GLENN HAUSER'S SHORTWAVE/DX REPORT 99-22, May 13, 1999 {Items from this and all our reports may be reproduced and re- reproduced only providing full credit be maintained at all stages} THIS WEEK ON WORLD OF RADIO 989: See topic summary at http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Wor989.html ALBANIA. R. Tirana returned with English Fri May 7 UT 0145 for usual 15 minute NAm service. It was gone some nine days (4/28 - 5/6) according to my log sheets. No word given why. Maybe something on their website about it? They also showed up for 1/2 hour NAm English on same at 0230 (Bob Thomas, CT, May 6, WORLD OF RADIO 989) ANTARCTICA. Checked for the re-scheduled LRA36 special May 8 at 2330 on 15475.8 -- brief fadeup around 2333 mentioned "Base Esperanza" and that was it -- nothing more audible the entire sesquihour (Glenn Hauser, OK) AUSTRALIA. Reason RA cut back 9580 to start at 1100 is usage of that frequency by BBC Chinese service to NAs 0800-1100; anyhow, a higher freq from us to SWPac/NAm should now work, 13605 (Nigel Holmes, RA Feedback May 8 via Hauser) CANADA. Is CBC's 'The Great Eastern' comedy show going off the air? TGE's webpage says that April 24's was the last new show and 'best of's' will continue through June 19 (There were no new shows produced from Feb-April due to the CBC strike, so it was a short season!). (Joel Rubin, NY, REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING) That's Saturday 2100-2130 on RCI 15470 et al. (Hauser) CANADA. Regarding the continuance or no of "The Great Eastern" next season, I just received this note from The Great Eastern's Mr. Paul Moth: ===== Message From: greateastern@stjohns.cbc.ca (Paul Moth) Date: Thu, May 6, 1999, 4:27pm (EDT+1:30) Thanks for the warm review, Chet, we blush at your praise. Preliminary discussions have shown that CBC and TGE are far apart in expectations. Right now, I'm pessimistic. If you would like someone to hear your opinion on this, there are several people to whom you could write: Alex Frame, VP for radio; Damiano Pietropaolo, area head of radio performance, or; Guylaine Saucier, chair of the CBC's Board of Directors. Their addresses I would presume are the same, Box 500, Station A, Toronto, M5W 1E6. Yours in the warmth of coal-fired radio, Paul Moth ======= (The following was part of his form-signature:) Let the CBC know what you think about The Great Eastern cbcinput@toronto.cbc.ca Have you checked our webpage ? http://www.greateastern.cbc.ca ======== {You'll see Mr Moth's posting about TGE's future on the left hand of the the page linked above} (Chet Copeland, REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING) [LATE NOTE TO FOLLOWING ITEM: confusing announcements indicate closure may be 24 hours earlier, UT Friday -- Harvey] CANADA. Subject: CBM 940 shut down date announced - May 11, 1999 It has been officially announced that the shut down of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's AM station CBM on 940 kHz. in Montreal will leave the air this coming Friday evening at Midnight Eastern time; that is 0400 UTC Saturday May 15. The station has been simulcasting on 88.5 MHz. since the 1998 January winter icestorm. It was rumoured to be going off on March 31, 1999, but obviously that did not happen. When CBF 690 kiloHertz in Montreal signed off several months ago, there was a special announcement made just prior to the shutdown, reflecting on the past of the French AM station. Hopefully a similar thing will be done with the 940 AM shutdown on Friday evening. Be sure to tune in early, at least an hour or so before the scheduled Midnight shutdown in order not to miss anything special which might occur. Also, when the 690 signal signed off, a tape loop played for a day or so, reminding listeners to tune to the FM frequency. This will probably occur with the 940 shut down as well. Be listening to a piece of history on Friday evening as another CBC AM outlet leaves the band. (Sheldon Harvey, Greenfield Park, Quebec, President, Canadian Int. DX Club via REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING) CHINA [non]. Further observations of the 5990, 9570 relays: UT Sat May 8 at 0035, 5990 was on with Spanish; but this time stayed on post 0100 with open carrier, and 9570 was not on, some proof that both are same transmitter; left a rx on 5990, and finally at 0142, English audio came up!; 0200 into Chinese still on 5990 instead of 9570 as previously, on this date allowing Romania to resume audibility at 0200 English on 9570 // 11725. Then at 1157 9570 had OC, 1200 Chinese, 1208 brief xmtr break; Sat 2300 and 0000, 5990 with usual English, Spanish. UT Sun May 9 0100 9570 was missing (Glenn Hauser, REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING) CHINA [non]. Subject: It's Cuba! While listening to CRI [5990] at UT 2300-2355, there was a station in Portuguese on the same freq, very much sounding like a mixing problem at the transmitter. I almost fell off my chair when the Radio Havana Cuba interval signal came on at 2329. No doubt this means that the new CRI relay is in Cuba. Will Arnie Coro, our friend in Havana, give us all the details on this arrangement in an upcoming "DXers Unlimited"? (Ivan Grishin, Ont., May 7, REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING) Of course not! -- nothing said on the May 8 and 11 editions (gh) CHINA [non]. As you mentioned on last WOR, CRI on 9570 at 0100 English and 0200 Chinese -- I noticed it too; powerful signal, 40+ over S meter pinned! Minor background presumed R. Romania in between speech pauses (Bob Thomas, CT, May 6, R.I.B.) CHINA [non]. Yes, I did notice 5990 missing Friday night at UT 2300- 2400, but in Spanish at 0000. I was imagining our friend in Havana working on the transmitter to get rid of that mixing product heard the night before. Both May 8 & 9, 5990 was very good, although still starting a few minutes after 2300. Reception on 9570 at 1300 was fair- poor on May 8 & 9. Is reception any better in Oklahoma at this time? (Ivan Grishin, Ont.) It's nowhere near so strong here, indicating a nearby site, and beamed up the east coast; and combined with 5990 being designated for Caribbean, which would be unlikely from as far away as Mali, the evidence for this being Cuba is building up (Glenn Hauser, OK) CHINA [non]. Glenn, CRI's website now has a "Testing Frequencies" icon, which gives the schedule of their new relay. Testing-frequency ================= Your comments and suggestions to our programs and transmissions have been very helpful in the past . We'd like to express our thanks. Now, we are testing the following frequencies. We are asking you to report on the reception in your area. Thanking you in advance. Caribbean Sea Area 23:00-24:00 5990 North America ( East Coast ) 01:00-02:00 9570 1300-1400 9570 E-mail: crieng@mail.cri.com.cn China Radio International 1999 (via Ivan Grishin, Ont., R.I.B.) But they don't admit where the relay is?! (gh) The signal from CRI's relay at 0100 on 9570 is much stronger than the one at 2300 on 5990. On May 10, there were some breaks in transmission on the 2300 broadcast. Another late start tonight at 2305. (Ivan Grishin, Ont., R.I.B.) CHINA [non]. On May 11, CRI came on at UT 2302 on 5990, but with that same RHC mixing problem they had one day last week. Heard RHC's interval signal at 2329. CRI was gone just after 2330 and did not return for the rest of the hour. (Ivan Grishin, Ont.) CHINA [non]. The 5990 and 9570 relays of CRI, evidently via Cuba, have been more sporadic lately. UT Thu May 13 at 0107 check, 9570 was in Spanish! -- assumed CRI, but could have been RHC, as already at 0108 they crossfaded into CRI English; 0200 Chinese, strong and distorted (Glenn Hauser, OK) CUBA. Radio Rebelde starts SW broadcast to Central America On May 8, R. Rebelde started a daily SW broadcast to Central America, "Ventana Rebelde" for Cuban health workers abroad at 0300-0400 on 6120. "Haciendo Radio" which airs at 0900-1300 is also on SW (Prensa Latina May 9 via BBC Monitoring, summarized and titles translated back into Spanish by Hauser) CUBA. R. Rebelde's morning show, Haciendo Radio, will now be available on SW Mon-Sat; excellent musical show Memorias on the air at the same time [when?] on Sundays; and daily one-hour program on SW during our local evenings. New SW service for LAm and Caribbean. 6140 local morning, omni to Carib; 9600 to CAm, curtain array. Started Sat May 8, //AM and FM frequencies and 5025. R. Rebelde SW Service, P O Box 6277, Habana, Cuba 10600. Antennas and schedules may be adjusted. Sat heard from 1100 on both 6140, 9600. Could be earlier next week; check from 1000 on Sun, Mon. Evening for one hour on 6120 0300-0400 to CAm daily. Pedro Pablo Figuredo, RR's Director General, is making a big effort to provide RR listeners with a nice SW signal too (Arnie Coro, RHC DXers Unlimited May 8 via Hauser) CUBA. 9600 was anything but clean when I checked May 10 around 1210; some Spanish mixed with another signal, FE? Evidently Cuba has acquired some new transmitter capacity; ties in with the China relay theory (Glenn Hauser, OK) GUYANA. GBC, 5950, May 4 0845-0930+ variety of Hindi style vocals, local pops. English talk with wedding annviersary/birthday/mothers' day greetings. Time checks; good. 2-hour window to hear Guyana at 0800-1000 when Okeechobee is off the air (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 989) MEXICO. Hola Amigo Glenn. Esta informacion me pidio el dr. Julian Santiago que te hiciera llegar La RAI Internacional a partir del 28 de marzo dejo de utilizar la frecuencia de 6010 kHz. Desde esa fecha aqui en la ciudad de Mexico y alrededores se ha captado a Radio Mil muy bien, sin ninguna interferencia. Quisieramos que nos enviaran mas reportes de recepcion para saber como y hasta donde estamos llegando sin esta interferencia. Por favor que envien sus reportes de recepcion a: Apartado Postal, 21-1000 04021 - Mexico 21, D.F. La correspondencia esta siendo contestada por Encuentro DX (Dr. Julian Santiago y yo) sin mas por el momento le enviamos cordiales saludos (Hector Garcia Bojorge, Mexico, May 9) http://troyadii.fi-p.unam.mx/radio/ [R. Mil is now heard clearly around Mexico City on 6010 since Italy has stopped using the frequency; reception reports are wanted - gh] NEW ZEALAND. Checked for RNZI Mailbox UT Thu May 13 at 0305 on 17675; something else was on, but left it tuned in with sound almost down. Ears pricked up at 0334 when familiar Mailbox theme started, and show ran half an hour late! (Glenn Hauser, OK) U S A. WBCQ is back on E-mail with a new address: wbcq@gwi.net says Al Weiner on AWWW 0000 UT May 8 on 7415. New from June 8: A British- Canadian Viewpoint, Tue 4-4:30 pm EDT, refreshingly produced by John, in Minden, Ont. (Glenn Hauser, REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING) YUGOSLAVIA. R. Yugoslavia's website has moved to http://62.229.99.175 (Daniel Sampson, Arcadia, Wisconsin, May 9, WORLD OF RADIO 989) YUGOSLAVIA. Radio Yugoslavia still absent as of UT May 12, both at 0000 & 0430. (Ivan Grishin, Ont., WORLD OF RADIO 989) And May 13 0000 (Hauser) ###