DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-022 February 18, 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, 2000 contents archive see} http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/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] ** ARGENTINA. 6440: Tnx to tip in Cumbre DX Special 333.4 I have logged an Argentinian here, *not* with the name R. Milenio, but R. Luz del Mundo instead. This is an unofficial stn reported operating on MW 1600. Hrd at 1140 with pre-recorded evangelic preaching like "Dios es Amor", excited man with lots of "Hallelujah", "Santo, santo". Then religious songs. ID at 1213, canned, by man: "Desde... República Argentina... en su frecuencia de Onda Corta 3220 y 6440 khz... para todo el mundo. En el aire Luz del Mundo". MW-like QSB. 3220 not hrd. Melodic ballads, more religious content songs. Another similar ID at 1226. Later on recheck YL gave a phone nr. as 4 219 11 50. This belongs to R. Luz del Mundo, (acc. to a List of Unofficial MW Stations in ARG, for area of Great Buenos Aires, La Plata and Federal Capital City, by LU DX-er Marcelo Cornachioni in the printed bulletin "Conexion GRP" # 129, Jan, Feb, Mar Apr 2000): "1600 R. Luz del Mundo, Catamarca 2560 (1847 Rafael Calzada). Tel. Nrs.: 4219-0330, 4219-1150.". Most interesting is that they are generating harmonics and intentionally they are announcing them as normal outlets for listeners abroad. I have never hrd of R. Armonia, MW 1600 (3200h+ others) doing so, although they know of its existence by foreign reports. Rcpn overall for this stn, R. Luz del Mundo is not good due to QSB, and fades out during midday, at this hour when writing this (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Feb 15 Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. RA weekday schedule revised (Changes from schedule posted 2/9/01 in CAPS.) [no changes yet to weekend schedule] Weekdays (RA News every hour on the hour) 0010 Awaye! (Mon.), The Science Show (Tue.), The National Interest (Wed.), Background Briefing (Thu.), Hindsight (Fri.) 0110 Asia Pacific 0130 "Report" programs--Health (Mon.), Law (Tue.), Religion (Wed.), Media (Thu.), The Sports Factor (Fri.) 0210 The World Today 0310 Sport 0320 Pacific Focus - BUSINESS (Mon.), HEALTH (Tue.), ENVIRONMENT (Wed.), SPORT (Thu.), CULTURE (Fri.) 0340 Australian Music Show (Mon.), Music Deli (Tue. and Fri.), Blacktracker (Wed.), Oz Country Style (Thu.) 0410 Margaret Throsby 0510 Pacific Beat 0530 Sport 0540 Pacific Beat 0610 Sport 0620 Pacific Focus 0640 (same as 0340) 0710 Pacific Beat 0730 Sport 0740 Pacific Beat 0810 PM 0910 Australia Talks Back 1005 Asia Pacific 1030 "Report" programs (same as 0130) 1105 Asia Pacific 1130 Sport 1135 Life Matters 1205 Late Night Live (Mon.-Thu.); Sound Quality (Fri.) 1310 Sport 1315 The Planet 1405 The Planet (continued) 1505 Asia Pacific 1530 "Report" programs (same as 0130) 1605 Margaret Throsby (Mon.), The Comfort Zone (Tue.), Verbatim (Wed.), Hindsight (Thu.), AWAYE! (Fri.) 1630 Earshot (Wed.) 1705 Australia Talks Back 1805 Pacific Review (Fri.) 1810 Pacific Beat (Mon.-Thu.), 1830 Writers on Writing (Fri.) 1905 Pacific Focus-Technology (Fri.) 1910 Pacific Beat (Mon.-Thu.) 1929 Sport (Mon.-Thu.) 1930 In Conversation-Science (Fri.) 1937 Pacific Beat (Mon.-Thu.) 2005 Pacific Review (Fri.) 2010 Pacific Beat (Mon.-Thu.) 2029 Sport (Mon.-Thu.) 2030 Oz Sounds (Fri.) 2037 Pacific Beat (Mon.-Thu.) 2105 Feedback (Fri.) 2106 AM (Mon.-Thu.) 2130 HEALTH REPORT (Mon.), Innovations (Tue.), Religion Report (Wed.), Rural Reporter (Thu.), Jazz Notes (Fri.) 2205 Asia Pacific (Fri.) 2210 AM (Mon.-Thu.) 2230 AM (Fri.) 2240 Music Deli (Mon. and Thu.), Blacktracker (Tue.), Oz Country Style (Wed.) 2305 Lingua Franca/Short Story (Fri.) 2310 Asia Pacific 2330 INNOVATIONS (Mon.), ARTS TALK (Tue.), RURAL REPORTER (Wed.), Media Report (Thu.), The Sports Factor (Fri.) (Subject to change.) Source: Roger Broadbent, RA (via John A. Figliozzi, Volunteer Publicist, Radio Australia, Feb 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BERMUDA. Bermuda Broadcasting Co Ltd - 1230 ZFB AM and 1340 ZBM AM (affiliated with CBS and ABS [sic]), both 1 kW, also FM and TV. CEO Ulric P. Richardson, CE Operations Mg E Delano Ingham, Asst CE Earston Chapman, PO Box HM 452, Hamilton HM BX, Bermuda. Location 4 Fort Hill Rd., Prospect, Devonshire DV 02. Tel 441-295-2828, Fax 441- 295-4282. (Info from Business card). Web address: http://www.bermudabroadcasting.com (did not work when I tested Dec 5). Excerpt from longer story: "There was not a programme schedule available, but on my monitoring from my hotel room earlier I noted Portuguese programmes on 1340 ZBM2 Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights 7:30-9:00 pm local time (2330- 0100 UT). Both AM transmitters are 1 kW. In order to cover the islands they are beamed about North-South, which may explain the rare receptions in Sweden." Local Bermuda AM band scanning: 1450 VSB1 - canned music, American style, little old, some country, male "automatic" host, never heard an ID! 1340 ZBM - locally produced programme most of the time, local news, many ID’s,. e.g., "ZBM FM 89.1 24 hours a day." 1280 VSB2 - religious programme. 1230 - also local. 1160 VSB3 - BBC World Service, did not manage to hear any local ID; BBC all time [Hasse Mattison, Jan 2001 mv-eko, via NRC International DX Digest via DXLD] ** BRAZIL. Aliás, no horário normal que volta nesta semana, podemos ouvir emissões às 03 ou 04 UT sem entrar na alta madrugada, como dificulta-nos o horário de verão, pois serão no Brasil apenas meia- noite ou uma hora da manhã. 73, (Denis Zoqbi, Feb 15, radioescutas via DXLD) [Brazil goes off DST `this week` as of Feb 15 -gh] ** CAMBODIA [non]. CLANDESTINE FROM ? TO CAMBODIA. 15455, Voice of Justice *0958 Sat Feb 17 with two musical bridges, then programme of talk in Khmer mostly by male announcer with two local songs. Poor to fair and echoey signal on clear channel at first, fair and steady on clear channel by 1048 when ended abruptly after talk by woman (Mike Barraclough, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Announced using an Asian democratic country tx facility; wonder if Merlin Kranji, Singapore or MCB Almaaty, Kazakhstan would fit that opinion !? Despite the German DX NL showed the wrong freq of 15445, I set two rxs on 15445 and 15455 around 0940 UT Sat Feb 17. Then I discovered the carrier and the SE Asian instrumental interval signal piece on the latter frequency. Carrier from 0946 til 0958, then short interval signal followed; at 0959 male announcer in Khmer language followed by extended monologue programme, both by male anncr and from 1002 also by a female voice. At 1012 another SE Asian slow typical song by male singer noted. At 1031 UT SE Asian pop music occurred, by male singer and guitar & singer group in background. Then endless monologue by the male announcer again. SUDDEN CUT-off. From 1045 til sudden s-off at 1047 UT the female voice could be heard again. Sudden cut midst on the monologue, no interval signal, no music, no special final announcement could be observed. SINPO 25332. Around 1058 RNW Bonaire interval signal of Dutch chimes heard on that 15455 channel, followed by RNW Spanish at 1100, despite printed schedule shows 1130-1155 UT entry; does RNW retime that service ? (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No problem hearing V of Justice on 15455 from 1000 Sat Feb 17. The carrier came on at 0946 and there were a few snippets of Khmere programming, apparently from the tape or download of the VOJ programme, during the tune up period. The signal was about S-5 with heavy echo. This indicates an eastern site, but since all eastern signals were echoing this morning it does not give any closer indication. The audio was heavily processed. The site COULD be Almaty, but that`s only a wild guess. The programme and transmission went off abruptly in mid sentence at 1047. Two minutes later Almaty signed on, on 15695 for RFA Lao. The early s/off seems to indicate that the provider needed this txer on another frequency from 1100 (Olle Alm, Sweden, BCDX via DXLD) Yes, 15455 was also well heard here, and a more or less identical signal to what Olle describes. I didn`t hear the opening or close down though. I thought the audio clarity very good, despite the echo, and it seemed better than I usually hear from TAJ or KAZ. More like the IBB or BBC senders put out. But, the early sign off may have been the clue to it. We have another week to wait to try again!!!! (Noel R. Green, UK, Feb 17, BCDX via DXLD) Further to this report, the following item is from yesterday's Bangkok Post. One is minded to point out that there are also some relay stations of international broadcasters in Thailand, a point which doesn`t come across in the article [NOT including RFA -gh]. (Andy Sennitt; Although I work for Radio Netherlands, I am participating here on an individual basis. Opinions expressed are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Radio Netherlands, via DXLD) Thailand will never allow anyone to set up a radio station for the sole purpose of undermining another country or interfering in Thailand's internal affairs, the Foreign Ministry said yesterday. Pradap Pibulsonggram, the ministry spokesman, was commenting on reports that Sam Rainsy, the Cambodian opposition leader, was planning to launch shortwave broadcasts into Cambodia from a radio station "located in a democratic country not very far from Cambodia". The Sam Rainsy Party has been denied free access to airwaves inside Cambodia where loyalists of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen control radio and television stations, and the country's first local level elections are tentatively scheduled for early next year. Mr Pradap did not confirm or deny that the Cambodian party`s radio station was being set up in Thailand. But he said there was a committee that took charge of the setting up of a radio station, and a clear procedure for doing so, and if this was followed, there should be no problem. "The requirement only restricts them from refraining from the use of Thailand as a base for undermining another country or interfering in Thai affairs," Mr Pradap said. Cambodia`s Secretary of State for Information Khieu Kanharith told AFP on Thursday that the opposition was welcome to broadcast programmes from abroad, but warned that fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations members should not allow it. "If Rainsy forms his own radio station it is really up to him. It means nothing to the government. It`s just that the airwaves are quite full here already," he said. "If he uses another country it`s up to him. But in principle for those countries in Asean, they are not allowed to host such things that attack the government of others." According to AP, the Sam Rainsy Party planned to conduct a test run of the "Voice of Justice" today. The test would coincide with a party congress in the northwestern Cambodian town of Siem Reap (via Sennitt, hard-core-dx Feb 18 via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Cadena Radial Auténtica: Stations belonging to this Colombian network, either on SW (5975, Villavicencio), or on MW, may be carrying special and/or extended programming since the founder of the church called Centro Misionero Bethesda (and the CRA radio network) Jorge Enrique Gómez Montealegre, was abducted last Thursday, presumably by militants belonging to the FARC guerilla, which is showing increasing hostilty towards evangelical churches in the country (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, Hard-Core-DX mailing list Feb 17 via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5955 Feb 11 Caracol Villavicencio, 1225-, 454, with Gospel music in Spanish 5975 Feb 11 Radio Autentica, Villavicencio, 1230-, 444, Radio Auténtica ID, also Feb 16 at 2330 UT with end of program Integración Cultural Comunitaria. co-channel with BBC WS. 6035 Feb 11 La Voz del Guaviare, San José del Guaviare, 1245-, 343, religious program. 6202v-6208v Feb 11 La Voz del Llano, Villavicencio, 1240-, 222, noted now here (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. RFPI was back on 15049 when checked at 0100 UT Feb 18, but 7450 was inaudible until later. That is explained by the latest frequency schedule from RFPI Weekly Update: (Hours subject to change) 40 meters: 7.450 MHz (AM): 0200-0800 19 meters: 15.050 MHz (AM): 2200-0400 13 meters: 21.815 MHz (USB): 1200-0400 [sic, really that late?] (WOR Anomaly Alert via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). From: http://www.hcjb.org/streamindex.php Sunday, February 18, 2001 HCJB WORLD RADIO ENGINEERS DESIGN, INSTALL SATELLITE DISH 2/2/2001 1:31:17 PM HCJB World Radio engineers again have demonstrated that they can design and build high-tech equipment that is much less expensive and comparable to anything on the market. Engineers are installing a 10-meter (33-foot) satellite dish antenna at the ministry`s broadcast compound in Quito, Ecuador, that will receive syndicated Christian radio programs from North America for airing worldwide via shortwave. Installation will be completed in about a week. "By designing and building the antenna ourselves, we are saving thousands of dollars," says engineer Doug Weber. He adds that the satellite dish will reduce the mission's operating costs and simplify the delivery of radio programs produced in the U.S. In the past, tapes, CDs and digital recordings had to be sent through the mail system. Alex Saks, acting general manager of Radio Station HCJB, says the dish had to be large enough to pick up signals from a satellite aimed primarily at North America. "One of the project`s challenges was receiving the signals without blocking out the sun from the entire compound!" He adds that the dish will "facilitate and ensure continued broadcasting of quality Christian programs and teaching to people in parts of the world still not being reached with the gospel in any other way." Engineer David Russell, now serving at the HCJB World Radio Engineering Center in Elkhart, Ind., submitted a recommendation and preliminary design for the 10-meter dish. Engineers Steve Sutherland and Germán Jaramillo at the ministry`s international transmitter site in Pifo then examined many antennas and gathered information on what would constitute a sound mechanical design. "With such a massive construction, decisions on how to support the reflector and maintain its intended parabolic curve were critical," Russell says. "From my perspective, this was by far the biggest feat in the antenna project." The Pifo staff, led by engineer Gonzalo Carvajal, also received help from civil engineer Emily Cheung in Quito who dealt with issues such as the equipment`s ability to withstand strong winds. Performance testing will begin soon after installation under the direction of engineers Marlin Brubaker and Milton Pumisacho. To view photos click on http://www.hcjb.org/ (HCJB World Radio via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) The only thing making HCJB worth listening to is that it produces much of its own programming, partially secular in content. But its resources are obviously stretched, with reruns and reruns, DX Partyline cut to half an hour, etc. Now that they`ve got the dish, we can expect even less of that! Who needs even more syndicated American preachers on the radio??!! And in these days of high-speed internet connexions, do they really need a huge satellite dish to get programs? (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re: Dieter Weirich resigning as Intendant of DW: Mr. Weirich put on top of candidates list for coming dir-gen elections of Hessischer Rundfunk Frankfurt-Main broadcasting organization. Federal State of Hesse is led by Christian Democrats (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, BC-DX Feb 17 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. [Cf DXLD 1-021 at end under HFCC re Power Line Communications] The recent consultation by the German regulation authority cited statements about field strengths up to 80 dB. I think there are few doubts that the PLC operators consider radio services below 30 MHz as obsolete at all. Let me mention just one fact, because it is widely supposed that AM bcing is dead here in Germany: Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk considers it as impossible to do without mediumwave, because only the MW outlets ensure full coverage of the "MDR info" network. So it is not even a matter of listening to "enemy stations". So one can probably hope that there will simply be no market for this harmful nonsense due to the success of the ADSL technology. There were fears that ADSL could also be a source of harmful interference, but all reports I have read so far stated, that this is indeed not the case, at least not on properly adjusted installations like the "T-DSL" ones of Deutsche Telekom (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Feb 15, BC-DX via DXLD) ** HAWAII [non]. As I was monitoring WRMI in the clear [q.v.], I was also switching back to 9930 for a strange language on KWHR. This was not Cambodian or Vietnamese as usually heard around this time, but something south-Asian, as was the music. No jamming heard, good signal (while higher-latitude paths were disturbed, e.g. 9840 Vietnam, tho Japan 9845 after 1400 was surprisingly good along with 9505). This is not something new, and I think we previously had info on it, but checking the http://www.whr.org program schedule, it is listed as 1300 Su 0800 AM - 0830 AM Sunday Mashi Media Ministries Benedict D. Caleb 9.930 Mhz ANGEL 3 -- with another airing, BTW: 0830 Sa 0330 AM - 0400 AM Saturday Mashi Media Ministries Benedict D. Caleb 17.780 Mhz ANGEL 3 with no language specified even tho adjacent entries specify Vietnamese. I then searched on Mashi Media Ministries and found: http://www.ad2000.org/peoples/jpl2087.htm 20,800 people speak Mashi in Zambia and it is one of the UPG`s, or Unreached People Groups the gospel huxters are salivating to corrupt, and had a link to caleb: http://www.calebproject.org/index.htm which is an extensive site along the same lines, but after considerable searching, I could find nothing specific about shortwave broadcasts in a South Asian language. I am not sure this is the same Caleb. The closing announcement at 1329 gave the WHR website, phone 1-407-578-7036, and a P O Box in Orlando FL, and something they said gave them away as missionaries, altho the music on the program did not seem to be sacred (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. A few days after it was promised on a USENET posting, Radio Caroline is now available on U.S. C-band satellite C3, transponder 24, audio subcarrier 7.5 MHz. A message on Caroline`s Web site says this relay will be during daytime (U.S.) hours. This transponder has been the home of the WOKIE Radio Net during U.S. evenings and had been relaying adult-alternative radio station KPIG from Santa Cruz, Calif., most hours (Mike Cooper, Atlanta GA, Feb 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) W0KIE now defunct, right? NOW CAROLINE REACHES NORTH AMERICA. American listeners now accessing us via Internet might wish to tune to Satcom C3 channel 24. The operators of this satellite are kindly sending our programmes during USA daylight hours. We understand that with a dish of sufficient size our programmes can be received all across North America and Hawai`i and Mexico (CAROLINE NEWSUPDATE Feb 4th 2001 via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Radio Caroline can be heard 7 days a week on the Astra satellite across Europe, throughout North America on the Satcom bird and around the world on the Internet via its new anchorage in cyber-space. http://www.europaproductions.com caroline@europaproductions.com (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM / USA. Subject: Radio Sucks -- And not only that, the author of this article says radio sucks everywhere... The Sky Is Calling Tired of all the commercials, and the crap, on conventional radio? Satellite radio has the answer -- for a price.... http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/cover/cover.html (Mike Bugaj - Enfield, CT USA WTFDA Circulation Feb 16 via DXLD) Very long but good article! (gh) ** KOREA NORTH. New ID as V. of Korea heard three more times on Feb 17, so not just for Kim`s birthday (Chris Hambly, Victoria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. Marketing geniuses here have split Valentine`s Day into three: Feb 14 is for women to give vals to men; March 14 the reverse; and April 14 is the day for singles to eat black noodles. By Febend or early March, RKI website will add special event pages, such as Visit Korea Year, in conjunxion with the 10-part monthly series which started Feb 1 [Thursday -- we are building up clues on when we might actually hear it] for the Snow Festival. There will be a 45?-minute video clip with narration in Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese [sic -- referring to Chinese as specific spoken language is rather like saying `Romance`, `Slavic` or `Germanic` -- not specific enough. Or are the Koreans buying into Han hegemonism? -gh] and another one added each month. Also, video clips, 3? minutes each, of Korean images, such as mountain scenes, birds, etc., also with quadrilingual narration (RKI Multiwave Feedback, Feb 18, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) BTW, I have long since quit trying to hear RKI on SW, since they insist on scheduling the only decently received broadcast at 5:30 am CST/CDT, and it only contains half of their daily output. This is from their live webcast, which usually funxions, giving us two chances to hear MWF, Sundays 1935 and UT Mondays 0235. Go to http://rki.kbs.co.kr and click on `on the air` (which this is anything but), go to bottom of language schedule, to the windows media audio link, ``click to listen to our live broadcasting``. They also have a DX/mailbag program in Spanish during the 2000 hour (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. I know this isn`t a traditional easy listening station, but I just have to say that the past few weeks, Radio Madagascar has been pounding in here on 5009.6 from 0300 until they fade out about an hour later. Now, I have a particularly good location and antenna for Africa, but other people on #swl are also hearing them pretty well. I`m able to open up the filters to 9 kHz and enjoy them in high-fi. Malagasy music is particularly charming, sounding like a cross between Africa and the south Pacific to me, so anyone looking for interesting music to listen to might want to tune in. I don`t know if they`ve gotten a new transmitter or if this is just the right season to tune in, but they`re definitely armchair listening here in recent weeks (Ralph Brandi, NJ, Feb 16, swprograms via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. On UT Feb 15 I tuned to Radio New Zealand International, 17675 at 0300, listened to their regional news, then there was an announcement saying they`d be off the air until 0800. Due to the fading on this frequency I couldn`t quite figure why they signed off; I had been expecting to hear Mailbox at 0310 (since Mailbox was to be heard this week, as it`s heard on alternate UT- Thursdays). So, what was the reason for RNZI`s early signoff? (Joe Hanlon in Philadelphia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On the 3rd Thursday of each month the RNZI transmitter is shut down for routine maintenance from 2230 to 0255 UT. Sometimes it is necessary to extend the maintenance period so that after the 03 News the TX is turned off again until the work is complete. We regret that from time to time this will conflict with scheduled programmes. It should be noted that Mailbox can be downloaded from our web site. We hope to announce shortly an extra playing of Mailbox on the Monday of the Mailbox week - at 0705 UT. On the plus side it is encouraging news for Paul, Myra and me that when a broadcast does not go ahead there is someone who misses us! Regards to all, (Adrian Sainsbury, Technical Manager, Radio New Zealand International, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. 9735.95, R. Nacional del Paraguay reactivated. Feb 17 at 2250 talk by man and woman. 2302 ID by man, then Paraguay music program. Weak signal and heavy sidesplashed from BBC Singapore on 9740 (Takeshi Kanai, Japan, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PERÚ. 13565v, Feb 11 Radio Ondas del Pacífico, Ayabaca, 0010-, 444, with nice Peruvian folk music, then time check by male, ``La hora, 7 de la noche con 10 minutos... la hora te [sic] la está informando Radio Ondas del Pacífico desde la Ciudad Ayabaca.`` (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PUERTO RICO. I confirmed today that 1660 in Canóvanas, a suburb of San Juan, is still testing, mostly at night, with the name La Grande 16-60. This station was moved from Camuy, on the NW coast, to a suburb on the eastern side of the San Juan metro. The transmitter site is near that of WIDA-1400 in an area of Carolina called Hoyo Mula, near a riverbed in a partial mangrove swamp with good conductivity. The station is owned by Aureo Matos, Jr. His father owns several religious stations in PR, including WBRQ-97.7 in Cidra and a Mayagüez area evangelical Christian FM. Broadcasters in PR expect a nostalgia based oldies format using traditional Puerto Rican music when it goes on regular schedule. Tests are apparently being conducted using 10 kW (David Gleason, CA, NRC-AM Feb 13 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. [Re: R. Gardarika on new 6230] Poor - QRM, even with the 2.7 kHz Collins filter switched to usb mode; the RTTY powerhouse of 6227 dominates range up to 6231. Hi Mikhail, 6230 was in use in the past two/three decades by R Cairo in Turkish, and also TWR Monte Carlo German used that channel, now up on 6235 and 6240. Mostly the 6200 to 6228 section is used widely by ship/maritime traffic especially on Northern Atlantic and in our northern winter time. Also HCJB left 6205/6210 some five/six years ago, due to complaints of the maritime world. The latest KLINGENFUSS Super Freq List on CD-ROM and printed book shows: 6200 ship stations, channel 601 SSB QSX 6501.0 Same for 6203 / 602 / 6504.0 .... every 3 kHz to 6221 / 608 / 6522.0 6224 worldwide ship stations simplex frequency 6224 ZLM Taupo Radio New Zealand SSB 6227 worldwide ship stations simplex frequency in SSB !!! 6230 worldwide ship stations simplex frequency in SSB !!! 6235.5 WPC Pin Oak Radio, New Jersey USA CW/DIG PACTOR-2 mode and so on, ship traffic from 6235.5 to 6522 Riga Radio YLQ in SSB from Latvia. From 6526 Aeronautical Mobile services starts ... (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx to Mikhail Timofeyev, St. Petersburg site, BC-DX Feb 17 via DXLD) ** SERBIA. Yugoslavia is Back? Listening to Afrique Numéro Un on 9580 kHz. this afternoon when, at 2259 UT, a transmitter knocked ANU into the background and a voice came on in mid-sentence in a Slavic language. Heard interval signal tune for Radio Yugoslavia (one bar) and then into Serbian. Still there at 2309. At 2345, Yugoslavia still there in Serbian, but lots of QRM from Norway relaying Radio Denmark on frequency and a fair bit of slop from the sides. Estimate SINPO as 32443. Waiting to hear if English comes on at 0000. Only "ID" I`ve caught is the one bar of the interval signal back at 2300. Left the room for a moment and returned at 2359 to find station had left the air. No sign of English (or anything) on 9580 (John Figliozzi, NY, Feb 17, swprograms via DXLD) Nice one, John! There is nothing on their Web site (yet) about this, but I have been expecting them to reactivate for some time. The logo on their Web site still says "shortwave" :-) Looks likes you caught an engineering test (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) It`s one of those things that because there was just that one bar of the int.-sig., I`m sitting here thinking "Is that what I heard?" It was certainly a Slavic language, but I didn`t hear any "Serbska" or other markers that would do a better job confirming what I (think) I heard.... I`ll just have to try it again tonight (John Figliozzi, Feb 18, swprograms via DXLD) It`s interesting to note the following item published yesterday, bearing in mind that the main SW site of Radio Yugoslavia is located in Bosnia, Of course, it could also be just a coincidence :-) ------ Yugoslavia's first chargé d'affaires to Bosnia, Radoslav Jankovich, presented his credentials to Bosnian Foreign Minister Jadranko Prlich Friday, the Bosnian foreign ministry said in a statement. The two countries established diplomatic ties last December nearly a decade after the breakup of the Yugoslav federation that sparked the 1992- 1995 war. Prlich expressed readiness of his country to cooperate with Federal Republic of Yugoslavia while meeting Jankovich, a statement said. Bosnia was the last former Yugoslav republic to establish diplomatic relations with the rump Yugoslavia -- now made up of only Serbia and Montenegro. Bosnian foreign ministry appointed Radomir Bogdanovich to be the first chargé d'affaires to Yugoslavia, the statement said ((c) 2001 Agence France Presse via Andy Sennitt, swprograms via DXLD) I checked UT Feb 18 at 0530 on 9580, where RY`s second English broadcast to NAm used to be, but heard only Africa Number One. Then in the 2300-2400 hour Feb 18, tho reception was poor, all I could hear sounded like Hungarian talk and music, so looked up R. Budapest`s schedule at http://www.kaf.radio.hu/frekv/frekv_indexa.html This is in CET of UT+1 judging from the 0300, 0430 timings for English! and we do find 9580 at 2300-2400-2500 UT for South America: Dél-Amerika számára 0000-0100 11990, 9580 kHz 0100-0200 11990, 9580 kHz /csak hétfo/ I think the note at 0100-0200 CET means either Sunday only, or except Sunday? John may well have heard RY testing the day before, but I had no sign of it today; would not be the first time Belgrade and Budapest clashed over 9580 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SIERRA LEONE. Rebels reportedly set up anti-demobilization radio station | Text of report by Sierra Leone newspaper Concord Times web site on 14 February Freetown: While they say in one breath that they want to disarm and be part of the peace process, the RUF [Revolutionary United Front] rebels are also propagating their so-called ideals of a revolution in another breath. They have established a radio station somewhere in Kono. It has been broadcasting anti-DDR [Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration] programmes, telling its rank and file that the DDR would not benefit them. This is against the backdrop of most rebels willing to be disarmed, saying they are tired of the crisis. Lamentably, nobody seems to be bothered - even government and Unamsil [United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone] have been loudly silent. [sic!] But now the Kono youths say they can`t take it any more. A press release issued by the Displaced Koaquima Youth (DKY) yesterday stated that the radio "is engaged in condemning the Disarmament, Demobilization and the Reintegration Programme. We are equally disturbed by the rampant illicit diamond mining in the district by the rebels and their cohorts which has led to the destruction of almost all structures in the district, particularly Koidu Town and its environs", the release added. The youths are calling on government, United Nations, ECOWAS [Economic Community of West African States] and the international community to use - as they put it - "all possible measures to prevail upon the RUF rebels to quit the once-economically-viable district without further delay". Source: Concord Times web site, Freetown, in English 14 Feb 01 (via BBC Monitoring, DXLD) WTFK??? Probably FM? ** SOMALIA. [QSL via Consulate based in Germany] R Hargeisa: Exact replica of the QSL reply for Hargeisa, in 10 days for German stamps. Prepared sheet also filled out. This was for a copy of a 1976 rpt on the period of rcpn on 11646 quoted in Numero Uno 364 [Nov 27, 1976]. Seems that 24 years is a magic number for African holdouts; it took me also 24 years and numerous rpts to get responses out of Malabo and Zanzibar. That disposes of my African backlog. Now, does anyone know any successor to the Gibraltar Steamship Co. or a Swan Island consul who can handle a 1962 rpt on R. Swan/Americas? (Howard Hunt wasn't interested.) Two other things worth noting about the Hargeisa QSL. First, the consul represents the Republic of SomaliLAND, i.e. not exactly a country, more a quasi-country like Free Bougainville. I guess this works because Hargeisa is a long way from the center of authority in Somalia, and there isn`t much of a central authority at the center anyway at present. But this doesn't affect the value (even philosophical validity) of the QSL, fortunately (John Campbell, UK, NU Feb 11, BC-DX via DXLD) ** U K. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). From: http://www.theradiomagazine.co.uk/News.htm 12th February 2001 The Government has launched three separate inquiries into whether the BBC is in breach of its public service broadcaster status. Secretary of State at the DCMS, Chris Smith, has appointed a watchdog to look into whether the BBC is utilising licence fee-payers` money to subsidise its commercial activities. A review of the Internet operation BBC Online and an inquiry into News 24, the BBC`s rolling news service, have also been confirmed. The move from the Government comes after a series of complaints from the commercial sector that the BBC may be cross-funding commercial operations from revenue taken from the licence fee (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** UNITED KINGDOM. Thousands of BBC staff voted yesterday to take industrial action over cuts in their expenses. In a ballot of more than 6000 members of the broadcasting union Bectu, 85% voted for a work-to-rule and 60% supported an all-out strike. The work-to-rule, expected later this month, could disrupt services severely (Daily Telegraph, February 16th via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) ** U K. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). I "just happened" again to wake up at 04.30 this morning to hear Waveguide and commend everyone to catch one of the repeats. The tour of WorldSpace London base was very interesting and enlightening, particularly with the information on the uplink arrangements. Apparently, all 19 services are compressed down one ISDN link to the uplink site somewhere in Bedfordshire from the Soho studios. They also checked in on two of the Arab services presented from the studio and took a look round the master control room. One thing however I did think a bit questionable was the Chief Engineer implying that rigorous checks were made on technical output quality from input to uplink. The quality of some of the re-broadcast Egyptian services would seem to imply they are not actually paying that much attention to these things at times. Also, the occasional rather odd glitches with programming, such as Letters rapidly jumping from a performance of "Blithe Spirit" before its end to a short story without explanation, suggest that no-one is listening that closely, or rather they are relying too much on PCs to do the work automatically. Also featured in the programme was a look at the Gurkha BFBS service based near Folkestone, and its companion service to the peacekeepers in Sierra Leone. This is certainly an unusual feature in British forces broadcasting and the interview is worth listening to. I was rather surprised to hear that the March edition of Waveguide will be the last one. Did anyone else know it is coming to an end? Yet another casualty of the Internet and the increasing ghettoisation of radio-related programming is it, or do BBC WS have a similar programme in mind? Somehow I think not; the demise of World Radio Club some years ago was surely the beginning of the end, but it is a great shame (Mark Savage, BDXC UK Feb 17 via DXLD) The above information may only be reproduced if full credit is given to the original source, contributor AND to the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). The program`s host, Richard Lambley, said in his closing to tonight's program that the March edition will be the program`s last (John A. Figliozzi, NY; Mike Barraclough, DX LISTENING DIGEST) More programme shuffling as occurs each April. But will BBC ever replace it with a genuine weekly half-hour media programme? Europeans are hurting for one since the extinxion of Media Network [later: pace, extant Andy, we are talking about as a radio programmmee] (gh) ** U K [non?]. Nova on 31 metre band Hi All, A brief E-mail to advise you that Radio Nova International is currently testing on 9290 kHz. Any reception reports would be most welcome to either our snail- mail address: 64 Brighton Road Leicester LE5 OHA United Kingdom or our E-mail address confused@onmail.co.uk Regards, 73s and happy listening (Terry Philips, Feb 17 via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) Noted here 0928 18th February with a good signal. The operator is ex Radio Free London and had 15070 going 24 hours for them (Mike Barraclough, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. For those who enjoy some of the out of the ordinary evening music programs on BBC Radio 1 and 2 either via domestic FM or webcasts, there is now a low-traffic mailing list set up by a London music fan that sends you a weekly update every Friday. However, start times for these notable programs are given in local UK time only. It is called the Zapsmart list and it is part of the "Onelist" group of e-lists. To subscribe, send an e-mail to zapsmart-subscribe@onelist.com (Tom Roche, Atlanta GA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Boston Herald, Feb. 17 Radio staffers quit over talk host's suspension by Dean Johnson "WBUR Faces Dis-Connection" http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/television/wbur02172001.htm (via Chet Copeland, DXLD) And another on this subject: http://www.globe.com/dailyglobe2/048/nation/_Connection_personnel_quit_over_WBUR_rift+.shtml (via Kevin Kelly, Arlington, Mass, DXLD) ** U S A. I could hardly believe my ears when bandscanning across 9955 Sunday Feb 18 at 1250 there was nothing -- no Cuban jamming and no WRMI. But at 1256 WRMI came on with IS, IDs, and sign-on during which there were tentative brief Cububbleblips on and off but then stayed off, for female preacher in English at 1300 on the importance of water, and another such program at 1315. At 1330 on came Wavescan 316, for January 14! So they are running more than a month behind, despite the easy (?) availabilty of the latest edition even before its release date at http://www.awr.org At 1355 recheck heard a few intermittent bursts of noise, but still no jamming; at 1400 an unexpected airing of Mi Seferino, which I have missed hearing at other WRMI times and it has failed to show at its monthly slot on KUNM (it is in English, I should make clear). This one was all about the Ladino language, interviewing on phone Javier Pérez in Jerusalén, whose address is P O Box 8175, Is-zip 91080. At 1430 back to evangelist, Battle Cry Sounding. WRMI signal was adequate although hardly a powerhouse. It was nice to hear it for a change with no Cuban commie jamming. The programming I monitored bore only partial resemblance to the schedule effective Feb 1 via http://www.wrmi.net : 1300-1315 The Living Word (English) 1315-1330 Viva Miami (English) 1330-1400 Wavescan (English) 1400-1430 Viva Miami (English) 1430-1500 Battle Cry Sounding (English) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non?]. Special News: From the Dude: Thought that you'd like to know that 15 meter tests have already started!!! A test relay was done with Radio Azteca #36 and #37 Sunday around 2000 UT. Doubt if anyone heard it, but on the TX side it looks like everything tuned up real good on 19.000 MHz USB. In the future we hope to relay Captain Fred`s World Cruise, who's new to the shortwave scene but is psyched about it!!! WDRR wants to do a live AM mode broadcast on 15 meters too. Look for tests goin` out on weekdays also from 1500 to 2100 UT, and maybe earlier. Although we want to hit Europe and West Africa, much of North America should easily be able to tune in. We`ll try to have up to date QSL addresses for older shows. Again!!! 19.000 MHz tests look and sound good!!! Now if only we can get DX`ers to listen there... 73's!!! The Dude, E.H. Pirate Relay Services. The alternative to 6955!!! (Free Radio Weekly Feb 18 via DXLD) ** U S A. Following thread about the `Mystery Sound` around 1140, mostly from the NRC and/or IRCA lists: From: ehoma Mailing-List: list Repeater-Builder Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 00:04:02 -0800 I know this is off-topic but I thought that the experts in the field might be "listening" here. We`re trying to track down some interference in the AM broadcast band. For details you can go to a web page that we`ve created and you can download an MP3 in order to listen to the mysterious sound. Maybe someone out there can identify it. The web page is at http://www.sharkk.com/1140 Thanks, (Eric Homa, N6NMZ) I`m glad that the warbler got MP3ized. It sounds to me like a channel-generator AM stereo generator (in other words, one of those devices in an AM transmitter than one sets to the station frequency and that generates the station frequency in lieu of a crystal) that`s lost frequency-lock and whose output frequency is now unstable and influenced by external stimulii [sic] (Yeah, I know it`s a big word for a half-breed, Hoosier/Kentuckian) such as AC voltages from the transmitter modulator. And likely an off-frequency 1150er because that`s the likely parking-spot for a would-be AM stereo gone bad. And, it`s not audible out here in WRVA-land. 70 and/or 3, Charlie (Charles A. & Leonor L. Taylor) Glenn and whoever, Please backfeed this to its source! I took a fourth listen to this conniption that`s QRMing KHTK-1140. Tony Hora`s partially correct. It DOES sound like an idling RTTY transmitter; but if you listen carefully, you can hear the heterodyne being FMed by a voice. In other words, the heterodyne, beside being frequency-shifted at a regular rate and in a fairly consistent amount, is also frequency-shifted by low-frequency components of a male voice. This FMing is fairly consistent with the frequency instability of a transmitter that is not crystal-controlled and whose frequency- control oscillator is being frequency-modulated by low-frequency audio components coming from the modulator. Like a kid`s 10-W pirate transmitter. Just get your loop antennas up and DF the damn thing! FCC, too! Sounds like my fellow Feds at the FCC need a little handholding. 73 de Charlie [former 10-W (pirate) voice] (Charles A. Taylor, WD9INP Grifton, North Carolina, Feb 17) Glenn; I am located in Boyes Hot Springs, Sonoma County, CA. About 40 air miles N. of San Francisco and 60 mi. W. of Sacramento. Have been trying to get RDF fixes for some time. In all cases the null shows the same bearing as KHTK. I tried to extend my baseline about 20 miles out, but on that day the signal was too weak. I doubt the source of the interference is actually on a line with Sacramento, suspect that signal is beating with KHTK carrier, so is most audible when KHTK is, too. If I find KHTK off the air at some time, will try again to get a fix on interference (Michael Watson, CA, Feb 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn; thanks for the reports. KHTK is off the air this morning. I got repeated fixes on the pulsing signal. I put it at 105/285 degrees, true. Michael Watson, Sonoma County CA, Feb 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That would put it near Las Vegas NV, Phoenix, El Paso, Brownsville... (gh) The sun is still up for about a half hour. I can't hear the 820 or 520 but I can hear the 1140. Its pretty damn strong. NEW Directional. 135/315. This may be something different for us to look at. We need to plot this out. Check the directional one more time. (Kevin Redding, Mesa, Arizona, Feb 17) Re: I doubt the source of the interference is actually on a line with Sacramento, suspect that signal is beating with KHTK carrier, so is most audible when KHTK is, too. <><><> That is the same thing I noticed with KSOO. It appeared to be coming from the same direction as KSOO which is the dominant station on 1140 here at night. I suspect it is somehow riding the signal from KSOO to me and I may not be getting an accurate bearing (Patrick Griffith, Westminster, CO, Feb 18, NRC-AM) Subject: 1140 mystery signal/KSFN off frequency on 1136 Alerted by previous messages on this list about the 1140 mystery, I tried for it last night and it was at a very strong level around 10:00 pm PST. It sounded like the streaming file at http://www.sharkk.com/1140 Even with the R8/Quantum Loop combo, it gave KHTK fits with the loop north and was obliterating everything else on the channel when the loop was in a broad E/W direction. I checked again this morning at 7:00 am PST and the signal was still in there, which surprised me as I was assuming it was Cuban. Even wilder, it was still there at a good level at a 10:00 am PST recheck, giving KQAB in Lake Isabella (about 60 miles from here) fits! I started trying to more precisely DF the signal and noted a het on the low side of the frequency, much like a TP or TA trying to break through. I did a little more tuning and diddling, and discovered a station with the "Crusing Oldies" format on 1136! I've been listening to this station for over two hours and assume it is (per the new NRC log) KSFN in North Las Vegas, as the bearings are correct. I have heard no legal ID in over two hours, only canned "Cruising Oldies 1140" and absolutely no ads except for a couple of network ads. I`m hearing this on the R8, the Sangean CCR radio, and even my beloved ancient Drake SW4A, so this signal isn`t a receiver spur or image. In fact, I'm hearing it at a good level on the CCR as I write this. Seems like we have a "runaway" unattended operation on our hands! Per the NRC log, KSFN is 10000/2500 U2. I`ll check later tonight to see if they actually cut power or go directional at night. I'm willing to bet they`ll stay 10 KW and nondirectional, and I`ll also bet that transmitter must be putting out all sorts of garbage. I don`t know if this is the total solution to the 1140 mystery, but it must be what many of us in the west are hearing. Meanwhile, here`s your chance to log Nevada on a split frequency! (Harry Helms AK6C, Ridgecrest, CA, Feb 18, NRC-AM via DXLD) Does KSFN have an e-mail address or published phone number? Bet the engineer would love to know if their transmitter is going on the frits (Bob Carter, KC4QLP, Operations/Engineering, WGAI) Bob, I bet the engineer is a contract engineer who hasn`t been there in a while. And, more importantly, let`s give DXers a chance to bag this before squealing, hi! It seems like the owner/manager must not be listening to KSFN. 4 kHz is a lot to be off-frequency. 73, (Harry Helms) Uh-oh! Harry may have something here. Las Vegas is on an almost exact reciprocal from my bearing to Sioux Falls and that`s the bearing where I heard the noise the best. Someone else, possibly the person who started this thread, said that they thought they could hear audio weakly in the noise. This would explain a lot. Good job Harry! (Patrick Griffith, Westminster, CO) For a long time I have noticed something swishy QRMing KSL-1160, but since no one else ever mentioned it, have assumed it`s local around here (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DXLD) ** VATICAN. Wednesday February 14 10:38 AM ET Vatican Radio Officials On Trial By VICTOR L. SIMPSON, Associated Press Writer VATICAN CITY (AP) - Arguing that it is shielded from Italian law, the Vatican is trying to fight off criminal charges accusing it of polluting the air with electromagnetic waves from its radio station. Three top Vatican Radio officials are scheduled to go on trial next month for allegedly violating Italy's very strict standards on electromagnetic fields emitted by radio stations and telephone transmitters. The station has been increasingly under attack since 1998, when Italy passed the new rules, which are far more stringent than those in other European Union (news - web sites) nations. But the Vatican is arguing that the radio station is protected by the extraterritorial status granted the Vatican and its properties under a 1929 pact with Italy that established Vatican City as an independent city-state. It is one of the few cases in decades in which the Vatican has sought to keep its officials immune from Italian law. For half a century, Vatican Radio has been beaming the pope's words around the world from a forest of antennas in Santa Maria di Galeria on the northern outskirts of Rome. When the facility opened in 1951, the area was sparsely populated. Today some 100,000 people live in the nearby suburbs. In recent years, people living near the complex have complained that the transmissions interfere with their home appliances, telephones and television reception, while environmental groups allege the electromagnetic waves cause cancer. Now an Italian court has set a March 12 trial date for three officials: Rev. Pasquale Borgomeo, the station's director-general and a Jesuit priest recently named a cardinal by Pope John Paul II; the Rev. Roberto Tucci, president of the station's management committee, who will be elevated to cardinal next week, and Costantino Pacifici, a layman and top technician. The three could face up to a year in prison if convicted of the charge of ``the dangerous showering of objects,'' or environmental pollution. The Vatican contends the transmissions meet international standards and questions claims by local health officials, who initiated the complaint, that they represent a risk. Vatican diplomats have taken up the case, and are negotiating with the Italian Foreign Ministry. ``We have a culture of prudent precautions,'' said Borgomeo. ``We are morally tranquil.'' Gianfranco Amendola, the prosecutor in the case, declined a request for an interview. Over the years, the Vatican has had a prickly relationship with the Italian justice system. Only a ruling by Italy's highest court blocked the arrest of an American archbishop, Paul C. Marcinkus, implicated in a major banking scandal 13 years ago. More recently, the Vatican complained about the investigative methods used to prosecute the Naples cardinal in a loan-sharking case. The cardinal was later acquitted (via yahoonews via Sergei Sosedkin) http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010214/wl/vatican_radio_trial_1.html ** VENEZUELA [non]. Checked again Sunday Feb 18 for ``Aló Presidente`` via Cuba, as reported last week. But at 1430 none of the frequencies appeared to be on the air -- certainly not 6140 which was audible 168 hours before; nor 9820-USB, nor after 1500 when clear, 11705. 11875 and 9505 had the usual co-channel (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) If you can`t hear Chávez today, it`s because he is in the Persian Gulf or maybe talking to Pres. Bush. Who knows. For two weeks he has had a sore throat, so I believe you have not heard him "in good shape" as yet. Perhaps next Sunday, if everything goes well (Henrik Klemetz, Feb 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###