DX LISTENING DIGEST 00-37, March 9, 2000 edited by Glenn Hauser {Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only providing full credit be maintained at all stages. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without prior permission} THIS WEEK ON WORLD OF RADIO 1027: See topic summary at http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1027.html MUNDO RADIAL, GUION PARA MARZO AHORA DISPONIBLE EN: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/rel0003.txt Se comienza a transmitir el viernes 10 de marzo a las 2215 por 9475. ** AFGHANISTAN. Taleban radio's new service in Russian was confirmed on 7th March from Radio Voice of Shari'ah at 1630-1645 gmt on 1107 kHz MW and 7075 SW. Program consisted of news and commentary. Source: Monitoring research 07 Mar 00 ((c) BBC Monitoring March 9 excerpted by gh, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. R. Senado, 6190, will shortly begin producing programs in Spanish and English, according to Senator Geraldo Mello from RN, made public Jan 29 on the station`s third anniversary at a special session of the Federal Senate (Jornal do Senado, Feb 1 via Celio Romais, Porto Alegre, radio-escutas March 9, translated by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) So de facto replacement for RNB external service? But likely to be even more dull (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. The CFRX item in DXLD 00-36 led to this thread in the ODXA: Glenn Hauser with his most inimitable style and sense of tact mentions in the latest dx digest on his website that CFRX is broadcasting nothing but carrier. Anybody know what's going on? (Brent Taylor, March 6) I was at the transmitter site today. It would appear there's a problem with the audio processor unit. The engineer is at the site on Tuesday so hopefully he'll be able to get things back up and running. (Steve Canney) Hello: Just thought to check it out, and at 2100 UTC today (3/07) CFRX's audio was on, loud and clear here... no idea when it was fixed, but sounds fine now. (Mike Csorbay, VE3YMC) Hi Mike. I dropped into the transmitter site around noon today and Ian Sharp, the engineer, was in the middle of fixing a power supply problem in the audio processor unit for the CFRX transmitter. As I've stated in the past, as long as Standard Radio puts little focus or budget into the shortwave side of things, breakdowns like this are bound to happen. As Ian put it to me, if it weren't for the work of the ODXA in keeping the interest in CFRX alive, it probably wouldn't be on the air today! For those who get upset by the occasional imperfections in the service, be thankful you're hearing anything at all! Cheers for now. (Steve CFRB/CFRX QSL Manager) Who is upset? Loud and clear but with a het around 1200 March 9 check. I am always impressed by the signal and modulation of CFRX when it is working. How is the MW antenna demolition project coming? (gh, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CLIPPERTON ISLAND [non]. ROI`s Intermedia program #145 (in German) this weekend will be a Clipperton FO0AAA ham DXpedition special: Fri March 10 at: 1630, 1930*; Sat March 11: 0430, 0830; Sunday March 12: 1130, 2130. Frequencies include 6155, 13730 (until 1800), 5945 (from 1800) - * means also LW 261 and MW 1476 as well as ASTRA Digital Radio ADR (ROI) and in ROI Digital Satellite Packet. More about Clipperton including audio at: http://roi.orf.at/roi/intermedia (Wolf Harranth, Austria, OE1WHC, ORF Vienna Intermedia, Mar 7, BC-DX translated by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO. Radio-Tele Liberte heard The new Congolese radio station, Radio-Tele Liberte, which is believed to broadcast in support of the rebel Congolese Liberation Movement led by Jean-Pierre Bemba, was heard by BBC Monitoring on 5th March broadcasting in French and Lingala on 15725 kHz from 1835 gmt when it identified itself in French as "Ici la Radio Liberte, la voix du Movement pour la Liberation du Congo" (This is Radio Liberty, the voice of the Congolese Liberation Movement). The radio announced that it can also be heard on 105 MHz FM. At 1900 gmt on 5th March, it carried a live relay of a speech in French by the Congolese Liberation Movement leader, Jean-Pierre Bemba. It was observed again on 6th March on 15725 kHz from sign-on at 1806 until sign-off at 2305 gmt. It again carried programming in French and Lingala, with an English segment from approximately 1820-1900 gmt. The radio reportedly broadcasts from Gbadolite in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, on the border with the Central African Republic. Source: Monitoring research 5-6 Mar 00 ((C) BBC Monitoring via DX LISTENING DIGEST, WORLD OF RADIO 1027) Quickly checked for it here March 8 after 1800 on 15725, but nothing heard above noise floor; I assume it is low power. Nor was Kinshasa audible on 15244, if it was on (gh, OK, DXLD) ** IRAN/IRAQ/KURDISTAN. VOICE OF IRAQI KURDISTAN. I noted on 18 Feb on new freq 9495 with a strong signal here. Monitored in Feb on air with the progrs in Ar and Kurdish: *0345-0645* on 9495 & 4085. Tx on 9495 starts later - about 0405v. At daytime I heard *1545-1832* on 9495 & 4085. ID in Ar: Sawt al-Kurdistani al-Iraq ; ID in Kurdish: Aira dangi Kurdistana Iraqa. VOICE OF ISLAMIC REVOL IN IRAQ. Heard on 18 Jan (and later) on 6195 (SINPO- 32432) under BBC WS and on parallels 6065, 6095, 7295 at *0330-0530* via VOIROI (IRN). The progr was in Ar with ID: Sawt al- Thawrah al-Islamiyah fi al-Iraq. Translation in En: Voice of Islamic Revolution in IRQ. Also aditional ID as: Sawt al-Shaa'b al- Iraqi muslimns... (Voice of Iraqi muslims people...). In progr: ID, Qur'an, talk about IRN, IRQ also mx. In Feb this stn monitored *0330-0530* on 6095, 6195, 7295, 12015. VOICE OF MOJAHED. Monitored in Feb at *0227-0530* on 5350v 5650v 6250v 6450v 6850v 7050v 7450v 7850v 8350v 8850v 9350v. The station jumping with steps n x10 kHz. QRM: jammer. Other progr monitored *1427-1832* on the same freqs as in the morning. Progrs were in Farsi with ID: Seda-ye Mojahed, seda-ye Mojahedine Khalge Iran. In px: talk about Rafsanjani, Khomeinei, regime Iran and patriotic mx. (Robert Petraitis, Lithuania, Mar 28 [sic], BC-DX Mar 9 via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XERTA confirmed reactivated on 4800.5, March 7 from tune- in 0400, music and announcements very distorted, but at 0539 and 0542 got definite XERTA, Radio Transcontinental de America IDs. Still claims to broadcast in Spanish, French and English (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1027, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER (?). An unID is on 7470.00 for one hour only 0701-0801* March 9, not //Tunisia 630 as has always been the case in the past. Some French, Arabic, and Sahel music. Closed with anthem on brass band but I was not taping to check it out; will try tomorrow. I suppose that's a signal coming from a Saharan country, either from La Voix du Sahel Niamey, or less likely from Chad, because of the morning grayline. Nothing heard on 7155 and 7160. Thomcast announced on their website last autumn that renovation contracts were signed with both Mauritania and Nigeria, to erect new 250 kW units and a few antennas. But the signal on 7470 isn't coming from those countries (Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. Here is a special release from Peter McIntyre, FEBC, Manila. Peter also advises that "DX Dial" will be discontinued. Regards Bob Padula ========== OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT as of March 8, 2000 As a result of consultations with FEB International in Cyprus, it was decided to close down the Overseas English Service broadcast in FEBC Philippines. Several factors led to this decision: A new worldwide English service is being developed using both radio and the internet. This service is a joint undertaking of both FEBC and FEBA. The idea is to have only one identity. The issue of ownership: Unlike all of our language broadcasts, Overseas English has no real owner responsible for its overall direction and strategy. There is no English Director in the same way as there is a Chinese programming director or a Burmese director. It is a strategic and structural decision, and not a decision based on the performance of the program nor on money. Overseas English programming is paying for itself through TDPs. The new English service may be seen as a network of interfacing units (both production and transmission) based not necessarily or only in the Philippines. The manner of closure, which will take place sometime in June or July, is being planned by Hazel Alvarez and the Overseas English team. Peter McIntyre pm@febc.org.ph (via Bob Padula, March 9, Elecronic DX Press via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. With the high MUFs currently being experienced, a very strong AM broadcast station is being heard in the exclusive amateur band on 29.160 MHz. The signal has been identified as the third harmonic of a Russian language station operating on 9.720 MHz. Its second harmonic on 19.440 MHz is also being heard world-wide. It is on the air daily, broadcasting news and popular music, and closes at 1500 UTC. A tentative suggestion is that it is Radio Rossii located in Volgograd, previously called Stalingrad. During the last sunspot peak, a Russian jamming station, using narrow-band FM with a regular Morse identification, used to come through around the same frequency. Many of these old jamming transmitters are now employed for broadcasting, and the GB2RS News Manager, Gordon Adams, G3LEQ, would like any definite identification sent by e-mail to GB2RS at the address gb2rs@cwctv.net, or by voice mail or fax to 01565 634 560. This information can then be passed for action to the IARU Monitoring Service and to the RA Receiving Station at Baldock. (Radio Society of Great Britain GB2RS News, posted March 8, via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA/VIETNAM [non]. Glenn, VoR was heard 2100-2200 on March 5 on NF 7360, ex 5940. Also listed is 7310 from 1800-2200. Until March 25. VoV coming in beautifully on NF 7250 at 0100 & 0230, without the DGS nonsense we put up with all winter (Ivan Grishin, Ont., WORLD OF RADIO 1027, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA: Re: >>7530 Radio Hargeysa at 1500-1800<< According to my observations on 7530 kHz, Radio Hargeysa is in USB & carrier only (LSB missing) and its s/off time has been always at 1900 UTC (rather than 1800 UTC) during the past seven days. vy73 (Harald Kuhl, Germany, March 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AMERICA. Dear Friends: Radio Blandengue from some place in South America will be on the air next weekend performing his pirate activities on 14565 KHz LSB according to the following sked: ALL TIME IS UTC Saturday March 11, 2000 1700 -1730 Emisora Z del Dragon 1730 -1800 Radio Blandengue 1800 -1830 Emisora Z del Dragon 1830 -1900 Radio Blandengue Sunday March 12, 2000 0000 -0030 Emisora Z del Dragon 0030 -0100 Radio Blandengue 0100 -0130 Emisora Z del Dragon 0130 -0200 Radio Blandengue QSL 100 % Guaranteed Please include 2 IRC for postal charges Address for reports: Emisora Z del Dragon Casilla 159 Santiago 14 CHILE e- mail: emizoraz@yahoo.es Radio Blandengue Box 293 Merlin, Ontario N0P 1W0 CANADA 73 and FFFR !!! (Raul Gonzalez, Operator of Radio Blandengue) e-mails: radio.blandengue@altavista.net radio.blandengue@usa.net http://members.xoom.com/blandengue/ http://go.to/blandengue ** SWITZERLAND. The most interesting, best produced program on Swiss Radio International-World Radio Switzerland is being dropped. There is no reason for this and SRI refuses to give any reason. Programs like Tourism Rendezvous bring some face to a faceless station like SRI. Switzerland is not as boring as SRI makes it and program like Tourism Rendezvous really bring the place alive. It's really good radio! I`M ASKING YOU to write an email asking that the Tourism Rendezvous program continue each Sunday. Please send your E-mail to: English@sri.ch with a copy Ron.Popper@sri.ch (Larry Nebron, swprograms March 7 via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. On Tuesday [March 7] I heard from 1530 UT on 6900, Turkish State Metreological Service reactivated. Signal is very strong here. Programming consists of nonstop Turkish folk music except for two brief announcements by a man at 1533 and 1613. ID heard at 1630 mentioning Ankara. From 1630 to 1634 there followed a detailed weather report for Turkey, temperatures for various cities. Closed at 1635 with Turkey`s national anthem. Carrier remained on until about 1720. I think this frequency will be in use from now on. In the last few weeks a new Somali station called Rahaweyn Resistance Army, Baydhabo suddenly surfaced on same frequency (Hans-Joachim Koch, Niddatal, Germany, March 7, translated by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. RUI on March 4 at *0100-0200 in English, with IS, ID, news, local folk music, good level on 9560 and 9610, weak under unID co-channel on 6020. At 0400 in English: news, commentary, local music, good on 9600 and 9610, very strong on 9870, and very weak on 11825 (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1027, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. HI-HO, HO-HO, It's off to Kulpsville I go. Kulpsville, PA that is, for the 13th annual Shortwave Listeners Winter Festival. We'll be doing a remote broadcast from there at our usual time on Saturday night, 8PM eastern/0100 UTC Sunday [March 12] on WBCQ/7415. The show will not be live but actually recorded over 2 days and edited and fed to the station at an earlier time that afternoon. It will not be available on our live365.com feed until sometime on Monday night (``Big Steve`` Cole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. 9650, Em. Ciudad de Montevideo at 0220 March 8; finally got this one on extended sked, but very weak and heavily QRMed by 9645 R. Bandeirantes. They carry Carnival Contest live from "Teatro de Verano". They should be transmitting at these times in the week or so ahead (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UZBEKISTAN. R. Tashkent, 7105, March 4 *0100-0130: s/on with IS, ID, English news, features, local music with a Mideast flair. Good- strong but audio somewhat muffled and difficult to understand. //7285 weak under an unID co-channel station (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1027, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###