DX LISTENING DIGEST 6-189, December 23, 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 AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1340 Sat 2230 WRMI 9955 Sun 0330 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0730 WWCR1 3215 Mon 0400 WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0515 WBCQ 7415 [time varies 0500/0520] Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: 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 CONTINENT OF MEDIA 06-10, December 20: (stream) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0610.ram (download) http://www.dxing.com/com/com0610.rm ** ARGENTINA. 5130 kHz, "AM1710", Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, 0020-0035, December 23, Spanish. This station transmits on 1710, in the local X-Band. Program about Buenos Aires province and the different local politics. Identification: "AM 1710... la 1710 quiere seguir este año nuevo con vos... una nueva radio con vos", announce program "La Rosa de Tokyo" (DX & communications with the cooperation of Grupo Radioescucha Argentino staff): "La Rosa de Tokyo... no te lo podes [sic] perder", 34443 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wonder if the 3x harmonic propagate skywavely (gh) ** ARGENTINA. QSL --- R. Buenas Nuevas (1610 kHz): I sent UnID e-mail report with audio clip to buenasnuevas @ arnet.com.ar and received the QSL gif/ID in an mp4 file via e-mail from Sr. Pedro Saavedra (General Manager). (Hideki WATANABE, Japan, RADIO NUEVO MUNDO via DXLD) Farewell to Radio Nuevo Mundo, which is now ceasing (pdf) publication due to declining LA DX activity in Japan, tho they will retain some contact and web activity (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AZERBAIJAN. Some hardly readable audio from AZE today at 1300 on 6110.75 kHz. I missed the start of the ID, but fortunately got a second in German and also French. Proves that the station uses two names depending on the language: Radio Azerbaijan International and in English they use Voice of Azerbaijan and Radio Dada Gorgud. (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Dec 22, RealDX yg via DXLD) ** CAMEROONS [non]. The schedule of relays under RUSSIA [and non] below still shows R. Free Southern Cameroons, but moved back to Saturday instead of Sunday. We missed it again this week, but please confirm it next Saturday: 11840 1800-1900 500 FSC Sat (via Krasnodar) (Glenn Hauser, Dec 23 DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. I was also looking at http://www.fessenden.ca for some webcast times of ``Fessenden`s Follies``, and these look possible, UT: Sat Dec 23 2300 CFXU Sun Dec 24 1700 CFFF Sun Dec 24 1800 CKUT Sun Dec 24 1900 CJSW Mon Dec 25 0400 CJTR Mon Dec 25 0700 CFRO I have not confirmed all these stations are actually webcasting; already had to throw one out that had been asterisked as doing so. 73, (Glenn Hauser, Dec 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also UK : BBCR3 ** CHINA. Firedrake check, Dec 22 at 1452: just barely audible on 10400, but better on 9200, both presumably against Sound of Hope (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. RHC still can`t announce its own frequencies accurately. Dec 22 at 1403 I caught the list on 15370, which included that new frequency but omitted 12000, where I reconfirmed it still existed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. SORRY, MARTI, NOBODY'S LISTENING Published December 23, 2006 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0612230251dec23,1,6626974.story?coll=chi-opinionfront-hed The most popular sitcom on the world's least-watched TV station is "La Oficina del Jefe" ("The Boss' Office"), brought to you by U.S. taxpayers. The show is a satire about life in a fictional government office run by a bearded leader who dresses just like Fidel Castro. It may be a real thigh-slapper in the Miami studio where it's filmed, but the show isn't widely seen by its intended audience in Cuba. That's because the real Fidel has been jamming the signal ever since TV Martí launched in 1990. Last year, only one out of 1,000 Cubans reported seeing TV Martí within the previous week, and eight out of 1,000 had watched in the previous year, according to a U.S. government survey. Only 1.2 percent of the Cuban market tuned in at least weekly to its counterpart, Radio Martí. Those aren't exactly boffo Sweeps Week ratings, but that hasn't stopped the U.S. government from sinking more than $530 million into the Martís over the last 21 years. Congress established the stations, named after the Cuban revolutionary poet Jose Marti, "to promote the cause of freedom in Cuba" by providing alternative voices to Cuba's state-controlled media. U.S. guidelines say the programming must be objective, accurate and balanced. Yet a review this year by the federal International Broadcasting Bureau found an anti-Castro bias and a reluctance to air news that reflects badly on the administration that sponsors the shows or the Cuban exiles who produce them. The broadcasts have done little to hurt Castro or to help the U.S. cause, probably because Cubans don't find it worth the effort to tune in. With the television signal scrambled, TV Martí can be viewed only by those with Internet access or a satellite dish -- both rare on the island. Radio Martí is best heard on shortwave radio. For their $530 million, U.S. taxpayers have little to show but a nest of patronage jobs in Miami, another bone tossed to the anti-Castro crowd that means so much on Election Day in Florida. A better way to expose Cubans to the delights of a free society would be to lift the restrictions that keep Americans from traveling to Cuba and spending money there. Instead, the Bush administration is throwing even more money at Radio and TV Martí as part of a broader effort to empower the dissidents that it hopes will push for political change in the coming months. With Castro rumored near death, the reasoning goes, it's time to turn up the volume. There's only one problem: Nobody's listening. Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune (Editorial, via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** DIEGO GARCIA. Partial data letter from AFN Diego Garcia with beautiful 8 x 10 photo of island, signed by IC2 Bennett. Date on letter is Jan 23, 2006, postmark on envelope is the same. Almost a year to arrive!!! The envelope, letter and photo were all in good shape, so I don't think they were just stuffed in a corner somewhere. Still, pretty weird, if you ask me. Hope the QSL Santa visits your mailbox today. 73s (Jim Pogue, KH2AR/WPE9HLJ/KG6DX1A, Memphis, Tennessee USA, IRCA via DXLD) WTFK? What did you hear from there? My son was stationed on DG for a year and a half. The only radio he knew about was a 50 W thing. He didn't say anything about utes, but I'd be very surprised if they verified anyhow. He might be going back. I hope to supply him with a radio and some incentive to use it and report. He did say that Australian stations were good around sunset. I was hoping to figure a way to get a remote receiver there, but... Surface mail can take a *very* long time. I sent him a computer monitor while he was there. Took literally months (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) Jim, Do you know what a IC2 is? He is a Intercommunicationman second class (Willis, Old Fort, TN, Monk, ibid.) Hi Craig. The Navy runs a rebroadcast of the Armed Forces Network on SW frequencies intended primarily for ships in the Indian Ocean without good satellite receiving facilities. It is sort of a hybrid SWBC/utility operation, but they do QSL OK. Here is a link for more info. http://myafn.dodmedia.osd.mil/radio/shortwave/ I heard AFN Diego Garcia on the 4 MHz frequency in the afternoon here thanks to tip from J. D. Stephens. Not great reception but enough to send a reception report. If you want to try for a QSL, the main office in Southern California sends out a nice card. You can send an e-mail reception report and the QSL usually arrives in less than 2 weeks. No return postage required. Here is the e-mail address for QSLs: QSL @ dodmedia.osd.mil They were just building the DG facility when I was in the Navy (1969- 73). It was VERY arduous duty then. Anyone who volunteered for a one- year assignment got their guaranteed choice of orders when they left, plus 30 days of basket leave. I'm sure it's no resort still, but hopefully it's better now than in the early 70s. They used to say, "There's a woman behind every tree - you just can't find any trees." Good luck to your son and please thank him for his service to our nation for me. 73s, (Jim Pogue, ibid.) ** EUROPE. Retransmisión [anticipada]: 31 Diciembre, 1600-, Radio Bila Hora, 3333 kHz (José Miguel Romero, Spain, Dec 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) A pirate, I suppose; never heard of it (gh, DXLD) ** FINLAND. SWR Christmas Day 2006 ---------SCANDINAVIAN WEEKEND RADIO Joulupäivän lähetys 2006---- Joulupäivän ohjelmasisällöstä vastaa SWR:n tonttulauma satunnaisten vierailevien tontun avustuksella. Tonttuina joululähetyksessä toimivat mm. Miki, Häkä, RarioJaska, Esa, Pasi, Pena-setä ja muut jotka paikalle sattuvat eksymään. Ohjelmassa on luvassa muunmuassa jo perinteeksi muodostunut SWR:n viini- ja juustoraati joka maistelee ja arvostelee viinit ja juustot useiden vuosien kokemuksella. Edellämainitun lisäksi on luvassa joulukuulumisia maailmalta sekä puimme kuluneen vuoden tapahtumia. Mitä todennäköisimmin jouluaiheista musiikkia soitetaan mahdollisimman vähän, koska sitähän soittavat kaikki muut radioasemat... Luvassa siis tavalliseen tapaan monenlaista musiikkia, niin klassista ja progea, kuin myös iskelmää. Jouluterveisiä lähetyksessä luettavaksi, kuin myöskin levytoiveita voi lähettää sähköpostilla aseman studio@swradio.net e-mail osoitteeseen tai tekstiviestillä numeroon 0400 995 559. Samaiseen numeroon voi myöskin soittaa lähetyksen aikana. Joululähetyksestä on edellisien vuosien tapaan jaossa erikois QSL, joten muistathan raportoida. SCANDINAVIAN WEEKEND RADIO Christmas Day transmission 2006 ------------------------ Programs on Christmas day will provide to you SWR elves: Miki, Häkä, RarioJaska, Esa, Pasi, Uncle-Pena and possible visitors. At Christmas time we don't have "real" program schedule, but probably you will hear all kind of music from pop and classical music to progressive rock from our frequencies on short- and medium waves. For example following programs are planned to come out from SWR studios: Letterbox, Wine & Cheese Review and of course Season Greetings. Phone number to SWR studio during the transmissions is +358 400 995 559; phone calls and short messages are very welcome. E-mails to studio @ swradio.net SCANDINAVIAN****WEEKEND****RADIO*** Time- and frequency schedule B-06: [BUT in this case Sunday-Monday! See also below] MW 1602 kHz: Fri 22 - Sat 22 UTC 48 mb: Fri-Sat 22-17 UT 6170 kHz Sat 17-19 UT 5980 kHz Sat 19-22 UT 6170 kHz 25 mb: Fri 22-23 UT 11720 kHz Fri-Sat 23-08 UT 11690 kHz Sat 08-14 UT 11720 kHz Sat 14-17 UT 11690 kHz Sat 17-19 UT 11720 kHz Sat 19-22 UT 11690 kHz Best Greetings, (Alpo Heinonen, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, Dec 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SCANDINAVIAN WEEKEND RADIO'S ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS DAY SHOW Christmas is coming! Listening of SWR's alternative Christmas Day show will be good way to spend time during this "nothing is going on" - time. Because for family reasons etc. not may of us is spending their Christmas time on station, we try to make our shows as interactive as possible. That is why we take all kinds of equipment in full use: phones, SMS-messages, Fax machines, e-mail, Internet forms, chat... Here you can find our contact information: GSM and SMS- messages: +358 400 995 559 Fax: +358 3 475 5776 E-mail: info @ swradio.net Reception reports: raportit @ swradio.net Report form http://www.swradio.net/fin/rapo.htm Christmas messages: http://www.swradio.net/fin/viesti.htm Chat: http://www.swradio.net/cgi-bin/chat.cgi Webmaster Ville is doing ChatRadio on 11-12 UT. Please feel free to join him on our chat and of course, in airwaves! We also welcome you to join our broadcast by forwarding your season's greetings. Record your message in sound file and send it to us. We will play and read them all night, morning, day, evening long. The easiest way to you to send your message and / or sound file is our message form on following address: http://www.swradio.net/fin/viesti.htm#eng Not all programme details will be available at advance, because a big part of SWR's shows is based on improvisation. Therefore, you will just have to listen to find out. Hopefully it is not too painful ;-D Anyway, some kind of timetable is as follows: 25th December UTC Frequencies Details 22-00 6170 and 11690 Notice date 24th Dec. 00-01 5980 and 11690 01-06 5980 and 11720 06-09 6170 and 11720 09-12 6170 and 11690 10-11 World Radio Roulette. This show contains contest! 11-12 ChatRadio! 12-17 5990 and 11720 12-13 Perkele! Finnish Metal 17-19 6170 and 11720 19-21 6170 and 11690 21-22 5990 and 11690 A reception forecast is available on http://www.swradio.net/fin/251201/index.html SWR crew wishes a lot of sunspots from Santa Claus... I have made a new photo album; it can be seen on http://www.swradio.net/fin/album2001.htm Descriptions are in Finnish, but I think you can get the idea of our activities... Merry Christmas! Ville-Veikko Haikarainen, Scandinavian Weekend Radio http://www.swradio.net via http://mailgate.supereva.com/rec/rec.radio.noncomm/msg00633.html (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** GABON. 9580, ANU, Dec. 22, 1840+, good, no buzz, no harmonic, no // 15475. 73 (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, http://www.africalist.de.ms DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4777, RTG Libreville heard 12/23 0630 with French talks, then 0632 nice W African music on stringed instrument. Nice solid S-9 signal, but the buzz on this is: no Buzz! Is Gabuzzy gone? Will have to check ANO frequencies Saturday daytime to see if they're clear of the Gabuzz now, too (Alex Vranes, Jr., Harpers Ferry, WV, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Haven`t heard Le Buzz on 19160 lately, or any signal on this harmonic frequency from 9580, e.g. Dec 23 at 1430. Propagation, or no longer extant? Others are also reporting no buzz on 4777 or 9580 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Re: 6045 Hamburg Local Radio ``GERMANY. 6045, Non- commercial "Hamburg Local Radio" on air with SPECIAL programmes via T- systems Juelich site on 6045 kHz, 100 kW, monopole vertical cache antenna, non-dir to Europe. ... Ausgestrahlt werden die Sonderprogramme ueber einen 100 kW Sender der T-Systems aus Juelich. Fuer die europaweiten Sendungen wird eine Quadrant-Antenne benutzt. wb Actually a quadrant antenna, abbr. HQ, is not a conical monopole (abbr. VM) but instead this one: http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/photos/view/60b4?b=28 Sorry, but back then I did not dare to bother my driver with stunts like walking over the field to get a close-up sight of the antenna, and the lens of the camera I used at this time had no real telephoto range either. So the actual system can be just barely seen: A dipole, but folded to get unidirectional radiation and consisting of a cage, making the dipole "thick" to get more bandwidth. On Google Earth this antenna, or rather the separately fenced area where it sits, appears as an almost unidentifiable "post" outside the curtain arms. I think this is the case with the two VM antennas at Jülich as well, I'm not sure about this only because I could not spot them on this foggy day four years ago, so I don't know where they actually sit. Wertachtal has not only one HQ but a number of them, if I recall correctly placed as a cluster on the tip of the southwest-aiming curtain arm (Kai Ludwig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) http://tpub.com/content/et/14092/css/14092_37.htm VM code #9 type 30 [also 976 type for Non-D bcs] is used for 6055 1200 1215 27,28 314 ND 930 1 291006 250307 WER 250 MWA 5945 1200 1229 27,28 314 ND 930 7 291006 250307 WER 500 FVM 6055 1130 1159 27,28 314 ND 930 17 291006 250307 WER 125 EMG HQ code #9 type 26 in DTK list (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** GERMANY. Brocken transmitters Just found a chronicle of the Brocken transmitter site: http://www.gwitte.homepage.t-online.de/chronik.htm To translate the especially noteworthy events (all powers mentioned are transmitter output, not ERP): 1935: First experiments with a portable TV transmitter http://www.gwitte.homepage.t-online.de/broimg/bild3.htm 1936-1939: Construction of building etc. and 15 kV main power line to the Brocken summit 1938: Telefunken TV transmitter installed; dismantled in 1942, later used for military purposes in France and Italy, building demolished by air-raids http://www.gwitte.homepage.t-online.de/broimg/bild5.htm Until 1950: Building reconstructed, first for tourism purposes only http://www.gwitte.homepage.t-online.de/broimg/bild8.htm http://www.gwitte.homepage.t-online.de/broimg/bild9.htm May 1951: First FM transmitter, 250 watt on 94.5 http://www.gwitte.homepage.t-online.de/broimg/bild10.htm Dec 1953: FM transmitter upgraded to 1 kW, new antenna installed http://www.gwitte.homepage.t-online.de/broimg/bild11.htm July 1955: TV transmitter went on air; 3 kW, video on 169.25, audio on 175.75 Feb 1956: TV transmitter upgraded to 10 kW July 1957: TV transmitter converted from OIRT to CCIR standard (video/sound separation 5.5 instead of 6.5 MHz; probably by this time also settled on ch. E-6) Oct 1959: New 10 kW Siemens TV transmitter, new antenna system http://www.gwitte.homepage.t-online.de/broimg/bild12.htm Spring 1960: Inauguration of a microwave link to Torfhaus site, using Thomson-CSF TM 110 series equipment. For many years this link was the only connection between the Intervision (OIRT) and Eurovision (EBU) systems July 1961: Two new 10 kW FM transmitters from Funkwerk Köpenick; addit. Radio DDR 1 on 88.95 and upgraded Deutschlandsender on 97.4 March 1963: Two more Funkwerk Köpenick 10 kW transmitters; Berliner Rundfunk on 91.55 and Radio DDR 2 on 94.6 Feb 1966: New 10 kW TV transmitter made by Funkwerk Köpenick, replaced Siemens transmitter (which was kept as aux) because the required spare parts for it had to be bought for hard cash Nov 1967: 10 kW UHF transmitter from Thomson-CSF, had to be obtained via the USSR due to embargoing; result: A French transmitter with mostly English parts, Russian inscriptions and a French documentation. (Presumably this transmitter paralleled on ch. E-34 the E-6 programming, since a second DFF program did not start until Oct 1969.) 1972-1973: FM transmitters upgraded to stereo Oct 1973: New 20 kW UHF transmitter from Funkwerk Köpenick, enabling first SECAM colour transmissions from Brocken April 1974: E-6 transmitter upgraded to colour (in fact DFF started colour transmissions on its first program not until 1972 or 1973, first they were limited to a few hours on the second program from Oct 1969) 1976: Construction of the current antenna tower completed; picture of Brocken summit today: http://www.gwitte.homepage.t-online.de/bro_akt.htm 1978-1987: Construction of the wall around the Brocken summit April 1985: FM aux transmitter installed, own construction by Deutsche Post Nov 1987: Additional 1 kW FM transmitter, own construction; DT64 on 101.4 Oct 1991: 10 kW transmitter for ZDF on ch. E-49 in a container April 1992: Two new 1 kW Rohde&Schwarz FM transmitters, provisional antenna mounted on the building; 101.4 and additional 107.8 (for MDR Kultur, today MDR Figaro, which lost the much farther-ranging 89.0 outlet to a commercial station) 1993: New Kathrein antenna systems, replacing the old mast which was subsequently dismantled; ch. E-6 and E-34 transmitters replaced by new Rohde&Schwarz transmitters, 1 kW transmitter on 101.4 replaced by 10 kW transmitter (but all attempts to coordinate a higher ERP than 10 kW for 107.8 failed, thus no 10 kW transmitter required here), replacement of old 10 kW FM transmitters starts 1994: All transmitters in the old rooms replaced, continuous staffing of the site ends, transmitters now remote-controlled from Collmberg, later from Leipzig Nov 1995: Old transmitters scrapped; Siemens TV transmitters could be saved for a museum at Berlin 1996: New transmitter building, new solid-state TV transmitters (10 kW VHF, 2 x 20 kW UHF; no statement on FM equipment, apparently the transmitters from 1992/1993 were moved into the new hall) (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. VOG, 9420, Sat Dec 23 at 1430 was in Greek talk and later music, no sign of weekly English show Hellenes Around the World; on vacation? Not audible on // 17525 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dearest friends, Wherever you are in the world, I wish you all, wholeheartedly Good Health and Happiness, Love for our fellowman, Peace within ourselves, Hope for the future. May the New Year lighten our horizon and lead each and every one of us to pursue our spiritual completion. Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year 2007. Katerina Thanasoula, Journalist, ERT S.A.- The Voice of Greece (via John Babbis, DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. Dramatic talk on 4780, Dec 22 at 1410 seemed to be in Spanish, then not. Perhaps Indian language with Spanish inmixed. Must be Coatán, scheduled per WRTH 2006 until 1500* rather than PWBR 2007 until 1300+*, and just about fading out on the shortest day of the year (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. ART OF RADIO HAWAII NEW ON-LINE EXHIBITION CELEBRATES HAWAIIANA Over 70 years of Hawaiian radio art features in a new on-line exhibition recently opened at http://www.radioheritage.net the global website of the Radio Heritage Foundation. The exhibition brings together commercial designs from logos, letterheads and promotional ephemera covering Hawaiian radio broadcasters, mainly from the 1950's and 60's. Three main themes cover maps, hula girls and buildings. There's the famous orchid map from KILA 'The Voice of the Orchid Isle', a hula girl from 1940's KULA and many more examples from long gone and forgotten radio stations that once entertained residents of the islands. KANI [The Windward Broadcasting Company], the Aloha Radio Network, KLEI, KTOH and KTRG are just some of the many stations featuring in this nostalgic look back at the art work that helped Hawaiian radio stations define their individual identities. The classic elements of radio towers, palm trees, little grass shacks and hula girls come together in this fascinating tour of the radio dial from when Hawaii was still a territory. There are some post- statehood examples as well, as radio became a more competitive medium. The Art of Radio Hawaii on-line exhibition draws on some of the Hawaiiana radio ephemera held by the Radio Heritage Foundation, a non- profit organization dedicated to sharing the stories of Pacific radio. The exhibition is permanently open with free public access at http://www.radioheritage.net and is the third in an ongoing series celebrating radio related art from around the Pacific. Earlier exhibitions feature Australia and New Zealand from the 1930's and Japan from the 1930's to the 1960's. Readers and listeners with memories or ephemera of any Hawaiian radio stations are invited to contact the Radio Heritage Foundation which is also planning another exhibition covering Hawaiian radio from the 1970's to the present time. Media Contact: David Ricquish, Chairman, Radio Heritage Foundation http://www.radioheritage.net Email: info @ radioheritage.net Please query for permission to use exhibition images to accompany this release. December 23 2006 (Ricquish, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ICELAND. A quick way to access RUV's shortwave schedule on the Web is via RUV's teletext site: http://www.textavarp.is/247/1.html (Reynir H. Stefánsson, Iceland, Dec 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx; appears to be the usual on 12115 and 13865, but remember, about to disappear at yearend (gh) ** INDIA. Re 6-188, UNIDENTIFIED 4850: Also heard again same timeframe 12/21, again with some Christmas carols. Indian DX'er Alokesh Gupta has told me that I have been indeed hearing AIR Kohima, and that it's not unusual to hear Christmas carols from stations. in NE India. So I Googled "Nagaland." Found an entry (Wikipedia, I believe it was) that stated that Nagaland is one of three predominantly Christian states in India, with Christians comprising over 90-percent of the population, which was surprising to me! AIR Kohima is the only station listed anywhere in the world active on this frequency that could be found, so I guess that pretty well clinches it also, hi. ;-D (Alex Vranes, WV, Dec 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Re unID 5050: Dear Björn, I predict (rather assume) you are hearing All India Radio Aizwal from Mizoram India which broadcasts on 5050 kHz. They broadcast very popular English pop song program quite regularly. But from 1515 they relay News in Hindi from Delhi followed by News in English at 1530. Regional broadcasts may resume from 1545 UT. After the advancement of Winter AIR Aizawl noted with better reception here. Earlier I used to note the ZPBS station in Chinese blocking Aizawl. But the situation is better now. Aizawl has big fans of English pop and English is quite popular due to missionary education. So I presume you are hearing the Chinese 50 kW station mixed with AIR Aizawl with English pops. Please refer to my HCDX/DXLD report about Aizawl few days back. Yours Rajeesh (T. R. Rajeesh, South India, HCDX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Local hi noise level relented for some reason, Dec 22 at 1409 so I checked 60 meters before total fadeout. 4605 had some music, surely Serui, Papua, which per PWBR 2007 runs until 1500*, but unbelievable it`s only 0.5 kW as shown (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. 2006 REVISITED --- THE YEAR IN INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING --- Andy Sennitt 21-12-2006 2006 was another year of frustration for those hoping to see Digital Radio Mondiale become a significant player in international broadcasting. Once again, the promised consumer receivers failed to materialise in the first half of the year, and even as we waited and waited, more international broadcasters were making cuts in their services or closing down altogether. . . http://www.radionetherlands.nl/features/media/061221rev (Media Network via DXLD) Attn those who still ask me about doing such a piece! (gh, DXLD) ** ITALY [non]. 2006 Christmas schedule on IRRS Hello There from Milano, As every year at this time IRRS-Shortwave will run some additional broadcast at high power (150 kW) around Christmas and the New Year. Although we will be beaming to Europe, North Africa and Middle East, we expect that reception will also be possible outside our target ares in the Americas, Asia and Australia. - Saturday Dec. 23, 2006 on 5775 kHz (150 kW): 1900-2300 UT (2000-0000 CET): featuring Radio Rasant (first hour) followed by three hours presented by Radio Marabu - Sunday Dec 24, 2006 on 9310 kHz (150 kW): 1030-1300 UT (1130-1400 CET), a mix of the usual Sunday programs from European Gospel Radio, featuring a special IPAR music program from Radio Six International http://www.radiosix.com - Glasgow, Scotland at 1200-1300 UT (1300-1400 CET) - Our usual Sunday schedule follows (150 kW): on 15735 kHz at 1300-1330 UT to India (in English), and on 5775 kHz at 1500-1600 UT to Europe (in German), and on 5775 kHz at 1700-1930 UT to EU, N Africa and Middle East (in English) Check our special feature: "39 Dover Street" at on Dec. 24, 2006 on 5775 at 1845-1900 UT, an IPAR program with poetry from New Zealand http://www.doverstreet.org - also on Sunday Dec. 24, 2006 we have a special 30 min. extension, on 5775 at 1930-2000 UT (2030-2100 CET) featuring EMR/European Music Radio from London, England. - Lastly for this year on Sunday Dec. 31, 2006: on 9310 kHz at 0930-1030 UT (150 kW) we will broadcast a special program from Radio Rasant http://www.radiorasant.org the student radio from Sundern in Germany, followed by our usual Sunday schedule. We will appreciate receiving your reception reports for any of our broadcasts. You can email reports @ nexus.org - We will reply and answer all your requests by email, and forward your reception reports to our broadcasters for further verification by letter or QSL. We hope you can enjoy our members programs during this Christmas season. For those outside our main target areas, you can also tune to our simulcast streaming on Internet at http://mp3.nexus.org - For further information on our programs please check our website at http://www.nexus.org - http://www.nexus.org/IPAR (International Public Access Radio) and http://www.egradio.org (European Gospel Radio). Merry Christmas and Happy New year from us all here at NEXUS-IBA in Milan! 73s de Ron -- (Ron Norton NEXUS-Int'l Broadcasting Association email: ron @ nexus.org http://www.nexus.org Dec 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Presumably via Bulgaria, never so acknowledged (gh, DXLD) ** JAPAN. Following a long tradition, Radio Japan will have a special New Year`s broadcast on December 31 from 1030 to 1930 hours mainly in Japanese and English on a number of frequencies. The New Year starts in Japan at 1500 UT and will be marked on the following frequencies: in English on 6190, 7200, 9505 and 9875 kHz and in Japanese and other languages on 9335 [sic, probably means 9535], 9750, 11815, 12045 and 21630 kHz as well as on the extraordinary, especially for this date frequencies of 6175, 7140, 9805, 11705, 15355 and 17860 kHz. The QSL address is: Radio Japan, NHK, 150-8001, Japan (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX program Dec 22, via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) English? Not customarily anything special (gh, DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. Clandestina para Libia. MOLDAVIA, 17635, Sawt al-Amal, 1322-1324, escuchada el 22 de diciembre en árabe a locutor con invitado en conversación, cambian a 17640, SINPO 45454. 17640, Sawt al-Amal, 1324-1330, escuchada el 22 de diciembre en idioma árabe a locutor con invitado en conversación, SINPO 44454. Clandestina para Libia. MOLDAVIA, 17660, Sawt al-Amal, 1235-1245, escuchada el 23 de diciembre en idioma árabe, locutor con comentarios, fuertemente interferida por emisión afro-pop, SINPO 42442. 17655, Sawt al-Amal, 1258-1311, escuchada el 23 de diciembre en idioma árabe con emisión de música folklórica local, SINPO 45554. 17665, Sawt al-Amal, 13:11-13:20, escuchada el 23 de Diciembre en idioma árabe, identificación y sintonía, locutora con cuña, locutor con comentarios, SINPO 45554. (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Since Afropop stays on 17660, silly of SAA to use that one at all (gh, DXLD) He intentado mandar un reporter al Email libyaradio @ libyaradio.com pero los rechaza; adjunto mensaje recibido: Hi. This is the qmail-send program at yahoo.com. I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following addresses. This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out. libyaradio@libyaradio.com : Sorry, I wasn't able to establish an SMTP connection. (#4.4.1) I'm not going to try again; this message has been in the queue too long (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jose, Discutimos estas alternativas en DXLD 6-188, a probar: info@libyaregion. net --- Rechazando info@libyaregime. net --- Rechazando muatmar@libya- nclo.org info@libyaradio. net 73, (Glenn, ibid.) Saludos Glenn, los dos primeros rechazan el correo; veremos lo que pasa con los otros dos (José Miguel, ibid.) ** MEXICO. Continúa al aire Radio UNAM (9600 kHz); el dìa de hoy parece tener una mejor señal con buen audio. Al parecer seguirá al aire durante el período vacacional que termina el martes 2 de enero de 2007. Saludos y felicitaciones, (Juliàn [sic] Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, 2057 UT Dec 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XEYU, 9599.4, again on air Dec 22 at 1447 check, and again with guitar music interlude with talk about something in Spanish before and after, usual het from 9600.0. Not enough punch to be listenable, unfortunately. Also could hear a het at 2104 and 2113. Julián Santiago thinks this will remain on air thru the holidays until Jan 2. I wonder if anyone further away, even in other continents, is hearing it? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Special Prefixes for Mexican Stations. Starting January 1 through December 31 of 2007, the Mexican ham operators may use special prefixes in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores (FMRE) as follows: XE1 stations will be using 6H1 prefix, XE2 stations – 6I2 prefix (that`s Six India Two), and XE3 stations – 6J3 prefix. (R. Bulgaria DX program Dec 22, DX Editor Dimiter Petrov, LZ1AF, via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Re RN programming changes: Glad to hear from Andy about this! I was hoping he'd comment. One other item I just heard at the start of Friday's "The Good Life": That program will be replaced in May by another new one-hour-long program called "The State We're In" (Will Martin, MO, Dec 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI-AM missing from 9765, Dec 22 at 0707, unlike -DRM on 9885-9890-9895. Another sudden QSY or breakdown? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) News About RNZI --- AM Transmitter Off Air, 22 Dec, 2006 16:13 UTC. AM Transmitter is off air with a technical fault. Normal Service is expected to resume at 0900 NZDT [2000 UTC] (from http://www.rnzi.com/pages/whatsnew.php#187 via DXLD) See the same page for RNZI`s cyclone coverage plans, and Xmas/New Year scheduling, mostly National Radio relays during a one-month summer vacation. 5950-AM was on air as usual at 1406 check with detailed weather info. And of course, no DRM on 7145 despite schedule; good news for the hams. 9765 was back as usual around 0600 Dec 23 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Cyclone season service, 20 Dec, 2006 19:40 UTC RNZI’s CYCLONE SEASON PROCEDURE – 2006/2007 ===================================================================== Throughout this cyclone season Radio New Zealand International (RNZI) will be operating its CYCLONE WATCH schedule. If Cyclone Alerts are issued for South Pacific countries, RNZI will broadcast updates of these bulletins. These will be heard following news bulletins at the top of each hour and again on the half hour if the situation changes. We will do our best to keep listeners informed of all weather news and of future directions or damage as we receive information. Our information comes from the Nadi Met Office in Fiji and from the New Zealand MetService. In addition we receive weather bulletins direct from the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu Meteorological Offices. Summer Programme Schedule, 20 Dec, 2006 19:38 UTC CHRISTMAS / NEW YEAR BROADCASTS. RNZI will be relaying National Radio programming on statutory holidays over the Christmas/New Year fortnight. On December 27, 28 and 29 and January 3, 4, and 5 RNZI will broadcast its own news bulletins on the hour at the normal morning, afternoon and evening times. These bulletins will include World, Pacific, New Zealand and Sports News. RNZI’s normal news bulletin service will resume from Monday 8 January. The last ``Dateline Pacific`` programme for the year will be heard on Saturday morning – December 23. Full programming – including ‘Dateline Pacific’ and Pacific language bulletins will resume on Monday 22 January 2006. RNZI’s cyclone watch service will be maintained throughout the period and special weather bulletins regarding tropical cyclones will be broadcast if required. On behalf of all the RNZI team - we wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year (via DXLD) RADIO NZ INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL RADIO HERITAGE PROGRAM ON CHRISTMAS DAY As part of the Mailbox program on December 25, Radio New Zealand International broadcasts a special radio heritage documentary from the Radio Heritage Foundation http://www.radioheritage.net The program includes an excerpt from the Christmas Day 1944 outside broadcast from Jungle Network station WVTB in New Guinea, being played for the first time in 62 years, as well as Christmas music from KCCN Honolulu which celebrated 40 years on the air last month. Usual host David Ricquish is joined by board member Dr Jo Del Monaco for a special series of Christmas greetings and music in French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian. These greetings include full station ID's in each of these four languages, and seasonal greetings from the Pacific to listeners in many cities and countries around the world. These acknowledge the growing popularity of RNZI with DXers, shortwave listeners and many other casual listeners beyond the Pacific target zone for RNZI shortwave broadcasts. Listen on Christmas Day, December 25 2006 UTC to RNZI per the following schedule: 0730 UT on 9765 AM/9890 DRM, 1130 on 13840 AM, 1330 on 5950 AM/7145 DRM, 1630 on 9870 AM/9890 DRM. Check the RNZI website for any changes. An MP3 version of the program will be available from December 25 at http://www.rnzi.com --- simply follow the path audio-more audio- mailbox to download and listen worldwide. A warm Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Season from the Radio Heritage Foundation team in Wellington, New Zealand [visit http://www.radioheritage.net for lots of interesting new content today!] (David Ricquish, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 11770, VON, Dec. 22 *1600-1700*, very weak; 15120 VON *1700, English service, fair, but surprisingly getting much stronger after 1800, audio quality varying very much: OK for Insight at 1830 and programs after 1915, dull and buzzy for Newsfile at 1845, very low audio for the announcer at 1857, distorted from Lagos news studio at 1900. 7275, FRCN Abuja?, Dec. 22, 2015+, as Spain gets weaker there appears some North African/Sahara music under that. 4770, R. Kaduna, Dec. 22, 2015+ fair/good, good audio (!), English, changing into local language at 2030 (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, http://www.africalist.de.ms DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4770, FRCN Kaduna booming in 12/23 with news program in English. 0625 M ID "You are listening to the network news from Radio Nigeria." S20 over 9; never heard them this strong before! (Alex Vranes, Jr., Harpers Ferry, WV, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND [non]. Radio Polonia: Luego de muchísimos años sin poderla recepcionar a Radio Polonia, a partir de las 2235 UT en polaco en la frecuencia de los 9655 kHz. A Radio Polonia no la captaba desde que emitía en español, y ya al final de la década de los 80, cuando aún el Gral. Wojciech Jaruzelski gobernaba el país. La tengo confirmada con su QSL de la época, así como con otros recuerdos de la emisora. Su SINPO fue de: 44444. ¡Vale la pena escribirles de nuevo! ¡Saludos! (Jorge García Rangel, Barinas, Venezuela, Noticias DX via DXLD) Does he not know, or maybe not care, that this is relayed from nearby Guiana French? On 9660 not 9655 (gh, DXLD) ** POLAND [and non]. German newspaper: Radio Polonia drops Esperanto Report by the German "taz" newspaper, pointed out by Jürgen Lohuis: http://www.taz.de/pt/2006/12/23/a0270.1/text Summary: Meanwhile it results in obvious consequences that the ruling PiS party put followers on main positions at Polskie Radio. First some music editors, specialized in Rock and Rap, were fired, now the daily broadcasts in Esperanto were cancelled despite lots of listeners protests. Quote from Polskie Radio vice-chairman Jerzy Targalski, taken from Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper: "If Poland is supposed to broadcast in Esperanto in honour of Zamenhof, then Israel is supposed to do so as well." This refers to Ludwik Zamenhof, the Polish inventor of Esperanto who was a Jew. The "taz" author considers the Targalski statement as anti-semitic and quotes internal sources with a sum of 12,500 Euro that will be saved by cutting Esperanto, opposed to an annual Radio Polonia budget of 2.5 million Euro. The article also mentions that Telewizja Polska is to cut a bi-weekly broadcast in Ukrainian, meant for the Ukrainian minority in Poland. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, Israel Radio does broadcast in obscure ethnically-related languages such as Ladino, so why not? That will leave the commies, Cuba and China as perpetuators of Esperanto on SW (gh, DXLD) ** PUERTO RICO. Is WIPR 940 back on the air? Some months ago they announced they were suspending broadcasts with some digitalization excuse. I find this still on their website as of Dec 22 implying they would be back on in November: ``¡Noticias de 940 AM! Nos complace anunciar que la remodelación de los estudios y facilidades de 940AM está a punto de concluir. Los trabajos incluyen la instalación de muebles, equipos digitales, acústica, etc. Ahora, el proceso proseguirá con el re-adiestramiento de nuestros recursos humanos y la labor de reestructuración de la programación que esperamos tener al aire ya para fines de noviembre de 2006. Durante el proceso de remodelación, los actores del Taller Dramático de Radio, bajo la dirección del Sr. Bobby Díaz, han estado trabajando en comedias, cápsulas educativas y más. Ya contamos con 7 nuevas producciones, de excelente calidad, que sabemos disfrutarán como parte del nuevo ofrecimiento de 940AM.`` I was also trying to bring up the stream of WIPR-FM for the Zarzuela show at 0000 UT Saturday. The embedded WM player http://www.tutv.puertorico.pr/allegro/allegro_online.htm when I finally get it to work, is still running at a very low rate, not much good for music, but I don`t know how to find any statistics. Oops, per sked Zarzuela is 2300 UT Friday now anyway (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [and non]. FOREIGN RELAY VIA SHORT WAVE TRANSMITTERS OF RUSSIA AND COUNTRIES OF CIS. 29/10/2006 - 24/03/2007 kHz UTC kW radiostation Moscow / RUS 5920 1900-2100 035 DWL DRM 6000 1900-2000 250 YFR 7170 2200-2300 250 CRI 7200 1830-1930 500 CRI 7220 1930-2000 200 CRI 7335 1600-1630 250 BBC Mon-Fri 7335 1600-1700 250 BBC Sat, Sun 7345 1630-1700 250 FEB 11730 1300-1330 250 BBC Sankt-Petersburg / RUS 5960 1800-1900 400 VRT 6015 1700-1730 200 TWR 7130 1600-1700 400 CRI 7130 1800-1830 400 CRI 11760 1300-1400 400 BBC 13685 0700-0800 400 VRT Samara / RUS 5900 1400-1500 250 YFR 5900 1500-1600 250 YFR 5935 1800-1900 250 IBR 6070 1330-1400 250 VAT 7215 2030-2130 500 CRI 7220 0200-0300 250 FEB 7240 1900-2000 250 YFR 7305 1700-1730 250 VOL Mon, Thu 7305 1700-1800 250 VOP Tue, Sat 7305 1700-1800 250 DER Wed 7305 1700-1800 250 VOE Fri, Sun 7315 1600-1645 250 TWR Mon-Wed 7315 1600-1630 250 TWR Thu, Fri 7345 1800-2000 250 YFR 9440 0500-0600 250 BBC 9445 1600-1700 250 LBT Wed, Fri, Sun 9445 1600-1700 250 ERI Thu 11655 0400-0500 250 FEB Mon-Thu 11655 0400-0550 250 FEB Mon-Sun 15180 0600-0700 250 BBC Mon-Sat 15180 0800-0900 250 BBC Mon-Sat Krasnodar / RUS 5910 1730-1930 200 DWL 5940 1545-1730 100 TWR 5940 1730-1800 250 RPR 5955 1600-1800 500 RNW 6030 1300-1500 200 BBC 6165 0330-0430 200 BBC 7120 0000-0200 250 DWL 7175 1400-1600 300 YFR 7250 1530-1700 200 FEB 7300 1900-2200 250 YFR 7335 1700-1730 100 VOD Mon-Fri 7335 1730-1800 100 RHR Sat-Thu 9400 1700-2100 250 BBC 9915 0445-0600 200 BBC Mon-Sat 11840 1800-1900 500 FSC Sat 11900 1500-1600 250 VOU 12065 0500-0530 200 BVB Mon, Wed 12065 0500-0545 200 BVB Fri 12095 0500-0700 200 BBC 13660 0445-0700 200 BBC 13660 0900-1300 200 BBC 13780 0400-0600 250 DWL 15555 0900-1500 500 BBC Novosibirsk / RUS 5900 1300-1330 200 DWL 5900 2200-2400 200 DWL 5925 1730-1930 250 DWL 5950 1245-1545 250 TWR 7110 0100-0145 250 FEB 7190 1400-1515 250 FEB 7210 1900-2000 250 YFR 7295 1300-1500 200 VOA 7300 2315-2400 250 VAT 7340 1230-1315 200 VAT 7345 0015-0145 250 TWR 7350 2200-2300 200 RFI 9450 0200-0300 250 FEB 12070 0200-0330 250 VAT Irkutsk / RUS 5900 0930-1030 500 RFI 7175 1200-1400 250 YFR 7210 1500-1700 250 RFA 7265 1000-1200 250 DWL 7320 1230-1600 250 TWR 7340 1400-1500 250 YFR 7340 1500-1545 250 FEB 9450 0900-1200 250 YFR 11980 0300-0700 500 RFA 12065 1000-1100 250 RNW 15510 0230-0300 250 BBC Chita / RUS 5920 1400-1500 500 RFI 6140 1315-1400 500 VAT 7115* 1300-1330 500 DEG Tue, Thu, Sat * alternative 7125, 7195 Khabarovsk / RUS 5950 1130-1245 100 BVB 5985 1030-1145 100 BVB Sun 9600* 2200-2245 100 VAT 9795 1000-1100 100 RNW 13785 0000-0045 100 VAT * 29/10/2006 - 01/12/2006 * 03/02/2007 - 24/03/2006 Komsomolsk-na-Amure / RUS 5900 1030-1150 250 DWL 6005 1200-1300 250 YFR Vladivostok / RUS 7115 1230-1300 250 IBR 7315 2200-2300 500 RFI 7330 1100-1530 300 BBC 15565 2330-0030 250 RFA Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy / RUS 5900 1200-1300 200 IBR 5910 1000-1200 250 DWL 5910 1300-1400 250 RNW 6040 1000-1100 250 RNW 7150 1000-1100 200 YFR 7165 1100-1500 250 YFR 9600* 2200-2245 250 VAT 15320 0000-0100 250 DWL * 02/12/2006 - 02/02/2007 Almaty / KAZ 7395 2200-2400 500 DWL 7435 1700-1900 200 YFR 7460 1630-1700 200 VOO Tue, Fri 7530 2330-0015 200 TWR 7535 1300-1500 500 YFR 9310 1300-1400 200 YFR 11510 1000-1200 500 DWL 12150 1100-1300 500 YFR Gavar / ARM 5885 0030-0200 100 FEB 6210 1800-2000 300 VRT 9415 1430-1530 300 DVB 15515 0400-0700 100 CVC Grigoriopol / MDA 6040 2100-2300 500 RNW 7460 0230-0315 500 RPD 7480 1800-1845 500 RPD 7590 1500-1700 500 MEZ 11530 0500-1500 500 MEZ 17665 1200-1400 500 SAM Nikolaev / UKR 6245 1700-2200 300 ZMN 7430 1600-1700 250 YFR 11820 0600-1300 250 BBC Orzu / TJK 5865 1300-1700 500 YFR 6225 2300-2350 500 DWL Yanivul / TJK 5830 1900-1930 200 RPR 6010 1600-1630 200 RFI 7495 1500-1700 1000 BBC 7510 1700-2100 100 BBC 7515 1600-1700 200 RFA 7515 2330-0030 200 RFA 11535 0030-0130 200 RFA 17515 0600-0700 200 RFA 16 mb* 1050-1350 100 VOT 41 mb* 1350-1520 100 VOT * various frequencies in the specified range Tashkent / UZB 5820 1800-1900 200 YFR 5995 1800-1900 100 RFI 6260* 1400-1700 100 CVC 6260 1700-2000 100 CVC 7355 0100-0300 100 CVC 7365 1400-1500 100 FEB 7370 0100-0130 200 BBC 7375 0000-0100 100 FEB 7430 1330-1530 200 BBC 7485 1400-1500 100 BVB Thu, Fri 7505 1400-1600 200 YFR 9310 1430-1600 100 VAT 9345 1400-1600 100 RNW 9500 1100-1400 100 CVC 9570 0100-0400 100 CVC 13630 0400-1100 100 CVC 13685 0300-0600 100 CVC * Alternative 9855 BBC - British Broadcasting Corp. BVB - Bible Voice Broadcasting Network CRI - China Radio Int. CVC - CVC Int. DEG - Degar Voice DER - Dejen Radio DVB - Democratic Voice of Burma DWL - Deutsche Welle ERI - V of Eritrea FEB - FEBA Radio FSC - Radio Free Southern Cameroons IBR - IBRA Radio LBT - Voice of Liberty MEZ - Voice of Mesopotamia RFA - Radio Free Asia RFI - Radio France Internationale RHR - Radio Horyaal RNW - Radio Nederland Wereldompoep RPD - Radio Payam-e Doost RPR - Radio Prague SAM - Sawt al-Amal / V of Hope SHI - Shiokaze (Radio Sea Breeze) TWR - Trans World Radio VAT - Radio Vaticana VOA - Voice of America VOD - Voice of Delina VOE - V of Ethiopian National United Front VOL - Voice of Oromo Liberation VOO - Voice of Orthodoxy VOP - V of Ethiopian People VOT - Voice of Tibet VOU - V of Unity VRT - Radio Vlaanderen Int. YFR - WYFR Family Radio (Nikolay Rudnev, Stroitel, Belgorodskaya obl., Rus-DX Dec 24 via DXLD) ** TIBET. 9490, Xizang PBS. Dec. 16 at 0658-0730. SINPO 35433. Chinese popular song was heard till 0700, then music, ID in Tibetan & English as "Hello, welcome to our English program Holy Tibet." Talk in English about history of civilization in Tibet. Tibetan program from 0730 (Iwao Nagatani, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** U K. Ofcom Future of Radio Consultation Replies Now Online --- The future of AM/FM radio has brought quite a few responses and Ofcom staff have been working hard to get them online this week before the Christmas break. See http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/radio_future/responses/ Merry Christmas Trevor ------------ --------- - Daily Radio RSS Newsfeed: http://www.southgatearc.org/ Email your news items to: editor at southgatearc.org (Via UK Radio Listeners Yahoo group via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U K [non]. Radio CVC or Christian Vision Communications broadcasts from Chile, Zambia, Australia and other countries and most of all from Armenia. The program in English via a transmitter in Armenia has been received in Sofia between 04 and 07 hours on 15515 kHz. The QSL address is: P. O. Box 3040, West Bromwich, B7O 0EJ, UK (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX program Dec 22, via John Norfolk, dxldyg via DXLD) 15515: 100 kW, 125 degrees (HFCC via DXLD) ** U K. Another Fessenden show --- I see that BBC Radio 3 will be running this during the first intermission in the Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Don Carlo today Dec 23, time approx.! And opera not scheduled to resume until 20:10, which according to my calculations amounts to thirty minutes (but no doubt with misc. other stuff thrown in at least in New York): ``19:40 Twenty Minutes Let Distant Lands Converse On Christmas Eve 1906, Reginald Aubrey Fessenden transmitted the first planned radio programme. Sean Street investigates the story of the broadcast from Brant Rock, Massachusetts, which consisted of a speech, a gramophone record and a live violin solo. He reveals the impact this had on listeners, some of whom thought the human voice they heard was a ghost, and the cultural significance of this major technological advance.`` It was about 15 minutes late. This should also be ondemand for a week on the BBC Radio 3 player, under the ``Twenty Minutes`` title (Glenn Hauser, OK, Dec 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CANADA ** U K. RADIO 3, THE TCHAIKOVSKY EXPERIENCE --- Edited press release, full release includes much television material: http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/12_december/13/tchaikovsky.shtml The Tchaikovsky Experience celebrations reach their climax on BBC Radio 3 in February as the station continues its distinctive series of composer-focussed seasons. Radio 3 will clear the schedules for one week (10-16 February 2007) to broadcast Tchaikovsky's complete works in tandem with those of another great Russian composer, Igor Stravinsky. Radio 3 will bring listeners a comprehensive exploration of works by both Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky in a musical feast which celebrates rarities alongside the more well-known works including live and specially recorded performances, legendary recordings and more recent interpretations. Pierre Boulez, Valery Gergiev, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Robert Craft and Oliver Knussen are among the renowned exponents discussing the wealth of music by both composers. The enduring popularity of this repertoire is reflected by the range of personalities who will share their personal reflections and anecdotes including choreographers Matthew Bourne and Siobhan Davies, theatre directors Richard Eyre and Nicholas Hytner, poet Craig Raine, historian Simon Schama and architect Daniel Libeskind. They will be joined by regular Radio 3 presenters in what will be a vibrant and revealing journey for all audiences. Radio 3 will broadcast 10 audio postcards exploring aspects of Russian life and culture as well as launching a dedicated website in support of BBC Television's celebration of Tchaikovsky. Based on timelines for Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky, the website will offer viewers and listeners a wealth of articles, videos and listening experiences as well as full details of all the broadcasts. A top 10 of both composers' works will be featured online and across the week on radio. Roger Wright, Controller, Radio 3, says: "Listeners have responded to BBC Radio 3's unique Beethoven and Bach seasons with great enthusiasm. We hope that by presenting the complete works of Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky alongside each other, it will enable a comprehensive exploration of both composers' outputs, providing both insight and unexpected delights." Highlights of The Tchaikovsky Experience include: Radio 3 broadcasts the recent production of The Queen of Spades from Covent Garden directed by Semyon Bychkov. Gianandrea Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic precede their series of Tchaikovsky's symphonies (broadcast across weekdays at 6 pm) with a live broadcast of the Manfred Symphony. Specially-made recordings including the original version of Tchaikovsky's First Symphony, performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Ilan Volkov. A unique BBC recording of Tchaikovsky's rarely heard opera Vakula The Smith conducted by Edward Downes in 1989, which includes Patricia Routledge narrating episodes from the original Gogol tale. Thanks to Mike Barraclough via uk-radio-listeners (via Paul Balster, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. No 'World Of Radio' on WWCR Sat. 1700 12160 --- Tuned into WWCR today (Saturday 12/23) for the first time in a while to listen to W.O.R. Had stopped for a while, due to the annoying crosstalk. But thought I'd seen where this problem was corrected, so I thought I'd give a listen. But instead of W.O.R., just some yay-hoo screaming and yelling --- I guess what some would call "preaching," but just annoying to me. Hung in there somehow until 1710 hoping that W.O.R. was just running late, but no luck. I checked Glenn's latest DXLD, and still lists W.O.R. being sked here. Changed, or someone just put the wrong program on? (Alex Vranes, Jr., Harpers Ferry, WV, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sigh – it`s the Spurt Guy, screams alternating with very long pauses to build up steam again. Just talked to Jerry Plummer. Says WOR is on at 1730 this Saturday, and it was, but not yet sure whether this is a permanent change (Glenn, ibid.) ** U S A. WRMI, 7385, with open carrier Dec 22 at 1442; RTE Ireland relay from WRN came back on about 5 minutes later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. USA. WYFR. Relay : 7 MHz (7300 - 7535). 7300 Armavir 1900 - 2200 7340 Irkutsk 1400 - 1500 7345 Samara 1800 - 2000 7430 Simferopol 1600 - 1700 7435 Almaty 1700 - 1900 7475 Dushanbe 1400 - 1500 7505 Tashkent 1400 - 1600 7535 Akmaty [sic] 1300 - 1500 (NTR-159, 17 December 2006, Editor: Vasily Gulyaev, Astrakhan, Russia, via Rus-DX via DXLD) I suppose this not meant to be complete (gh) ** U S A. Has Air America gone dark? The liberal talk network Air America has had some financial troubles lately, including Chapter 11 protection from creditors. This evening, during a phone call from my Dad, he asked if I had noticed any difference in the one near me, WXKS-1430, a source of much QRM on my FRG-8800. No. Well, its sister station and simulcaster, WKOX-1200, Framingham, MA had suddenly switched format in the middle of the day. He was expecting to hear Stephanie Miller and heard Spanish or Portuguese and music. Portuguese would have made sense, to serve the enormous Portuguese-speaking Brazilian population around Boston and Framingham, but I heard Spanish, with music that could have been coming from Radio Havana Cuba. The new web page says Rumba 1200, Orgullo Latino, sitio en construcción, ¡escucha ahora!, suggesting they're just getting started. If AA can't make it in a Blue city like Boston, have they folded elsewhere? (Dan Malloy, KA1RDZ, Dec 21, ODXA via DXLD) Just finished looking at this about the stations: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/12/21/203316/66 Also seems to be biting the dust in Buffalo NY: http://whld1270.com/ Maybe it`s just me, but talk stations operating from one polarized faction or another are too predictable. I know what Al Franken or Rush Limbaugh are going to say before they say it. Why bother. Just my opinion (Fred Waterer, Ont., ibid.) I think you're right, Fred. But I think the larger point might be why the broadcasting establishment here marginalized this side of the spectrum while nurturing, embracing and embellishing the other. It certainly seems to belie the often expressed canard that the "media" is biased toward the liberal perspective. One of the key reasons for the failure of Air America, apart from the fact that its owners were not very good businesspeople, is that the powers that own broadcasting in this country -- i.e. the Clear Channels and the like -- kept the programming off their more powerful and prominent stations. The folks on A.A. were no less entertaining or provocative than the Limbaughs and O'Reillys. Heck, there are a lot of liberals here, although some would have you believe otherwise. But when you're consigned to 10 kW or 5 kW stations in even big towns like New York and Chicago (and what would be a better fit for liberal talk radio than NYC?), you start out the race a hundred steps behind the competition and never get the chance to catch up! (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) Does size matter all that much? After all, look at WWKB radio in Buffalo. Nothing they try there seems to work at all. It might also be that Air America hit at a time when patience for new formats by station ownership had shrunk, that no one bothered to allow the format to settle out to an economically viable alternative -- i.e. program hosts took more $$ than Air America was bringing in, or hosts were too controversial for advertisers, or simply that Air America didn't have enough reserves to wait out the initial turbulence. If no one was willing to adjust the business model to yield a profitable arrangement for all involved, then it deserves to go down the tubes, at least given the rules in force for commercial radio nowadays. WWKB is attempting a "liberal talk" format using non-Air America personalities -- that's probably how the format will survive (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ODXA via DXLD) I think size does matter to the extent that economies of scale apply. In the instant case, larger advertisers who want a bigger bang for their buck will seek out stations that cover a wider geographical range. These, I would guess, would be driven more by Arbitron figures than content issues. The stations serving a smaller footprint would be more dependent on local advertisers whose decisions, in turn, might be comparatively more influenced by the content of the broadcast (i.e.: shy away from controversy unless it is already a proven commodity). I agree that the bigger thing at work with AA is mismanagement. And maybe that caused more stations to shy away from using the network than anything else. But I thought it should at least be mentioned that corporate bias could have been at work here too (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) I think we are all right. 1. Lack of patience. Not only with this format but any other. The powers that be never seem to give new formats/programs a chance. WWKB in Buffalo, before it became the voice of the left (ironically on the far right end of the dial) flipped formats more than once in the last few years. 2. WWKB was the exception to the rule, in terms of powerful stations carrying Air America. So size may indeed be a factor, at least outside the coverage area of these smaller stations. I tended to listen to AA online, when I did. 3. People are tired of the format. If you don't care for Limbaugh, why would you listen to a liberal version of him? And like I said earlier, if you already know what they are going to say why bother. "My side is right no matter what and here's why." 4. I'm sure there were people at various levels who wanted this to fail (Fred Waterer, ibid.) CLEAR CHANNEL CHANGES ITS MIND ABOUT MADISON Bowing to public demand, 92.1 the Mic in Madison WI is NOT going to change formats and it WILL remain progressive talk (Donna Halper, Dec 21, ABDX via DXLD) That is proof that not even Clear Channel will ever pass up a buck. When advertisers are POed at you then you better back off and give them what they want (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) Maybe I'm just being cynical...but gee whiz, wouldn't this have been a really brilliant promotional stunt if they'd planned it this way all along? All of a sudden, the listeners (and advertisers) at WXXM are much more passionate about "their" station than they were a month ago, when they thought they could take it for granted --- and you couldn't buy publicity like the station's received in the last few weeks... s (Scott Fybush, Rochester NY, [who works for CC], ibid.) HOT OFF THE PRESS - 1230 AIR AMERICA IS NO LONGER The PD of WTVN-WTPG just announced on the air the demise of the format. It will be talk but NO LONGER AIR AMERICA. More later (Artie Bigley, Columbus OH, 2233 UT Dec 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) later: RADIO --- Station’s format to turn right Saturday, December 23, 2006 Tim Feran THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Liberal listeners in central Ohio will lose their only radio voice next month when WTPG (1230 AM) drops its format of "progressive talk" and makes a hard right turn. Out: Al Franken, Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz and Randi Rhodes. In: Michael Savage, Laura Ingraham and a mix of sports and consumer shows featuring Jim Rome and Dave Ramsey. The station will change its call letters to WYTS on Monday; the new format will begin at 9 a.m. Jan. 9. WYTS will be promoted as "the Talk Station in Central Ohio," said Bruce Collins, program director of Clear Channel Columbus stations WTPG and WTVN (610 AM). . . http://www.dispatch.com/features-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/12/23/20061223-B6-02.html (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Here`s where A.A. will never appear: (gh) ** U S A. KFI TOWER, RUINED BY FATAL PLANE CRASH, TO BE REBUILT http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_356160654.html (CBS) FULLERTON, Calif. The owners of a 760-foot radio tower in La Mirada that was knocked down in a 2004 airplane crash, got tentative approval to rebuild the tower, despite protests from pilots at Fullerton Municipal Airport, officials said Friday. Clear Channel Communications' tower is in Los Angeles County, two miles from the Fullerton airport. A pilot died when his small aircraft crashed into the tower on Jan. 28, 1978, and another pilot and his wife died on Sept. 19, 2004, when another small plane crashed into the tower, knocking it down. In light of the two crashes, Fullerton city officials have called the tower a "lethal menace" to pilots using the airport, according to Joe Felz, Fullerton's assistant city manager. But in the first public airing on the proposed reconstruction, the La Mirada Planning Commission voted 3-0 Thursday night to approve Clear Channel's plans to rebuild the 760-foot tower to a new height of 684 feet. The La Mirada City Council must approve the plan before construction can begin, and lawsuits could further delay the project, said Sylvia Palmer Mudrick of the Fullerton airport. If La Mirada allows the tower to be rebuilt, Clear Channel has offered the city more than $3.1 million over 20 years, including $1.4 million for a city swimming pool and $100,000 to expand a Los Angeles County sheriff's substation, officials said. The Federal Aviation Administration does not consider anything under 500 feet to be an obstacle to aircraft, and airport officials would not object to a tower under 500 feet, Mudrick said. The tower is just north of the Santa Ana Freeway and two miles northwest of the airport's runway. Since the 2004 crash, a much smaller standby tower has been used at the site. During a meeting with Fullerton officials in September, the company indicated that there is no other site in the region that can accommodate the tower, and that it needs to be 684 feet tall in order to continue its role as primary notifier of information in the event of a national disaster (via Ken Kopp - KKØHF, dxldyg via DXLD) I still find it hard to believe that this is the ONLY site in the entire greater Los Ángeles area KFI could rebuild the tower (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. FROM BRANT ROCK TO LL COOL J: Music first broadcast from here a century ago --- LOCAL NEWS Photo: Reginald Fessenden's radio-telephone installation at Brant Rock Station, circa 1906. Fessenden and some associates built the station in 1905 and erected a 400-foot radio tower. A trailer park and campground now occupy the site. By DON CONKEY, Patriot Ledger staff MARSHFIELD - One hundred Christmases later, ''O Holy Night'' will again drift up into the airwaves from Brant Rock. ''Reginald Fessenden gets little recognition for what he has done. This is a great time to call attention to the man,'' said Robert Demers, a member of the Marshfield Historic Society. It was 100 Christmas Eves ago - Dec. 24, 1906 - that Fessenden is said to have made the first radio broadcast of music to a general audience... http://www.patriotledger.com/articles/2006/12/23/news/news03.txt (via Ken Kopp, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. And another format change. KVNS, 1700, Brownsville is La Precosia [sic] and using all Spanish music format as of a few days ago. Running many music imaging promos and should be easy for non- Spanish speakers to ID (Alan Furst, Round Rock TX, Dec 22, mwdx yg via DXLD) I assume you mean ``Preciosa`` since precocious is precoz in Spanish. Speaking of mistaxe, I reported hearing a non-ID as ``La Grande`` on 1700, from KVNS. O o, that is the slogan of KBGG 1700 Des Moines, also in Spanish, per NRC AM Log, so I withdraw my previous assumption that KVNS was called that! My error rate is steadily increasing, and I may have to retire (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for the heads up on that. It has previously been QSL'd here by three of us South African DXers (John Plimmer, Montagu, Western Cape Province, South Africa, mwdx yg via DXLD) John, KVNS can't find a successful format here. But it truly is a hit in international DX circles. They are 330 miles from me. I thought at first it was a new station from Mexico until hearing mentions for towns in the Brownsville area. I enjoy reading about your DX trips. Hoping to get to South Africa this year on business and some DX too. Regards (Alan Furst, Round Rock, TX, ibid.) ** VENEZUELA. A las 0500 UT acabo de escuchar nuevamente la señal de YVTO, el Observatorio Cagigal en su frecuencia de 5000 kHz. Esta señal tenía aproximadamente como tres meses fuera del aire y es una alegría muy grande poderla escuchar de nuevo en esta madrugada del viernes 22 de Diciembre. [Luego:] He seguido monitoreando las bandas y me encuentro con la señal de YVTO también en 5100; tal vez se trate de un armónico de su frecuencia o algún desajuste en el transmisor. La señal en 5100 se escucha bastante bien. atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, 0557 UT Dec 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, reported UT Dec 22 during the 0500 UT hour that YVTO had been reactivated on 5000, also with a spur on 5100. I looked for it in the following hour, but could not hear YVTO on either frequency. WWV was very strong; sometimes YVTO can be heard underneath. 24 hours later, Dec 23 after 0600, I was hearing a third timesignal mixed with WWV and WWVH, but higher-pitched beeps slightly offset, so hardly accurate; could not make out any Spanish voice announcements (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Saludos cordiales queridos colegas diexistas. Espero que se encuentren muy bien. A las 2054 UT de hoy sabado 23 de Diciembre estoy escuchando a Radio Amazonas muy corrida de frecuencia en los 5125 Khz. En su frecuencia habitual 4940 Khz no se copia nada. Atte: (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, Dec 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So that confirms suspicions about previous unIDs in 6-188 (gh) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. 21/12 2325, NF 6208 kHz, RN DE LA RASD - Tindouf (Algeria), Spagnolo, intervista OMs/YL. Segnale sufficiente -> buono. Chissà per quale motivo si è spostata un'altra volta: che abbia avuto qualche problema con R. Baluarte o delle emittenti marittime? E chissà come la penseranno quelli di Cupid R. o R. Borderhunter! !! Comunque, se si sposta ancora un po' fa la fine di R. Fana che nel bel mezzo dei 49 metri non la sente più nessuno. Orari UTC (Luca Botto Fiora, SITO RICEVENTE, Rapallo (Genova), bclnews.it via DXLD) National Radio of the Saharan Arab Democratic Republic heard again this evening on 6208 kHz for the second day running (had been on 6215 kHz since an earlier move from 7425 kHz). Parallel to MW 1550 (Tony Rogers, Birmingham UK, Eton E1 / LW, 1937 UT Dec 21, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Clandestina para el Sahara, ARGELIA, 6208, Radio Nacional Saharaui, 1950-2000, escuchada el 22 de diciembre en idioma árabe con emisión de música pop local, locutor y locutora con comentarios , SINPO 45343. Clandestina para Sahara. ARGELIA, 6210, Radio Nacional Saharaui, 1708- 1720, escuchada el 23 de diciembre en idioma árabe con canto del Cor`án y locutora con comentarios, segmento de música folklórica local, SINPO 45343 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So keeps moving around. No luck here anywhere in the 6215-6208 area in chex around 2300, 0600, with too much noise and hash (Glenn Hauser, OK, Dec 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [and non]. 3396, R. Zimbabwe, Dec. 22, 1845+, local music, fair signal relatively clear in USB. 4880, SWR Africa, Dec. 22, 1845, music, report in English, very strong (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, http://www.africalist.de.ms DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [and non]. News headlines via SMS --- BY GERRY JACKSON SW Radio Africa has just added a new service to the range of information options that it offers - news headlines, via SMS, into Zimbabwe on a daily basis. The station began offering the free service on 8 December and already nearly 4,000 people are receiving daily news. On average we are receiving 50 new requests a day from people who would also like to subscribe. At the moment we've had to limit the service to mobile-phone users in Zimbabwe, although we realise that many of the four million exiles in the diaspora would also like to be updated about news from home. If costs allow we'll certainly expand the service as soon as we can. The response has been overwhelmingly positive and feedback indicates that Zimbabweans are thrilled to have daily news delivered direct to their phones. The radio station has been broadcasting into Zimbabwe on shortwave for the past five years, from the UK. Zimbabweans in the diaspora can listen to the programming via our website. Stopped from broadcasting in Harare, we had no choice but to set up offshore. But last year the government began doing everything it could to stop people back home listening to the station. With Chinese help and equipment, they began jamming broadcasts in advance of Operation Murambatsvina. There are many areas in the country that are outside the `footprint' of the jammers who can still hear us clearly and those with computers can still listen to us online. But as the government continues to make it so difficult for Zimbabweans to receive independent news and information, we thought it was about time we tried other options - with the firm belief that our country's crisis cannot be resolved without informed and open debate and discussion, and a free media. We're also looking at podcasting, having recently experimented with this increasingly popular format. It allows listeners to download a soundfile of a radio programme to their computer or MP3 player - then they can listen at a time most suitable to them. The lack of internet broadband in Zimbabwe will make podcasting more suitable for the diaspora, than for Zimbabweans at home. If anyone would like to receive the free SMS news headline service please email talk @ swradioafrica.com and we'll happily add you to our list. But don't forget that for now we can only offer this service to mobile users in Zimbabwe - so if you live in the diaspora but have friends or family back home, send us their numbers. SW Radio Africa broadcasts into the Southern African region and Zimbabwe 7-9 pm every evening [1500-1700 UT] SW 4880kHz and online 24 hours a day at http://www.swradioafrica.com Gerry Jackson is the Station Manager (The Zimbabwean, Dec 22 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. 1760 kHz: 12/23 0615-0620 UT, M talks in French (or maybe Creole), sounded like sermon. Have heard this couple times the past week or so late at night but never for long, and always sounds like religious talks. Odd frequency, no // heard on 880 so probably not harmonic. Haitian-American pirate? (Alex Vranes, Jr., Harpers Ferry, WV, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, there is a 300-watt Haitian on 880, but less likely (gh, DXLD) In the upcoming DDXD-West (NRC DX News #74-13 1/2/07), Gerry Thomas of Pensacola FL reports hearing French/Creole on 1760 on 12/13 at 2200 ELT/12/14 at 0300 UT. The programming is from WOKB 1600 Winter Garden FL, and the signal on 1760 is apparently a spur caused by the 1600 signal mixing with WLAA 1680 Winter Garden FL. Both share the same tower. 73 (Bill Dvorak, Column Editor, NRC DX News, DDXD-West, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 6-188, 6240 carrier at 2300 : Is this frequency indeed in use from 0100 as HFCC data suggests, no doubt with VOR programming for North America? If so it would be almost definitely them, setting up the transmitter, fine-tuning it (which requires to bring up the carrier) and then putting it in stand-by mode until the transmission is due. [Later:] Only after mailing the original post I got the idea to check out the VOR schedule at http://www.vor.ru/English/new/?view=freq&cnt=amer It shows 6240 0200-0400 and 7150 0400-0600. It appears that these frequencies replaced 7180, used in previous years, so there could be a good chance that 6240/7150 is actually Grigoriopol as discussed a few days ago. 7250 would be Gavar (Armenia), 7350 Santa Maria di Galeria (Radio Vatican facilities), anything else Siberia / Kamchatka / Far East aiming at North America the other way round, accross the Pacific (Kai Ludwig, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Dec 22 at 2107 found a good but distorted signal on 6925, some NAm pirate on an Xmas theme, but speech stopped just as I was getting it tuned in, apparently reduced carrier SSB. Carrier stayed on and at 2108 some rapid rhythmic beeping started, the exact pattern changing periodically; still going at 2133 and close to 2200. SSTV? Or some other digital mode. I didn`t see any other log of this in the latest Free Radio Weekly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Dec 22 at 2112 I noticed that CBCNQ 9625 had some DRM- like QRM, also audible down to 9620 and up to 9630. Some analog music was still audible on 9625. But the QRM went off at 2118 and I cannot find any DRM transmissions listed anywhere near this frequency or time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dear Glenn, Just a short message to greet you for another year of a terrific job you're doing promoting and struggling shortwave radio. I feel myself very honoured to have a small part among so great dx'ers throughout this world. Keep up the good work in the year to come, and may it be very a successful year to you and to all the dx'ers fraternity! Greetings from Portugal (José Turner, Dec 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ Re: W in SPANISH You did not unwind all strings of this thread, Glenn. Bill Harms uploaded an unid on 700 kHz. The clip contained several mentions of "W Radio", and so I said that this was the Cali relay of the Colombian "W Radio", originating in Bogotá. Bill was not entirely satisfied at that. The letter W is "doblevé" in Spanish, he said, but there was no such mention on the clip. To make his point he uploaded an ID clip of the Cuban on 840 kHz, which does identify as "Doblevé". To this I answered, > Sorry Bill, but it is not "doblevé" but rather "doble-ú" on this station [i.e. the uploaded unid on 700 kHz]. "W" is pronounced differently in various part of the Spanish speaking countries. As for "W Radio" which exists in Mexico, Panama, Colombia and Chile, only the Chilean outlet announces "doblevé radio"; all the others "doble-ú radio" (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, ibid.) Glenn, Re: DXLD 6-188, Language Lessons: In Uruguay (and perhaps parts of Argentina such as in the Buenos Aires area), the sound of letter "y" usually depends on where it is located in the word. However examples are not easy to find and mostly come from indigenous guaraní names. For instance, in Spanish, words such as "yesca", "yeso", "yugo", the "y" has a strong sound as the English "j" in John. The same is true for words of indigenous origin: Yamandú, yarará, which for an English speaker should sound roughly as Japejú and Jarará. This sound is also applied to "ll" ("doble ele") which in Uruguay is indistinguishable from "y" also sounding as English "j" in "John", for instance in the words "llave" or "lluvia", instead of "iave" (or "liave") and "iuvia" (or "liuvia") as pronounced in other parts of South America and Spain respectively. This mixing of sounds is called "yeismo" and is supposed to be typical of the Rio de la Plata area. However when appearing in words such as "Uruguay", "Paysandú", "Fray" or "Paraguay" the "y" sounds like the English "i" in "visible", that is, it could be easily changed to "i" without risk of misunderstanding. To make things more confusing, I have noticed that in this country in the last 20 years or so, young people begun to swap the sounds of "y" (or "ll") and "sh", so words like "yerba" and "lluvia" read by a youngster sound something like "sherba" and "shuvia", while "shopping" is read as "yopping" (again the "j" as in "John") !!! I think that this horrible mess has already reached the adult people as I have heard TV and radio announcers pronouncing in that way! I remember that when I was young, this habit of pronouncing "y" or "ll" as "sh" was considered to be typical of the ladies, and some gentlemen who would like to behave as ladies, however it now seems to have reached wide acceptance. Finally, In Uruguay, letter "y" is named "i griega" (i.e. "greek i"). Letter "v" which in Spain is called "uve" in Uruguay is called "ve corta" ("short v") while "b" is called "be larga" ("long b"), and "w" is called "doble ve" (not "doble uve" as in Spain!). And, as expressed in previous DXLD, in practice there is no difference in sound between "b" and "v" in this country. 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO PHILATELY +++++++++++++++ Webpage: some radio related stamps http://dspt.club.fr/TimbresA.htm 73 (Horacio Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, dxld yg via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ THE DX CRYSTAL BALL This time of year inspires a lot of reflection on the past, and thoughts of the future too. I've just finished reading two books about the history of radio broadcasting in America, and that's lead me to speculate a bit on what may happen in the future to the AM band, how those changes will affect DXing. So, with apologies, I invite you all to gaze into the "Crystal Ball" of DX with me. Your view may be different than mine, and I'd be very interested in your thoughts about where we are all heading. THE NEXT TEN YEARS ========================================== The growth of satellite technology and alternative media (I-Pods) will mean that traditional radio will continue to lose market share. Meanwhile, new technology like Wi-Max will begin to put IP based radio receivers into "early adopter" status, at least in the major metro markets. These market forces will drive much of the talk radio programming that is on AM now to the FM band. People seeking music will just have too many other choices, and won't be willing to suffer mindless chatter from DJ's and annoying car commercials just to listen to some tunes in the car. As talk radio moves to the FM band, the AM band will become even more fragmented than it is now. Rather than broadcasting, it will become the "narrowcast" medium. New languages will appear, as stations choose to serve smaller ethnic populations within their markets. Cities like Richmond may have Arabic stations on the AM band, to serve a community of perhaps less than 5,000 people. Other AM stations may become glorified TIS stations, promoting local businesses or attractions, but at much greater distances. 24 hour traffic and weather information will become widespread in smaller markets, much like it is in the major markets today. Many will find the market just too fragmented to make money at all, and will go dark. From a DXing standpoint, the challenges will be many. While I think that IBOC on AM will go the way of AM-Stereo, failing to find a market niche. Text based traffic reports may catch on in some metro markets, overall the technology will fail to find an audience on AM. But in the short term, we'll have to put up with a lot more of it. Given the FCC's catering to business concerns, I expect we'll soon see IBOC at night as well. But offsetting this problem will be that as more stations go dark, there will be less interference on graveyard and regional channels. Unusual programming will also make it easier to identify stations that are received. As the syndicated talk programming moves to FM, the AM band will take on a lot more of the local character that it had in the past. THE NEXT TWENTY YEARS ======================================= The growth of IP based radio will mean that even small, specialized audiences can be more easily (and cheaply) served with other technology. "Broadcasting" in the current sense may well be a relic by now. Internet access will be wireless and available virtually anywhere in the country, much like cellular service today. Handheld devices will allow the user to view video content, listen to thousands of IP based radio stations, receive local traffic and weather updates, and communicate with others. Rather than a lot of separate devices (cell phone, Ipod, radio), users will have fewer devices that do more. And it will all be IP based. Satellite radio with its limited bandwidth will have peaked in its market acceptable [sic] around 2015, and will find itself struggling to remain profitable. The cellular phone industry will also be facing a huge challenge from IP based wireless services, and will have declined greatly. The FM band will have gone nearly 100% digital, with most of the content being news, talk, and "narrowcast" programming. The AM band will still be mostly analog, serving only the smallest of markets --- most of the programming will be directed at elderly users or TIS type functions. There will also be a lot of growth in TIS stations operating across the band. Nearly every construction project, housing development, etc. will operate low powered transmitters, as their cost drops to very low levels. Only the large number of installed radios already out there will save the band from being reassigned to other services. For DX'ers, there will be very few targets out there. But with the reduced interference, hobbyists will enjoy a kind of 2nd Golden Age of DXing. Clear channels will be "clear" again, allowing coast to coast reception of these signals with the reduced inference. Software based radio receivers will be inexpensive, allowing very powerful tools at low cost. But as the second decade of the 21st century nears an end, it will be obvious that AM radio is doomed. By 2030, the entire slice of spectrum will be reassigned for other users. OTHER VIEWS =============================== The thing about gazing into a crystal ball is that each person sees something different. What does your crystal ball show about the future of the AM band, and DXing? 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, NRC/IRCA Broadcast Test Coordinator, Please call anytime 24/7 if your transmitter will be off the air for maintenance. (205) 253-4867, ABDX via DXLD) I see IBOC on AM going one of two directions. One scenario is that the radios just don't sell, and as a result, the whole enterprise could collapse under the weight of iBiquity's annual license fees. While AM Stereo may have been a failure in the market, there was no reason that once a station had the equipment, they could not continue to broadcast in stereo - until the equipment broke, or someone managed to convince them that it was somehow hurting their coverage. IBOC will have to re-justify itself every time that annual renewal invoice comes in the mail. At some point broadcasters will eventually see that it's not paying for itself, and they will send back the invoice with "CANCEL" written across it. The other scenario is that because FM IBOC does basically work, that somehow the critical mass will be achieved - enough radios will be sold, so that there will be radios out there capable of tuning AM IBOC as well. Since the radios exist, AM IBOC will come along for the ride, and will eventually succeed. In order for AM IBOC to make it in the long-term, I think they will have to drop hybrid mode, and go to full- digital. This can only happen if the radios are there. Once that happens, the interference issues will either go away, or be hidden by the on/off nature of digital radio. While I think the first scenario is more likely, iBiquity could prevent it from happening by dropping or reducing their annual license fees for AM IBOC. If they make enough on FM, then this could happen. Particularly if it's a package deal: Buy an FM license, and we'll give you the AM license for free. That's great for the big conglomerates, and bad for the little guy. Just like everything else in the broadcasting world (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA (GMT -0800), DX-398 / RS Loop, ibid.) I cannot see the AM band remaining available if all there will be is what you've predicted - not that I disagree with that part of it. But if it gets to that point I think we'll see the government reclaim the AM band and try to auction it off for other use. I am also not at all certain that FM will go 100% digital, and if the AM band is converted, it may be that some of the refugees will go to FM. And if FM is mostly talk, I can't see there being economic viability in digital. On most of the rest, I think your observations are entirely within the realm of possibility and/or probability (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, IRCA via DXLD) Rather than do a point-by-point discussion, I'll simply mention that inventions yet to happen can wreck projections beyond a few years. The internet is a *huge* example of that. Who could have predicted that 20 years ago? And before that, who would have seen the sudden leap of popularity of FM. And TV taking over from radio within a decade. And even radio superseding sheet music and home pianos. I do think AM broadcasting will survive, if only in a boutique fashion. Horses were the prime means of transportation in the 1800's to maybe a hundred years ago. Now they are a hobby, and a well- financed one at that. I think broadcasting will become a hobby. One thing I don't see happening is the spectrum being used for anything else. The whole range from DC to perhaps 2 MHz is a minor sliver of what is available in UHF and beyond. The skittish propagation and large antenna size is also a detraction. I can see the ARRL filing to allow ham access to the whole band, and maybe for amateur broadcasting. We will see what they do with the rapidly vacated LW range. That will be a clue. For right now, my money is on streaming technology. Already streams have far better clarity than even the state of the art HD Radio. And no limit on channels such as HD1 or HD2. HD Radio is already obsolete. Cost, as well. I run a stream now of 24/7/365 music for a project and it costs me only the DSL. Under a hundred bucks a month, and that DSL and computer do far more than just the stream. Try running *any* radio station for a hundred bucks a month, total. Even an LPFM is much more than that with fees and license costs (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) Many broadcasters say night ops will be silver spike thru HD casket. Listeners will taste 'inevitable digital future' & decide it's not manna. Lawsuits will fly. Larger sta's won't invest in a liability simply because HD cheerleaders belch steam dog dump pieties of 'incredibly hard work'. Such hard work. Such noisy results. Many who favor digital say HD is a mess. BigKorpseorate claims 'HD nightime is a must'. They know night will be a disaster and hope it never comes. HD is the greatest thing since fitted sheets? Then why, last summer, did promoters stall for time? Does HD remind any of that particular gas whose composition baffles even expert chemists? The sort that endlessly wafts about the room, annoying both dinner guest and servant? It defies open windows, napkins fanned, even lit candles prove powerless against it. Would a good dose of night air at long last rid the public's fomerly pristiine air of HD's noisy flatulence? Dr. Zecchino (PV Zecchino, T.D. Manasota Key, FL 'no soy medico', ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see NEW ZEALAND; RUSSIA; UNIDENTIFIED 9625 ++++++++++++++++++++ DTV OPTIONS HDTV Question --- The PBS station in Duluth, WDSE-8 says in their monthly bulletin that channel 8-2 has "Incredible high definition and widescreen programming". Channel 8-1 is a simulcast of regular PBS eight analog programs. Is it possible to run a HD sub-channel??? I didn't think it was!!!! (John Ebeling, Bloomington, MN, WTFDA via DXLD) The various programs on a DTV station are essentially co-equal. A DTV station gets 19.2 Mbps of bandwidth to apportion whatever way they want. They can assign 15 Mpbs to 8-1 for a high-def program and 4M to 8-2 for standard def, or they can do it the other way around (4M of standard def to 8-1 and 15M of HDTV to 8-2). Or they can give all 19M to a single HDTV program. Or give 3.2M each to six standard def programs. Whatever combination they want, as long as it doesn't add up to more than 19.2M. (they don't have to use all 19, they can fill the rest with "null packets") You could even assign 9.6M each to two HD programs. You tell the MPEG compressor it can't have more than 9.6 Mbps of output bandwidth, and it will try to compress the high-definition program enough to fit in that bandwidth. (if there isn't much motion, it might even work -- chances are it'll run out of bandwidth and the picture will "break up" with the "macroblocking" you've probably seen on a DTV signal that isn't quite locked in) You can now get a "statistical multiplexer", in which the allocation of bandwidth between subchannels is dynamic. 8-1 normally gets 4M of bandwidth and 8-2 15M, but if there's sudden fast action on 8-2 the multiplexer can crank it up to 17M, taking 8-1 down to 2M, or vice- versa. They're a lot more expensive but probably necessary if you're going to run a lot of subchannels or if you're going to try to run two HD channels. I have heard rumors that one station is in fact trying to do this, to run two HD streams (Doug Smith, TN, ibid.) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++++ Dear Glenn, I`ve been reading your column in MT and listening to WOR and COM on WWCR for many years and enjoy both your column and programs. In regard to DST (``Daylight Shifting Time``, as you like to call it), I have an idea both sides of this issue might accept. Why not compromise, and move the clock 30 minutes forward from standard time, and have it that way for the entire year? And if it works out here, do this for the entire world. The benefits of doing so are obvious, and probably would be readily accepted by the population (Kevin R. Crouch, Northridge CA, Dec 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ NEW MODEL PREDICTS MORE INTENSE SOLAR STORMS According to SPACE.com, a new computer model which accurately simulates the Sun`s past few solar cycles predicts that the new cycle will be up to 50 percent stronger than its predecessor and begin a year later than expected. The model developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA, offers a possible solution to the 150-year-old mystery of what`s behind the Sun`s approximately 11-year cycle of activity. Scientists have tracked the cycles for decades but have been unable to predict their durations and intensity. The new model, known as the Predictive Flux-transport Dynamo Model, has simulated the strength of the past eight solar cycles extending back to the early 1900s with 98 percent accuracy. Using the model, researchers expect that Cycle 24 will begin in late 2007 or early 2008 – about six to 12 months later than earlier predictions – and reach its peak in 2012. The new predictions could mean that Earth could experience more intense solar flares and related space weather in upcoming years. The recent huge flares seem to support these predictions (R. Bulgaria DX program Dec 22 via John Norfolk, dxlydg via DXLD) ZCZC AP53 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 53 ARLP053 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA December 22, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP053 ARLP053 Propagation de K7RA More of the stormy space weather appeared this week, while at the same time sunspot activity was lower. Average daily sunspot numbers dropped 17 points to 10.4 for the week of December 14-20. But on December 15, the planetary A index, an indicator of global geomagnetic activity from magnetometers around the globe, rose to 104, a very high number indicating a severe geomagnetic storm. The cause was a large coronal mass ejection that happened to be earth- directed. It arrived on December 14, and caused Aurora Borealis appearing as far south as Arizona. During the hours of darkness in North America between December 14-15, the planetary K index rose to 8 for three successive three-hour periods. That is very big. For the next few weeks, you can view the numbers for that period at, http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/indices/DGD.txt. Thanks to N7SO and N7TP for the tip on a paper presented last week in San Francisco at the Fall 2006 meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The paper was titled "Geomagnetic activity indicates a large amplitude for sunspot cycle 24," and you can read the abstract at, http://tinyurl.com/yjzy3q The longer article is at, http://tinyurl.com/yewboz The paper proposes that the next sunspot cycle could be one of the most intense cycles ever observed. The prediction technique uses geomagnetic activity during solar minimum to predict solar activity during the peak of the next cycle. But the geomagnetic activity used for this calculation isn't the dramatic sort that we've seen this week, but constant levels of solar wind streams that frequently affect the earth's magnetosphere. NASA has an article on this at, http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/21dec_cycle24.htm Another article concerning the upcoming cycle 24 that you shouldn't miss is "The World Above 50 MHz" column in the current (January 2007) issue of QST. This is the second half of the same column from the December 2006 issue (ARRL via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ What are we going to do? Me, I'm examining the major Western religions. I'm looking for something that's soft on morality, generous with holidays, and has a short initiation period (tagline of Reynir H. Stefánsson, Iceland, Dec 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###