DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-003, January 6, 2001 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.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. For restrixions and searchable 2001 archive contents see} http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Dxldmid.html Re: DXLD 1-002, the previous issue: a number of minor correxions and some parenthetical remarx were added at 1517 UT Jan 6 to the archive copy on our website. If you received it directly or downloaded it before then, please replace with the fixed up edition. Thanks (gh) ** AUSTRALIA. From the January 7 issue of Q News I excerpt the shortwave frequencies for the amateur radio Q-News broadcast, Saturday 2300 UT: 1825 3605 7118 10135 14342 21175 28400 29660 (John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) They mean UT Sat? (gh) ** BANGLADESH. 4879.2, Bangladesh Betar, heard right at 1600 Dec 31 with pips and Bangladesh Betar ID. Alternate freq. to nominal 4880, which is covered here by AIR Lucknow. Only heard on this particular day; is anyone hearing this outlet on 4880 at this or other times? (Steve Martin, CA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 0.8 kHz difference amounts to an alternate?? (gh) ** BHUTAN. If you want to hear what Bhutan`s programming sounds like, check out this URL: http://nea.ibb.his.com/RMSPlayer/cgi-bin/PlayerCGI.acgi?brd=BTN&loc=KATH&lng=-+All+-&sound_da=yes This will give you a list of links to samples of Bhutan's English language newscasts 3 times/day collected from a remote monitoring system located in Kathmandu. Click on one of the links to get a RealAudio file - 10 minutes worth (Bill Whitacre, IBB Monitoring, SWBC@topica.com Jan 6 via DXLD) I only clicked on one link, and during the first minute heard the BBS signature tune twice: http://nea.ibb.his.com/rms/Sounds/2001_01_04/ENGN/BTN/KATH/0101040300@KATH_6035BTNENGN.RA Thanks for sharing this with us, Bill. I should have remembered this resource after your excellent presentations at last year`s NASWA SWL Fest. Now, any chance you can program the receivers to download audio at 0100 and 1200 UT? This would be our best chance here on the ECNA to check if we actually received the BBS. Thanks, (George Maroti, SWBC@topica.com Jan 6 via DXLD) ** CANADA. 6159.98, CKZN St. John`s Newfoundland. More monitoring has revealed that the frequency is very slightly below 6160. Was hoping for an ID at 0900 when a massive DW interval signal wiped things out. Rechecked just before 1000 for local weather forecast for Labrador and Newfoundland, and local program details. Later the same day, was able to just hear it under CKZU around 2330 tune-in, with gradual increase in strength. At 0302 already over my local CBC, in parallel with the hourly news, but with CKZN slightly behind. At 0308, As it Happens locally, and a classical music program from Nfld. Finally heard a local ID at 0459:30 as: "The CBC Overnight service now broadcasting across Newfoundland and Labrador... From Radio Netherlands to Channel Africa, CBC Overnight broadcasting province wide." Best heard on LSB to avoid 6165 splash. Hourly news, then into RFI for the next hour. I`m very interested how this station is propagating across the rest of North America (and beyond!), and how conversely CKZU is doing. Awesome, isn`t it? I'm not aware of any problems with CKZU. It's mostly ground wave here during the day....well heard. At night, there`s usually strong splash from both sides, but CKZU still there. Wonder if it`s seasonal. Don`t recall it from the past like this. Might be worth a call to Vancouver to see if there`s a problem at this end, though it wouldn`t account for the exceptionally strong signal from CKZN! (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria BC, 5-6 January, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 4877.5, Radio Canada International 1/5/2001 0240 science program in English; subharmonic 9755/2; // 9755; much weaker by 0246 (Ralph Brandi, NJ, swbc@topica.com via DXLD) ** CANADA. AM 740 to start regular broadcasting on January 8th, 2001 at 7:40 AM EST. The staff of AM 740 - Prime Time Radio would like to thank everyone who has phoned the station or emailed via the ODXA during the test broadcasts since December 18th. As of yesterday they were closing in on 2000 responses from all over Canada and the United States. The president of the station, Mr. Michael Caine, is most appreciative of the information the have received regarding the signal. He can`t wait for the first response from outside North America. So be listening on Jan. 8th for the sign-on. The station engineer is not sure yet if 740 will become a free channel just before sign-on. Things have been running so well during the test broadcasts that they may only drop the audio but maintain the carrier. They are testing the computer interfaces this weekend (for the first time) and if problems develop then the carrier may go down for a short period. Only time and listening will tell (Brian Smith, ODXA Director, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. The Ontario DX Association is pleased to announce that they have been selected to be the QSL manager for the new AM 740 - Prime Time Radio in Toronto, Ontario, Canada starting January 8th, 2001. If you have any questions regarding the QSL process, please forward them to the club address listed below, attention of the AM 740 QSL Manager. Reception Reports CHWO - AM 740 - Prime Time Radio, acknowledges all correct reception reports with a QSL card. Most of these reports come from Canada and the United States; however we also receive reports from overseas. The AM 740 QSLs will be issued by the Ontario DX Association starting January 8, 2001. The QSL manager is Brian Smith. For faster service, reception reports should be sent directly to: Ontario DX Association, P.O. Box 161 Station 'A', Willowdale, Ontario, Canada, M2N 5S8. Our e-mail address of odxa@compuserve.com (Attn: QSL Manager) is another method by which you can send in your report. Sorry, but AM 740 does not have bumper stickers, fridge magnets or other novelty items that we can send out with the QSL card. We do include a history and technical report on AM 740. The Ontario DX Association has a monthly magazine: Listening In. For a sample copy, please include 4 IRC's, $4 (Cdn) or $3 (US) with your report. Visit our web site at: http://www.odxa.on.ca for more details -------------------------------------------------- Criteria to receive a CHWO-AM 740, QSL card: 1/ Date you heard CHWO - AM 740; 2/ Time you heard the transmission (local or UTC); 3/ Program Material (at least 10 minutes of specific program material heard: i.e., name of announcer, commercials heard, news items etc.); 4/Signal/Sound Report, (a general overview of how well you heard the signal at your location and the sound quality of the program). 5/Mention of the type of equipment and antenna you were using to hear the signal is helpful information as well. ------- Comments about programming should be sent directly to the station itself: Mail: AM 740, P.O.Box 740, Station A, Toronto, Ontario, Canada MSW 4K6. Telephone: Main switchboard (416) 544-0740. Web Site: http://www.am740.ca (active February 2001) (Brian Smith, ODXA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. See HACAST at bottom ** CROATIA [non]. [Re: DTK schedule in DXLD 1-002]. I am unaware of any reactivation of the former Croatian Information Service shortwave service, known as "Radio Croatia" (Radio Hrvatska"), using Jülich facilities, which was terminated some time ago due to funding restrictions. Should there be any reactivation, this would be made known to me and other contract monitors very quickly, but no such advice has been received. Those broadcasts should not be confused with "Croatian Radio", which continues to transmit via its Deanovec site with relays of the Home Service broadcasts. Croatian Radio is an entirely different entity to Radio Croatia! Regards (Bob Padula, Melbourne, Australia, Jan 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 4930.7, Radio Costeña was the only stranger on 60m still operating at 0750 Jan 1. A fair signal at first but with only continuous talk in Spanish by a man. I didn`t establish what the subject was, but he did mention the station name twice (Noël Green, England, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INDIA. 4895, AIR Kurseong has reactivated. I couldn`t hear it at 1400, but it came up out of some dreadful local racket today to audibility that I could understand by 1450 carrying Radio Newsreel in English - a woman newsreader with correspondents reports. I thought at 1500 she said the programme came from the Delhi studio, but couldn`t be positive. The next half hour was in Hindi(?) - a discussion between two men for 15 mins, then a little tinkling tune and what sounded like commercials. What sounded like a newsreel in Hindi(?) followed - news and correspondents reports. The tinkling tune just before the half hour followed by 6 pips and more tinkling and a pause and then the announcement we`d all been waiting for: "Good evening. This is All India Radio...". Then followed the usual 1530 English news. Later, I heard a programme of Indian music and songs until transmission was abruptly cut at 1645 without any announcements at all (Noël Green, England, Jan 2, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Last Cumbre log was about a year ago, I believe (Hans Johnson, Jan 2, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** IRAQ/IRAN/KURDISTAN [Re: ARRL story via DXLD 1-002] Glenn, A few comments to the recent discussion in DXLD about the jammers in the 40 m HAM band. I listened today (01/6/01) to the jammers in the 7020-7090 kHz range and they appear to be the usual ones operated by Iran to counter the Mojahedin propaganda broadcast from Iraq. I was not able to pick up any programming, but evidently the Iranians did, as the jammers changed frequency once in a while. Many Iranian jammers make a noise that is unique for Iran. According to the TDP, Iraq purchased a large number of 10 and 50 kW RIZ (ex Siemens) transmitters in the early `80s, and I would guess that several of these carry the Mojahedin broadcasts. The transmitters always use frequencies that are even multiples of 10 kHz and they have good frequency precision. At irregular intervals they change frequency at random within a given frequency slot for each transmitter. The jammers will normally follow rather quickly after a frequency change. At my place the Mojahedin transmitters are never very strong - the jammers as a rule are much stronger and will cover the Mojahedin signal with a high degree of kill, but since the Mojahedin transmitters are likely to be using directional antennas they will also be harder to counteract within Iran. When audible, the Mojahedin programs are in Persian. The Mojahedin operate quite a number of these frequency hopping transmitters. Most often they can be traced from the accompanying Iranian jammers. They are using frequencies in the outskirts of the official SW bands or, in several cases, in between these bands. A couple of years ago VOA Persian programs on 1548 (Kuwait) were also jammed by the same kind of jammers. The wellknown Iraqi bubble jammers were silenced for good during the Gulf war. 73 (Olle Alm, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Re: ARRL story via DXLD 1-002] This item is confusing. While some of the Kurdish stations have similar names, this item sounds like they are referring to the Voice of the People of Kurdistan, the station of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). This station has been on 6995 and 4061 as of late. Here in Arizona they are heard around 1400 almost daily on these frequencies. They don`t jump around and they certainly don`t sound like they are jammed. While I wouldn`t say that the station or the PUK are pro-Saddam, I wouldn`t say that they are anti-Saddam either. The winds are always changing in this region and the various Kurdish groups will realign themselves accordingly. The PUK station is certainly not the anti- Saddam propaganda mouthpiece that the Iraqi government is fearful of as described in the article. How could this station or any other Iraqi Kurd station possibly be so? The Kurds of Iraq are a minority and outcasts in Arab Iraq, hence their long struggle for an independent Kurdistan. At least half of their programming is in Kurdish, which most Iraqis don`t speak as they are Arabs. The Kurds` goal is an independent Kurdistan, not a march on Baghdad. Having listened to their Arabic news and programming for years, their focus has been on putting the PUK in a good light and providing news of what is going on in Iraqi Kurdistan. Additionally, this station has always reported its transmitter site as As Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, not Iran. Historically, the Iraqis have not jammed the various Kurdish groups nor have any of these stations been known to jump frequencies throughout a broadcast. What I do hear in this range is the Iraqi-based Voice of the Mojahed, most recently on 7070. This one has a long-term pattern of jumping around throughout its transmissions, usually 10 or 20 kHz up or down every few minutes. This will happen right in mid-sentence. There is also a long-term pattern of Iran jamming this one with a passion. I have heard several jammers in this range over the last few weeks- 7020 [also mentioned in the article] and 7060 are the most persistent ones. This seems to be the jamming the ARRL is referring to. It would have been nice if the article could have stated 1) how the ARRL IDed the PUK station as what is being jammed; 2) how it knows what the PUK station broadcasts; 3) How it knows this is coming from Iran now. Finally, the article leaves the impression that this jamming has only been going on a matter of months when it has been happening for over a decade (Hans Johnson, AZ, Jan 6, Cumbre DX via DXLD) That`s telling `em. Hams can be so out of touch with what is really going on in international broadcasting (gh) ** JORDAN. Radio Jordan has left 17680 -- but where did they go -- for English in the afternoon? (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, Jan 6, hard-core-dx via DXLD) Was -1730* (gh) ** KALININGRAD. Partial Kaliningrad site schedule: 5905 1530-2100 Radio Rossii 5950 1800-2200 Voice of Russia 7125 1600-1900 Voice of Russia 9450 0300-0700 Radio Rossii 12010 1000-1100 Voice of Russia 15355 0730-1500 Radio Rossii (Nikolai Rudnev, RUS-DX via Anatoly Klepov, Jan 3, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** KASHMIR [non]. CLANDESTINE from PAKISTAN? to INDIA. 5101, Voice of Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Movement, no data letter, promotional material and pictures of Kashmir for an English report and US$1 in 2 months. V/s Islam ud Din But. The station returned the $1 saying that it was "not required at all. Kashmiries are offering their blood for fulfilling their aspirations and responding to a letter of a well- wisher like you is not at all burden on our humble resorces." (sic) (Richard Lam, Singapore, Cumbre DX Jan 5 via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. CLANDESTINE from IRAN to IRAQ. 3900, Radio Freedom, Voice of the Communist Party of Iraqi Kurdistan, Jan 2 1555 long anthem, identification mentioning Kurdistani Iraq at 1600, into talks and martial music. Air on clear channel (Mike Barraclough, England, Jan 2, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Not ``Iraqi Kurdistan``? (gh) ** LITHUANIA [non?]. Glenn, Not sure where this is coming from, but have noted Lithuanian Radio on 11730, *2100 in Lithuanian, immediately following RCI's French service (Sackville) 2000-2100*. Continues past 2130, but extreme co-channel QRM from *2130 RN-Flevo. First noted Jan 4, and again on Jan 5. On Jan 4, excellent level, Jan 5, weak. Have I missed something? !! Interesting! (Bob Padula, Victoria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I was just starting to edit this item Jan 6 at 2100 so quickly turned on 11730, too late to hear RCI, but this is listed as Sackville, and the R. Vilnius then weakly opening was no Sackville. Experimenting with another relay deal, or making more use of their own transmitter and antennas? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. 9875, Radio Vilnius with very good reception at 0040 6 Jan with English program about 2000 in review. Great to hear them so well again. Parallel 6120 via DTK only fair. How about a transmitter exchange with Radio Ukraine International, as the use of 9875 is so limited. Would work great to have the 0100 English broadcast relayed via Lithuania (see my RUI report below). (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I wonder what the azimuth on 9875 be, perhaps favouring WNAm? (gh) ** LUXEMBOURG. Marnach 1440 is currently using 300 kW; only during the religious broadcasts they turn up the power to full 1200 kW. They also switch the antenna pattern at 1700 to skywave radiation (Joe Leyder, a-dx@elitas.com via Kai Ludwig who adds:) I checked today and found 1440 very strong at 1850 with "Missionswerk Werner Heuckelbach" (or probably "Heukkelbach" instead), then the signal indeed dropped some db a few moments after the RTL-Radio news started at 1900. By the way, evidently they really watch what they transmit. Around 1530 the automatic continuity system of Mega-Radio failed and produced only shreds of audio. This trash was aired on the German transmitters but not on 1440; instead Marnach carried what must be an emergency tape from Mega-Radio. An automatic system, which responds to silence on the circuit, would not switch in such a case. Regards, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. See HACAST at bottom ** MYANMAR. 6570, Burmese Defense Forces Station appears to have reactivated. No ID yet, but presumed them based on frequency, schedule, and programming *1330. From what I gather, although the opening announcements were in Burmese, the contents were not. For the first hour, they appeared to be in a language of the Thai-Kadai family (Shan, Karen?). The program was interspersed with new and not so new Burmese songs. At 1430, there was closing announcement made in the vernacular, followed by Burmese, then the transmission continued in another language. This format is similar to what the Defense Forces Broadcasting Unit was using for their broadcast (Richard Lam, Singapore, Jan 2, Cumbre DX via DXLD) As of Jan 1st, they appear to have extended their schedule. They were closing down at 1430, but are still heard as of 1530 since Jan 1 (Hans Johnson, AZ, Dec 31-Jan 2, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. [Re: report from Australia that 4770 was missing] R. Nigeria, Kaduna, 4770, Jan 4 0458-0510, Soul Mx, Drum solo as I/S, T/S in EE without time pips, local ID then into newscast in EE. Good signal (Renato Bruni, Italy, Jan 1, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Jan 4 at 1710 Commentary in English on Nigerian corruption, identification 1715. Fair signal on clear channel 4770 (Mike Barraclough, England, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Regional stations continue to suffer funding and equipment difficulties. Cumbre DX`s sources at the NBC tell us that the following station are off for the moment [other outlets not listed here are on]: 2410 Radio Enga -- funding and equipment problems 3205 Radio West Sepik has gotten funding, but a technician still needs to check out the transmitter. This should happen the week of Jan 7th 3245 Radio Gulf -- funding and equipment problems 3345 Radio Northern -- power supply problem 3375 Radio Western Highlands -- funding problem 3395 Radio Eastern Highlands -- funding problem (via Hans Johnson, Jan 2, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 4820, Khanty Mansiysk, audible past 0750 carrying programmes of R. Rossii at weak to fair level, but stronger at 1503 over two others with R. Rossii news. Two signals audible on 5290 at 1510 carrying R. Rossii but one milliseconds behind the other, causing an echo effect. These are assumed to be Krasnoyarsk and Perm (Noël Green, England, Jan 2, Cumbre DX via DXLD) On 5930, Murman`sk (Monchegorsk) is being regularly heard after R. Prague goes off c0757 and carrying R. Rossii until 0800 when a local programme is aired, with clear mention of Murman`sk. Seems to carry messages with phone numbers and times. On Jan 2nd continued past 0810 after weather but on Jan 3rd returned to Rossii at 0810. Currently has UTE QRM, but signal is good though fluttery (Noël Green, England, Jan 2 & 3, Cumbre DX via DXLD) see also KALININGRAD ** RUSSIA. Religious Broadcasts from Moscow: Russian Orthodox Radio Radonezh has officially confirmed its recent re-launch of shortwave broadcasting. According to a press release published on http://www.pravoslavie.ru site, "on December 25 Radio Radonezh started experimental broadcasting targeted at Ukraine, Belorussia and Moldova." Listeners there are invited to tune in to 6245 kHz from 17 to 20 UT. According to station`s own site http://www.radrad.ru 6245 kHz is used from 20 UT. The press release states that "the editorial office of Radio Radonezh invites its listeners to inform on reception quality [of the SW broadcasts] at Radio Radonezh, Pyatnitskaya 25, 113326 Moscow or at radior@mn.ru " This relaunch of shortwave broadcasting "is a part of a large-scale international project titled, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Alexiy II, the World Russian Orthodox Broadcasting -- Radio Radonezh." In other news, Moscow ecumenical broadcaster Christian Ecclesiastical and Public Channel abruptly left its Moscow frequency of 1116 kHz on December 29 "due to technical reasons." According to its official site http://www.kanal.narod.ru the station is currently looking for a new office. The Channel promises to resume its broadcasting with shortened schedule sometime in the afternoon on January 8. The full broadcasting (12 hours daily with live programming) should resume "in one to two weeks after studio equipment is fully installed at a new place." The Christian Ecclesiastical and Public Channel is often condemned in the Russian Orthodox mass media, including broadcasts of Radio Radonezh, as a mouthpiece of the Roman Catholic Church in Russia (Sergei Sosedkin, MI, Jan 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA. [Re BBCM report of 6806 Radio Baydhabo, DXLD 1-002] This is a reactivation. I believe that Baydhabo is the Somali spelling of Baidoa. This station was reported active in the spring of 2000 in the 9 MHz range. Shortly after that time, Cumbre DX`s Somali sources reported that this station went silent due to technical and/or financial reasons. The goal of this station is to serve as a mouthpiece for this Army, which is seeking to expel Husayn Aydid`s forces from this area of Somalia. Very nice to have them back! (Hans Johnson, Jan 6, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Dear SWL, There is a new service from Meyerton. At this stage I do not know if it is only a test or permanent. On Monday when I am back from holiday I will find out. It is Radio Lusofonia on 7155 from 1700 to 1900 UT, 100 kW 76 deg Portuguese. Best wishes from South Africa, (André du Toit, Meyerton, Rep. of South Africa, Hard- Core-DX mailing list Jan 6 via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [non]. IBC Tamil: Given the demise of their website and my inability to hear them, I thought that this one may have gone off. When I rang them today, I learned that this is not the case. IBC Tamil did explain that they were off 7460 0000-0100 for a few weeks, but that they are back now. They continue to run English news sometime during the last 10 minutes or so of the broadcast. IBC Tamil is also on still at 1500-1530 on 17490. Their website and email remain down and it didn`t seem that they would be bringing them back anytime soon (Hans Johnson, Jan 4, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. Hello again, Just an FYI, R. Voice of Hope per a prior DXLD, blasting in tonight on 12060 in EE with what sounded like a canned SPLA pgm. Nothing but discussions about Christians in Southern Sudan, African MX, and Sudanese NX primarily relating to the peace process and conditions in Southern Sudan. Caught it at 0450 until s/off 0530 with IS. No ID during the pgm at all, just a reminder from the YL host that they will be back on next Saturday at 0730 (local time) until 0825 on 15320. 73's, (Phil Marshall, Bradenton, FL, Jan 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UT Saturdays only *0430 (gh) ** TAIWAN. CBS Variety Network Schedule in Mandarin- 0000-0100 3335 11840 0100-0200 add 9280 0200-0400 drop 3335 add 11970 0400-0500 add 6180, 11775, drop 11840 0500-0700 drop 9280 0700-0800 add 3335 15125 0800-1000 add 11840 1000-1100 drop 11970, 15125 1100-1400 add 6085, 6180 1400-1500 drop 3335 1500-1700 add 15125 1700-1800 drop 15125 1800-2100 drop 11775, 11840 2100-2200 add 3335 2200-2300 11745 2300-2359 drop 11745 (BBCMS Jan 3 via Cumbre DX via DXLD) I used to rework some schedules into adding and dropping, but decided clarity was more important than succinctity; OTOH I was skipping this item until I got this version (gh) ** TAJIKISTAN. 7245 with a specified letter in English. I sent the report to and got the answer from Television and Radio Communications Ltd, (Teleradiocom). (A report in 1998 to R Tadjikistan resulted in a personal letter/verification from an employee at the English dept. with a request for contribution of money to buy a flat for USD 5,000). (Rydén, SWB, translation per Nilsson via Johnson Dec 31, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** TIBET [non]. CLANDESTINE from CIS to CHINA. 15705, Voice of Tibet Dec 30 1215 in Tibetan. However at 1245 heard their Mandarin program. The Mandarin ID is "Norway Free Tibet Mandarin radio station" They also announce an Indian address in Dharamsala as well as Indian fax number. One of the news items referred to a broadcast on the "so called Lhasa People`s Broadcasting Station on 27 Dec which reported on the work of several units in preventing so called factionalism...". Otherwise their items were culled from the Tibet Information Network (Richard Lam, Singapore, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. 9385, RUI poor in English 6 Jan at 0102, but fair to even good when rechecked at 0452. Parallel 9610 at later time was poor to fair (Volodya Salmaniw, Victoria BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Those with nostalgia for the good ole days of AM music radio DJs will enjoy something I happened across on this weekend`s Midnight Special (syndicated by WFMT, national edition) via KUNI. It`s in the second half hour of the two-hour show. ``Ballad of the Sandman`` by Mike Agranoff. It comes from the CD ``The Modern Folk Musician``, BFD 102C. Looking at their affiliate list via http://www.midnightspecial.org I see surprisingly few and scattered ones, and even fewer webcasting, but one chance to hear it should be Saturday in the 7:30 pm Central semihour via http://www.kxms.org (per their current schedule, not 5:30 pm as on MNS list). BTW, the host said the story is fictional, (but no less compelling). 73, (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WJCR, 13595 is off the air due to a transmitter fault. It will be back on as soon as an ordered part arrive, but this may be a few weeks (Larry Baysinger, KY, Dec 30, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. See HACAST at bottom ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. CLANDESTINE from ALGERIA to MOROCCO. 7357, Nat. Radio of Democratic Saharan Arab Republic. 1827 Jan 1. Arabic type music with male solo then male speaker in assumed Arabic. Fair level with no QRM (Charles Jones, Australia, Cumbre DX, via DXLD) Like I said, in last issue... (gh) ** ZAMBIA. Re: 4965 missing [DXLD 0-162, 163]. According to Tim Boxall at Christian Vision, their transmitter has been off for the last two weeks to due a technical fault. They hope to have it back on within the next couple of days. Tim adds that their schedule is: 9865 0600-1500 UT 4965 1500-0300 UT 6065 0300-0600 UT Tim also mentioned that their new website is http://www.christianvision.com (via Hans Johnson, Jan 2, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 9865 ever reported? (gh) HEARD ALL CONTINENTS AT SAME TIME on 60 METERS?? ================================================ Making the most of being awake at 0830 UT January 6, despite the usual high local noise level here on 60 m, I tuned around, and soon found 4 continents audible at the same time: AFRICA: 4845, MAURITANIA, thanks to its presumed new 250 kW transmitter and westerly position, was still in at 0841 with Arabic music, 0843 Arabic announcements; however a SAH built up as it faded out to dominate by 0857, perhaps Brazilian. PACIFIC: 4890, PNG presumed from 0830 tune-in, mostly music, as early as this as Col. Standingbear pointed out; not really surprising as it`s 1830 there, around sundown. On 4960, more choral music at 0846, presumably VANUATU. SOUTH AMERICA: 5001, VENEZUELA, YVTO off-frequency and dominating WWV 5000.0000 which at this hour is skipping over here; a heavy het, and on the ATS-909`s LSB, YVTO virtually alone with traces of WWVH announcement just before it every minute. YVTO`s own minutely time check clashes with the seconds when WWV does the same. But YVTO also inserts its own ID twice every minute between about :12 and :19 seconds, ``Observatorio Naval Cagigal, Caracas, Venezuela``. Of course SAm is the easy and dominant continent here, with others such as: VENEZUELA. R. Amazonas Internacional, 4939.36 or so, open carrier, and then *0847 with ID, mentioning only AM 1130, NA; and 0849 into Himno del Estado de Amazonas; 0852 ``¡¡Feliz año nuevo les desea Radio Amazonas Internacional!! However, rechecked at 0902, had slogan ``la voz del pueblo`` amid music. Ecos del Torbes, 4980, *0852 with YV NA, 0853 s/on in this case not only mentioning SW, but giving it priority and posteriority: ``YVOC 4940, YVOD 780, YVSC 9640`` NORTH AMERICA. Besides the obvious WWCR 5070 and barely audible WWV 5000... COSTA RICA. Not only does Faro del Caribe have big problems with modulation and spurs on 9645v, but 5055, which is on all night, had bad hum, low modulation and distortion. Various splash downward was hard to distinguish with that coming upwards from its sputnik TIDGS on 5030, which had much stronger modulation on its fundamental. EUROPE and ASIA should also both be easily possible propagationally on 60 m in winter darkness in the 0830-0900 period. Suggestions welcome to accomplish HACAST (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TROPICAL BANDS STATION LIST =========================== List of tropical band radiostations from 2300 kHz to 5100 kHz at http://www.yle.fi/sataradio/tropical.html Site is free, non- commercial, no money. Maintained by verie signer of YLE Radio Finland Raimo Makela (Makela, Jan 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VG, but also includes the non-tropical 75m band, and no tropical out-of-banders 4000-4750 or elsewhere (gh) ###