpg (webcam via Paul Walker, ND, http://www.walkerbroadcasting.com/pics.html IRCA via DXLD) Nice view of harbor; and later I saw a cruise ship (gh, DXLD) ** ALBANIA. Re this from Glenn: ``Axually, they are on 6115 at 0145 and 0230 UT Tue-Sun. As for the other frequency, there has been conflicting info. The official schedule updated April 17, in DXLD 6- 063 shows 7455, and we had pointed out previously that this was a bad choice due to RTTY, which is no doubt why US stations have avoided it. Then in 6-092 there was a report mentioning 7445 instead. At first I thought this was a typo, but then came another report of 7445 in 6- 099. So did R. Tirana move from 7455 to 7445, and if so, when? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` Hello Drita, I too saw what was written about 7455. I had also seen mention of it earlier but with conflicting reports of a good signal or RTTY. I do not recommend 7445 currently due to this transmission: 7440 0000 0500 8,9,27 SMF 1000 314 0 298 1234567 0 298 1234567 301005230306 D UKR/E UKR RUI RRT That's from the Ukraine and beamed to N America with a power of 500 kW (not 1000) according to their schedule. However, their schedule also indicates that this one MIGHT shift frequency to 5810 in September. Maybe Wolfy has some updated information about it? I hope I understand correctly that CURRENTLY 7455 is in use at 2300- 0030 in Albanian and 0145-0200 and 0230-0300 in English - is that correct? Why not try shifting AS SOON AS POSSIBLE to 7450 instead and I will ask for reports from Stateside on your behalf from Glenn Hauser and others. If this works satisfactorily and without RTTY interference then 7450 can be used in B-06. On the HFCC you will see that Greece via AVL (Avlis) is registered but they actually close down on 7450 at 2250 UT so that should be okay for SHI to fire up in time for a 2300 start. So, if you agree to try 7450 then I'll get word out when you let me know it's on air and, if it works A-OK then it can be adopted full time. Greetings from a hot and sunny Blackpool (Noel Green, July 15, to Drita, via Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) Radio Tirana has not moved to 7445 intentionally - if it was observed operating there then it was due to mis-tuning of the transmitter. HOWEVER - the information supplied by Glenn and others has led to a re-think about using 7455 due to RTTY on the frequency - now also observed here in NW England. As from tonight 2300 UT Monday the 17th into Tuesday the 18th UT 0145 & 0230 Tirana is planning to test 7450 providing the technicalities can be sorted out. So if you can help, reception reports will be most gratefully received. If you post them to DXLD I'll pass them on, or you can e- mail them direct to dcico @ icc.al.eu.org The schedule is Albanian 2300-0030 and English 0145-0200 and 0230-0300 UT and the parallel channel is 6115 as Glenn states. I hope this is what is meant by Tuesday to Sunday only! If you want one, QSLs are available for the asking (Noel R. Green, July 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] The technicalities have been sorted out re Radio Tirana test on 7450 according to this message: ``PS Shijak made the necessary adjustments for 7450 kHz tonight`` (Noel R. Green, UK, ibid.) Radio Tirana has a test today, 7450 kHz instead of 7455 kHz, to avoid RTTY station adjacent to 7455 kHz in North America. 2300-0030 UT in Albanian and 0145-0200 and 0230-0300 in English. Yes, they fired that up now at 2300 UT, 5 kHz down on 7450 kHz, powerhouse S=9 +60 dB in Stuttgart southern Germany. Please report to dcico@abcom-al.com 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Subject: Tonight test on 7450 KHz NOEL, Shijak R/stat. already took the order to broadcast TONIGHT on 7450 KHz instead of 7455 KHz to NoAm: 2300-0030 UTC in Albanian and 0145-0200 UTC and 0230-0300 UTC in English. Please notify immediately Glenn Hauser and others in USA to send us reception reports on the above transmissions. Thanks and all the best from Tirana, (Drita Cico, ARTV-Head of Monitoring Center, RADIO TIRANA) Why didn`t they do this when I first pointed out the RTTY problem back in March? I was about to check 7455 Sunday night until I remembered they take UT Mondays off. Did check July 17 around 2350 and found Albanian service in the clear on 7450, music, no problem from RTTY on 7455. Retuned at 0143 to find 7450 with open carrier, and at 0145 opening English with music, ID, schedule in local time of UT +2, to Europe and NAm, still giving 7455 and 6115 for 3:45 and 5:30 am. 0147 into Top Stories of news. I rolled tape and have not had time to listen to the rest of the broadcast, but I did notice that the audio is rather clipped, lo-fi. R. Tirana now needs to work on that; perhaps it is dependent on the studio- transmitter feedline. Sorry, missed the 0230 broadcast, and not heard when I tuned in too late around 0258, probably already off. I would give the 0145 a SINPO of 45444, and there was no problem from Ukraine on 7440 either. So I would recommend a permanent move to 7450! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA [and non]. Re 6-103: Hello Raúl, and thanks to Roberto Scaglione for his info re the LRA transmitter using 15345. TDP has this listed as a Harris SW-100 of 1977 so something must have "occurred" to make it non-tunable. The other two 50 kW units date back to 1947. [and what about 9690, their fourth frequency? --- gh] Well, I'm still not impressed by some of the decisions the managers take and I get the feeling that they are thinking about VHF rather than HF propagation. Some of the frequency sharing has been "optimistic" to say the least, and has resulted in un-necessary interference on occasions. SW doesn't work like that, and you only need to think of the many 'out of area' signals you can hear to realise it. During visits to various transmitting stations I was quite surprised to find that programme source was monitored before it went into the transmitter but not what actually came out of the antenna! But perhaps it's different at other sites? How many times have DXers reported incorrect frequency usage - recently I noted ISR using 15670 instead of 15760 - which should be spotted if monitored. And as for malfunctioning transmitters - whether engineers know and can't do anything about it, who knows. It seemed to come as a surprise to Radio Polonia when their listeners reported hearing the racket via their transmitters that we DXers have been hearing for years! All of which must make listening to SW a nightmare for the uninitiated - but "fun" for us DXers of course (Noel R. Green (NW England), July 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. Google Earth research: RAE Buenos Aires I asked Gabriel Iván Barrera at Buenos Aires for help. He advised me: "The name of the site, and also the name of site town is General Pacheco, is near to around 25 km northwest of the Buenos Aires city, very near to Pilar city." Transmitter location is at General Pacheco, which is narrowed at ITU and 'ILG by BF' list to BUE Buenos Aires ARG 34S36 058W22, which is totally wrong; location is near the coast line on the harbour, more easterly. So it was a little bit difficult to find out the RAE site, due of many housing areas and the Ford / VW factories etc. etc. So, I guess that is it: 58 38 33 W - 34 32 58 S I see some MW masts, and some curtains, log-periodics at 6060 30 kW = 0 degrees --- zero means non-dir or true north ? 9690 50 50 degrees 11710 100 335, 348 degrees 15345 100 35 degrees Other MW towers on the image I see near 58 36 58 W - 34 32 29 S 58 37 19 W - 34 33 15 03 S 58 39 58 W - 34 33 12 S 73 wb July 11/12 (Wolfgang Büschel, via Kai Ludwig, Conexión Digital July 16 via DXLD) ** BAHRAIN. Google Earth research: ABH Abu Hayan BHR 26N02 050E37. 801 and 612 kHz MW, 100 kW each. MW directional system, 2 masts of 85 meters height, 2nd mast in 40 degrees north-east. Also additionally a pair of 30m dipole pipe masts, 20 m distance, seemingly the 9745 kHz dipole array. 26 01 49 N 50 36 58 E A second transmitter site, on the eastern side of the peninsula: 58 m high tower at 26 02 10 N 50 37 26 E, seems 612 kHz. Also two MW masts of 115m height each. 200 meters apart each other. 2nd mast in 40 degrees north-east. Latter 801 kHz array, screened in 40 degrees towards co-channel Orzu-TJK. 73 wb July 11/12 (Wolfgang Büschel, via Kai Ludwig, Conexión Digital July 16 via DXLD) ** BELARUS. 11930, Belaruskaya Radio 1 (Home Service). 7/15/06, *0357- 0440 in Belaursian. Open carrier followed by time pips at 0400 with a woman announcer giving ID followed by a man in Belarusian. Program of pop music hosted by a woman announcer. Poor to fair and beginning to fade at tune out. Noted with better signal earlier in the week (Rich D`Angelo, Wyomissing PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** BENIN. TWR gets its licence --- PRESS RELEASE. THE BENIN MEDIUM WAVE BROADCASTING LICENSE HAS BEEN ISSUED TO TRANS WORLD RADIO. DOWNLOADABLE SCHEDULES ARE NOW AVAILABLE. THESE CAN BE DOWNLOADED BY CLICKING ON SCHEDULES IN THE NAVBAR, SCROLLING TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE AND SELECTING THE SCHEDULE YOU NEED. NIGER IS A COUNTRY FACING ACUTE HARDSHIP. FIND OUT HOW TWR'S PROGRAMMES BRING COMFORT. PRESS RELEASE: BENIN MEDIUM WAVE LICENSE ISSUED On 4 July 2006 in Cotonou, Benin, a license signing ceremony took place allowing Trans World Radio to begin broadcasting the gospel on medium wave (AM) from within West Africa. a truly historic moment. Find out more... http://www.twrafrica.org/0083.asp The handing over of the new medium wave license to Rev. Abdoulaye Sangho by the president of HAAC in Contonou, Benin (via Steve Whitt, MWC via DXLD) There were already reports a few weeks ago of 1566 being on the air, testing? Tentatively? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also NIGER ** BOLIVIA. BOLÍVIA – A Rádio La Cruz del Sur é uma emissora boliviana que praticamente sumiu do dial nos últimos tempos. Há alguns anos, possuía excelente sintonia no Sul do Brasil pela freqüência de 4875 kHz. Mas em Chascomus, próximo a Buenos Aires, na Argentina, o Arnaldo Slaen voltou a ouvir a emissora, em oito de julho, às 2320, quando apresentava programação religiosa. BOLÍVIA – A Rádio San Gabriel, de La Paz, foi captada, em Porto Alegre (RS), pelo colunista, em 12 de julho, às 0044, pela freqüência de 6080 kHz. A estação irradiava um noticiário em aymara, mencionando alguns nomes em espanhol [sic], tais como ``luta contra corrupción, Doutor Salvador Romero, eleitoral``. ** BRAZIL. BRASIL – A Rádio Educadora, de Bragança (PA), praticamente não tem relatos de sintonia de sua freqüência de 4825 kHz em território brasileiro, já que, neste canal, predomina a Rádio Canção Nova, de Cachoeira Paulista (SP). Entretanto, na Espanha, a emissora paraense tem tido sim relatos de sintonia, como é o caso do Manuel Méndez que a captou, em Lugo, na Espanha, em 12 de julho, entre 2120 e 2131. Na ocasião, ele ouviu a identificação: ``ondas curtas, 4825 kHz, Rádio Educadora``. BRASIL – O colunista não sabe o que é pior: ouvir a programação musical que a Rádio Nacional da Amazônia, de Brasília (DF), transmite nas tardes de domingos, ou pensar que a emissora poderia estar ``pagando um mico`` transmitindo o ridículo futebol que os clubes brasileiros estão apresentando nos dias atuais? Se tivéssemos ainda bons jogadores em campo, talvez a opção da Radiobrás em acabar com a equipe esportiva fosse equivocada. Fica a dúvida! BRASIL – A freqüência de 5045 kHz, em que a Rádio Guarujá Paulista, de Guarujá (SP), transmite não tem mais nada a ver com a cidade de Presidente Prudente (SP), antigo local para o qual o canal havia sido concedido. A tramitação para que o canal seja regularizado em Guarujá está em andamento. Conforme o diretor da emissora Orivaldo Rampazo, Presidente Prudente jamais cuidou com carinho do transmissor de ondas tropicais que possuía, tanto é assim que a casa do transmissor e toda a infra-estrutura ``foram destruídas``. BRASIL – A Rádio Difusora, de Poços de Caldas (MG), foi captada, em Porto Alegre (RS), pelo colunista, em 12 de julho, às 0026, pela freqüência de 4945 kHz. A estação mineira levava ao ar o espaço Difusora, a dona da noite. O sinal era regular (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX July 16 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 11804.9, Radio Globo, Rio de Janeiro, 1011-1033, 13-07, locutor, portugués, comentarios y noticias: "O Governo Federal", "Sete horas e 15 minutos, desperta Brasil". ID "Radio Globo", anuncios comerciales. 24222. También, 2053-2105, 14-07, locutor, comentarios de Río de Janerio, Identificación: "Globo cidade". 23222 (Manuel Méndez, Escuchas realizadas en Camping de Reinante, costa del Mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N de Lugo. Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 6030, Calgary - CFVP relaying CKMX (AM 1060), July 17, 0415-0448, variety of C&W songs, ads, IDs ``Classic Country AM 1060``, ``Classic Country, in the heart of cowboy country``, wishes everyone a ``Happy Stampede``, weak. It’s been a while since I last heard them on their ``clear`` Monday (Marti and jammer are off). Observed //1060, fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. Sackville`s DRM transmitter is way out of whack again at 1330 July 17. Instead of R. Sweden analog relay on 15240, just heavy DRM, and spreading out to 15180-15280, blowing away the weaker AM signals in that range. I have already notified them. [Later:] Sackville switched 15240 from DRM to AM at 1359 sharp, as soon as R. Sweden`s English broadcast was over. May have heard traces of it on 15240 under all the noise when rechecked at 1355 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) O espectro de DRM ocupa 10 kHz de largura com ruido constante e cai repentinamente no kHz seguinte se o emissor estiver bem ajustado. Isto é: Tomando em consideração a QRG de 5035, deve-se escutar o sinal de DRM entre os 5030 e os 5040. 1 kHz antes e depois destas frequencias o ruido deverá desaparecer praticamente. No entanto e pela experiência profissional que tenho desde que começaram os primeiros testes em DRM, altura em que as configurações de todos os parametros eram feitos manualmente, e porque participei e continuo a participar neste processo de desenvolvimento da radio digital, por motivos profissionais, sei quanto é dificil e crítico ajustar um transmissor para se obter um espectro puro, que não interfira nas estações adjacentes. Infelizmente tenho assistido a muitas emissões de teste em DRM que talvez por não terem pessoal devidamente qualificado na area de RF e transmissão, as emissões são autenticas fontes de ruido, apresentando larguras de banda muito alem dos 10 kHz e baixo SNR, o que torna quase impossivel descodificar o sinal mal se desvanece um pouco. 73 de (CT4RK, Carlos Mourato, Sines - Portugal, July 16, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Someone in Brasil had reported unID noise on 5040 (which I doubt is DRM) and led to this enlightening reply (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. Ch 2 and 3 TV received in NORTHERN IRELAND: see PROPAGATION ** CAYMAN ISLANDS. As suspected Cayman Islands are in and Jamaicans have faded. 101.9 Rooster Country, 91.9 with AC/classic country mix, no talk, no IDs, suspect Radio Cayman 2; 93.9 has a preacher Cayman Is or Roatan Is "Bay Island Christian Net"? (Randolph Zerr KW4RZ grid EM60qk Fort Walton Beach, Florida 1929 UT July 16, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CHINA. Google Earth research: 07-JAN-2004: add KAS Kashi, CHN, 39N30 076E00 But Google centers Kashi-Kashgar China at 39 28 48 N 75 58 12 E An older TX site location at 39 24 35 N 75 55 21 E, but n o t the Thomson Thomcast ALLISS antenna and 500 kW tx site,- at least NOT when the image snap was taken... Two MW tower locations seen at 39 24 31 N 75 55 17 E, and 39 24 37 N 75 55 12 E, 115 meters height each. The tall SINGLE SW curtain tower array on the eastern-right side of the image. 320 meters in length, and 10 towers of 98 meters height each, 2 towers x 5 pairs in row. SW curtain array in NoWe to SoEa row, direction of 60 and 240 degrees, center approx. 39 24 33N 75 55 25 E. But the HFCC entries show for 100 kW installation these bearings: 173, 209[slew -30], 239; and non-dir in 50, 41, and 31 mb. So the changeover on back side of 60 degrees isn't in usage or even never built up. Tall and a small tower shows the Google image on various locations, but seemingly rather chimneys, not radio towers at: 39 29 48 N 75 53 45 E 39 30 54 N 75 59 31 E 39 29 49 N 75 57 00 E 39 29 35 N 75 57 00 E 39 29 21 N 75 58 11 E 39 30 23 N 75 53 50 E 73 wb July 11/12 (Wolfgang Büschel, via Kai Ludwig, Conexión Digital July 16 via DXLD) ** CHINA. Re: ``Several monitors in VK and ZL land said that the Chinese station on 18160 was not its fundamental frequency but was a result of Intermodulation. When monitored may sound like two stations on the same frequency. Quote from one monitor, the Chinese station on 18160 is the result of a transmitter intermodulation problem at one of their transmission sites - it is not transmitted as a fundamental on that frequency - in fact, the careful listener will identify two separate Mandarin transmissions on that frequency`` DARC-MS and experienced BCLs (Wolfgang Bueschel, Glenn Hauser) know since fall last year that the transmissions on 18... MHZ are NOT spurious. Of course, when these first appeared we also looked on all kind of QRGs to find fundamentals to fit for 18080 and/or 18160 kHz either as harmonics or intermodulation. The transmissions on 18... are FUNDAMENTALS. The purpose of these transmissions is to jam the Clandestine station "Sound-of-Hope" from Taiwan which is ON THE SAME QRG. Sometimes you can hear this program below the transmissions of CHINA NATIONAL RADIO Domestic Service *). It is this "Mandarin" transmissions reported above. The day before yesterday I have sent a recording of the BC to the Chinese Embassy in Berlin. I want them to listen to the recording to identify. Anyhow. If it is a fundamental or a spurious transmission: CNR-DS is not allowed to transmit either on 18... or 14... MHz. DARC-MS has a very elaborate homepage where these developments can be read since long time. *) First we thought the program was CRI-1 (China Radio International- Nr. One), but Glenn Hauser and others told us that the transmitter is "CNR-DS", China National Radio Domestic Service. Fraternally yours in the intruder busting business, (Uli Bihlmayer, DARC Intruder Watch, July 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also KENYA ** COSTA RICA [and non]. When I was in San José, Costa Rica a couple of years ago, the FM band was full of local stations from one end of the dial to the other. More than I've ever seen in any US city. They don't seem to have a problem with second adjacent channels in close proximity to each other. Because of the separation rules in the US we have ended up with many bad co-channel situations where less restrictive limitations on first, second, and third adjacents would have offered better allocation options. But at this point in time to loosen the separation rules would only trash the band even more (Mark Wilson, Monroe, LA, July 14, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CROATIA [non]. CROÁCIA VIA ALEMANHA – Tem apenas nove minutos de duração a emissão em espanhol da Voz da Croácia. Intitulado Croácia Hoy, a transmissão conta com algumas informações que envolvem aquele país do Báltico, na apresentação de David Rey. O tempo que resta para fechar os 30 minutos que, em tese, deveria ser o total da emissão é recheado de músicas. Há algum tempo, a emissora chegou a colocar no ar entrevistas, notícias de esportes e boletins de correspondentes em outras localidades. É mais uma emissora em contenção de despesas? A Voz da Croácia utiliza as facilidades da Deustche Telekom (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX July 16 via DXLD) CROACIA --- QSL electrónica (imagen de alta resolución en archivo JPG). Frecuencia 7285 kHz. V/S Zlatko Kuretic, Editor en Jefe. No indica fecha, ni hora, ni siquiera mi nombre (parece no estar previsto incluir esta información). Decepcionante. Demoró 5 meses y corresponde a un informe enviado por e-mail el 3 de febrero de este año a glas.hrvatske @ hrt.hr por una escucha del 2 de febrero, y re enviado por carta días después por haber rebotado el mail (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay) 7285 kHz, La Voz de Croacia, en español, lavozdecroacia @ hrt.hr Recibida email con imagen adjunta de la QSL para imprimir. No datos completos, con el siguiente texto: Muy señor mío: Nos satisface que haya Ud. escuchado "La Voz de Croacia" programa internacional de la Radio Croata. Es un placer confirmarle que Ud. escuchó nuestro programa, en la frecuencia de 7285 kHz. Atentamente. Zlatko Kuretic, Director Ejecutivo Tiempo de espera 154 días (Javier Robledillo Jaén - Elche, Alicante, España, Conexión Digital July 16 via DXLD) En la banda internacional de 31 metros, me sorprendió Croacia via Jülich (seguramente) en los 9925 Khz con excelente señal a las 2233- 2255 UTC del 14/7 con su servicio en español. ID: \\\"Están escuchando la emisión \\\'Croacia Hoy\\\' en español\\\". Creo que este es otro de los servicios que no durará mucho tiempo más en la OC, lamentablemente. Mañana volveré con más. Un cordial saludo (desde las Sierras de Córdoba, Argentina, Rubén G. Margenet, Noticias DX via DXLD) I guess the \\\ indicate big pauses? (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA. Checking 6120 for report of R. Rebelde here, July 17: tune in 0358 and found Spanish not // 5025, and yes, pretty strong, giving Spain a run for its money on 6125, and stronger than whatever was on 6140, but no ID heard. Kept going a few minutes past 0400. Since not // 5025, is one of these axually the FM program? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6120, 0315 17/7, R. Rebelde, Habana, Spanish, 43333 (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, HCDX via DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. CUBAN NEWS AGENCY SAYS BUSH ``WIRING CUBAN SUBVERSIVES`` Cuban news agency Prensa Latina says that ``the new edition of the Bush Plan against Cuba insists in allocating new sums of money to historically frustrated communication projects like Martí Radio and TV.`` Prensa Latina claims that ``radio and TV broadcasting have historically been used to provide instructions for groups infiltrated in the island to carry out sabotage and terrorist attempts.`` Now, says the Cuban news agency, the report of the Commission for the Assistance to a Free Cuba, approved by President Bush, has boosted finances for the propaganda war and committed to help groups within. It says illegal groups in Cuba will now be provided with the required equipment to receive emissions designed to train them in broadcasting information against the State. This could even include regularly scheduled meetings to coordinate communication strategies against the island (Source: Prensa Latina) (July 16th, 2006, 15:25 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. Seeing reports down here of Martí via WDHP [VI US], around 0000-0400 GMT Sunday (local Saturday), 1620 kHz. I'll have to check during the week, and next local Saturday. BTW, no trace of 530 Air Marti at 6 p.m. this past Saturday. Replacement? And how long until a jammer is pointed at 1620? (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, July 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DENMARK. All foreign language broadcast over Danmarks Radio on 1062 kHz have ceased now except for half an hour in Faroese Saturdays at 1700 UT (Info from Erik Köie, DR, via Ullmar Qvick, ARC Information Desk 15 May via Olle Alm, DXLD) ** DODECANESE ISLANDS. Greece --- 1260, Rhodes - The IBB station since 26 April is no longer carrying IBB programmes. The ERT relay remains at 0900-1400 (ARC, ARC Information Desk 15 May via Olle Alm, DXLD) So off the air at night when it would be most useful! But still on in daytime (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** EASTER ISLAND. Easter Island has a strong LF beacon, reportedly 3 kW, on 280 kHz. It gets out well all across NA; here in NE Oregon, I generally hear it most mornings just before sunrise. Its ID is "IPA" (Steve Ratzlaff, July 15, IRCA via DXLD) as in Isla de PAscua (gh) ** ECUADOR [and non]. 11690, HCJB (Pifo). 7/15/06, 1115 ­ 1131 in Sp. Alternating M&W with talk, time pips & ID at BoH. Only able to copy in USB because of RTTY like digital station on 11689.3 LSB. Poor (Mark Taylor, WI, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Would someone with RTTY capability PLEASE ID that thing? It`s been there forever and almost constantly, also a big problem for Jordan (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Google Earth Research: ABZ Abu Zaabal EGY 30N16 031E22 MW 558, 1071, 1341 kHz. SW targets in 20, 70, 90, 106, 160, 241, 250, 315, 330. Single MW pipe mast, 40 meters height at 30 16 07 N 31 21 50 E, another MW pipe mast, 30 meters height, at 30 16 40 40 N 31 22 05 07 E Main transmitter building near 30 16 25 N 31 21 55 E 20 curtain towers, 12 pipe masts, 1 log-periodic array. 73 wb July 11/12 (Wolfgang Büschel, via Kai Ludwig, Conexión Digital July 16 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 6940, Radio Fana. 7/14/06, 0333-0405 in Amharic. Talk by man and woman. 0340 Horn of Africa musical bridge into talk by two men, one appearing to be in the studio, and the second a remote reporter. Three similar segments with musical bridges at start. 0348 Talk by woman. 0354 Horn of Africa vocal music. 0357 Talk by man to 0405 tune out. Moderate signal with significant atmospheric noise and fading. Down to just above noise level at tune out. SINPO 34222 at best. Parallel 6209.97 noted with much weaker signal (Jim Evans, TN, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 6210, 0330 UT 7/17, R. Fana, Addis Ababa, Amharic, 42222 (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, HCDX via DXLD) See also NIGER ** FRANCE. It's confirmed that the 2 MW TDF transmitters used by Superloustic on 999 kHz (Paris) and Marseille 675 kHz were switched off last week. At this time no official report about this from the operator TDF or from the station. But I suppose that the project concerning this station for children is probably at the end of its life due to the fact that they are not advertising to finance them. I think that they are not ready to come back on the waves and that it is probably the end of the radio (Thierry VIGNAUD via Bengt Ericson, ARC Information Desk 10 July via Olle Alm, DXLD) ** FRANCE. Hi all, Again I heard this unID station in an African language (Hausa?) on 23670 (2 x 11835) between 1857 and 1955 UT during Es propagation. The word HAUSA was mentioned several times. I think it is a clandestine station. At the same time the French beacon F5TMJ/B on 28243 kHz was heard. According to the HFCC schedule this programme on 11835 kHz is coming from Issoudun, France. vy 73 de (Juergen Lohuis, Germany, harmonics yg via DXLD) Not in this case. From 6-081: ``LIBYA [non]. Additional frequencies for LJBC / Voice of Africa: 1600-1758 French 17695 WeNoAf \\ 15660 to NoWeAf and 17870 to NoCeAf 1800-1958 Hausa 11835 to WeNoAf \\ 15660 to WeNoAf (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, May 30 via DXLD)`` Altho RFI itself is planning to add Hausa, perhaps via Nigerian transmitters. 73, (Glenn Hauser, harmonics yg via DXLD) ** GERMANY. 1593 - Langenberg has been broadcasting WDR 2 in DRM since midsummer. It is not clear if this a regular WDR transmission or a transmitter manufacturer test (ed Olle Alm, from various reports, ARC Information Desk 10 July via DXLD) ** GREECE. Katerina: I could not pick up your Greeks Everywhere program in English at 1400-1500 UT Saturday on 15630 or 9420. It was supposed to repeat at 0200-0300 UT on Sunday on 7475, 9420, and 17520, but they picked up the wrong tape again and we got It's All Greek To Me (a musical broadcast in English?) instead. The title said it all; there was very little English except for the 6 o'clock time check. The few Greek words that I could pick up led me to believe that the theme of the hour's broadcast was "kalokeri" summertime. If this noise that passes as music is a sample of modern Greek music, I am glad that I am still hooked on the old-fashioned 20th century style of Greek music. The tape broke at about 0245 UT, so we were treated to a few minutes of silence which was an improvement over the boom-boom beat that preceded it. Perhaps you could have a three-way interview between you and a representative of each style of music. There is scheduled to be an hour of It's All Greek To Me on the Voice of Greece at 0000-0100 UT on Monday on 7475, 9420, and 15650. It will probably be a repeat of the Sunday show as it was the last time (John Babbis, MD, to VOG, cc to DX LISTENING DIGEST) There was scheduled to be an hour of It's All Greek To Me on the Voice of Greece at 0000-0100 UT on Monday on 7475, 9420, and 15650; it was a repeat of the Sunday show (John Babbis, MD, July 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUIANA FRENCH. RFI informs that they will perform DRM test transmissions via the new 150 kW DRM / 250 kW AM transmitter in these days between 1900 and 2145 UT as follows: - 21645 kHz to Europe on 17, 20, 24, 26 and 28 July, - 15795 kHz to Brazil on 18, 21, 25 and 27 July. Reception reports are welcomed to the e-mail: Jacques.Gruson at tdf.fr (Mauno Ritola, Finland, July 17, HCDX via DXLD) No other DRM on 13m and very little scheduled on 16m now (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. 4840, AIR, Mumbai, 1927-2010, 11-07, Hindi, programa especial fuera del horario habitual de la emisora, con motivo de los atentados en Bombay (Mumbai), noticias y comentarios, música Hindi. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Escuchas realizadas en Camping de Reinante, costa del Mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N de Lugo. Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. VOI still silent on 9525 around 1330 July 17; telltale het on 15150 with Arabic from Iran indicates the VOI transmitter is active there (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: 15149.82, V. of Indonesia, 0817 16 Jul 06, In English but hard to read, YL announcer, music, news. Poor (George Herr, CA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4870.90 RRI Sorong (presumed). 7/10/06, 0935­1005+. At tune-in YL DJ with program of, interestingly, Middle-Eastern type music. No SCI, Love Ambon or time pips with YL continuing to talk thru ToH. Short break just before 1001, and maybe short Warta Berita. Back to music at 1004 with typical Indo pop-type music and same YL, but fading rapidly as getting lighter here. Had to use USB, as there was a fairly strong het from presumed RRI Wamena, which I could tune down to in LSB on 4869.90, but could only hear occasional snippets of music. Also RRI Serui on 4605 same time with best reception of Sorong here in years (Alex Vranes, Jr., WV, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. We are approaching the end of the Era of Domestic broadcasting on the Tropical Bands for two main reasons: The technical standard of a large part of the transmitters in the tropical countries is poor and they cannot be repaired for economical reasons. In more developed countries the domestic shortwave transmitters are being replaced by FM-networks. The trend above is clear: Looking three years back the falling trend continues although it has levelled out the past two years. The average number of closed domestic stations per year during 1997-2003 was 44 whereas it was only 14 during 2003-2006. The extraordinary steep fall at the very end of the 20th century is now replaced by a more ``normal`` closure of about 15 domestic frequencies per year. This means, that it may last more than 20 years from now, before the last domestic broadcaster closes down on the tropical bands. Countries like Brazil, Peru, China, India, Bolivia and Papua New Guinea are still dominating the tropical bands. However, it is expected that AIR is going to replace SW by FM within a few years. The following list shows closed frequencies which were used previously by domestic, international and clandestine stations. Stations on the tropical bands which have closed down in 2004-2005, including Clandestines. kHz kW Station, City, Country, Last log 2470 0,25 R Cacique, Sorocaba, São Paulo Brazil AUG04 3025,5 - Frontline Soldiers R, Channel 2 North Korea MAR05 3168,3 0,5 R Naylamp, Lambayeque Peru OCT04 3220 0,012 R Colégio Técnico Municipal, Ñemby Paraguay AUG04 3259 0,6 NHK, Kasuga Japan MAY05 3300 100 SW Radio Africa, via Meyerton Clandestine APR05 3324,9 1 R Maya, Barillas, Huehuetenango Guatemala OCT04 3346 - Minsk utility station (USB) Belarus FEB05 3365 100 SW Radio Africa, via Meyerton Clandestine MAY05 3366 50 GBC, Accra Ghana JUL04 3373,5 0,3 NHK, Mihara Japan MAY05 3385 10 RRI Kupang, Timor Indonesia OCT04 3607,5 0,9 NHK, Shobu-Kuki, Tokyo Japan MAY05 3923 0,04 R Samorodinka, Moscow Russia MAY04 3970 0,3 NHK Nabeta, Nagoya 1 Japan MAY05 3970 0,6 NHK, Sapporo 1 Japan MAY05 3975 100 VOA, Biblis Germany AUG04 4025 - Voice of the People of Kurdistan, No. Iraq Clandestine APR05 4428 0,85 R Bambamarca, Hualgayoc, Cajamarca Peru OCT04 4461 1 R Norandina, Celendín, Cajamarca Peru JUN04 4540 100 R Georgia, Dusheti Georgia JUL05 4698,7 0,25 R Amistad,San Pedro La Laguna, Solola Guatemala OCT04 4788 1 R Emisora Ballivián, San Borja Bolivia MAY04 4790 - BSKSA, Jeddah, HS 2. Spurious ½ x 9580! Saudi Arabia JAN05 4825 100 SW Radio Africa, via Meyerton Clandestine MAY05 4830 10 R Táchira, San Cristóbal,Táchira Venezuela OCT04 4832 1 R Litoral, La Ceiba Honduras JUN04 4845 0,03 R Tangazeni Kristo (RTK), Aru Congo, Dem. Rep. SEP04 4855 1 R Por Um Mundo Melhor, Gov. Valadares Brazil 4880 100 SW Radio Africa, via Meyerton Clandestine MAY05 4919,9 0,75 RRI Biak, PP Indonesia MAR05 4940 100 Voice of Russia via Yangiyul Tajikistan DEC04 5014,5 0,5 R Juliaca, Juliaca Peru DEC04 5025 100 R Tashkent, Toshkent Uzbekistan DEC05 5040 100 R Tashkent, Toshkent Uzbekistan DEC05 5060 100 R Tashkent, Toshkent Uzbekistan DEC05 5384,2 0,3 R Huarmaca, Huarmaca Peru MAR05 5428 0,3 NHK, Osaka 2 (USB) Japan MAY05 5556 - R La Inmaculada, Santa Cruz Peru JUL04 [MORE:] http://dswci.org/specials/misc/2006_trends_tropical.pdf (Anker Petersen, DSWCI DX Window July 12 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. THE INTERNATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE/LIGHTSHIP WEEKEND is just over a month away. This highly popular annual amateur radio event - during which hams activate hundreds of lighthouses and ships across the world - takes place this year on 19 and 20 August. International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend normally starts at 0001 UT on Saturday and ends at 2359 UT Sunday. But this year a minute's silence will be held at 0001 UT in honour of the event's founder and main organiser Mike Dalrymple, GM4SUC, who died in December last year. The event will therefore kick off one minute later than usual at 0002 UT. According to the weekend's promoters, the event is not a contest, so participants are encouraged to chat with stations rather than simply exchanging reports. The event is not only a great opportunity to increase DXCC contacts and other lighthouse awards but also on Sunday provides people with a chance to visit lighthouses in person. This is because many lighthouses are open to the public on Sunday as part of International Association of Lighthouse Keepers' Lighthouse Open Day. For more information about the event, including full guidelines, an online entry form and a list of entrants, visit the International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend website - http://www.illw.net (RSGB via Mike Terry, dxldyg via dxld) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. Hello Glenn, Latest Amnesty magazine has mentioned this site which I think might interest you and can be passed on to others interested in media freedom: Irrepressible --- Adj. 1) Impossible to repress or control. Chat rooms monitored. Blogs deleted. Websites blocked. Search engines restricted. People imprisoned for simply posting and sharing information. The Internet is a new frontier in the struggle for human rights. Governments – with the help of some of the biggest IT companies in the world – are cracking down on freedom of expression. Amnesty International, with the support of The Observer, is launching a campaign to show that online or offline the human voice and human rights are impossible to repress. Find out more about this campaign Be irrepressible --- Sign our pledge on Internet freedom to call on all governments and companies to ensure the Internet is a force for political freedom, not repression. . . http://irrepressible.info/ (via Mike Barraclough, July 17, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. More extreme DX reception Live Demonstration of Reception of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter http://www.southgatearc.org/news/july2006/mro_reception_demo.htm 73 (Trevor M5AKA monitoring monthly yg via DXLD) ** IRELAND. Re 6-103, Sligo European Radio, 9330: Hi Noel and Paul, This was a no go on this side of the pond. The band was otherwise open. 73/ (Liz Cameron, Detroit, Michigan, July 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Op dit moment (15.07 0122 [UT]) heb ik op 15785 een storingvrije (afgezien van mijn plaatselijke grauwsluier) van Galei Tzahal. Volgens ILG zenden ze op dit moment niet uit via deze frequentie, maar mogelijk hebben ze ivm de inval in Libanon hun uitzendschema aangepast. Vanaf 0100 draaien ze tussen het praten door rustige blues (Gary Moore en al 2x Fleetwood Mac's ?Need Your Love So Bad?)... 73 de (Frank van Gerwen, Bakkum-Noord / Netherlands (52?33'56" N / 4?39'18" E) ICQ # 2231692 Weblog (in Dutch): http://www.dwarslezing.blogspot.com BDX via DXLD) Sometimes they get stuck on the day frequency instead of 6973 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Logs AM: 12/7 0532, 6974.9, Galei Zahal, Israele, pubblicità e s/off. IN/SF (Luca Botto Fiora, QTH: Rapallo (Genova), Italy, playdx yg via DXLD) Insufficient/sufficient quality. Timezone not specified, but I suspect this be local MESZ = CEST of UT +2 rather than UT which would be 0332 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** JAMAICA. Yesterday's FM Es results - cleaned up on Jamaica's lower end of the band 1200-1330 EDT [1600-1730 UT July 13] 7/13 - Es concentrated to the Island of Jamaica: 1210 95.3 FAME-FM MONTEGO BAY (1026) EE 1211 95.9 FAME-FM MANDEVILLE (1059) EE 1217 94.5 RJR94 MONTEGO BAY (1026) EE SID 1218 94.1 RJR94 KINGSTON (1037) EE 1222 93.9 R MONA OCHOS RIOS (1037) EE NewsTalk 93 1259 90.5 RJR94 KINGSTON? (1069) EE (multi freq ID - ...94.1 94.3 94.5 94.7 94.9) 1306 95.5 FAME-FM KINGSTON? (1069) EE SID 1310 94.7 RJR94 KINGSTON? (1069) EE SID 1312 93.7 R MONA KINGSTON (1069) EE NewsTalk 93 1317 89.9 KLASS-FM KINGSTON (1069) EE 1321 97.1 KOOLFM KINGSTON (1069) EE Sports News 1300 88.9 partial ID "Sports Radio - studios located in Kingston Jamaica" (1069) EE Above all new loggings. 89.1/89.5-KLASS-FM both noted with RDS PI=3001 PS=KLASS-FM (relogs) Left the dials at 1330 to go with my wife to Charleston's IMAX to see "Superman Returns-3D", eat at a seafood restaurant on the Charleston Harbor & walk the beach at Sullivan's Island. Totals now at 719. (Fred Nordquist, Moncks Corner, SC, 33.21756N 79.95798W, FM03AF, FM: Receiver - Denon TU1500RD, Antenna - APS13 (23'AGL), July 14, Stats web page: http://web.infoave.net/~fmjnordquist/statistics.html WTFDA via DXLD) ** KAZAKHSTAN. Google Earth research: Alma Ata A-A KAZ 43N17 077E00 its a pity, only low resolution. seems like 43 16 57 N 76 59 24 E or 43 17 33 N 77 01 54 E. 73 wb July 11/12 (Wolfgang Büschel, via Kai Ludwig, Conexión Digital July 16 via DXLD) ** KENYA. KENYAN MP`S EXPRESS ANGER AT CHINA RADIO INTERNATIONAL USING KBC FREQUENCIES Members of the Kenyan Parliament have expressed anger because the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation has allowed China Radio International to broadcast using its frequencies. MPs demanded to know the terms of the contract, fearing that Kenya could be losing its sovereignty to China. The State broadcaster had not been allowed to broadcast in China, the MPs said. Zaddock Syongo (Gwasi, Narc) wanted to be told how much airtime KBC radio and television had ceded to the Chinese media house to date, and what steps the Government was taking to ensure that Kenya got equal access to broadcast in China. He said Radio China [sic] had literally taken over KBC radio’s General and National services. Mr Syongo said whereas the contract should have been of mutual benefit, China was yet to meet its part of the bargain, four years down the line. Mr Mwandawiro Mganga (Wundanyi, Ford People) said KBC as a national broadcaster should not have allowed its frequencies to be used by a foreign radio station. Mr Peter Munya (Tigania East, Safina) said most countries used their national broadcaster to propagate their values and culture, and feared that Kenya was being inundated with Chinese culture. Mr Joe Khamisi (Bahari, Narc) accused the Government of underfunding KBC, which was now competing with private stations. As a result, the former KBC Managing Director said, it had been forced to enter into contracts with foreigners. Mr Koigi wa Wamwere, an Assistant Minister for Information and Communications, agreed with MPs that there was need for a more structured relationship between the two broadcasting stations. He said China Radio International started broadcasting at KBC from September 2002 after entering into a bilateral agreement in May, 2001. The purpose was to promote greater understanding between the peoples of Kenya and China and to encourage business and commercial relations among enterprises in the two countries through the provision of equipment, training and co-production. KBC had ceded to the Chinese media house 1,240 TV hours to date, and radio KBC 2,726 hours at Sh37,000 (approx US$500) per hour. (Source: The Nation) Andy Sennitt comments: This is an interesting development. China Radio International has made no secret of its plans to expand its use of local transmitters in Africa and other parts of the world. China is quite active in a number of African countries, including Zimbabwe where it is said to be responsible for the funding and setting up of the jamming transmitters operating against several radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe. I had assumed that these arrangements were made at government level, but it appears that in the case of Kenya an agreement was made between the KBC and China Radio International without consulting parliament. But why has it taken since September 2002 for the matter to be raised by MPs? I assume it’s connected with CRI’s opening of its own relay station in Nairobi at the beginning of this year, which can hardly have gone unnoticed when tuning the dial in the Kenyan capital (July 13th, 2006, 16:53 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** LAOS. 6130, Lao National Radio, July 17, 1155-1227, in vernacular, local music, ToH gong/bell rung slowly 7 times, anthem, into assume news, above average reception (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. 9710, Radio Vilnius, 0841-0900, 13-07, programa en inglés que se emite todos los días entre las 0830 y las 0900, comentarios, locutor y locutora, identificación: "You are listening to Radio Vilnius, English Service", comentarios sobre el turismo en Lithuania. 44444 (Manuel Méndez, Escuchas realizadas en Camping de Reinante, costa del Mar Cantábrico, 90 Km. N de Lugo. Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600 G, antena de cable, 10 metros, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Les quiero compartir mis captaciones en la onda media desde Mixcoac, D.F. en estas semanas pasadas [including]: 1480, XECAH, La Voz del Pueblo Ñha Ñhu - Cardonal, Hidalgo - Programa en Otomí - 30/jun/2006 12:00 SINPO 33333 --- Captaciones realizadas con un receptor Radio Shack DX-398 usando su propia antena interna (Héctor García Bojorge, México DF, Conexión Digital July 16 via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI found on 9615 instead of 7145 with Dateline Pacific about film --- didn`t catch the title --- being banned by Christian bigots in some islands such as Solomon and Fiji and Samoa, but not in Samoa American where freedom of speech reigns and instead someone got beat up; but book is still available, before and after 1330 July 17. 9615 is supposed to be used only at 05-07! Better reception here anyway but bad news for the KNLS Mandarin service which it was overriding. There was a SAH averaging 4 Hz but fluxuating, perhaps due to Doppler in the ionosphere rather than transmitter instabilities. Also hearing strong unID DRM on 9435-9445, which was previously scheduled for RNZI at 05-07 and 1851-1951, still showing on one DRM schedule but not on RNZI`s own website. No DRM audible on 6095 where RNZI is supposed to be, but it may be too late after sunrise to be sure about that (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER. Dear Glenn, I'm quite sure that La Voix du Sahel is back on 9705! (tentative). Heard today from 2000 with local language + Sahara music (weak signal covered by Family Radio until 2100, getting stronger after 2130), lively phone-in-program until 2150, then short news in French, but no ID caught, but I'm quite certain with the name of the president (Mamadou Tandja). Heavy interference at 2159 covering another announcement at 2200, mixed music since, still on at 2230, but hard to catch any details now. 73 (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, July 17, http://www.africalist.de.ms DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nominal 100 kW. WRTH 2006 had 9705 inactive, but the overall schedule for other frequencies is 0500-2300, including English Sundays at 20. PWBR ``2006`` also shows inactive, but schedule would be 07-14, extended Saturdays to 1630; the rest of the time on 5020, not shown as inactive. NIGER has not been a country header in a single issue of DXLD this year, leading us to believe that 5020 has also been inactive --- but now could be back too! Searching the DXLD archive, we find this about NIGER: 5-187 has a BBCM country profile, mentioning that SW is used (but probably not really as of then already). (Sadly, it seems BBCM no longer provides such unique and valuable items to us.) 5-125, 5-126, and 5-127 from last July/August concern a log on 9704v, which was ultimately thought to be Ethiopia. Thorsten observed that Niger tended to vary on the high side. There are only two items in 2004: 4-179 a log on 7155 at 2059 11/25/04 with an ID; and 4-036, a very tentative log on 3260 at 2015, 2/27/04. Maybe now revived to counter incursions by Christian Imperialism: see BENIN in upcoming 6-104, with TWR now licensed on 1566, but on the air? And, not to be confused with this: (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) 9704.20, 0430 UT July 17, 2005, Ethiopia, R. Ethiopia? Gedja Dera X [language unknown] 33333 (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, HCDX via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. I did a MW bandscan from a quiet area 15 km N of Enid, (more details later), Monday evening, UT Tue July 18 around 0045-0115, well before sunset. IBOC from WWLS 640 was as usual heavily heard on 630 and 650, but some of it could also be heard mixing with a station on 660. There was also IBOC hash on 990 and 1010, which could only be coming from KTOK OKC, a CC station. I was not aware they had started IBOC, so this may be new. This was likewise somewhat audible on 1020 beneath nearby KOKP. I did not hear any surrounding the Tulsa stations on 1300 and 1430, but they are not very strong here, and skywave was already bounding in on the higher frequencies (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Haven`t heard it from home, but there is now a TIS at Great Salt Plains State Park, NW of Enid. On my bandscan 15 km N of Enid around 0100 UT July 18, I was hearing a long loop on 1610 mentioning birdwatching there, Byron Fish Hatchery, etc., giving phone number, website. Last time I was at the park, spotted a TIS-type pole along Hwy 132 E of the park at the entrance to the camping area, but it was not on the air then (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. FILIPINAS: 11720 kHz - R. Philipinas - Tinang - PHL Recebido cartão QSL full data. ?? dias. V/S: Tanny V. Rodriguez (Station Manager). Obs: O e-mail da emissora é: radyo_pilipinas @ yahoo.com QTH: Radyo Pilipinas - Overseas, 4th Floor, P1A Bldg, Visayas Ave, 1100, Quezon City, Philippines (Rubens Ferraz Pedroso, Bandeirantes, PR, Brasil, Conexión Digital July 16 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 12065, Radio Tikhiy Okean. 7/11/06, *0821-0900*, in Russian. Open carrier noted in advance of instrumental music from 0835 followed by a woman announcer with ID and news in Russian. Two folk songs near top of the hour with the second one cut of mid-song at 0900 sharp. Poor with //9760 at threshold (Rich D`Angelo, Wyomissing PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** SPAIN [and non]. New country! Spain on 48.25000 at 1745 cdt July 17 [2245 UT], Got video on the R7100 but I wish it was as sensitive as the IC756 Pro 2. Power is 250 KW. If the 756 had video it would be a killer. Also got Balearic Islands for entity #104 (islands off the east coast of Spain). About an hour ago F6FHP in France was S8 and he gave me an S9. That's the strongest Es I've ever heard on 6M from Eu. http://www.oldtvguides.com/DXPhotos/ http://www.oldtvguides.com/K1MOD/ 73, (Jeff, K1MOD, Kadet, Macomb, IL, 6M DXCC #699, WTFDA via DXLD) New country! Portugal on 48.242 at 1808 cdt --- obrigado from Macomb, IL (Kadet, ibid.) Multiple-hop sporadic E (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) I don't have anything that would be able to see video on these frequencies, but what would it sound like? I'm getting a very unsteady signal on 48.250 now that just sounds like a dead FM carrier (Jeff Lehmann, Hanson, MA, ibid.) You probably have Spain. It's blasting in here (the video carrier). The video carriers are all AM, so put the radio in the AM mode and listen for a sort of "buzz" sound. I don't count anything unless actual video is seen. I wish I had a multi-system DX TV. Trying to get this video on the R7100 is a hassle because you have to tune it to the audio frequency (Kadet, ibid.) Yeah, I was going to ask why can't you pick up a PAL compatable tuner, especially since the new solar cycle is starting (John K9RZZ, ibid.) ** SPAIN [and non]. EMISORAS ESPAÑOLAS HISTÓRICAS --- Hola tropa: Como ya os comenté hace algún tiempo, el colega sueco Henrik Klemetz tenía muchas grabaciones históricas de la Onda Media española y en función de que hubiera demanda o no pretendía digitalizarlas e incluirlas en un CD. Pues bien, el trabajo ya está hecho y está a vuestra disposición. Me ha adelantado la lista de contenidos y es realmente espectacular, con grabaciones de los años 60 y 70 y algunas otras joyas como emisoras que paulatinamente fueron despareciendo, como pudieran ser las emisoras de Andorra, Radio Andorra y Radio des Vallées d`Andorre, las, por entonces españolas, emisoras de Guinea Ecuatorial y el Sáhara o Radio Popular de Montilla, por poner un ejemplo. Son 56 grabaciones con más de 70 minutos de grabaciones, voces y anuncios de aquella época que para alguno de nosotros, que por entonces no habíamos nacido, nos retorna a las vivencias de nuestros familiares y amigos en aquella época y que puede servir para hacernos una idea de la diferencia con la anodina radio española actual. Por cuestiones "vacacionales", Henrik no podrá despachar los CD's hasta principios de septiembre, por lo que hasta el 31 de agosto tenéis tiempo para enviarle el importe de 15 EUR, Correo ordinario, certificado o como gustes a su dirección, que es: Mörtgränd 3, SE-974 52 Luleå, SUECIA. Yo ya estoy babeando con lo que me espera, que parece que es "pura crema". Un saludo y que lo disfrutéis; Paz y DX (Ignacio Sotomayor, Segovia, Castilla, España, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** SUDAN. 7200, Republic of Sudan Radio. 7/15/06, 0233-0315 in Arabic. Slow, traditional Horn of Africa music sung by man with sting instruments. 0301 Announcement by man. Talk by man, appeared to be news. Sudan was mentioned. 0311 Talk by woman. 0312 Program of upbeat, contemporary Horn of Africa music to 0315 tune out. Good signal with usual atmospheric noise. SINPO 33233 (Jim Evans, TN, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN ADDS EXTRA SWEDISH TRANSMISSIONS TO MIDDLE EAST --- Because of the crisis in the Middle East involving Israel and Lebanon (see this Radio Netherlands commentary by Bertus Hendriks), Radio Sweden is adding two extra transmissions for Swedish listeners in the region. The domestic service half hour news programme Lunchekot is being relayed daily at 1030 UTC on 9490 and 21810 kHz. The Radio Sweden broadcast at 1200 UTC is also being broadcast to the region on 21810 kHz. Unfortunately this means the 1200 UTC transmission to Asia on 15735 kHz is cancelled. (Source: Radio Sweden) (July 14th, 2006, 15:11 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) [non] Another DRM disaster: See CANADA ** SWEDEN. Report of SAQ transmission July 2nd 2006 --- This is the Summary Report of the SAQ transmission on the "Alexanderson Day", July 2nd 2006. In the Winter Transmission in February 2006 we received 169 reports. This transmission we got less, 76 reports. The transmission was heard quite good in Europe and in some places on the east coast of USA and, though weakly, it was gladly received by AA1A/David Riley at Brant Rock, the place from were R.A. Fessenden transmitted the first voice broadcast transmission, one hundred years ago in December. There are no plans of transmission this year, but if it will come, I will let you know through the SAQ-GROUP list. If you don´t want to be on the list, just let me know. Thank you for your taking interest in the Grimeton Radio transmissions. Yours, Lars/SM6NM (received from Lars) (via Mike Terry dxldyg via DXLD) Brant Rock? What Country? What state or province? Massachusetts, USA (gh, DXLD) ** SYRIA. Google Earth research: Damascus, single MW tower, 140m height. G.C. 33 24 39 N 36 16 21 E. R. Damascus site at Adra (33d 32' 38"N, 36d 34' 00"E): (11?) SW curtain arrays and one directional MW array all served by a single transmitter building. single pipe mast 90 m. tower 90m, 190m, 190m, 190m, 90m, 4 x 50 m pipe masts directional MW array, 90m, 160m, 160m, 160m, 90m, 90m, 30m. 73 wb July 11/12 (Wolfgang Büschel, via Kai Ludwig, Conexión Digital July 16 via DXLD) ** U A E. Abu Dhabi --- Radio Farda 1170 kHz and 1575 kHz. A sign of VOA clearing it's old reception reports, full data QSL card plus calendar, etc for old 2005 report, sent originally to usual 330 Independence etc address in WRTH (Craig Edwards, Australia, ARC Information Desk 15 May via Olle Alm, DXLD) ** U S A. EFFORTS TO GET VOA BETHANY DECLARED ``PLACE OF NATIONAL HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE`` Trustee Catherine Stoker and several residents will travel to Columbus, Ohio, next month to urge that the Voice of America building in West Chester Township be declared a place of national historical significance. Such a designation would qualify it for potentially millions of dollars in federal grants and funding. The building is the last remnant of the VOA Bethany shortwave transmitting station that operated from 1944 to 1994. Read the story in The Enquirer . . . http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060717/NEWS01/60 7170334/1056 (July 17th, 2006, 11:48 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. WRNO WORLDWIDE SAYS IT`S BROADCASTING TO MIDDLE EAST CBS Channel 11 in Dallas-Fort Worth says ``An American broadcaster wants to make a difference during the Middle East crisis. His shortwave radio station is headquartered in Fort Worth, but millions of people all over the world are tuning in to hear a message of peace and understanding. Dr Robert Mawire, chairman and CEO of WRNO Worldwide, has the potential to reach more than a billion people throughout the world.`` Click here for the full report (including video) http://cbs11tv.com/topstories/local_story_197233011.html Andy Sennitt comments: The report makes WRNO Worldwide sound impressive, but doesn’t mention that the transmitter is in Louisiana, and we were not aware that they have any antennas beamed towards the Middle East. I`ve also seen reports that the station is using only low power. The website was last updated in 2002. Does anyone have any more recent information? This entry was posted on Monday, July 17th, 2006 at 09:35 (Media Network blog via DXLD) I live in Fort Worth close to Bridge Street and close to the NBC and CBS affiliate TV stations. Channel 11 is the CBS TV station which carried the story and Dr. Robert E. Mawire of Good News World Outreach / WRNO Worldwide is located just down the road from Channel 11 at 5601 Bridge Street, 3rd Floor, Fort Worth, TX 76112 which is the Western Insurance Building who lease out office space. But the reason for the promotion on channel 11 as a news story is probably because the new owner of WRNO wants money: ``WRNO, New Orleans, LA. 7355 n/d letter in 37 days for SASE (used), for a report sent to Good News World, POB 895, Ft. Worth, TX USA 76101. Letter states ``We are the proud owners of WRNO Worldwide`` and ``all former encumbrances`` have been cleared. Also notes that they are raising cash for a new transmitter. The old one caught fire just after they bought the station so they are running on low power for the time being. v/s Robert E. Mawire, Chairman of the Board.`` Source = http://www.schoechi.de/an-usa24.html His message for the Middle East is based upon these topics he elivered to local groups (according to his WRNO web site): Mar. 9 Globalization & the Coming Joseph Company Mar. 15 Biblical Prophecy Regarding War with Iraq Place: Old Settlers Reunion Pavilion 111 Reunion, ALVARADO, Texas Time: 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (Saturday) Mar. 16 The Fall of Babylon & The Coming Global Conflict Mar. 23 The Coming Palestinian State Place: La Quinta Inn Near Six Flags 825 N. Watson Road, ARLINGTON, Texas Mar. 30 The Coming Falling Away of the Church Apr. 6 Islamic Jihad & the Endgame Apr. 13 The Apostolic Timeline Apr. 20 The Role of Russia in the Endgame Apr. 27 Global Economic Fragmentation May 4 The Rise of the Church Triumphant and Impact May 11 The Middle East Political Exposition May 18 The Coming Restoration of Temple Worship in Israel May 25 The Role of the Dragon of China in the Endgame So it would not appear that he is trying to end the conflict. His http://www.goodnewsworld.org parent web site is ``under construction`` (John England, July 17th, 2006 at 17:11, ibid.) This is NONSENSE. Unless it has escaped every DX listener`s notice, WRNO has not been on the air (shortwave) for many years. They keep saying they are about to come back. What little news there has been about it has appeared in DX Listening Digest. Notice how old the info is at the QIP website, the most recent being January 03 and that must have been concerning a follow-up for a much older report. Looks like channel 11 got fooled big-time. The report goes on that he has a 15- minute broadcast. Well, maybe that is broadcast obscurely on some other SW station, like Equatorial Guinea. BTW, Mawire has a strange accent; I suspect he is originally from Africa (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** U S A. Re SHORTWAVE REPORT using some webcasts instead of recordings off SW: Never got a reply from Dan Roberts, but this week`s 7/14 show has gone back to SW reception of CRI for the opening item! It must have been too tempting to use better quality webcasts, lacking ``that shortwave sound`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Today, while in the car, I noticed that the WCBS (MW) hourly ping occurred when my radio controlled watch, already was about 12 seconds passed the hour. I noticed this three times and thought that maybe my watch had a problem. I then listened to WINS, due to a baseball game on WCBS --- and the WINS hourly ping matched my watch! My watch does match "official" time. Any idea about the ~12 second delay on WCBS? Maybe they are using some alternate, slow feed to their transmitter (Internet)? (Doni Rosenzweig, NY, July 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Stations running IBOC do this so the required delay for digitalization matches what is heard on analogue. Another great thing about DIGITAL! Please, do not navigate by these timesignals. The timesignals should be deleted rather than broadcast incorrectly. But tell that to many SW stations (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** U S A. Watch out for mis-ID on widely-heard CalTrans HAR station on 1610 --- For the past month, WPSE479, the CalTrans HAR on 1610 kHz in Needles, CA, has been mis-IDing as WPSG912. WPSG912 is another station administered by the same office but located in Mountain Pass, CA on I- 15. This particular CalTrans district office makes mistakes in call signs or city-of-license fairly often. The Needles station provides info for I-40 only, and the Mountain Pass station (which may be off the air at the moment, I'm not sure) provides info for I-15 only. The current message on the Needles station is about intermittent lane closures between Ludlow and Essex, CA, with speed limits reduced from 70 to 45 MPH. 73, (Tim Hall, CA, July 17, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. Last week when I was in Artesia, NM and Tombstone, AZ, I logged a NM DoT HAR on 1610. I believe the station is probably located near Clayton, NM. Can anyone confirm? Here's what I could copy: "Thanks for tuning in to the New Mexico Highway Advisory Radio. In light of the fire burning in Texas and Oklahoma, and the extreme fire danger in New Mexico... protect our beautiful state... by putting out cigarettes... If a fire is found, call 911 immediately... May you arrive at your destination safely. This message is brought to you by the New Mexico Department of Transportation." This MIGHT be followed by a number, which MIGHT end in 244 or 344. There may also have been a mention of highway 64 at some point in the message. Can anyone help confirm the location of this one? Thanks, (Tim Hall, CA, ABDX via DXLD) On occasion, I hear a NMDOT HAR on 1610 from here in Los Álamos, but I haven't been able to ID it either. I don't see any NMDOT stations on 1610 in the FCC database (well last time I checked...) I had always guessed that it was somewhere near Raton, but that's just a WAG (Mike Westfall, ibid.) wild-assed guess?? I haven`t been to NM yet this year, but on previous trips thru Clayton there was never a 1610. There is one however near Santa Rosa, and the -4 you heard might have been ``District 4``. This would mean they have FINALLY switched from drunk driving to fire prevention. Of course there could also be others closer to where you were. 73, (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, ibid.) Viz.: Other Santa Rosa media news: The HAR on 1610 is STILL on, tho I-40 construxion was completed months ago in that area, but the one on 1650 is gone. Nothing but the SAME old continuous loop from NMDOT District 4 urging us to arrive alive, not drink & drive, and implying we are going somewhere else, not a very welcoming message (DX LISTENING DIGEST 5-177 of last October 13, 2005) In some previous issue, I believe I quoted the exact spiel (gh) ** U S A. Re Synchros [boosters on the same frequency]: WNAR-1620 in Lansdale, PA would be one. The operator, who is also CE for WNPV-1440 was guest speaker at the 2005 NRC convention describing his operation in some detail (Russ Edmunds Blue Bell, PA, IRCA via DXLD) Surfside 1640 South Strand/Myrtle Beach, SC is also synchronous. They`ve got about 4 or 5 transmitters hooked up and are working on another 5 or 6. http://www.surfside1640.com (Paul Walker, ND, ibid.) I think both of those are Part 15, very low power (gh, DXLD) I have my doubts as to the synchronicity of the KKOB Santa Fe synchro. Here in Los Alamos, I can hear both transitters, and there is always a SAH of about 1 Hz when the "synchro" is on. Also, is KKOB-AM1 really the call sign, or just what the CE calls it? The FCC database lumps it in with the main station under the same facility ID, and gives the callsign as just KKOB (Mike Westfall, NM, ibid.) Probably doesn't matter anyway. Santa Fe is in KKOB's null, so KKON better be pretty poor, else wise why build a repeater. Jest mah opinion, sez ah. Take it or leave it, sez ah (after Mark Twain). Huckleberry Chuck (Charles A & Leonor L Taylor Greenville, North Carolina, ibid.) I'm not sure what SAH is Mike [see SAH thread under RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM in next issue?]. Are you referring to the audio or the RF? I think the intent of the term "synchronous" is merely to indicate that it acts as a repeater with programming parallel to the originating source. The term is probably a little misleading with today's technology. The audio must be delivered to the synchro by telephone line, satellite, STL, or whatever. Any of these methods are likely to introduce some delay in the audio chain. Today this can be corrected with GPS coordination of the audio at both transmitter sites. But, since the purpose of the synchro is to provide coverage where the main can't be heard reliably, it is probably an unnecessary added expense. Also, when the KKOB synchro was originally put into service, GPS technology may not have been available. Unfortunately, if this coordination is not applied, the people who are located where they can hear both transmitters would probably experience reception problems. Do you know when the synchronous operation went into service? In his letter the CE said it was "decades ago". I can't answer that for certain. But the CE mentioned both KKOB-AM and KKOB-AM1 four times each in his QSL letter. I would be curious to know if they are required to ID this transmitter separately over the air. Mike, did you happen to listen during the infamous hot air balloon incident? It was reported that KKOB was off the air for several hours while the balloon remains (and the people) were removed. I have always wondered if they might have thought of turning the synchro on as sort of a backup (Patrick Griffith, Westminster CO http://community.webtv.net/N0NNK/ http://community.webtv.net/AM-DXer/ ibid.) Mike, So really KKOB-2 is just an co-channel repeater, if "synchronized" wants replication of the frequency. OK with me. Seems to me that KKOB would synch the frequencies. The Japanese repeaters may be synched for frequency on-channel w/each other. I noted nary a carrier beat between synchros while over there. On the other hand, the PRCs aren't "synchros" because e.g. I could hear a very slow carrier beat between the 3 principal transmitters on 720. As for 1376 (I think that's the frequency), it was more like a mob than a synchro channel. Many transmitters with offsets up to 1 kHz, as I heard them. True, they were tightening up. Prior to PRC joining the UN and the ITU back in 1973, I noted them working on tightening up their carrier frequencies. 73 de (Charlie WD9INP/4 Taylor, ibid.) KKOB's night-only synchro on 770 in Santa Fe NM may well be the most powerful synchro in the US, but at 700W-N, WR2XJR 670 Portsmouth VA, the night-only synchro of what is now WPMH Claremont VA, is probably second. WR2XJR is (or was) diplexed with the co-owned 1010 station licensed to Portsmouth. I say "or was" because I seem to recall reading recently about the 1010 station going dark to preserve the license of a co-owned ex-bander. Anyhow, WPMH (ex-WRJR and others) is a 20 kW directional daytimer on 670 with an authorization for 3W nights. IIRC, Claremont is on the western shore of Chesapeake Bay not far from Williamsburg. WPMH's four-tower teardrop pattern is aimed right at Portsmouth and I believe that practically all that's between the WPMH site and Portsmouth (34+ miles to the southeast) is salt water. So WPMH's day signal, the equivalent of 120 kW ND on 670, must BOMB into Portsmouth, Norfolk, et al. Needless to say, though, in Portsmouth and Norfolk, even with the benefit of the teardrop pattern, the 3W night signal must be barely audible (if that) above WSCR. So WR2XJR, shooting the equivalent of 3.75 kW ND, also in a teardrop pattern aimed southeast from its own four-tower in-line array 34+ miles closer to the target market, takes over and must do a very respectable job of covering Portsmouth, Norfolk, et al. This is a fascinating operation that represents some very clever engineering! BTW, somebody asked why all synchros in the US seem to be classified as experimental. The FCC set up the rules that way. AFAIK, the only exception is WLLH, whose synchronized operations in Lowell and Lawrence MA predate the current FCC rules on synchros by close to half a century. Both of WLLH's transmitters have regular licenses. WLLH IDs as Lowell AND Lawrence, and not as Lowell-Lawrence, which would imply that it was licensed only to Lowell (Dan Strassberg, July 14, IRCA via DXLD) Craig, I believe one of the two went off several years ago, possibly with 1 kW fulltime granted to all class IVs (or whatever the new class is). (Charlie Taylor, NC, ibid.) Nope, the WLLH pair survives - and indeed, there was some interesting paperwork a year or two ago when the station(s) were sold and the buyers tried to get the FCC to update its paperwork, since the current CDBS database didn't properly account for the synchro operation at Lawrence. The use of "and" between the two cities of license is unique. If WLLH were licensed only to Lowell, then the ID of "Lowell-Lawrence" would be proper, since you can now put anything at all after the COL ("WXXI Rochester-Boston-Denver-Miami" would be a legal, if ridiculous, ID, for instance) - but that "and," properly used, means the station is indeed licensed in both communities. There are plenty of other "experimental" synchros out there. WISO 1260 Ponce PR has TWO synchros, in Mayagüez and Aguadilla, one of them operating at 5 kW. The 730 and 1600 signals in the Dallas market have had synchro operations. I don't know if they still do. I know there are others - just can't think of them off the top of my head. s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) PR got nice matching callsign, WI2XSO, IIRC (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) I think the Las Vegas station on 870 operated from three (??) synchronized sites when it first came on the air many years ago, but the FCC DB now only lists one site. Does this ring a bell with anyone? (Bruce Portzer, ibid.) As for the synchronicity of "synchros," with continued improvement in the stability of quartz-crystal frequency standards, I think very few MW stations with "synchro" transmitters do anything more than select closely matched crystals for their transmitters. Some very elaborate schemes were invented in the 30s, when crystal oscillators simply weren't stable enough. I think that in the last few years of WBZ/WBZA, the two transmitters were simply free running with well-matched crystals. WLLH, whose two 1-kW transmitters are less than 10 miles apart, years ago gave up the exotic technology. Over the years, the beat-frequency problem and the hash zone appear to have become less and less important to reception of this station. BTW, there used to be a station on 620 in Hawaii with a main transmitter and two synchros. IIRC, the main was 10 kW-U and each synchro was 5 kW-U. Because of NIMBY concerns, one of those synchros had a very rare Paran antenna (four very short, closely spaced towers supporting a massive top-load and behaving as a single taller tower). [more about this in upcoming RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM too] I believe that both synchros are now dark; in fact, the whole three- station "network" may now be dark. leaving a station on 660 in WA (KAPS Mt Vernon?) 10 kW-D/1 kW-N ND-U with the only remaining Paran in the US. IIRC, Mt Vernon is near Bellingham, which is hard by the Canadian border. I remember picking up the station in October 1993 loud and clear on the rental-car radio in Seattle -- of course 10 kW ND on 660 is nothing to sneeze at and there is salt water (Puget Sound) most of the way from Mt Vernon to Seattle (maybe 60 miles). -- (Dan Strassberg, ibid.) Charles A Taylor wrote: ``You simply must know that 99.9% of AM transmitters have a frequency trimmer associated with the crystal.`` Yes, but the existence of a trimmer is not 100% relevant to the discussion. Even if you have to trim the frequencies of the two crystals to get the frequencies within, say, 0.5 or 0.1 Hz of each other, if they don't drift in the same direction at approximately equal rates as a function of time, temperature, and any other relevant parameter (oscillator power-supply voltage, for example), the frequencies soon enough won't match well. I suspect that the right way to pick crystal pairs for synchros is to put a group of crystals into identical oscillators in an oven over a period of several weeks and log the oscillator frequencies first at various temperatures and then at a couple of constant temperatures over long periods. From the data, you should be able to pick the pairs that match best. Install one matched pair and save at least one more pair in case of a failure. I would also say that if the transmitters aren't the same model, you might be well advised to retrofit one of them with an oscillator circuit identical in every respect to that of the other. Also, unless the oscillator circuit's power-supply-rejection ratio is really good, provide local regulation for both oscillators. If you can't ensure that the thermal environment for the oscillators in the different- model transmitters is comparable, you probably should also pay the extra cost of temperature-controlled oscillators. This is a classic analog-circuit problem that AFAIK has to be solved with rather tedious old-fashioned technques. I don't think there are any shortcuts. Well, maybe use a clock received from a satellite to drive local direct-digital-synthesis-based frequency dividers. I suspect that kind of high-tech approach has problems of its own that I have never thought about. But if you don't know about the problems, it sounds great ;>) – (Dan Strassberg, ibid.) ** U S A. Re 6-103: Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, $10,000 to Adam Troy Venters for operation on 100.9 MHz in Okeechobee, FL, http://www.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2003/DOC-266328A1.html One of the no doubt many in FL that I was not aware of. Though I must say that July, 2005 is not "recent pirate actions" as the original header states (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Visit my "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html or: http://www.geocities.com/geigertree/flortis.html July 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CBS RADIO LAYS OFF STAFF IN COST-CUTTING MOVE CBS Radio has laid off 115 full-time employees - or about 1% of its total work force - as part of a cost-cutting measure, sources familiar with the situation say. A spokeswoman at the CBS Corp unit confirmed that the job cuts were announced internally Wednesday afternoon, but declined further comment. CBS Radio has 179 stations in the US, some of which it is planning to sell, and more than 8,500 full- and part- time staffers. The company wouldn’t say how many of those made redundant are full-time employees. Sources said the staff reductions came across the organization, with various stations and job functions - from receptionists to general managers - being affected. (Source: Reuters) (July 13th, 16:05 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) MEMO To: Joel Hollander, CBS Radio Chief From: Kenneth Lay, Former Enron Chief, now retired in Hell Dear Joel, Wanted to write you a note to tell you how much I am loving your latest moves at CBS. I may be retired and sitting in a lounge chair in a very hot location, but I'm still watching your brilliant direction of the once great CBS Radio Division. You're doing a great job and I love your latest move, firing 115 employees due to your own mistakes. You came up with both Free-FM and Jack, two ideas I wish I would have thought of at Enron! . . . http://www.radiodailynews.com/hollander-lay.htm (via Harry Helms, TX, DXLD) ** VIETNAM. 12019.71, V. of Vietnam 1420-1427* 16 Jul 06 In Japanese with music, abrupt sign-off 1427. fair (George Herr, CA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Carriers or spurs on 1561.5 and 1578.5 --- Am hearing hets against 1580 and 1560 here at night. Several days ago I mentioned hearing a het against 1580, a carrier on 1578.5. Two days ago I spotted a "twin" on 1561.5. These are both 8.5 kHz on either side of 1570. Loop bearing is nearly E/W from here. Hets are heard at night with slight fading. Is there a station on 1570 that is producing spikes 8.5 kHz +/- from their carrier? The hets are strong and easily heard on R8A and YB400. Tonight I'll try and listen on car radio in around Joliet to see if I can hear this away from home (Tom Jasinski, Shorewood, IL, July 14, IRCA via DXLD) CFAV 1570 was off frequency for a while when they first came on a year or 2 ago, may its them ??? I will listen tonite & see if it fades up with them 73 (Tom Jones, Mason N.H., ibid.) I'd pretty much guarantee somebody's got a problem like that - it's just a matter of who else is hearing it where to figure it out. It might be as simple as a nearby 1570 (Russ Edmunds, PA, ibid.) The hets from someone on 1570 with spurs on 1561.5 and 1578.5 are again heard this evening. Listened on car radio coming back from Joliet and again at home with the R8A and YB400PE. The hets are fairly strong and are easily heard with slight fading. Loop bearing is nearly E/W. A suggestion was that this might be Flint, Mich., but loop bearing does not agree. Anyone else hearing this, if so please share it with us (Tom Jasinski, Shorewood, IL, July 15, IRCA via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. RE 6-102, 4865 at 2211-2227: Glenn, Es posible que sea R. CENTENARIO, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia que retransmite algunos programas religiosos en Ingles y Aleman en paralelo con 6165. 73 (Rogildo Aragão, Cochabamba, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. En los 4880 a las 2113 de hoy 15 de julio, en vez de dictar números, pronunciaba letras apalabradas como por ejemplo: india, november, wisky, victor, papa, yanky, alfa... ¿Alguien sabe qué puede ser esta estación? (desde las Sierras de Córdoba, Argentina, Rubén G. Margenet, Noticias DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 25950 USB, 7/15/06, 1718. An apparent feeder here including an inescapable, banshee-like howl. Part of a commercial with a phone number and some other talk but could pick out little. KOA- Denver has used this spot in this time frame on occasion. KGON- Portland, OR, is also listed here (Gerry Dexter, WI, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Hard to believe either of them would be on USB instead of the usual NBFM (gh, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ DXLD: Wanneer je de moeite neemt / tijd hebt om de gegevens snel door te nemen, is er altijd wel iets wat interessant is. 73's, (Henk Poortvliet, BDX) more to follow: PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ 11 METER BROADCAST LINK LIST G`Day Mr. Hauser, I would like to start by thanking you very much for all the years and effort you have shared with blokes like me, it is greatly appreciated. The reason for the email is I am after a link or information on the 11m band Studio To Transmitter RF Links. I remember you did have a link to them in the past but I am unable to find any information on this anywhere at all, i.e. Google - Yahoo & alltheweb.com. I would be very grateful if you could help me with this please. Well, Mr. Hauser, that`s all for now, thank you for your time and help; it is greatly appreciated. 73z (Richard Fox, VK2 United Air Lines - VK2UAL : - D DX LISTENING DIGEST) At least in the US, I don`t think these are for STL purposes, but for remote pickup or remote cuing, carrying undelayed station audio. This is what I had bookmarked, but it`s been gone for over two years. http://dxing.hypermart.net/ I too would like to locate something to replace it (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) WHITE`S RADIO LOG IN PDF? Can anyone point me to the above? I've already visited the Internet sites. I retyped the entire White's Radio Log on 8? x 11" yellow paper when I was a teenager and didn't know any better. I memorized callsigns that endure to today (the memory, not the callsigns). (CharlieTaylor, NC, IRCA via DXLD) Hi Charlie, This is the only site I have found some few months back. http://members.fortunecity.com/wtfdamem/WRL.html# (James Niven, TX, ibid.) not pdf; plus damn fortunecity popups RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ NON_PC INTERNET RADIO According to press releases this item will be hitting the market in November. J&R Electronics is already advertising it. Long gone are the days of winding coils and cats whiskers. Pete, KZ1Z Kemp, NRC-AM via DXLD) Viz.: Receives thousands of Internet Radio channels from all over the world / Stereo Sound / Wireless / Alarm Clock Function / No subscription Here's a radio that can receive over 4000 stations from countries all over the world and it can sit on your table. The world’s first radio capable of accessing over 99% of Internet radio stations Broadcast on- line anywhere in the world. No subscription to pay, no signal coverage problems, no pops and crackles and no international content boundaries. To use the AE WiFi Radio you will require 2 items for it to work. The first is Broadband the other is wireless. Broadband (ADSL) is high speed internet access (512k, 1mb, 2mb etc) this is provided by a number of companies such as Time Warner, Earthlink, AOL, Verizon, etc., and works through your normal telephone line. Wireless is a way of connecting Computer equipment around the house without cables. It requires a standard Wireless Router (802.11b or 802.11g) to receive signals. The AE Wifi radio has its wireless technology built in and does not require a PC to work but needs to connect to the radio stations through the Wireless Router and broadband. (150 million+ people currently use broadband) This simple plug and play device links to any Wi-Fi Network and broadband connection to Stream both live and listen again internet radio content. Channels are listed alphabetically and the easy to use multi-function control knob makes choosing a station simpler than an FM radio! The AE Wi-Fi radio brings all the benefits of internet radio to the kitchen, bedroom or even the garden and can also play Music stored on any Wi-Fi enabled PC in the home. Of course AE’s acoustic excellence shines through making the Wi-Fi radio one of the best sounding radios on the market too. Most mainstream FM/DAB stations also broadcast on the internet / Internet radio is global – the AE Wi-Fi radio is not limited to local and national stations. Access content from over 100 countries Uses 802.11b and 802,11g Wi-Fi Connectivity Offers 128-bit (max) WEP security ‘Reply Key’ enables future interactive features Uses Linux OS Kernel Plays live and listen again content Daily updated station listings Alarm clock radio function Fully Upgradeable Software 3.5mm jack Output for Headphones Immediate access to over 4,000 internet radio streams Search by country or genre Stereo sound Real Media, MP3 and WMA compatible Play music stored on your PC or Mac (via Pete Kemp, July 14, NRC-AM via DXLD) And this may well be the beginning of the end for both terrestrial and satellite broadcasting. It won't be quick, but at some point this will become radio (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) ZENITH TRANS OCEANIC COMMERCIAL Found a TV commercial for Zenith radios from the 70's at retrojunk.com http://gentoo.net/mike/radio/zenith.wmv (Mike Westfall, NM, ABDX via DXLD) Very cool commercial! It made me pull out my copy of the Bryant and Cones book on the ZTOs. The "star" of the commercial is a Zenith Royal 3000 Transoceanic. Introduced in November 1962 as a 1963 model. Basically, a slightly restyled Royal 1000 with FM added. Last offered in 1971. "Dethroned" in the spring of 1969 when the Royal 7000 Transoceanic was introduced. I'd guess the TV commercial would be circa 1963 to 1968. Even though the 3000 was marketed alongside the 7000 from 69 to 71, it wouldn't have starred in a TV commercial - the 7000 would have. Also, by that time the commercial likely would have been in colour. As well, as the 60s wore on Zenith promoted radios less and less. TV became Zenith's darling to advertise, not radios (Phil Rafuse, PEI, ibid.) BALLOON ANTENNA I was looking through some old info I had and I came across an AP story from 1999 (forwarded by Bill Hale) concerning WRIV / 1390 in Riverhead on Long Island. The story was about them losing the lease on their tower site due to impending expansion of the city sewage treatment plant. The story said that they planned to broadcast from a 140 foot wire supported by a tethered helium balloon until they found a new site. I don't recall hearing any more about this. Does anyone know if the balloon antenna was used and what the results were? I notice they are still licensed so I presume they found a new site (Patrick Griffith, Westminster CO, July 13, IRCA via DXLD) BIRDWATCHING and DXING There's a correlation between birdwatching and DXing, believe it or not --- both hobbyists keep lists that require date, time and place and are subject to verification by other birders. I dabbled in birding for a while; took a lot of telephoto shots of backyard birds, got involved with two Southern Illinois Audubon Societies (one affiliated with the state, another with national, sort of an IRCA/NRC parallel dichotomy, I suppose you could say --- and even started a master list, but didn't keep up with it after the first week or so. Hobby overload. (Qal R. Mann, Krumudgeon, IRCA via DXLD) CIDX publisher Sheldon Harvey is also a birdwatcher, and is active in the Quebec Audubon society. But do the birds have some kind of slop- mongering garbage that promises to be the next best thing ("CD- quality" bird songs), being pushed by certain suits in the avian industry, but going over like the proverbial atomic number 82 balloon with the general public? 73 (Mike Brooker Toronto, ON (God keep our land glorious and IBOC-free), ibid.) My favorite bird songs are those of the mockingbird and the catbird, who are likely to come up with anything. All the other birds sing the same songs, over and over again, no matter where they live, sorta like today's cookie-cutter radio chains (Qal R. Mann, straying dangerously off topic! Krum TX, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ IBOC THREAD GOES ON AND ON It's true that the immediate switch between analog and HD on AM can be pretty dramatic, especially since most stations broadcasting in HD are restricting the bandwidth of their analog audio pretty tightly. What interests me - and there's very little research yet on this topic - is the long-term listenability of the AM codec that's currently in use. I find it to be very grating on the ears over any length of time, especially with talk content. Music actually sounds better than talk on the AM codec, I'm finding. I listen to - and aircheck - "my" AM station, WXXI 1370, with the wideband setting on a Carver TX-11b tuner (thank you, Ernie Wesolowski!), and given how very very strong the signal is here, just a couple of miles from the transmitter, it sounds fantastic in analog. An A/B comparison between clean wideband AM audio like that and HD digital would be rather less dramatic, I think. On a tuner of lesser quality, like the bandwidth-constricted radio in my car or (grumble) the cruddy Rolls tuner used for an air monitor at our studios, the AM audio sounds much less impressive. The two AMs in town (WHAM 1180 and WHTK 1280) that have adopted HD are unlistenable on the Carver; even its "narrow" setting is too wide to filter out the digital sidebands. It should be noted that "supportive of" and "skeptical about" AM HD are NOT mutually exclusive. I know several engineers who have pretty serious (and well justified) doubts about the system, but the mandate from ownership is to find a way to make it work, and if that's what their job is, they're going to do it. Not a bad attitude, if you ask me... s (Scott Fybush, Rochester NY, July 13, NRC-AM via DXLD) Scott, Thanks for your feedback. I am just repeating what I hear from other engineers. I think some may be much more negative on AM IBOC vocally, than in print too. A lot of what is told to me is "off the record". I repeat a lot of what I hear, but I do not connect any names to it. I think some engineers are concerned about their jobs. Rightly so. If the "suits" as I call them, are pushing for IBOC, then hearing something negative from the station engineer would not come across well. I speak of AM IBOC, not FM IBOC. But I have been told that IBOC on FM is doing much better with the extra channels and all. Also apparently when you are outside the metro area, the sideband hash on FM dies off quickly. Like here on the coast, 75 miles from Portland and 150 from Seattle, I have never noted any IBOC hash on FM. I have heard it in Portland on a portable though, but it is not near as bad as on AM. Of course there is lots of money pushing IBOC, but if the results show it to be fine on FM and not on AM, then they have their money`s worth using FM. I think IBOC is here to stay, but probably on FM. Like one engineer told me, he is waiting for the tons of complaints to come in. There is no way the small stations are going to shut down without a fight. I still see tons of lawsuits in the courts. The deciding factor is if the radios will sell, once they get out there. I still don't see it. But time will tell. As far as "PBS", that was a slip. I meant NPR. Some CEs that work for commercial stations are not fond of NPR stations. They feel, with taxpayers money, they get a free ride. Many have state of the art equipment, while the ma & pa station down the street is still using turntables. But I was told that NPR stations are not being charged to run IBOC. It is a great advertising tool for iBiquity. The CEs I have talked to that were more or less "pro" IBOC were both NPR stations, but both stations have FMers too. If IBOC AM did catch on, then my concern as a listener (not considering DXing), I would no longer be able to listen to KGO San Francisco or KPOJ Portland. If the analog signal goes away, then my only choice would be to listen online. That is not easy out here in the sticks with the dial up connection at 26.4!!! No DSL available and I don't want the noise of TV cable in the house. I have satellite TV. I guess I could go to satellite internet, but at $50 a month gets expensive. So there are a lot of concerns, not only as a DXer, but also as a listener. The chances of any of our Clatsop County AM or FM stations going IBOC, are slim to none. Of course, an FMer not going IBOC is not an issue probably, as there is not the QRM to deal with, but AM is a different animal. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) Just wondering, how much money was involved in station conversion for AM stereo during the late 80's? Was it anywhere near as much as for IBAC? If so it did nothing to make AM stereo a success which I personally thought was a much better idea than AM IBAC which will kill AM radio deader than a bothersome mosquito. I have a few old Super Pros with 16 kHz wideband positions; I use them with a hifi speaker and they sound great, just as good as FM if not better with a good clear signal. There's nothing wrong with analog AM, it's the radios themselves and also some of the stations who restrict their signals. But come to think of it, that is heartening news; if the manufacturers won't build a decent receiver for regular AM. For example, I have a top of the line Marantz receiver built in the late 70's and the AM section is junk just like every other receiver I've heard and/or had, and these routinely sell for a grand now. What's to make us think that they will build IBAC receivers for AM that actually work well when even in top of the line receivers, AM was always an afterthought? The manufacturers killed analog AM with their lousy receivers just as surely they are killing IBAC AM. Guess there's a silver lining in every cloud, and also maybe they aren't as dumb as they appear to be; maybe they know when they are beating a dead horse. (Bob Young, Millbury, MA, many LD analog all tube boatanchors that still sound just fine to me, ibid.) Not only does entertainment walk, so does our ability to freely access radio. HD has been crooked from the start. Is this perhaps why iPods, WiFi's and other legitimate non-destructive products gained public favor? Engineers like HD? Do MonopolyKaster employees making this phony claim think we can't smell their fear? Look, we understand. If they tell truth they'll be fired - and blackballed. Do honorable people market legitimate products by means of coercion, fear, and lies? Do HD apologists realize that as thanks for their loyalty, they'll be the next ones fired? HD is in big trouble. Engineers are finally telling management they can't fix this trash. HDAlliars told Eurocasters there are no night propagation problems. None. None at all. Cute. There isn't any night HD. Yet on the eve of their heist of the airwaves, they blinked and asked the Feckless Chamberpot of Cronies for more time. Like crooks, they're stalling. For all the bluster, threats, insults, and lies, HD is nothing but a cheap Shy Debutante. Engineers, former stalwart HD defenders, are not expressing doubts. They're calling iBLOC what it is - an unworkable sham capable of but one thing - jamming. They don't want this steaming digital dog-doot all over their shoes. So what if BigKasters own stock in a shell company run by a strange little lad who insists upon keeping all the pie to himself forever? Many of us own stocks. Some make money, some stay level, some lose. What exempts these avaricious swine from the laws governing the rest of us? =Z= (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manasota Key, FL July 16 IRCA via DXLD) IBOC has the audio quality in streaming audio on the internet I have been told. Some engineers that really have "high end" hearing, the audio bothers them. iBiquity does not sell equipment. They only sell the license and you pay them the fees. IBOC is just an idea that a bunch came up with. They make their money off the idea. That is it. No equipment, nothing but the idea. 73, (Patrick Martin, OR, ibid.) DRM SKIP ON 26 MHZ INTO ITALY Apertura in 28 -- Ciao a tutti, interessante apertura "serale" in 28 MHz stasera, ore 23 locali [21 UT], si ricevono senza problemi le emittenti low power che trasmettono in DRM. A 25795 arriva Radio Luxemburg con l'audio, a 26045 ModellversuchDRM da Hannover, a 25765 TDF da Parigi e Campus radio sui 26000. Da segnalare anche Bit eXpress sui 15896 khz sembre alle 23:16 locali [2116 UT] arriva a Roma con 12 dB di Snr !!! Ho controllato adesso la Ionosonda di Roma e nonostante siano le 23:18 la MUF e' ancora posizionata sui 32.9 mhz !! http://dps-roma.ingv.it/latestFrames.htm 73 And IW0HK – (Andrea Borgnino IW0HK, http://www.mediasuk.org/iw0hk http://www.mediasuk.org/archive http://www.biciurbana.org July 13, bclnews.it via DXLD) See also: CANADA; GERMANY; GUIANA FRENCH; NEW ZEALAND; SWEDEN for more DRM items PROPAGATION +++++++++++ QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 28 ARLP028 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA July 14, 2006 To all radio amateurs SIX METERS CONTINUES TO AMAZE. July 12 saw great openings, with European stations working North America. A check of 6-meter DX spots for the previous 36 hours on July 13 at http://www.dxers.info/ showed several thousand entries over a 24-hour period. EH8BPX in Canary Islands showed up 35 times in 36 hours, entries either from or about him. He seemed to work many stations on the East Coast and in the Midwest (via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) [excerpt] GOOD MORNING CANADA ON A3 Hi all, received on A3 at 11 UT this morning - YL presenter with sound - Good Morning Canada, reports on the Middle East crisis. As I type at 1154 there are kids programmes coming through on A2 55.24 with the same programme on A3. on A2 could just about see a circular logo bottom left. Fotos from A3: http://www.geocities.com/yogi540/a3 Good DX (Paul Logan, Lisnaskea, N. Ireland, July 15, Low VHF / FMDX page http://www.geocities.com/yogi540 skywaves group via Mike Bugaj, WTFDA via DXLD) Multiple hop sporadic E, drool (gh, DXLD) see also SPAIN ###