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  1. DX LISTENING DIGEST 18-33, August 14, 2018
  2. Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING
  3. edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com
  4.  
  5. Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full
  6. credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies.
  7. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission.
  8.  
  9. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not
  10. having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of
  11. noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits
  12.  
  13. For restrixions and searchable 2018 contents archive see
  14. http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html
  15. [also linx to previous years]
  16.  
  17. NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but
  18. have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself
  19. obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn
  20.  
  21. WORLD OF RADIO 1943 contents: Antarctica, Australia and non, Bahamas,
  22. Brasil, Cuba and non, Indonesia, Korea South, Kuwait, México, Perú,
  23. Philippines non, Romania, South Carolina non, Tibet non, USA,
  24. convention, publication, and the propagation outlook
  25.  
  26. SHORTWAVE AIRINGS of WORLD OF RADIO 1943, August 14-21, 2018
  27.  
  28. Tue 2030 WRMI 5950 7780 [1942 replayed?]
  29. Tue 2130 WRMI 5950 [presumably]
  30. Tue 2330 WBCQ 9330v [not aired]
  31. Wed 1030 WRMI 5950 [confirmed]
  32. Wed 2100 WRMI 9955 [confirmed from 2100:30]
  33. Wed 2100 WBCQ 7490v [off the air]
  34. Wed 2330 WBCQ 9330v [not aired]
  35. Thu 2330 WBCQ 9330v [not aired]
  36. Fri 2330 WBCQ 9330v [maybe]
  37. Sat 0630 HLR 6190-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio
  38. Sat 1431 HLR 6190-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio
  39. Sat 1930v WA0RCR 1860-AM
  40. Sat 2130 WBCQ 9330v [maybe, or 2330?]
  41. Sun 0310v WA0RCR 1860-AM
  42. Sun 1030 HLR 9485-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio
  43. Sun 2130 WRMI 7780 [NEW]
  44. Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v [maybe]
  45. Mon 0130 WRMI 5850, 7780 [really 0130:30]
  46. Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v-AM Area 51
  47. Mon 0330 WRMI 9955
  48. Mon 0400 WRMI webcast only
  49. Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v [maybe]
  50. Tue 0030 WRMI 7730
  51. Tue 2030 WRMI 5950, 7780 [or #1944?]
  52.  
  53. Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite
  54. and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at:
  55. http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html or
  56. http://schedule.worldofradio.org or http://sked.worldofradio.org
  57.  
  58. For updates see our Anomaly Alert page:
  59. http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html
  60.  
  61. WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS:
  62. Tnx to Dr Harald Gabler and the Rhein-Main Radio Club.
  63. http://www.rmrc.de/index.php/rmrc-audio-plattform/podcast/glenn-hauser-wor
  64.  
  65. ALTERNATIVE PODCASTS, tnx Stephen Cooper:
  66. http://shortwave.am/wor.xml
  67.  
  68. ANOTHER PODCAST ALTERNATIVE, tnx to Keith Weston:
  69. http://feeds.feedburner.com/GlennHausersWorldOfRadio
  70.  
  71. NOW tnx to Keith Weston, also Podcasts via iTunes:
  72. https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/glenn-hausers-world-of-radio/id1123369861
  73.  
  74. AND via Google Play Music:
  75. http://bit.ly/worldofradio
  76.  
  77. OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO:
  78. http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html
  79. or http://wor.worldofradio.org
  80.  
  81. DAY-BY-DAY ARCHIVE OF GLENN HAUSER`S LOG REPORTS:
  82. Unedited, uncondensed, unchanged from original version, many of
  83. them too complex, minutely researched, multi-frequency, opinionated,
  84. inconsequential, off-topic, or lengthy for some log editors to
  85. manage; and also ahead of their availability in these weekly issues:
  86. http://www.hard-core-dx.com/index.php?topic=Hauser
  87.  
  88. IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!! WOR IO GROUP: Effective Feb 4, 2018, DXLD yg
  89. archive and members have been migrated to this group:
  90. https://groups.io/g/WOR
  91. [there was already an unrelated group at io named dxld!, so new name]
  92. From now on, the io group is primary, where all posts should go. One
  93. may apply for membership, subscribe via the above site.
  94.  
  95. DXLD yahoogroup: remains in existence, and members are free to COPY
  96. same info to it, as backup, but no posts should go to it only. They
  97. may want to change delivery settings to no e-mail, and/or no digest.
  98. The change was necessary due to increasing outages, long delays in
  99. posts appearing, and search failures at the yg.
  100.  
  101. Why wait for DXLD issues? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in
  102. DXLD later, is posted at our io group without delay.
  103.  
  104. NEWISH! DX LISTENING DIGEST IN PDF, HTML VERSIONS
  105.  
  106. Jacques Champagne in Ville-Marie, Québec, has developed programs to
  107. convert DXLD .txt into PDF and HTML versions for his own use, and now
  108. has made them available to the rest of us. Starting with 18-24, they
  109. have been posted as attachments to the WOR iog. He says it takes about
  110. an hour to do this, once each issue is published. Merci, Jacques! (gh)
  111.  
  112. ** ALASKA. HAARP presentation at DEF CON 2018 --- A very interesting
  113. presentation by HAARP researcher and scientist Chris fallen KL3WX
  114. about the recent experiments:
  115. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6ITlQYNVDQ
  116. Starts about 30 minutes in and lasts for an hour. Lots of interesting
  117. background info, very well done I thought (Don VE6JY Moman, Alberta,
  118. Aug 10, WOR iog via DXLD)
  119.  
  120. The August 12 issue of Conexión Digital from Argentina includes a long
  121. unsourced story (in Spanish) claiming that the real purpose of HAARP
  122. is to cause earthquakes anywhere in the world and accusing it of
  123. having already done so. But don`t worry: the Russians have a similar
  124. program called SURA, capable of destroying the USA! What conspiracy
  125. nonsense, treated unchallenged by CD as if it were credible (Glenn
  126. Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  127.  
  128. ** ALBANIA [non]. 9395, USA, Radio Tirana [non-log], as Glenn Hauser
  129. and others have reported, Radio Tirana time slots on WRMI are being
  130. filled with music in recent weeks. Same tonight. - Aug. 7 (Harold
  131. Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia. Listening in my car, parked
  132. overlooking Kalamalka Lake. CommRadio CR-1a and Sony AN-1 whip
  133. antenna, WOR iog via DXLD) i.e. 0230 UT (gh)
  134.  
  135. ** ANGUILLA [and non]. 11775, Caribbean Beacon / University Network at
  136. 1615. Definitely on today, with a DGS lecture (Dr. Gene Scott from the
  137. beyond), going at 1623, to the request for some bread music. However,
  138. after a trip to make more coffee in the kitchen, I return to just some
  139. static. Switching on the BFO I AM getting a carrier here, but that is
  140. about it. Still the same on recheck at 1830. At 2020, VG now, with
  141. Pastor Melissa, and not the cigar smoking Doc. Still VG at 2100, this
  142. time with the Doc, tho cigar use unknown. 2200 recheck had it off the
  143. air.
  144.  
  145. *NOTE: there was this from Glenn Hauser: "U S A. 12695.5-CW, Aug 11 at
  146. 2229, VVV VVV VVV CQ DE KFS --- it`s the OSOB heard with an ID marker
  147. --- as I have tuned the entire 12 MHz marine band which is mostly
  148. vacant now. So KFS, California....."
  149.  
  150. I was hearing this marker all afternoon on 11775 as an image covering
  151. Caribbean Beacon Anguilla when checking with a couple of my portables.
  152. It was still on the channel after Anguilla closed. August 12 (Rick
  153. Barton, from Central Arizona. Grundig Satellit 205(T.5000) & 750; RS
  154. SW-2000629, & ATS-909X with various outdoor wires. 73 and Good
  155. Listening....! -rb, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  156.  
  157. That`s 920 kHz away, so those receivers must have IF of 460 instead of
  158. the more common 455 kHz; or maybe just too broad (gh, DXLD)
  159.  
  160. ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, LRA 36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel,
  161. Base Esperanza, 1720-1903*, 13-08, only very weak carrier detected
  162. here in Lugo. Via remote receiver SDR Kiwi, Ticino, Switzerland, only
  163. carrier detected. Audible via remote receiver SDR Kiwi, Pardinho [SP
  164. Brasil], 15475.97, songs, Spanish, comments, female, "Base Esperanza,
  165. Esperanza Antártida", male, ID "Desde Esperanza Antártida, un programa
  166. de LRA 36" (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna,
  167. 8 meters, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  168.  
  169. ** AUSTRALIA. 558-6WA (Wagin, Western Australia) Recording Matched to
  170. ABC Podcast
  171.  
  172. On the last day of my 9-day DXpedition to the Rockwork Ocean cliff the
  173. Western Australia station 558-6WA (9,154 miles, or 14,731 km) finally
  174. made its first appearance of the entire DXpedition, a few hours before
  175. I needed to drive back to Puyallup. The extreme long-range station had
  176. been heard at the Rockwork cliff for the past three August
  177. DXpeditions, but it certainly waited until the last moment to show up
  178. this time.
  179.  
  180. At 1254 UT on August 9th I was set up at the Rockwork 6 ocean cliff,
  181. after having taken my chances in squeezing in between a couple of
  182. "squatter" vehicles in total darkness at 1100 UT (0400 local time). I
  183. set up one 15" FSL to record 531 kHz continuously, and another one to
  184. record 558 kHz continuously (531-6DL and 558-6WA had both been heard
  185. by Tom R. and me last August). Nothing at all was received on 558
  186. until around 1253, when a station started breaking through the 560-KPQ
  187. splatter. I assumed that this would be Radio Fiji One, as it had been
  188. for the past 8 days-- but it wasn't. It was female-voiced DU English,
  189. which immediately got swallowed up by Radio Fiji One after about a
  190. minute. Fortunately, there was enough reception of the DU English
  191. station to record a modest MP3
  192. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/dv5g0dc3k469p7upm5t92dy66fq34u8l
  193.  
  194. Now came the fun part -- matching the recording to the byzantine,
  195. contradictory ABC website. The recording was a little too "challenged"
  196. to get the general theme of conversation, and Radio Fiji One's
  197. accompaniment didn't help much. My only hope was to dig out a few
  198. words of speech, and match it to an ABC Podcast.
  199.  
  200. According to the ABC website the program being broadcast from 558-6WA
  201. at the time (2254 in Wagin) was "Nightlife," with Philip Clark and
  202. Sarah Macdonald. There were multiple female guests on the program, and
  203. it seemed like looking for a needle in a haystack. Concentrating on
  204. the time of reception I narrowed it down to one female speaker, who
  205. fortunately said "You have to be extremely careful of the vanity
  206. publishing area," which matched the same content as from :30 to :35 in
  207. my 558 kHz recording above
  208. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/mw00oo69wdovircqi0q95cfr5db9ykok
  209.  
  210. So 558-6WA has now been received for four years in a row at the
  211. Rockwork ocean cliff in August-- but it's too bad that my DXpedition
  212. partners Craig, Nick and Tom didn't get a chance to track it down this
  213. time. 73 and Good DX, (Gary DeBock (DXing at the Rockwork 6 ocean
  214. cliff near Manzanita, OR, USA), 7.5" loopstick XHDATA D-808 portable +
  215. 15" FSL antenna, Aug 13, nrc-am gg via DXLD) MUCH more at DX-PEDITIONS
  216. (gh)
  217.  
  218. ** AUSTRALIA. Ozy Radio. Interesting development with regard to one of
  219. our domestic SW stations currently playing great Aussie hits from the
  220. last few decades. As per the attached image, [in] a post on the ARDXC
  221. Facebook page, Craig Allen is looking to lease Ozy Radio to a
  222. "national broadcaster or religious group" Regards, (Michael
  223. Cunningham, SW Bulletin Aug 12 via WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DXLD)
  224.  
  225. Hobart Radio International Facebook page:
  226.  
  227. Pulse FM Kingborough and Huon, Australia, August 8, 2018 We welcome
  228. all of our new listeners across the Pacific on 4835 kHz Shortwave!
  229.  
  230. In partnership with Radio Ozy [sic], Pulse FM Tasmania can now be
  231. heard across Australasia and surrounding continents on shortwave radio
  232. (4835) between 12 am and 6 am every day (Hobart Time) (1400-2000 UT).
  233. Tune in, and let us know where you're listening from!
  234.  
  235. #alwayslocal #pulsefmtas FOR DX ENTHUSIASTS: Please send your
  236. reception reports to knh@pulsefm.com.au
  237. (via Mike Terry, Aug 10, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DXLD)
  238.  
  239. ** AUSTRALIA. 5055, August 8 at 1146, JBA carrier from presumed 4KZ
  240. Queensland, despite storm noise level and switch to indoor longwire
  241. for safety. During July, Ron Howard had noted it cutting off the air
  242. by a timer, a few seconds earlier from one day to the next, reaching
  243. 1148:52* by July 31, so I am expecting carrier to vanish sometime
  244. during the 1148 or maybe 1147 minute --- but it does not! I am about
  245. to tire of listening to its JBA tone with BFO on 5054, when finally it
  246. stops at approx. 1157:11.5*, wouldn`t you know it, when I have glanced
  247. away from my watch. Perhaps Ron can confirm the new timing.
  248.  
  249. 4835, that accomplished, still on the indoor longwire, I retune for
  250. the other low power Aussie, OzyRadio in NSW which Ron says had
  251. reactivated August 3 after a monthlong absence. 4840 WWCR has just
  252. closed at 1158, helping to audiblize the 4835 JBA carrier, but which
  253. here could also be Sikkim. Ozy normally stays on much later, far too
  254. long after sunrise here, so I am not going to log it by matching a
  255. cutoff time like with 4KZ. I shall be very lucky ever to hear
  256. something really identifiable from OzyR, such as the ex-RA version of
  257. ``Waltzing Matilda`` it plays at some set times (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
  258. LISTENING DIGEST)
  259.  
  260. ** AUSTRALIA [non]. Unique Radio via WINB August 11th 2018, 1100 UT
  261.  
  262. Unique radio via WINB Red Lion Pennsylvania USA --- Saturday night 9
  263. PM AEST (Australia Eastern states) on 9265 from Saturday August 11th
  264. 1100-1300 UT (USA 7AM EDT, 6AM CDT, 4AM in Canada [sic] and west USA)
  265. also will include a brand new Hobart Radio International from 1200 UT
  266. for half an hour
  267.  
  268. If you hear Unique Radio Australia I would appreciate a reception
  269. report to: nri3@yahoo.com.au
  270.  
  271. Many thanks and best regards (Tim Gaynor, Unique Radio, Gunnedah NSW
  272. Australia, WOR iog via DXLD)
  273.  
  274. [9265 WINB:] Started at 1111 UT, interrupting the religious program.
  275. Ran for the full two hours, ending at 1311. According to Tim Gaynor,
  276. might also be on again this evening, starting at 0300 UT (-- Richard
  277. Langley, 0259 UT Aug 12, ibid.)
  278.  
  279. Nothing heard here in NB. Appears that WINB was not on the air at this
  280. time (-- Richard Langley, 1911 UT Aug 12, ibid., WORLD OF RADIO 1943)
  281. See also USA: WINB
  282.  
  283. ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. CHINA CATCHING UP TO AUST-PACIFIC AID
  284. Australian Associated Press Angus Livingston and Daniel McCulloch
  285. 8 August 2018
  286.  
  287. https://au.news.yahoo.com/china-catching-aust-pacific-aid-140528763--spt.html
  288.  
  289. Australia is still the biggest donor to developing Pacific nations but
  290. China is catching up fast.
  291.  
  292. The Lowy Institute's Pacific aid maps show eight years of foreign aid
  293. given to island nations, with Australia leading the pack with more
  294. than $6.5 billion already spent.
  295.  
  296. But China has climbed up the rankings in the past couple of years to
  297. sit second overall, overtaking New Zealand.
  298.  
  299. There are long-held concerns China is "on the march" in the region by
  300. bankrolling projects including ports, roads and loans to small island
  301. nations.
  302.  
  303. Observers fear some countries could end up ceding their sovereignty
  304. and be saddled with unsustainable debt.
  305.  
  306. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia welcomed the role played
  307. by all donors including China to support development in the Pacific.
  308.  
  309. "But the challenge for development partners is to ensure investments
  310. support sustainable economic growth and that they don't impose onerous
  311. debt burdens on regional governments," Ms Bishop told ABC radio.
  312.  
  313. "Australia encourages investments that ensure local communities are
  314. sustained, that local labour forces are used, and don't impose onerous
  315. debt burdens on the local communities."
  316.  
  317. The Lowy Institute has collected data on close to 13,000 projects in
  318. 14 countries, supplied by 62 donors from 2011 onwards.
  319.  
  320. Ms Bishop and Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Malielegaoi will
  321. officially launch the institute's map in Samoa on Thursday.
  322.  
  323. Australia has given almost $3 billion to its closest neighbour Papua
  324. New Guinea and $1.1 billion to the Solomon Islands.
  325.  
  326. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull recently committed to building an
  327. undersea communications network connecting the two countries with
  328. Australia, rather than let China build it.
  329.  
  330. Australia has expressed security concerns about letting China build
  331. the cables, while the Turnbull government has faced criticism for
  332. letting another nation dominate Pacific aid funding.
  333.  
  334. New Zealand is the third largest donor, followed by the United States
  335. and Japan.
  336.  
  337. The prime minister of Vanuatu asked Australia this week to resume
  338. shortwave radio broadcasting in the Pacific, warning lives could be
  339. lost during natural disasters without the service.
  340.  
  341. The ABC switched off its shortwave services in the Pacific in January
  342. 2017, with a Chinese radio station since taking over some of the
  343. frequencies.
  344.  
  345. Ms Bishop said the Australian government did not support the ABC's
  346. decision to end its shortwave service.
  347.  
  348. She will on Thursday launch a radio transmission facility in Samoa
  349. paid for through Australian aid.
  350.  
  351. "I clearly see it as a matter of significance," Ms Bishop said. (via
  352. Mike Cooper, Artie Bigley, DXLD)
  353.  
  354. ABC'S SHORTWAVE CUTBACK 'WEAKENS THIN LINK' FOR PACIFIC, SAYS PMC
  355. Asia Pacific Report-21 hours ago
  356. By Leilani Sitagata of Pacific Media Watch.
  357.  
  358. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation's cutback in services to the
  359. Asia-Pacific region has “weakened the thin link” ...
  360. https://asiapacificreport.nz/2018/08/09/abcs-shortwave-cutback-weakens-thin-link-for-pacific-says-pmc/
  361. (via Artie Bigley, DXLD)
  362.  
  363. Julie Bishop: 'We did not support the ABC closing its shortwave in the
  364. ... Radioinfo-6 hours ago
  365.  
  366. Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has told RN's Fran Kelly that
  367. her party did not support the ABC's decision to switch off short wave
  368. services in the Pacific. . .
  369. https://www.radioinfo.com.au/news/julie-bishop-we-did-not-support-abc-closing-its-shortwave-pacific
  370. (via Artie Bigley, DXLD)
  371.  
  372. DIPLOMACY IN THE POST-BROADCASTING ERA
  373. The Interpreter-12 hours ago
  374.  
  375. Shortwave radio broadcasting is no longer a viable option. As early as
  376. 2010, I led a team that investigated the prevalence of shortwave radio
  377. listening in China, ...
  378. https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/diplomacy-in-the-post-broadcasting-era
  379. (Via Artie Bigley, Aug 14, DXLD) Viz.:
  380.  
  381. By Wanning Sun 14 August 2018 12:00 AEDT Share COMMENTS 0
  382.  
  383. The Department of Communications is now reviewing submissions on the
  384. issue of Australian Broadcasting Services in the Asia-Pacific region.
  385. This is timely. As always, communicating Australia’s views and voices
  386. to the Asia-Pacific region is important. And, more than ever before,
  387. finding effective pathways for accessing audiences in this region
  388. presents the utmost challenge.
  389.  
  390. It seems that the debate has so far focused on the role of the ABC.
  391. Implicit in this is the assumption that broadcast transmission will
  392. continue to be relevant as a means of content delivery.
  393.  
  394. The future clearly lies in the effective online delivery of a wide
  395. variety of content in an assortment of different forms.
  396.  
  397. Shortwave radio broadcasting is no longer a viable option. As early as
  398. 2010, I led a team that investigated the prevalence of shortwave radio
  399. listening in China, and found that the number of listeners there was
  400. negligible.
  401.  
  402. Shortwave is often subject to deliberate disruption by the censorship
  403. mechanisms of receiving countries. The signal is also increasingly
  404. disrupted by the battery-powered bikes that are now ubiquitous in
  405. urban spaces throughout Asian countries.
  406.  
  407. While public diplomacy through international broadcasting, such as the
  408. BBC, has been in operation for many decades, the broadcast
  409. transmission model – whether by satellite or terrestrial – is no
  410. longer viable. Public diplomacy in the digital era demands a very
  411. different suite of approaches from those of days gone by. The sooner
  412. we rid ourselves of a simple sender–receiver transmission model of
  413. communication and start to adopt a more flexible, agile, multi-
  414. platform, interactive, diffused model, the sooner we will begin to
  415. make progress in identifying suitable solutions to the challenges
  416. facing public diplomacy today.
  417.  
  418. There are two main reasons that demand such a paradigm shift, the
  419. first of which is technological. We have now truly entered the post-
  420. broadcasting era. While many locations in the Asia-Pacific region
  421. still do not have extensive internet coverage, the most populous Asian
  422. countries – India, Indonesia, China – are highly digitalised. Most
  423. people nowadays typically access audio (including radio) and visual
  424. (including TV) content via online platforms delivered to mobile
  425. devices. The future clearly lies in the effective online delivery of a
  426. wide variety of content in an assortment of different forms, including
  427. written-word content, podcasts, vodcasts, and digital
  428. radio/television.
  429.  
  430. The second reason that a new paradigm is needed is social. The size of
  431. Australia’s migrant population from the Asia-Pacific region has grown
  432. exponentially. Migrants now routinely and frequently travel between
  433. Australia and the Asia-Pacific for business and for pleasure.
  434. Moreover, the media consumption practices of these migrants have also
  435. changed. There is an unprecedented high level of interface and overlap
  436. between what these migrants consume in Australia and what people in
  437. their home countries consume.
  438.  
  439. One important implication of these developments is the potential of
  440. diasporic ethnic-language media to function as de facto instruments of
  441. public diplomacy on behalf of Australia. The Australia Government’s
  442. Public Diplomacy Strategy (2014–16) rightly points to the importance
  443. of “diaspora diplomacy”, by making active use of “online and social
  444. media as public diplomacy tools”. The latest Foreign Policy White
  445. Paper also reinforces this point.
  446.  
  447. In moving away from a transmission-based broadcasting model, we must
  448. also embrace something closer to narrowcasting, as the underlying
  449. philosophy of content development. This means that, while we will
  450. increasingly need to adopt a country-specific approach, we must also
  451. think about how to use multiple approaches, simultaneously, to target
  452. one particular country/region.
  453.  
  454. This may involve setting up digital platforms that can reach these
  455. destinations directly. Ideally, there should be a public service–led
  456. digital strategy, plus good offline support and localisation. It may
  457. also involve partnership with foreign media organisations –
  458. government, commercial, or independent. Finally, we must take concrete
  459. steps towards making good use of the diasporic language media in
  460. Australia.
  461.  
  462. For instance, China presents a most challenging case due to its
  463. censorship practices and a regulatory framework characterised by a
  464. suspicion and distrust of foreign media. At the same time, there is a
  465. vast and growing number of Chinese migrants in Australia, and a near-
  466. saturated uptake of the Chinese social media platform WeChat both in
  467. China itself and among PRC migrants all over the world.
  468.  
  469. It therefore seems logical for Australia to explore how to access
  470. Chinese audiences through such subscription accounts, particularly
  471. those that are used by diasporic Chinese. In this way, the Chinese
  472. social media platforms are potential intermediaries for reaching
  473. Chinese audiences in China.
  474.  
  475. Some may say that WeChat is subject to the Chinese government’s
  476. censorship – and indeed it is. But so are any other forms of foreign
  477. content going to China. Moreover, compared to broadcasting, digital
  478. platforms present more opportunities for dealing with, if not
  479. bypassing, censorship.
  480.  
  481. Current thinking about Australia’s exercise of public diplomacy and
  482. soft power within the Asia-Pacific region has more or less ignored
  483. this sector. It is time we started regarding diasporic language media
  484. in Australia not only as isolated pockets of ethnic language media,
  485. but also as potentially powerful gateways for projecting Australia’s
  486. interests and values into the heartland of a number of Asia-Pacific
  487. nations.
  488.  
  489. It is also time we went beyond the traditional understanding of public
  490. diplomacy and started exploring how people-to-people diplomacy can
  491. work towards the same goal as public diplomacy via media.
  492.  
  493. Public diplomacy in the digital era requires not simply a rejigging of
  494. the current broadcast transmission model, it requires a complete
  495. paradigm shift. And the process of identifying strategies and
  496. solutions within this new paradigm should draw on research from fields
  497. such as business management, political communication (particularly
  498. theories of nation branding), and cross-cultural studies, as well as
  499. from international relations.
  500.  
  501. This article is based on a submission by the author to the review of
  502. Australian broadcasting services (via Artie Bigley, DXLD)
  503.  
  504. That`s it! Time to hang up our headphones, dispose of SW stuff (gh)
  505.  
  506. ** AUSTRALIA. 9670, Reach Beyond Australia (presumed); 1234, 8/8;
  507. Religious program in S p e c i a l English about the development of
  508. Esperanto & its use to translate the Bible. SIO=353-; EiBi lists
  509. English on day 4; Aoki lists “NAG” (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA,
  510. Drake R8B + 185' RW, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in
  511. real time & without the aid of a computer! -----, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  512.  
  513. ** BAHAMAS. 810, ZNS3 Radio Bahamas, Freeport, Grand Bahama. 1007
  514. August 9, 2018. Accented English preacher. Checking ZNS1 1540 kc/s
  515. audio, WSJC, and WRSO streams, none parallel. Then at 1014, male "...
  516. here on Z(ed)NS 810 AM." More preaching segments with a couple gospel
  517. vocals until live, wonderful voice and presentation female announcer
  518. mentioning the previous program was sponsored by some business run by
  519. the Pinders (common name in the Bahamas). Parallel the Streema audio
  520. located, which included a hurricane tip sponsored by The Bahamas
  521. Department of Meteorology, greetings to out islanders and a reminder
  522. to turn your radio off when calling the station, then she read
  523. greetings to various listeners including, yep, someone with the Pinder
  524. surname. Male at 1050, Z(ed)NS 810 AM, blessing you with more programs
  525. and music that inspire." Completely faded by 1055.
  526.  
  527. This one is almost never heard here, so they must have done something
  528. with their power or pattern. Sent an email with the inquiry about
  529. their signal gain, via their website, though I'm confident it won't be
  530. read much less responded to (Terry L. Krueger, All dates/times GMT,
  531. Clearwater, FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, broken longwires, active MW loop,
  532. WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  533.  
  534. NRC Pattern Book shows it ND day and night; WRTH shows 10 kW, and now
  535. branded as the Gospel Station (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX
  536. LISTENING DIGEST)
  537.  
  538. ** BAHRAIN. Fair to good signal of Radio Bahrain on August 11
  539. from 0515 on 9745 ABH 010 kW / non-dir to N/ME Arabic CUSB:
  540. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/fair-to-good-signal-of-radio-bahrain-on.html
  541. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 10-11, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  542.  
  543. ** BANGLADESH. Bangladesh Betar in English/Bangla in 22mb, August 10
  544. 1745-1900 on 13580 DKA 250 kW / 320 deg to WeEu English, very good
  545. 1915-2000 on 13580 DKA 250 kW / 320 deg to WeEu Bangla, very good:
  546. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-bangladesh-betar-in.html
  547. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  548.  
  549. Reception of Bangladesh Betar in 19mb on August 13
  550. 1400-1430 on 15505 DKA 250 kW / 290 deg to WeAs Urdu, very good
  551. 1515-1545 on 15505 DKA 250 kW / 305 deg to SoAs Hindi-very good
  552. No signal of Bangladesh Betar on both frequencies on August 12!
  553. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-bangladesh-betar-in-19mb.html
  554. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  555.  
  556. ** BOUGAINVILLE. 3325, NBC Bougainville (Maus Blong Sankamap), 1033-
  557. 1055, Aug 7. Unusually long non-stop
  558. monologue in Pidgin, till hit with VOI starting up at *1055 (Ron
  559. Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna:
  560. 100' long wire, WOR iog via DXLD)
  561.  
  562. ** BRAZIL. BRASIL, Fair signal of Rádio Voz Missionária on August 9
  563. from 2202 on 5939.7 CAB 0.5 kW / non-dir to BRA Portuguese
  564. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/fair-signal-of-radio-voz-missionaria-on.html
  565. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 9-10, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  566.  
  567. ** BRAZIL. 6010, 12 Ago, 2100, BRASIL, R Inconfidência em português.
  568. ID com divulgação de todas as frequências, inclusive da 15190 que eu
  569. não a ouço aqui há anos. Alguém ouvi a Inconfidência em 15190 kHz?
  570. Sinal razoável. 73 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana Bahia, 12 14´S
  571. 38 58´W - Brasil, Tecsun PL-310ET, Antenna dipole of 25m, WOR iog via
  572. DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  573.  
  574. ** BRAZIL [and non]. 11735-, August 8 at 1846, two very poor carriers
  575. slightly apart making a LAH = low audible heterodyne between them, and
  576. a double-pitch het with offset BFO, i.e. Zanzibar and Rádio
  577. Transmundial. I have hastened to check following this via Daniel
  578. Wyllyans, HCDX:
  579.  
  580. ``RTM OFF Shortwave 09 Ago 2018? --- "A Rádio Trans Mundial encerrou
  581. suas transmissões em Ondas Curtas no dia 09/08/2018. Durante mais de
  582. 20 anos a Rádio Trans Mundial investiu nesse meio com excelentes
  583. resultados em todo o Brasil. Devido, porém, aos avanços tecnológicos
  584. na área de comunicação e após muita reflexão e oração, entendemos que
  585. esta era a melhor decisão a tomar. Você pode nos acompanhar através de
  586. nosso site – Transmundial.org.br – aplicativo, e emissoras afiliadas,
  587. meios nos quais temos experimentado grande crescimento em audiência
  588. nos últimos anos. Agradecemos primeiramente a Deus pelo privilégio de
  589. comunicarmos a mensagem de salvação em Jesus Cristo pelas Ondas
  590. Curtas. Também agradecemos a você e todos os ouvintes que nos
  591. acompanharam durante este tempo. Que Deus nos abençoe e nos ajude a
  592. avançarmos cada vez mais. Contamos com suas orações e parceria".
  593. Grande abraço da RTM``
  594.  
  595. Google translation improved by gh:
  596.  
  597. ``RTM OFF Shortwave 09 Aug 2018? --- "Rádio Trans Mundial closed its
  598. broadcasts on SW on 09/08/2018 [Google changed this to 08/08!]. For
  599. more than 20 years, Trans World Radio invested in this medium with
  600. excellent results all over Brazil. But due to technological advances
  601. in communication, and after much reflection and prayer, we understand
  602. that this was the best decision to make. You can follow us through our
  603. website - Transmundial.org.br - app, and affiliated broadcasters,
  604. media through which we have experienced great growth in audience. We
  605. thank God first for the privilege of communicating the message of
  606. salvation in Jesus Christ through the Short Waves. We also thank you
  607. and all the listeners who accompanied us during this time. May God
  608. bless us and help us to advance more and more. We count on your
  609. prayers and partnership." RTM's Big Embrace``
  610.  
  611. To which I replied: ``Says RTM closed down SW permanently on August 9
  612. [sic] in past tense even tho it is still August 8 in Brasil. No more
  613. QRM to Zanzibar on 11735!! But try today in case it still be on until
  614. 2100v* one last time. Other frequencies 5940v and 9530 were not so
  615. well heard``
  616.  
  617. 11734.98 is approx. VP frequency of RTM; at 1857 Aug 8 it does sound
  618. like Brazilian intonation. Usual closedown of both is circa 2100, so
  619. I`m remonitoring at 2046, when both are stronger, but RTM atop, now
  620. measured on 11734.972. 2058 is talking about FM frequencies, website.
  621. By 2101, ZBC is off and RTM still on alone about FM, 2102 song, still
  622. past 2108. By 2229 no signal on 11735 (while much stronger 11780 RNA
  623. is still in well). (Glenn Hauser, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX
  624. LISTENING DIGEST)
  625.  
  626. Meanwhile, Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain informed the WOR iog at 2009 UT:
  627.  
  628. ``Rádio Transmundial, today still on air 11735 but announced will
  629. cease at 0000 Brazilian time --- 11735, Rádio Transmundial, Santa
  630. Maria, 1940-2006 , 08-08, today still on air, religious program, male,
  631. ID "Transmundial", at 2150 {? Must be local time = 1950 UT} they
  632. announced will cease short wave transmissions at 0000 hours 09 August.
  633. Slight interference from Zanzibar`` [which strangely had come back on]
  634.  
  635. I reply: That would be 0300** UT, presumably meaning UT August 9 altho
  636. it could mean August 10, as ``midnight`` is always ambiguous as to
  637. which day it pertain. Why don`t people realize this in any language??
  638.  
  639. By 0155 UT August 9, no signal detectable on 11735 (but 11780 RNA is
  640. still in well, altho doubtless higher powered; 11735 per WRTH is the
  641. second-highest powered ZY at 50 kW). It would normally be off after
  642. 2100 unless they prolong it for a finale. The lower frequencies would
  643. be nightlier. But can`t hear any carrier around 5940v with heavy
  644. splash from 5935 WWCR. 9530 a JBA carrier which could easily be 4765 x
  645. 2, Progreso Cuba. Glenn.
  646.  
  647. Jorge Freitas, Brasil replies to the WOR iog, here in my translation:
  648.  
  649. ``Glenn, I heard them talking about this at 2036 on 11735. Broadcasts
  650. cease today 8 August. The programs will be presented by Bonaire on 800
  651. kHz with 440 kW. They alleged that among the problems were adequate
  652. financing, low audience for SW programs compared to internet. Talked
  653. about the cost of electricity for radio and elevated cost of
  654. maintenance. One tube which burnt out cost 20 kiloreais. Lamented
  655. closing of broadcasts to DXers and said that if there were a much
  656. greater SW audience they would not close it. They get an average of 50
  657. kiloconnexions daily for online radio. Their ANATEL license expired
  658. today and was not renewed``
  659.  
  660. So another SW station bites the dust, but look at the bright side: one
  661. less gospel-huxter. Manuel Méndez laments it and says in Google
  662. translation, improved by gh:
  663.  
  664. ``Rádio Transmundial, for all the world to hear", as it used to be,
  665. every night, closed surprisingly at night, and treacherously. The
  666. emblematic Brazilian religious station left short wave on August 9 at
  667. 0000 hours in Brasília, 0300 UT. Only a few hours earlier, on the
  668. afternoon of August 8, Brazilian DXer Daniel Wyllyans had informed,
  669. through Hard Core DX, that, according to the station's broadcast, it
  670. would stop broadcasting on the shortwave on the 9th day of August
  671.  
  672. The best time, here in Spain, to tune into Rádio Transmundial was
  673. around 1900 UT at its usual frequency of 11735 kHz. Before that time,
  674. normally it used to be very interfered with by Zanzibar on the same
  675. frequency, but after 1900 the signal from Zanzibar tends to decrease a
  676. lot and the Brazilian increases, and at 2000 hours, many days only
  677. hear Rádio Transmundial, and other days with slight interference from
  678. the African station.
  679.  
  680. The undersigned was listening, for the last time, to Rádio
  681. Transmundial at 11735 kHz, between 1940 and 2020 hours on August 8,
  682. and, indeed, at 1950 they announced that at 0000 hours on August 9
  683. they would leave short wave, giving thanks for our having accompanied
  684. them for more than 20 years and that, due to technological advances,
  685. it was the best decision they could make, because now many people
  686. listened to them through mobile devices and the internet.
  687.  
  688. From 2000 on, the signal was good here in Lugo, heard loud and clear,
  689. SINPO 34433.
  690.  
  691. "Rádio Transmundial, para todo o mundo ouvir", that's what the
  692. identification slogan says, but from now on, it will be heard by many
  693. fewer listeners. This station had strong coverage through short wave
  694. all over Brazilian territory and in other countries, due to the good
  695. quality of the signal, in comparison to other Brazilian stations, and
  696. the good quality of its programs, besides religious programs, always
  697. with moderate talk, broadcast news, music and other programs.
  698.  
  699. Surely they will lose many listeners in many areas of Brazil and Latin
  700. America, especially in the immense rural areas where there is not easy
  701. access to the internet.
  702.  
  703. "Rádio Transmundial, for all the world to hear", does not want us to
  704. hear it, as of now, at 11735 kHz, with its usual programs "Bom Dia
  705. RTM", "História das Missões" and many other programs, and follows the
  706. fashion by other stations to focus only on the internet, while
  707. shortwave, especially in many parts of the world, is still the most
  708. suitable means to reach a multitude of listeners.
  709.  
  710. Below is the postal address, email address and web page through which
  711. you can send a message via a form, for all those who want to complain
  712. about the closure of the short wave Rádio Transmundial. I have already
  713. done so. Greetings. Manuel Méndez.
  714.  
  715. Trans World Radio
  716. E-mail: rtm@transmundial.org.br
  717. https://www.transmundial.com.br/contato/
  718. Rua Épiro, 110 - Vila Alexandria - São Paulo - SP
  719. CEP - 04635-030
  720. Caixa Postal: 18.113 - CEP - 04626-970
  721. Fone: (11) 3017-6600
  722. What'sApp: (11) 97418-1456``
  723. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  724.  
  725. From 2136 ZBC is back on air on 11735 kHz and totally blocked Radio
  726. Transmundial -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGESET)
  727.  
  728. That`s unusual; was ZBC aware of Brasilian happenings? (gh, DXLD)
  729.  
  730. Uma se vai --- E ainda bem que tem outra para ocupar o canal :-) 73 DW
  731. (Daniel Wyllyans, Brasil, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD)
  732.  
  733. Recording of the final transmission of Radio Transmundial:
  734. https://swling.com/blog/2018/08/dan-records-the-final-transmission-of-radio-transmundial/
  735. (-- Richard Langley, WOR iog via DXLD)
  736.  
  737. ???? Until 19 UT? The transmitter may have failed temporarily, but it
  738. was certainly NOT yet the final final transmission on 11735 as we and
  739. others were hearing it past 2100. On some frequency it was supposed to
  740. last until local midnight, 0300 UT, a time when 25m would normally
  741. have been off the air for 6 hours, not 8 (gh, DXLD)
  742.  
  743. Dan records the final transmission of Radio Transmundial Portuguese
  744. 3 Replies
  745.  
  746. Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Dan Robinson, who shares the
  747. following notes about the final transmission of Radio Transmundial.
  748. [Dan made this recording yesterday, but Internet woes here at SWLing
  749. Post HQ prevented me from posting this until now.]
  750.  
  751. Dan writes:
  752.  
  753. FYI — I am monitoring Radio Transmundial via [the PY2BS KiwiSDR
  754. in] Brazil. They are in the midst of a final discussion in Portuguese
  755. between two announcers, mentioning advances/changes in technology,
  756. Internet, etc. that are forcing the station off the air. Many mentions
  757. of shortwave.
  758.  
  759. See attachments; audio files are of studio discussion in
  760. Portuguese about their decision to end SW; then another file going
  761. right up until 1900 UT or thereabouts when they went off.
  762.  
  763. At about the 9:36 mark in the 1st audio file announcer introduces
  764. a technical person (sounded like someone from TWR, but also mentioned
  765. was “director of communications”) to begin a discussion about their
  766. decision to end shortwave — that discussion lasts until about the
  767. 34:30 mark when they go into full IDs.
  768.  
  769. Audio Player 00:00 00:00
  770. Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
  771. Click here to download audio file.
  772.  
  773. Second audio file you can hear Zanzibar gradually fading up and
  774. dominating the frequency, then in the clear after Transmundial goes
  775. off 11,735.
  776.  
  777. Audio Player 00:00 00:00
  778. Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.
  779. Click here to download audio file.
  780.  
  781. Would be very interesting to translate this conversation for a post on
  782. SWLing.
  783.  
  784. Perhaps SWLing Post readers with a knowledge of Portuguese could help
  785. us with any interesting details from this conversation? Please
  786. comment!
  787.  
  788. UPDATE: Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Fabiano Barufaldi, who
  789. has volunteered to help translate some of the key points from this
  790. broadcast!
  791.  
  792. Dan, thanks for grabbing a recording of this final Transmundial
  793. broadcast. When my Internet connection is fully functioning again, I
  794. will add these recordings to the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive.
  795.  
  796. 3 thoughts on “Dan records the final transmission of Radio
  797. Transmundial Portuguese”
  798.  
  799. Dan August 9, 2018 at 5:49 pm
  800. Just wanted to add that others, including the well-known Bulgarian
  801. DX’er, heard it after 1900 UT and apparently the station was to stay
  802. on until 0000 UT [sic] on August 9th
  803.  
  804. Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Fabiano Barufaldi, who kindly
  805. volunteered to translate an important conversation between the RTM
  806. Director of Communication and the Director of Studios and Technical
  807. Affairs in the final shortwave broadcast of Radio Trans Mundial (RTM).
  808.  
  809. Click here to read our original post and listen to recordings of the
  810. final broadcast in Portuguese.
  811.  
  812. Read Fabiano’s translation of the dialog below:
  813.  
  814. <– BEGINNING OF TRANSCRIPT –>
  815.  
  816. Hello Dear Listeners! It’s 2:46pm. [1746 UT]
  817.  
  818. With us are André Castilho, our director of communication and also
  819. Samuel Marcos, director of studios and technical affairs, live.
  820.  
  821. Good morning [sic] all. It’s a pleasure to be in front of such
  822. important microphones in the history of Brazilian gospel radio.
  823.  
  824. First of all, I’d like clarify that we’re not the founders of
  825. Radio Transmundial, which was founded in 1970 in Brazil, initially
  826. transmitting from Bonaire in the Antilles in the Caribbean Sea,
  827. covering the entire Brazil’s territory in shortwave and mediumwave,
  828. reaching most of South America. They decided to discontinue the
  829. shortwave operation in the early 1990’s; they have recently resumed
  830. the 440 KW power transmission from Bonaire, now with better quality,
  831. reaching the Amazon region and even listeners in the southern Brazil
  832. in MW 800kHz.
  833.  
  834. When the Trans World Radio (TWR) shut down its shortwave
  835. transmission, the Radio Transmundial (RTM) decided to invest in
  836. shortwave in the 1990s acquiring a transmission site in Santa Maria –
  837. RS, Southern Brazil, in three shortwave frequencies, covering up to
  838. 80% of the Brazilian territory. Recently, the Bonaire site increased
  839. the MW transmission power, reaching a greater territory share.
  840.  
  841. Talking about the 1990’s, a new, powerful transmitter was acquired
  842. for the Brazilian Santa Maria site, we always have been praised
  843. because of the quality of the transmissions. Our site was built with
  844. great diligence and care, mainly by Mr. Walter Wilke, who did
  845. excellent work during 20 years of dedication to our shortwave site,
  846. with the best equipment and sound, using three shortwave frequencies
  847. during these years that are now coming to an end.
  848.  
  849. That’s sad news, we’re not happy to say that but it’s an
  850. important, necessary announcement that the RTM shortwave transmissions
  851. are being shut down this midnight. We had ended the 31 meters
  852. transmission, now we’re ending the 25 meters, 49 meters also, and we
  853. are so sorry about that.
  854.  
  855. We have been asked by our listeners the reason, and it’s important
  856. to notice that this decision wasn’t made yesterday. We’ve been
  857. studying this matter since at least an year ago, considering the reach
  858. and audience and, of course, the financial aspects of it. The RTM has
  859. been keeping the shortwave transmission site and the equipment in
  860. excellent condition and, until now, Lord has provided the financial
  861. ways to maintain the operation but considering the low audience, the
  862. return of Bonaire to shortwave in high power, and elevated power
  863. expenses; all those factors contributed to take the decision some time
  864. ago of ending the operations – a decision that was matured – and now
  865. comes the time that we are finally shutting down the shortwave
  866. transmissions.
  867.  
  868. The summary of our decisions was that the audience was too low so
  869. it was not being worth to keep such expensive shortwave structure. To
  870. give our listeners a rough idea, when we increased the power (50 kW to
  871. 25 meters, 10 kw to 31 meters and 7.5 kW to 49 meters) we had to hire
  872. a custom, special grid with the local power company – and that costs!!
  873. We are a non-profit organization, funded by voluntary donations, so we
  874. need to be very careful with our budget. It’s sad to say that, because
  875. we love the radio, but the audience was very low, not being worth
  876. expending that amount of money.
  877.  
  878. We are living a new tech era, so we as a mass media organization
  879. must be care[ful] about of our own survival, that’s why we took that
  880. decision and also because we’re experiencing over the years great
  881. increase in audience through the internet and by the local affiliates
  882. network as well.
  883.  
  884. Still talking about costs, our transmission equipment is nearly 20
  885. years old, although it was bought brand new and being well kept by Mr.
  886. Wilke, it’s an old equipment that demands expensive maintenance
  887. because it’s imported equipment running on valves. To give you
  888. listeners an idea, a burnt valve had to be recently replaced and
  889. costed nearly 5,300 USD, so that give us an idea of how expensive is
  890. to keep that, beside the monthly power costs.
  891.  
  892. We have brainstormed on how to reach poor, isolated communities
  893. (Indian, forest people) with no access to new technologies for example
  894. by providing them our content stored in memory cards – we received
  895. reports of missionaries, social workers assuring that this is being
  896. welcomed. We’re also working to increase partnership with local
  897. stations to relay our content.
  898.  
  899. …[now they list some of the local affiliates currently relaying
  900. content throughout the Brazilian territory]…
  901.  
  902. There is a reason for us to be ending the shortwave transmissions
  903. on this particular day (August 8, 2018) – this is because our
  904. shortwave broadcasting license is expiring today, so due to the
  905. reasons explained above and also because the government’s bureaucracy,
  906. we are not going to renew it.
  907.  
  908. We are sorry for the listeners who have in the radio the only way
  909. of getting our content, the DXrs as well, but that’s a cost vs
  910. audience matter.
  911.  
  912. We’re having an average of 50,000 unique listeners over the
  913. Internet, some others through local affiliates, so we have to be
  914. responsible with our budget and focus on getting return over the
  915. investment, providing accountability to the donors.
  916.  
  917. [… now they explain how to listen over the station website or from
  918. the mobile app.. “ask your nephew how to do it LOL :-)” ]
  919.  
  920. [the host greets them by the detailed explanation on how the
  921. broadcast license process works, the costs and bureaucracy]
  922.  
  923. We thank our listeners for the support, care and understanding.
  924. We’ve been passionate shortwave listeners forever and that’s probably
  925. the reason why we do this for a living today.
  926.  
  927. New technologies arise in an incredible speed in these days–
  928. getting cheaper too, enabling more people to benefit from them.
  929.  
  930. Some people understand that in a near future the technologies will
  931. be unified and we will end on having a single media device for all
  932. content (TV, radio, internet, communications, etc), mostly cheap or
  933. even for free.
  934.  
  935. That will not be a happy day; that’s a sad day instead – we’d like
  936. to continue with shortwave broadcasting but we’re getting empathy and
  937. understanding from most of our listeners – we’re not stopping, the RTM
  938. keeps on going.
  939.  
  940. Thank you all for understanding and for your care; keep following
  941. us over the Internet, we’ll also be broadcasting every hour the list
  942. of local affiliates network.
  943.  
  944. Access our website at: https://www.transmundial.com.br/
  945. … now they play the station’s identification jingle
  946. … resuming the regular programming…
  947.  
  948. < END OF TRANSCRIPT >
  949.  
  950. On behalf of the whole SWLing Post community, I’d like to thank you
  951. Fabiano for taking the time to write up this excellent translation.
  952. This commentary was insightful and without your help, I would have
  953. never been able to understand or appreciate it. Muito obrigado,
  954. Fabiano! (Thomas Witherspoon, swlingpost via DXLD)
  955.  
  956. [and non]. BRASIL, Rádio Transmundial ZYE858 - final day on shortwave,
  957. August 8:
  958. from 2008 11735 CAB 050 kW / 060 deg to BRA Portuguese, good signal
  959. 2008&2027 11735 DOL 050 kW / non-dir to CeAf Swahili ZBC - no signal
  960. from 2036 11735 DOL 050 kW / non-dir to CeAf Swahili ZBC - is on air
  961. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/radio-transmundial-final-day-on.html
  962. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  963.  
  964. Reporting about the closure of RTM, August 9 at 0150, I said ``But
  965. can`t hear any carrier around 5940v with heavy splash from 5935
  966. WWCR``. However, I was misremembering its 50mb frequency – 5965 for
  967. RTM, not 5940-, Voz Missionária. I don`t think 5965 has been reported
  968. for some time, certainly not by me. However, via swlingpost, a lengthy
  969. translation of a discussion earlier in the day about quitting SW, said
  970. ``We had ended the 31 meters transmission, now we’re ending the 25
  971. meters, 49 meters also, and we are so sorry about that.`` This seems
  972. to imply that 9530 had been terminated earlier, but 5965 was being
  973. turned off the same date as 11735.
  974.  
  975. The latest report I can find of 5965 was from Claudio Galaz, Chile,
  976. this year: ``** BRAZIL. 5965, R. TRANSMUNDIAL. Mayo 7. 1013-2028 UT.
  977. Hombre predica en portugués. SINPO: 35343 con señal sin siseos de otra
  978. emisora. ¿EWTN, de 5970, fuera del aire?`` He probably meant until
  979. 1028 UT. Maybe they did not run it in the evenings when I am
  980. listening? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  981.  
  982. ** BRAZIL. Nota de esclarecimento a impressa DX e ouvintes: Em atenção
  983. à imprensa e à sociedade, Informo que a Rádio Gavião mudou de
  984. nome. Será oficializada como Rádio Serra do Roncador., (Faixa de Ondas
  985. Curtas banda de 31 metros). O cristal do estado Paraíba está proposto
  986. para a frequência de 9925 kHz pelo o técnico da Cidade Oldies. Os
  987. testes iniciam ainda esse ano. Inicialmente vamos cobrir os Estados de
  988. Mato Grosso,Goiás, Sul do Pará,Oeste da Bolívia,Norte do Mato Grosso
  989. do Sul e talvez Acre e Amazonas. Eu pessoalmente estarei montando a
  990. antena em fios sobre postes. Não será torre. Todos os testes serão
  991. avizados em nossas redes sociais. Obrigado pelo aguardo e paciência.
  992.  
  993. Daniel Wyllyans (Proprietário e técnico da Rádio Serra do Roncador)
  994. Sobre a Serra do roncador: A Serra do Roncador é uma região que se
  995. localiza no ponto mais central do Brasil, no estado do Mato Grosso,
  996. mais especificamente entre o rio das Mortes e o rio Araguaia a leste,
  997. e o rio Xingu e Kuluene a oeste, chegando a atingir até 700 metros de
  998. altitude em alguns pontos. A região da Serra do Roncador é, até hoje,
  999. a mais desconhecida da selva sul-americana. Uma imensa cordilheira da
  1000. era plutônica que se ergue como divisor de águas do Araguaia e do
  1001. Xingu. Estende-se por cerca de 800 km, aproximadamente, desde Vale Dos
  1002. Sonhos, no Mato Grosso até as proximidades da Serra do Cachimbo, no
  1003. estado do Pará (Daniel Wyllyans, Aug 9, hard-Core-DX mailing list via
  1004. WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DXLD)
  1005.  
  1006. Undoubtedly very low power, but one might hear something on 9925 other
  1007. than the two hours a week from The Mighty KBC via Germany (Glenn
  1008. Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  1009.  
  1010. ** CANADA. 940 CJGX Off The Air --- According to their Facebook page,
  1011. 940 CJGX Yorkton Sask. is on low power until further notice. I
  1012. verified this afternoon, not a peep from them 100 miles away.
  1013. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1315862941882210&id=215319648603217&_rdr
  1014. (Terry Keyowski, Regina, Saskatchewan, Sent from my Samsung Galaxy
  1015. smartphone, Aug 7, IRCA at HCDX via DXLD)
  1016.  
  1017. ** CHAD [non]. 11830, FRANCE, Dandal Kura Radio International at 1931
  1018. in Kanuri with indigenous instrumentals and two women with talk with
  1019. mentions of “Dandal” - Fair to Good Aug 12 – The Kanuri are the
  1020. dominant people in north eastern Nigeria but are also found in great
  1021. numbers in the south eastern regions of Nigeria (Mark Coady, Selwyn,
  1022. Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off
  1023. centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD) See also NIGERIA [non]
  1024.  
  1025. ** CHINA. 9200, Aug 8 at 1142, CNR1 jammer // echo jammer on 9660, and
  1026. 9680. It`s here to block Sound of Hope, of course, per Aoki on
  1027. 9199.907 but no het heard from that. I wonder how permanent, non-
  1028. variable those exact SOH measurements may remain? CNR1 off after 1200
  1029. at 1205 check (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  1030.  
  1031. ** CHINA. 9680, August 9 at 1244, RTI is being jammed by the double-
  1032. whammy of CNR1 // 11785, and Firedragon music mix.
  1033.  
  1034. 9660, August 9 at 1244, this RTI is being jammed by two CNR1s echoing
  1035. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also TAIWAN [and non]
  1036.  
  1037. ** CHINA. CNR-1 jammer vs Sound of Hope Xi Wang Zhi Sheng on August 11
  1038. till 1300 on 15800.1 unknown kW / non-dir to EaAs Chinese, very good
  1039. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/cnr-1-jammer-vs-sound-of-hope-xi-wang.html
  1040. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  1041.  
  1042. ** CHINA [and non]. The Chinese authorities switched their feed to jam
  1043. western broadcasters between the 1100 and 1200 hours from CNR1 to CNR3
  1044. (news to classical music) which I find more entertaining. They have a
  1045. wide range of legitimate networks that they can draw upon to jam
  1046. western broadcasters rather than relying on the Firedrake program.
  1047.  
  1048. The networks according to the WRTH are CNR1 – Voice of China (news);
  1049. CNR2 – Voice of the Economy (or China Business Radio); CNR3 – Voice of
  1050. the Music; CNR4 – Scripture Music Service (or Golden Radio); CNR5 –
  1051. Voice of Zhonghua ( or Zhonghua Business Radio; CNR6 – Voice of
  1052. Shenzhou (or Shenzhou Easy Radio); CNR7 – Voice of Huaxia (or Huaxia
  1053. Radio); CNR8 – Voice of Minorities (or Ethnic Minority Radio); CNR9 –
  1054. Voice of the Literary (or Story Radio); CNR10 – Voice of Old Age (or
  1055. Senior Citizens Radio); CNR11 – Tibetan Service; CNR12 – Voice of
  1056. Entertainment (or Happy Radio); CNR13 – Uighur Service; CNR14 – Voice
  1057. of Hong Kong; CNR15 – China Traffic Service; CNR16 – Voice of China
  1058. Country; CNR17 – Kazakh Service.
  1059.  
  1060. All loggings in English unless otherwise specified. All times and
  1061. dates in UT.
  1062.  
  1063. 11640, CHINA, CNR1 at 1113 in Mandarin jamming RTI in Mandarin with a
  1064. man with excited talk then Asian instrumentals and a number of promos
  1065. – Weak but audible Aug 12
  1066.  
  1067. 11785, CHINA, CNR1 at 1116 // 11640, in Mandarin jamming the VOA in
  1068. Mandarin via the Philippines with a number of promos and a man with
  1069. excited talk – Fair to Good Aug 12
  1070.  
  1071. 11785, PHILIPPINES, VOA at 1117 in Mandarin with a woman and a man in
  1072. interview and VOA news theme at 1119 – Fair under CNR1 jammer Aug 12
  1073.  
  1074. 11825, CHINA, CNR3 at 1226 // 11785 in Mandarin jamming the VOA in
  1075. Mandarin via Thailand with female opera vocals and a man with excited
  1076. talk – Weak but audible Aug 12
  1077.  
  1078. 11825, THAILAND, VOA at 1227 in Mandarin with two men in discussion –
  1079. Weak mixing with CNR1 jammer Aug 12
  1080.  
  1081. 13830, CHINA, CNR3 at 1248 // 11785 and 11825 in Mandarin jamming RFA
  1082. in Tibetan via Tajikistan with opera vocals and a male host – Good Aug
  1083. 12
  1084.  
  1085. 15275, CHINA, CNR3 at 1310 // 11785 and 13830 in Mandarin jamming RFA
  1086. in Tibetan via Tajikistan with classical instrumentals – Good Aug 12
  1087. (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II
  1088. and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD)
  1089.  
  1090. ** CUBA. 15140, Radio Habana Cuba; 1937-1945+, 8/6; English “Focus on
  1091. Africa” with peppy Kenyan music & many RHC IDs; 1945 into “Arts
  1092. Roundup”. SIO=3+44- with wind whistle QRM (Harold Frodge, Midland MI,
  1093. USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver,
  1094. in real time & without the aid of a computer! -----, DX LISTENING
  1095. DIGEST) = I refer to as squealing out of same transmitter, not
  1096. external interference (gh, DXLD)
  1097.  
  1098. 6100, Aug 8 at 0605, RHC English is VP S9-S5 and also JBM; 6000 is
  1099. S9+10 but JBM somewhat distorted; 6060 is S9+10/20 with good mod; 6165
  1100. S9+20/30 with good mod. 5040 is off by now, but 5025 Rebelde is also
  1101. just barely modulated at S9+10 to S7. Something`s always wrong at
  1102. RadioCuba.
  1103.  
  1104. 6000, Aug 8 at 1201, RHC is S9+10 but JBM; // 6100.00 has good mod at
  1105. S9+20/30, but fails to radiate from off-frequency-minus. Something`s
  1106. always wrong at RHC.
  1107.  
  1108. 13660, Aug 8 at 1323, RHC is S4-S6 here and mostly readable, despite
  1109. being a leapfrog mixing product another 40 kHz lower of squealy S9+10
  1110. 13740 over normal S9+20 13700. But there is *no* matching leapfrog the
  1111. other side on 13780; what`s not with that?? Nor are there any
  1112. extremely distorted FM spurblobs today out of the 13700 transmitter.
  1113. Something`s always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
  1114. DIGEST)
  1115.  
  1116. 5025, R. Rebelde at 0545. Strong, solid signal, nearly NO modulation.
  1117. Can hear a M in Spanish by turning up AF gain. What is it, There is
  1118. still something wrong at Radio Rebelde, as this problem was noticed by
  1119. me yesterday. August 10 (Rick Barton, from Central Arizona. Grundig
  1120. Satellit 205(T.5000) & 750; RS SW-2000629, & ATS-909X with various
  1121. outdoor wires. 73 and Good Listening....! -rb, WOR iog via DX
  1122. LISTENING DIGEST)
  1123.  
  1124. 15140, RHC at 1501 in Spanish with opening music and a man and woman
  1125. with ID and opening announcements and a man and woman with talk from
  1126. 1503 – Fair to Good with no sign of Oman Aug 12 (Mark Coady, Selwyn,
  1127. Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off
  1128. centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD)
  1129.  
  1130. 15140, Aug 12 at 1500, squealy RHC is on this early with ID and 1501
  1131. introducing Sunday Esperanto // 11760. 15140 was not on at previous
  1132. check circa 1430 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING
  1133. DIGEST)
  1134.  
  1135. 6100, Aug 13 at 0545, this RHC English is S9+10 but JBM; the rest of
  1136. the Cuban Five are better to varying degrees: 6165, 6060, 6000, 5040.
  1137. Something`s always wrong at RHC.
  1138.  
  1139. 6000, Aug 14 at 0552, this RHC English is dead air, while 6165 and
  1140. 6100 have some modulation, 6060 with full modulation. Something`s
  1141. always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  1142.  
  1143. ** CUBA [non]. Am 10.08.2018 um 09:13 schrieb Rémy Friess:
  1144.  
  1145. Guten Morgen, Radio Marti meldete vor ein paar Minuten dass ab
  1146. kommendem Montag neue Frequenzen eingesetzt werden. Meine
  1147. Spanischkenntnisse sind eher gering und der Empfang war schlecht aber
  1148. ich glaube verstanden zu haben dass es zusätzliche Kanäle sein sollen.
  1149. Die Frequenz 11870 [sic] kHz wurde angegeben.
  1150.  
  1151. https://av.martinoticias.com/flash/clips/CU/2018/08/07/e1709e66-acf1-40f9-b12b-270623069802.mp3
  1152. https://www.martinoticias.com/a/radio-televisi%C3%B3n-mart%C3%AD-pronto-entrar%C3%A1-cuba-alta-definici%C3%B3n-tomas-regalado/196882.html
  1153.  
  1154. "El lunes 13 de agosto se inaugura una frecuencia más de onda corta
  1155. para los oyentes en Cuba”, dijo. La nueva frecuencia estará en los
  1156. 11860 kHz y “estamos al aire las 24 horas al día con tres
  1157. frecuencias”, destacó el director de OCB.
  1158.  
  1159. Also nicht: "setenta" sondern "sesanta" [sic], ja, manchmal schwer zu
  1160. verstehen.
  1161.  
  1162. Bei den "comentarios" darunter auch etwas Polemik: ".......van a
  1163. lanzar la nueva frecuencia el dia del cumple del Fifo. Tremendo
  1164. homenaje!..." Start der neuen Frequenz am Geburtstag von Fidel,
  1165. quasi als eine Art "Hommage" (Roger, Aug 10, WOR iog via WORLD OF
  1166. RADIO 1943, DXLD)
  1167.  
  1168. Ha! Hours not specified for 11860 (not 11870), but surely daytime
  1169. only. Guess what? At 2100-2300 Radio Habana Cuba is already upon it.
  1170.  
  1171. Also sure to QRM Yemen [non]. Neither that nor RHC in HFCC, where only
  1172. two imaginary listings are found in our daytime on 11860, so how
  1173. should IBB know about RHC or Saudi Arabia?:
  1174.  
  1175. 11860 0600 1400 24,25 IRK 100 44 0 288 1234567 250318 271018 D Rus
  1176. RUS RRS GFC 12081
  1177. 11860 1700 1800 51,54 JAK 250 85 0 206 1234567 260318 281018 D Eng
  1178. INS RRI RRI 4086
  1179. (Glenn Hauser, ibid.)
  1180.  
  1181. USA, From August 13 OCB Radio Marti will be on air on 3 frequencies,
  1182. 24 hours. Additional is 11860, 0700-1000 & 1400-2300 UT
  1183. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/ocb-radio-marti-on-additional-frequency.html
  1184. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 9-10, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX
  1185. LISTENING DIGEST)
  1186.  
  1187. Here is a related story via Artie Bigley. Merely adding 11860 is not
  1188. going to accomplish what is claimed here, so what is the miraculous
  1189. new platform? Is Havana Times really independent and from inside Cuba,
  1190. or exile-operated? ``Open-minded writing from Cuba``. BTW, until
  1191. cutbacks a few years ago, RM always ran three SW frequencies at once,
  1192. and only recently added a third part-time (Glenn Hauser, WOR iog via
  1193. DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.:
  1194.  
  1195. https://www.havanatimes.org/?p=139478
  1196.  
  1197. RADIO AND TV MARTI’S NEW ATTEMPT TO PENETRATE CUBA --- August 10, 2018
  1198.  
  1199. Tomas Regalado, the director of Radio and TV Marti. File photo:
  1200. miamiherald.com [caption]
  1201.  
  1202. HAVANA TIMES – The Cuban government warned on Thursday against Radio
  1203. and TV Marti’s new attempt to begin broadcasting its programming on
  1204. the island starting on August 13, the birthdate of the late Fidel
  1205. Castro, according to the official Cubadebate website.
  1206.  
  1207. The government denounces that “radioelectric attacks affect the normal
  1208. functioning of national telecommunications and directly violate the
  1209. letter and spirit of numerous international agreements.”
  1210.  
  1211. The warning responds to the announcement of the new director of the
  1212. Office of Transmissions to Cuba (OCB, for its acronym in English),
  1213. Tomas Regalado, that Radio and TV Martí will “soon” be throughout
  1214. Cuba, without interference and in high definition, notes dpa news.
  1215.  
  1216. “Millions of dollars of US taxpayers money is wasted every year to try
  1217. to take the propaganda from Miami to Cuban territory. All the methods
  1218. tried thus far clashed with the effectiveness of the authorities to
  1219. block the signals, which constitute a violation of international
  1220. standards for the use of radioelectric space,” says the article in
  1221. Cubadebate.
  1222.  
  1223. Speaking to the Miami Mega TV channel, Regalado said on Tuesday that
  1224. the project represents a “technological revolution” that will allow
  1225. within six months a total “penetration” of the entire island and a new
  1226. shortwave frequency.
  1227.  
  1228. According to the former mayor of Miami “it’s a technology that did not
  1229. exist and since they [Cuban authorities] do not know it will be almost
  1230. impossible to block.” He said Cubans would receive the signal even on
  1231. mobile phones. He added that the first tests of its operation have
  1232. already been carried out in Havana.
  1233.  
  1234. For these new technologies, Radio and TV Marti have the support of
  1235. millions of dollars in funds contributed by the United States Agency
  1236. for International Development (USAID) and the support of the Cuban-
  1237. American republican senator Marco Rubio.
  1238.  
  1239. In Cuba, no national media that is not approved by the government, be
  1240. it written, radio, TV or digital, can operate legally. Likewise,
  1241. independent journalists are considered by the leadership of the all-
  1242. powerful Communist Party as enemies of the regime. In today’s Cuba,
  1243. many citizens still only have access to official information and
  1244. rumors of the “Radio Bemba”.
  1245.  
  1246. Radio Martí emerged during the mandate of Ronald Reagan and TV Marti
  1247. began in March, 1990 under George H.W. Bush. The signal was sent from
  1248. aircraft but was blocked by Cuban technicians.
  1249.  
  1250. The OCB was also involved in a scandal of illegal payments to
  1251. journalists in Miami between 1998 and 2002 to write “hostile and
  1252. discriminatory” reports about Cuba and especially about the case of
  1253. the five Cubans spies (known as the Cuban Five) imprisoned in the
  1254. United States (via DXLD)
  1255.  
  1256. Happy birthday, dead Fidel! As promised, OCB has activated an
  1257. additional Radio Martí frequency today August 13, 11860. It`s VG S9+10
  1258. at 1421, no jamming yet, nor at 1620 recheck, unlike // 11930 below
  1259. wall-of-noise, and // 13605 atop wall-of noise. Goodbye to any chance
  1260. of hearing Yemen [non] on 11860, but which has hardly been more than a
  1261. JBA carrier here lately at any hour.
  1262.  
  1263. Probably started at 1400, but how long will it run? Will RM defer to
  1264. RHC, which since April per EiBi has already been using 11860 at 1930-
  1265. 2300 for Europe? RHC is never in HFCC, so how could IBB know that?
  1266. HFCC A-18 just updated today Aug 13, and NO registration showing yet
  1267. for GB on 11860. However, the other 25m frequency, 11930, runs all the
  1268. way until 2400.
  1269.  
  1270. If OCB were really serious about getting into Cuba on SW, they would
  1271. employ multiple frequencies, diluting the jamming on any one of them.
  1272. Besides more idle Greenvilles, they could buy lots of spare time on
  1273. stations such as WRMI, WHRI --- not that I recommend it, which would
  1274. lead to much greater collateral jampollution of our SW bands!
  1275.  
  1276. 11860, further chex of the Radio Martí vs Radio Habana Cuba collision,
  1277. Aug 13: at 1907, RM alone not jammed yet; at 1926 the RHC carrier is
  1278. on, making a SAH of about 8 Hz – wonder which of them is further off-
  1279. frequency? They add up to S9+10. At 1929, the RM theme and promo,
  1280. periodically fading way down and back up. 1931, RHC French modulation
  1281. starts late, JIP without IS or sign-on. 2004, still mixing with SAH;
  1282. 2128 RM amid newscast from Televisión Martí minus the video, and RHC
  1283. seems JBA underneath. 2300 recheck, everything is off.
  1284.  
  1285. Ivo Ivanov says the new RM sked on 11860 is 14-23 & 07-10 UT, latter
  1286. in the middle of the night, unconfirmed yet.
  1287.  
  1288. 11860, next day May 14 at 1417, RM is on and now there is jamming,
  1289. somewhat less than on // 11930. 2033, RHC is atop and no jamming;
  1290. today they are much closer together than 8 Hz, making only a very slow
  1291. SAH of less than 1 Hz. 2317 everything off except residual pulse
  1292. jamming continuing vs nothing, also still at 0135 August 15.
  1293.  
  1294. 11860, May 15 at 2000 check now RM and RHC are equal strength and
  1295. modulation making a horrible collision, without jamming, and SAH back
  1296. to about 8 Hz. (SAHs in this range I estimate by counting the flutters
  1297. over and over as each second tix away; could be plus or minus 1).
  1298.  
  1299. It remains to be heard which station will give in first and move, if
  1300. ever. The question is whether IBB really knew RHC was already on 11860
  1301. and went there as a deliberate provocation, also forcing RHC to jam
  1302. itself at the same time, or quit jamming. Meanwhile, both stations
  1303. lose their audiences (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING
  1304. DIGEST) See also YEMEN [non]
  1305.  
  1306. ** CZECHIA. CZECH SHORT-WAVE RADIO EXPERT OLDRICH CÍP DIES AT 87
  1307. Radio Prague-2 hours ago
  1308. (via Artie Bigley, Aug 10, DXLD) See also HFCC obit for him C&C 18-32
  1309.  
  1310. Czech short-wave radio expert Oldrich Cíp dies at 87
  1311. Daniela Lazarová 10-08-2018 [illustrated]
  1312. https://www.radio.cz/en/section/special/czech-short-wave-radio-expert-oldrich-cip-dies-at-87
  1313.  
  1314. [from this we can see proper spelling of his names: hooks over R of
  1315. Oldrich and C of Cip, and acute accent on i of Cip --- gh]
  1316.  
  1317. Oldrich Cíp, a world renowned expert on short-wave radio has died at
  1318. the age of 87. He was associated with radio since childhood - first as
  1319. an amateur radio hobbyist and later as a staff member of Czechoslovak
  1320. and Czech Radio in the departments of international broadcasting. He
  1321. cooperated closely with Radio Prague for many years, presenting a
  1322. popular show for DXers.
  1323.  
  1324. Oldrich Cíp, Horst Scholz and Jeff White, photo: archive of HFCC
  1325.  
  1326. Oldrich was involved in radio since he was a child - first as an
  1327. amateur radio hobbyist and later as a staff member of Czechoslovak and
  1328. then Czech Radio in the international broadcasting departments. A
  1329. college graduate in the field of Humanities, he spent most of his
  1330. working life as a frequency manager and schedule planner. For a number
  1331. of years he hosted a DX program on Radio Prague under the pen name
  1332. Peter Skala.
  1333.  
  1334. After the end of the Cold War, he believed that broadcasters from both
  1335. sides of the conflict should come together and develop a new system of
  1336. planning and coordination for shortwave broadcasting. This led to the
  1337. establishment of the HFCC in 1991. Oldrich was Chairman of the HFCC
  1338. until 2015. Since then, he was a Vice Chairman of the group.
  1339.  
  1340. Oldrich lived in Prague, although he frequently spent time in his
  1341. country house, where he enjoyed woodworking, guitar and country music,
  1342. vintage graphics, photography and time with his family. His son
  1343. Vladislav said he spent his last day there: "He enjoyed a quiet
  1344. evening in the country house, with our families, all four
  1345. grandchildren around, no symptoms of anything bad coming. All of a
  1346. sudden, he suffered probably a heart attack or stroke. An ambulance
  1347. arrived immediately but he died a few hours later."
  1348.  
  1349. Oldrich Cíp (3rd from the left) at a HAM radio field day in 1950s,
  1350. photo: archive of HFCC
  1351.  
  1352. Oldrich was married with two adult sons, Oldrich Jr. and Vladislav.
  1353. Vladislav is the HFCC Secretary who manages the day-to-day operations
  1354. of the organization.
  1355.  
  1356. From 1953 until 1997 Oldrich was an employee of Czechoslovak and later
  1357. Czech Radio in Prague. He worked as a technical consultant for Czech
  1358. Radio from 1998 to 2010. He specialized in planning schedules and
  1359. frequencies, international coordination and distribution of shortwave
  1360. radio programs for foreign countries.
  1361.  
  1362. Beginning in 1959 and for more than 25 years, Oldrich produced a
  1363. weekly English-language program "Radio Prague Calling All Radio
  1364. Hobbyists," using the nom de plume Peter Skala. In the program, he
  1365. answered questions from shortwave listeners in many countries and
  1366. covered a variety of scientific and other topics from the radio
  1367. industry.
  1368.  
  1369. Oldrich Cíp in a studio of Radio Prague, photo: archive of HFCC
  1370.  
  1371. During the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Oldrich used
  1372. his technical expertise to aid the "free Czechoslovak Radio," putting
  1373. himself in danger in an effort to provide factual news and information
  1374. about the events taking place. Thanks to the large number of smaller
  1375. facilities of Czechoslovak Radio scattered all over Prague and
  1376. complicated infrastructure that connected them, they were able to
  1377. continue broadcasting for quite some time.
  1378.  
  1379. In the period of reforms around the year 1968, he established secret
  1380. contacts with his colleagues from Western radio stations. He re-
  1381. established the contacts after the fall of communism and started an
  1382. initiative to eliminate interference on shortwave. He became the
  1383. Chairman of the HFCC, which has continued to meet twice each year in
  1384. different parts of the world for shortwave stations to coordinate
  1385. their frequency schedules for the coming broadcast season, thus
  1386. eliminating interference before each season begins. The principles of
  1387. international coordination were incorporated into the ITU's
  1388. International Radio Regulations during the 1997 World Radio
  1389. Conference.
  1390.  
  1391. Oldrich Cíp (4th from the left) at a coordination meeting of the
  1392. Eastern Bloc in Hungary, photo: archive of HFCC
  1393.  
  1394. Oldrich was also an adviser to the Government of the Czechoslovak
  1395. Republic in the preparation of the first Radio and Television
  1396. Broadcasting Act after 1990, as well as a member of several EBU and
  1397. ITU radiocommunication working groups. At the HFCC, he spearheaded the
  1398. International Radio for Disaster Relief project whereby shortwave
  1399. stations have allocated specific frequencies in each band for the
  1400. transmission of emergency information in the event of natural
  1401. disasters around the world.
  1402.  
  1403. Jeff White, Oldrich's successor as HFCC Chairman, said: "The shortwave
  1404. broadcasting and listening communities have lost one of our most
  1405. important proponents. The contributions of Oldrich over the years are
  1406. simply unequalled. He was a humble man, but people in this industry
  1407. realized the importance of his work. And he has left us a lasting
  1408. legacy - an organization which has largely eliminated interference on
  1409. the shortwave bands, and it has enabled stations to use less power to
  1410. reach their target areas with a good signal. For that, he will always
  1411. be remembered." (via Artie Bigley, DXLD)
  1412.  
  1413. ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Re: ``Teleantillas to leave channel 2 in the
  1414. Dominican Republic --- No more 2 in the Dominican Republic.
  1415. Teleantillas will move to channel 10 by year's end, according to a
  1416. bunch of news articles from late June. …``(Raymie Humbert, WTFDA Forum
  1417. via DXLD)
  1418.  
  1419. Thanks info, Raymie, HIJB-2 at 1365 miles is, along with several
  1420. Cubans, seen often here, always a quick ID with its TA logo. Possibly
  1421. seen for the last time today! (Doug, Inman, SC EM85wb, near NC and GA
  1422. borders, Aug 11, ibid.)
  1423.  
  1424. Not only that, but also Primera 88.1 FM in Dom Rep makes it all the
  1425. way to PA & NJ at 1600 miles with seeming ease/regularity! It doesn't
  1426. work for me at that distance. If it did, Trinidad, Guyana, etc. would
  1427. be regular visitors! cd (Chris Dunne, Pembroke Pines FL, ibid.)
  1428.  
  1429. cd, Even here, as close or closer to many Central American ch 2-6
  1430. stations as to HIJB at 1365 miles, I have never ID'd any Central
  1431. Americans (3 years TV DXing here), but HIJB-2, HISD-4 and several
  1432. Cubans are in several days a week during E-skip season. Go figure?
  1433. Even this morning while trying for Perseids meteor scatter, there was
  1434. HIJB in on E-skip! (Doug, ibid.)
  1435.  
  1436. I was told by a member who commonly gets 2200-mile Es, that the
  1437. midpoint of the "second hop" is over water, and that is the cause.
  1438. Still I would think *maybe* Newfoundland would then be a possibility
  1439. for me. Absolutely no land between FL & NL!! Maybe that only works in
  1440. one direction? cd (Chris Dunne, ibid.)
  1441.  
  1442. ** EAST TURKISTAN. China’s Campaign Against Muslim Minorities [re RFA]
  1443. https://www.wsj.com/articles/chinas-campaign-against-muslim-minorities-1533855077?emailToken=aa49d11379e6328f3a9cf1fcb5e62184sgSW5akx2oCIjR7YL859h3teK7TJk5DMvaYPWSIxBX153AKjdzpsxSH7R6W4XlPpAHoZHTRbyaxhsZcTDoNPVtO9indb6RhRzDcWafAxD9k%3D&reflink=article_email_share
  1444. (via David Cole, OK, August 10, DXLD)
  1445.  
  1446. ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial, Bata,
  1447. *0508-0520, 10-08, African and pop songs. Very weak, barely audible.
  1448. 15321. Also (presumed), 1840-1850*, 11-08, unusual time, extremely
  1449. weak, carrier and some songs detected. Also *0508-0521, 12-08, songs.
  1450. Extremely weak, barely audible. 15321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain,
  1451. Logs in Reinante, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, WOR iog via
  1452. DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  1453.  
  1454. ** FINLAND. Scandinavian Weekend Radio, Virrat, 11690 kHz, received in
  1455. five days full detailed e-QSL card for a reception report send to:
  1456. info@swradio.net Verification signer Tapani Hakkinen (Manuel Méndez
  1457. Lugo, Spain, WOR iog Aug 10 via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  1458.  
  1459. ** FRANCE. 9790, Aug 8 at 0545, RFI in French with OK modulation
  1460. rather than humbuzz; 7220, Dandal Kura via Issoudun is very poor,
  1461. carrier seems a bit rough on BFO, but too weak to tell if humbuzzy
  1462. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  1463.  
  1464. ** GERMANY. Slow Scan Radio & IBC Radio via Channel 292, August 8
  1465. 1800-1900 on 6070 ROB 010 kW / non-dir to CeEu English Wed, fair
  1466. 1900-2000 on 6070 ROB 010 kW / non-dir to CeEu Italian Wed, good
  1467. 2000-2030 on 6070 ROB 010 kW / non-dir to CeEu English Wed, good
  1468. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-slow-scan-radio-ibc-radio.html
  1469. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  1470.  
  1471. ** GREECE. Reception of Voice of Greece on 9420 kHz, August 7-8
  1472. 1900&0651 on 9420 AVL 150 kW / 323 deg to WeEu Greek*tx#03
  1473. Same time on 9935 AVL 100 kW / 285 deg via tx#1, no signal
  1474. *Arabic/Serbian news & the transmitter switches off at 0700
  1475. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-voice-of-greece-on-9420_8.html
  1476. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 7-8, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  1477.  
  1478. Reception of Voice of Greece on 9420 kHz, August 10
  1479. 0600&0651 on 9420 AVL 150 kW / 323 deg to WeEu Greek*tx#03.
  1480. Same time on 9935 AVL 100 kW / 285 deg via tx#1 - no signal
  1481. * news in Serbian & the transmitter switches off at 0703 UT!
  1482. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-voice-of-greece-on-9420_14.html
  1483. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  1484.  
  1485. ** HONDURAS. Has anyone ever logged 101.1 in Roatan, Honduras? I just
  1486. “virtually” met the station owner who is an ex-pat American from San
  1487. Diego. Their web site with stream is at:
  1488. http://www.caribbeancloudradio.com
  1489.  
  1490. HRTA 101.1 ROATÁN IB HND 0.0 2.5 0.0 138.0 16-16-56 86-35-26 TROPICAL
  1491. ISLAND BUZZ RADIO Some English songs [WTFDA FM DB listing]
  1492.  
  1493. 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, Maylene, AL 35114, WTFDA gg via DXLD)
  1494.  
  1495. ** INDIA. Faithfully Yours was not scheduled in the Daily Cuesheet,
  1496. and didn't air as expected on August 6th. Next likely airing will
  1497. therefore probably be on 13 August (but will need confirming next
  1498. week). (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, Aug 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  1499.  
  1500. ** INDIA. Re: [WOR] All India Radio AIR 7550 kHz DRM
  1501. Yes, you're right! Thank you, Alan! Just checked the livestream:
  1502. http://raagam.airbengaluru.com/
  1503.  
  1504. And I have to admit that, while the stations label of Channel 2 says
  1505. "VIVDH BHARATI", the DRM info box shows the following text: "RAGAM
  1506. CLASSICAL MUSIC CHANEL FROM SPT BANGALORE". Coco Chanel? ;-) 73,
  1507. (Alexander Busneag, Germany, Aug 7, WOR iog via DXLD)
  1508.  
  1509. 7555, Aug 11 at 0027, weak DRM noise seems centered here, not 7550,
  1510. but AIR has reactivated its DRM after a sesquiyear, allegedly on 7545-
  1511. 7550-7555 until 0045 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  1512.  
  1513. Good Evening, I'm noting All India Radio conducting tests currently on
  1514. 7550 kHz switching from AM to DRM then to test tones. They are not
  1515. noted to begin broadcasting on this frequency until 1745 UT. Signal
  1516. strength in AM is far more superior with drop outs on DRM. Noted 11th
  1517. August at 1713- 1720 UT. RSP1A - Random wire - Armagh, Northern
  1518. Ireland. Best Regards, (Jordan Heyburn, UKOGBANI, 1721 UT August 11,
  1519. WOR iog via DXLD) 7550 back in AM Aug 16 (Alan Roe, later)
  1520.  
  1521. ** INDIA. QUESTIONS OVER FUTURE OF ALL INDIA RADIO'S EXTERNAL SERVICE
  1522. Hindustan Times August 6
  1523.  
  1524. The external services division of All India Radio (AIR) is caught in a
  1525. turf war between the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB),
  1526. which runs it and the ministry of external affairs (MEA), which is
  1527. expected to fund it.
  1528.  
  1529. While the MIB wants the service to continue and even expand; MEA has
  1530. been suggesting shutting down the programmes, pointing out that the
  1531. service offered through short wave transmission has outlived its
  1532. utility and does not attract listeners abroad, said an MIB official
  1533. aware of the developments.
  1534.  
  1535. Full article:
  1536. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/i-b-ministry-and-mea-at-odds-over-all-india-radio-external-service/story-k8CDvm9gmYSJ4gDzuYrHiK.html
  1537.  
  1538. (via Mike Barraclough, Letchworth Garden City, UK, August 9, WOR iog
  1539. via DXLD; also via Artie Bigley)
  1540.  
  1541. ** INDIA. Special broadcasts by AIR for Independence Day (15 Aug 2018)
  1542.  
  1543. India is celebrating its 71st Independence Day on 15 August 2018.
  1544. Details of special programs by All India Radio for the occasion is as
  1545. follows:
  1546.  
  1547. 14th August 2017 (Tuesday) 1330 UT (7.00 pm IST) onwards “Address to
  1548. the Nation” on the eve of Independence Day in Hindi and English by
  1549. Shri.Ram Nath Kovind, Honble President of India.
  1550.  
  1551. All stations of All India Radio will relay this on MW, SW & FM.
  1552. Look out on the following Home Service SW frequencies:
  1553.  
  1554. 4760 Leh
  1555. 4760 Port Blair
  1556. 4800 Hyderabad
  1557. 4810 Bhopal
  1558. 4835 Gangtok
  1559. 4910 Jaipur
  1560. 4920 Chennai
  1561. 4950 Srinagar
  1562. 4970 Shillong
  1563. 5010 Thiruvananthapuram
  1564. 5040 Jeypore
  1565. 9380 Aligarh
  1566. 9865 Bangalore
  1567.  
  1568. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
  1569.  
  1570. 15 August 2018 (Wednesday) 0135-0240 UT (0705-0810 IST)
  1571.  
  1572. All India Radio will broadcast the running commentary in English and
  1573. Hindi on the Flag Hoisting and Prime Minster's speech to be held at
  1574. Red Fort, New Delhi between 0135-0240 UT (0705-0810 IST) on 15th
  1575. August, 2018 on the following SW frequencies.
  1576.  
  1577. English:
  1578. 11740 Panaji 250 kW
  1579. 15030 Bengaluru 500 kW
  1580.  
  1581. Hindi:
  1582. 6140 Aligarh 250 kW ?
  1583. 7340 Mumbai 100 kW ?
  1584. 7520 New Delhi 250 kW
  1585. 9380 Aligarh 250 kW
  1586. 11620 Bengaluru 500 kW
  1587.  
  1588. (Note: External Services in Urdu on 6140, 7340, 7520 are replaced by
  1589. running commentary at this time)
  1590.  
  1591. The following External Services stands cancelled for that day:
  1592. 9800: Nepali 0130-0230 News Hindi / English 0230-0300
  1593. 11560: Pushtu 0215-0300, Dari 0300-0345
  1594. 15030: Kannada 0215-0300
  1595.  
  1596. The Regional SW Stations will start using their daytime frequencies
  1597. about 1 hour or more earlier than usual on 15th August as follows to
  1598. relay the Commentary. This may provide enhanced reception of stations
  1599. than on normal days.
  1600.  
  1601. The sign on schedule for that day is as follows with normal sign on
  1602. timings in brackets.
  1603.  
  1604. 1. Bhopal - 0130 UT (Ex 0225) 7430
  1605. 2. Chennai - 0130 UT (Ex 0300) 7380
  1606. 3. Hyderabad - 0130 UT (Ex 0225) 7420
  1607. 4. Port Blair - 0130 UT (Ex 0315) 7390
  1608. 5. Srinagar - 0130 UT (Ex 0225) 6110
  1609. 6. Thiruvanathapuram - 0130 UT (Ex 0230) 7290
  1610.  
  1611. Other frequencies operating as usual at that time but carrying the
  1612. commentary is as follows:
  1613.  
  1614. 4760 Leh
  1615. 4835 Gangtok
  1616. 4910 Jaipur
  1617. 4970 Shillong
  1618. 5040 Jeypore
  1619. 7270 Chennai
  1620. Check also 13695 via Bangalore
  1621.  
  1622. All stations of AIR will relay the running commentary.
  1623. LIVE STREAMING ON AIR:
  1624. http://allindiaradio.gov.in/Default.aspx
  1625. Reception Reports to : spectrum-manager@prasarbharati.gov.in
  1626.  
  1627. or
  1628.  
  1629. Director (Spectrum Management & Synergy)
  1630. All India Radio,
  1631. Room No. 204, Akashvani Bhawan,
  1632. Parliament Street
  1633. New Delhi110001, India
  1634.  
  1635. Watch the events live on Doordarshan TV on all their channels. Try the
  1636. following links:
  1637.  
  1638. DD National:
  1639. http://www.ddindia..gov.in/Pages/Home.aspx
  1640. http://hellotv.in/play/livetv/DD-National_1893
  1641.  
  1642. DD News:
  1643. http://webcast.gov.in/
  1644.  
  1645. DD Sports:
  1646. http://hellotv.in/play/livetv/DD-Sports_1894
  1647. etc.
  1648.  
  1649. Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur
  1650. Radio, Hyderabad, India, August 10, dx_india yg via DXLD)
  1651.  
  1652. 9865, Aug 14 at 1333, this is the only AIR frequency JB audible for
  1653. the Independence Day specials, vs local thunder forcing use of indoor
  1654. longwire.
  1655.  
  1656. 11620, Aug 15 at 0135, of all the possible AIR Independence special
  1657. frequencies provided by Jose Jacob, this is the only one somewhat
  1658. audible, VP with flutter around S6-S7 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
  1659. DIGEST)
  1660.  
  1661. ** INDIA. THE RADIO SCENE IN FLOODED KERALA INDIA
  1662.  
  1663. In the closing announcement at the end of our program last week, we
  1664. indicated that one of the topics for this week’s program would be a
  1665. feature on Army Radio in the Red Sea. However currently, residents in
  1666. the Indian state of Kerala are still reeling from the recent onslaught
  1667. of monsoonal rains, and Jose Jacob VU2JOS in Hyderabad informs us that
  1668. several of their major radio stations have been on the air nonstop 24
  1669. hours with relief programming. The state of Kerala, with its Malayalam
  1670. language is the original home state for Jose Jacob.
  1671.  
  1672. The state of Kerala is situated along the southwest coast of the
  1673. Indian sub-continent. The annual monsoonal rains began there in Kerala
  1674. on July 9 bringing in their wake flash flooding, landslides and fallen
  1675. debris, together with massive damage to local crop production. Red
  1676. Alert has been issued in several districts, in the worst flooding in
  1677. more than 20 years.
  1678.  
  1679. As the English language Hindu newspaper reports, almost all of the
  1680. land areas are under several feet of water, with commercial properties
  1681. flooded at ground level and cars stationary and submerged. A total of
  1682. 35,000 people have been moved temporarily into 265 relief camps
  1683. throughout the state. The state government in Trivandrum has appealed
  1684. to the union government in New Delhi for relief funding.
  1685.  
  1686. In an email alert, Jose Jacob advises that four major mediumwave
  1687. stations in Kerala have been noted on air up into last weekend with
  1688. special extended programming over night, consisting of music and
  1689. relief announcements. These stations are located in Trivandrum,
  1690. Alappuzha, Thrissur and Kozhikode.
  1691.  
  1692. The state of Kerala is 360 miles long, ranging from 20 miles to 70
  1693. miles wide with a population approaching 35 million. The state capital
  1694. is Trivandrum, or Thiruvananthapuram as it is known these days, with a
  1695. population approaching two million.
  1696.  
  1697. Trivandrum, built on seven hills, is both a very ancient city, and
  1698. also a quite modern city in many respects. Local historians tell us
  1699. that the ships of the Biblical King Solomon in Israel landed in a port
  1700. called Ophir (now Poovar) in Trivandrum in the year 1036 BC.
  1701.  
  1702. The first radio broadcasting station in Kerala territory, and in
  1703. Trivandrum, was established in the MLA Palace Building under a
  1704. standard British India callsign VUR on March 12, 1943. The transmitter
  1705. was a new 5 kW STC unit from England, it operated on 658 kHz, and the
  1706. transmission tower stood 250 feet tall.
  1707.  
  1708. Three years later in March 1946, Travancore Radio VUR was removed from
  1709. the Palace and re-installed into the YMCA facility with a new official
  1710. callsign VUG, though it was also still well known as VUR. On April 1,
  1711. 1950, station VUG-VUR was taken over by All India Radio and it was re-
  1712. installed again, this time in the Diwan Palace in Trivandrum where it
  1713. is still located even to this day. We might add, that the office for
  1714. the Station Engineer was previously the palace bedroom.
  1715.  
  1716. In 1966, a 1 kW mediumwave transmitter was installed for the local VB
  1717. Vividh Bharati program service. This transmitter was installed at the
  1718. studio location and it radiated on 1140 kHz through a 90 ft self-
  1719. radiating mast. The VB service on mediumwave in Trivandrum was
  1720. transferred to FM in 1999 and the small mediumwave unit, by this time
  1721. on 1494 kHz, was retained for standby service.
  1722.  
  1723. In the early 1970s a new mediumwave transmitter site was established
  1724. in a heavily wooded area near Kulathur some 8 miles from the studio
  1725. location. This new facility was officially taken into service with 10
  1726. kW on February 15, 1973. A 2011 list gives the callsign for this
  1727. transmitter as VUT2.
  1728.  
  1729. At the end of the year 2001, a 20 kW solid state Harris DX20, which
  1730. can be run at 5 10 or 20 kW, was installed at this mediumwave
  1731. location; and simultaneously, a 400 foot self-radiating mast was
  1732. installed. The previous 10 kW BEL transmitter was retained for standby
  1733. usage, and it was briefly energized each morning for a few minutes
  1734. just before the main transmitter was opened for the regular daily
  1735. broadcast service.
  1736.  
  1737. It was back in the early 1960s that the first attempt was made to
  1738. establish a shortwave transmitter in conjunction with the already
  1739. existing mediumwave facility in Trivandrum. However due to rising
  1740. tensions with China, the 20 kW shortwave transmitter intended for
  1741. Trivandrum was quickly diverted to Kurseong in West Bengal where it
  1742. was officially inaugurated on June 2, 1962.
  1743.  
  1744. Two years later, All India Radio announced that a 250 watt shortwave
  1745. transmitter would be installed in Trivandrum and that it would operate
  1746. on 7280 kHz. However, this intended plan was never implemented either.
  1747.  
  1748. Then twenty years later again, All India Radio announced that
  1749. Trivandrum was again under consideration for the installation of a
  1750. shortwave transmitter, a project that would be implemented under the
  1751. next Five Year Plan. However, once again, and for the third time,
  1752. Trivandrum missed out.
  1753.  
  1754. However, comes the year 1992, and a 50 W transmitter was actually
  1755. installed at a coastal location at Muttathura in suburban Trivandrum,
  1756. some eight miles from the studios of All India Radio mediumwave. Test
  1757. transmissions consisting mainly of test tones began in October 1992,
  1758. and two years later on November 6 (1994), the station was taken into a
  1759. regular schedule of on air service.
  1760.  
  1761. The shortwave antenna system is readily visible on Google Earth and
  1762. the three towers can be seen in close walking distance to the beach, a
  1763. little south of the sewage farm which itself is a little south of the
  1764. jetty. The three self supporting towers are in a straight line, at an
  1765. angle of approximately 750 and they are supporting two simple curtain
  1766. antennas. The main coverage area for AIR Trivandrum shortwave is
  1767. towards the north from Trivandrum and across to the neighboring island
  1768. of Sri Lanka.
  1769.  
  1770. According to information from Jose Jacob, the AIR shortwave station at
  1771. Trivandrum is not carrying the flood emergency programming that is
  1772. heard on mediumwave. More from Kerala next week (Adrian Peterson,
  1773. Indianapolis, script for AWR Wavescan July 29 via DXLD)
  1774.  
  1775. AIR MEDIUMWAVE STATIONS IN REGIONAL CITIES OF KERALA
  1776.  
  1777. In our program last week, we presented a major feature on the radio
  1778. scene in Trivandrum in the Indian state of Kerala due to the recent
  1779. monsoonal flooding. We pick up Part 2 in this topic in our program
  1780. today, and on this occasion we visit all of the mediumwave stations in
  1781. the regional cities throughout Kerala.
  1782.  
  1783. One hundred miles northwest of the state capital city Trivandrum, or
  1784. Thiruvananthapuram as it is known these days, is the regional city
  1785. Alleppey or as it is known these days, Alappuzha. Under the rule of
  1786. the British Raj), this city was known as Alleppey, but in 1990 the
  1787. name was officially changed to Alappuzha which means River Water in
  1788. the official state language Malayalam).
  1789.  
  1790. This city is famous as the cleanest city in India, and history tells
  1791. us that Alappuzha had trade relations with Greece and Rome during the
  1792. Dark Ages. Local historians also tell us that Thomas, the doubting
  1793. disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, landed nearby during the year 52
  1794. AD.
  1795.  
  1796. The transmitter site for AIR All India Radio is located at Kalavoor
  1797. some five miles from Alappuzha on a property of 32 acres. The original
  1798. transmitter at this site was a 100 kW NEC Model 121B from Japan, which
  1799. was officially inaugurated on July 17, 1971 on 580 kHz. In the
  1800. mediumwave frequency shuffle that took place seven years later on
  1801. November 23, 1978, the operating frequency for this transmitter was
  1802. adjusted to 576 kHz.
  1803.  
  1804. During the year 1999, two additional mediumwave transmitters at 100 kW
  1805. each were installed in a different part of the transmitter building
  1806. and they were taken into service on April 15. The output of these two
  1807. Indian made transmitters Model BEL HMB140 were combined providing an
  1808. effective 200 kW. During a visit to the station some years ago, Jose
  1809. Jacob was informed that station personnel have given specific names to
  1810. the two transmitters, which were manufactured by Bharat Electronics
  1811. Limited, Bangalore. They are known as Lakshmi and Parvathi.
  1812.  
  1813. Another one hundred miles further north from Trivandrum is the city
  1814. that was known under the British rule as Trichur, a name that was
  1815. changed to the Malayalay style Thrissur also in 1990. This city was
  1816. anciently the capital city for the Kingdom of Cochin.
  1817.  
  1818. This regional city is located almost on the coast at the central
  1819. coastline of Kerala and it was named in honor of an ancient Indian
  1820. god. The ornamental gold trade is vibrant in Thrissur, with 40,000
  1821. gold workers processing a total of 90 tons of gold each year.
  1822.  
  1823. Local historians say that Thomas, the doubting Christian apostle, also
  1824. visited this area during the years 51 and 52 AD, and that the largest
  1825. Christian Church building in India is located in this city where 40%
  1826. of the population is Christian. The first Moslem mosque in India, the
  1827. Cheraman Juma Masjid was opened here in 629 AD.
  1828.  
  1829. The first broadcasting station in Thrissur was opened by AIR All India
  1830. Radio with 20 kW on 630 kHz on November 4, 1956. Initially this
  1831. station was a slave relay with programming from Trivandrum, though
  1832. some local production began ten years later. A fully fledged studio
  1833. was inaugurated at Ramavarmapuram, two miles from the city center
  1834. another seven years later.
  1835.  
  1836. During the following year, the 38 year old original Swiss made BBC 20
  1837. kW transmitter Model SM42A3 was replaced by a 100 kW Indian made BEL
  1838. HMB140, which was installed eight miles outside the city at Avanoor.
  1839. Jose Jacob in India informs us that this transmitter was production
  1840. number 27 in the HMB140 series.
  1841.  
  1842. During the past ¾ century mediumwave stations have been erected in
  1843. only four cities throughout the Indian state of Kerala; one in the
  1844. capital city and a further three in regional cities. We come now to
  1845. the fourth mediumwave location in Kerala, Kozhikode or Calicut as it
  1846. was known during the British years.
  1847.  
  1848. Kozhikode is the second largest city in Kerala, after Trivandrum, with
  1849. a population of two million. It is also listed as the second best city
  1850. in India to live in. The well known Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama
  1851. landed at Kozhikode on 20 May 1498, thus opening a trade route between
  1852. Europe and the Malabar coast in India.
  1853.  
  1854. This city Kozhikode was in the past the historical capital of Kerala
  1855. and it has long been a major trading post for spices, sandalwood and
  1856. ivory. This city was famous in colonial times for its finely woven
  1857. cotton cloth which is known to this day as Calico, a name derived from
  1858. the earlier Anglicised name for the city, Calicut. Even to this day,
  1859. many of the merchants still use their fingers and toes for counting
  1860. quantities of produce and payments of money.
  1861.  
  1862. Back on May 14, 1950, All India Radio established its first radio
  1863. broadcasting station in Kozhikode, just a 1 kW mediumwave station on
  1864. 580 kHz. A quarter century later, there was a power increase to 10 kW,
  1865. followed by another power increase, to 100 kW some thirty years later
  1866. again. Their VB Vividh Bharati transmitter with 1 kW on 1090 kHz
  1867. (later 1430 kHz) was also co-sited in this city.
  1868.  
  1869. These days, there are four high powered mediumwave transmitters on the
  1870. air in Kerala:-
  1871. Kozhikode 100 kW on 684 kHz
  1872. Thrissur 100 kW on 630 kHz
  1873. Alappuzha 2 @ 100 kW on 576 kHz
  1874. More about the Malayalam territories in India here in Wavescan next
  1875. week (Adrian Peterson, IN, script for AWR Wavescan Aug 5 via DXLD)
  1876.  
  1877. ** INDONESIA. 3325, Voice of Indonesia, via RRI Palangkaraya, on Aug
  1878. 7, suddenly started at *1055; mixing with NBC Bougainville.
  1879.  
  1880. Pro 1 RRI Nabire, Aug 8, on 7289.92 kHz:
  1881. 0834-0858 - EZL Pop songs.
  1882. 0858-0909 - Reciting from the Qur'an.
  1883. 0912* - Suddenly cut off in mid-song.
  1884. Without the heavy QRN (static), would have been fair reception.
  1885. (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long
  1886. wire, WOR iog via DXLD)
  1887.  
  1888. [non]. 7290.00, Aug 8 at 1126, JBA carrier, not off-frequency, so not
  1889. reactivated RRI Nabire, but rather after 1100, CNR1 Beijing site, per
  1890. NDXC/Aoki. Window for Nabire is when I should stay in deep sleep. Aoki
  1891. says it starts at 0500, but Ron Howard does not report it before 0742
  1892. and off as early as 0910 to as late as 1026*. FWIW, Nabire sunset is
  1893. 0903 UT, varying little as almost equatorial. Would not hurt to check
  1894. later the ex-night frequency 6125, which they stopped using long
  1895. before 7289.92 quit a biyear ago (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
  1896. DIGEST)
  1897.  
  1898. Glenn, I have been detecting the 7289.92 carrier here in New Zealand
  1899. from around 0540 UT. Tonight (9 August) it closed abruptly at 0920:30
  1900. UT (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai - NZ, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX
  1901. LISTENING DIGEST)
  1902.  
  1903. 7289.92, Pro 1 RRI Nabire, on Aug 9. Poor to almost fair, but constant
  1904. QRN (static). Highlights:
  1905.  
  1906. 0738-0800: Music program; non-stop songs.
  1907.  
  1908. 0800-0816: Starting with drums, the news; ending with patriotic song
  1909. “Bagimu Negeri.”
  1910.  
  1911. 0816-0859: Another music segment; non-stop songs.
  1912.  
  1913. 0859-0909: Reciting from the Qur'an.
  1914.  
  1915. 0920*: Suddenly cut off in mid-song, as Bryan Clark (New Zealand) has
  1916. already reported (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1,
  1917. antenna: 100' long wire, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DXLD)
  1918.  
  1919. Is Nabire still on? No reports since these Aug 9 (gh, ibid.)
  1920.  
  1921. ** INDONESIA. Wavescan NWS494
  1922. Youtube Video: Gili Islands Lombok Paradise A Go Pro video 2013
  1923.  
  1924. Opening Announcement - Our opening music in this edition of Wavescan
  1925. today comes from the Island of Lombok in Indonesia which has been
  1926. struck by two devastating earthquakes in just a few days. In this our
  1927. opening feature in this edition of Wavescan, we focus on Lombok on the
  1928. twin areas; their recent earthquakes and a run down on the radio scene
  1929. on their island. Welcome to “Wavescan”, international DX program from
  1930. Adventist World Radio Researched and written in Indianapolis, produced
  1931. in studios of shortwave WRMI.
  1932.  
  1933. TRIBUTE TO THE ISLAND OF LOMBOK
  1934.  
  1935. Because of the two major earthquakes that have struck the island of
  1936. Lombok in Indonesia within a few days, we interrupt the regular flow
  1937. of our topics here in Wavescan, and we present instead this feature
  1938. item as a Tribute to Lombok.
  1939.  
  1940. Two major earthquakes have struck the island of Lombok just one week
  1941. apart. The first major strike, rated at 6.4, occurred on Sunday July
  1942. 29 (2018) with a death toll of at least 17. Several hundred tourists
  1943. were stranded during a hike on the volcanic Mount Rinjani due to a
  1944. massive landslide, though some found an alternate route down the
  1945. slopes of the mountain while others were airlifted out by
  1946. helicopter.
  1947.  
  1948. This first quake which struck around dawn, was also felt on the
  1949. neighboring island of Bali. American TV personality and cook book
  1950. author Chrissy Teigen was on vacation with her husband and two
  1951. children in Bali, and she tweeted about the initial impact of this
  1952. first earthquake. She described it as a massive earthquake.
  1953.  
  1954. Australian actress Teresa Palmer was vacationing in a treehouse also
  1955. on Bali with her husband and their two children and she described the
  1956. tremor as violent and scary. Teresa was noted for her recent role in
  1957. the Mel Gibson block buster movie Hacksaw Ridge. She played the part
  1958. of the wife of the film’s dramatic hero Desmond Doss.
  1959.  
  1960. The second earthquake followed just a week later, on Sunday August 5
  1961. and it was even more violent than the earlier quake, and it measured
  1962. at 7.0. More than one hundred people have died on this second
  1963. occasion. A tsunami warning was issued, but the rise of ocean level
  1964. was no more than six inches.
  1965.  
  1966. At the time of the second quake, Indonesia and Australia were co-
  1967. hosting an international conference on regional security and
  1968. counterterrorism on both Lombok and Bali. Radio New Zealand
  1969. International, or more correctly these days Radio New Zealand Pacific,
  1970. reported that none of the delegates was injured in the earthquakes.
  1971.  
  1972. The volcanic mountains in Indonesia make a dramatic scene as viewed
  1973. from high in the air while the passenger plane passes over the active
  1974. volcanic islands in Indonesia, en route from Perth in Western
  1975. Australia to Singapore Island. The pilot ensures that the plane is
  1976. high above any airborne volcanic ash, and that he chooses a route over
  1977. the ocean in between whatever are the less active volcanoes.
  1978. Indonesia’s second highest volcano, Mount Ranjani, at a little over
  1979. 12,000 feet is located on Lombok.
  1980.  
  1981. The shape of the island of Lombok is like a five sided pentagon with
  1982. feet sticking out in the southern corners. The island is 43 miles
  1983. across, and it is located about half way between North Queensland and
  1984. Singapore. There is a shortage of fresh water on Lombok.
  1985.  
  1986. During the year 1257 historians tell us, there was a massive volcanic
  1987. explosion on Lombok that is described as one of the very largest ever
  1988. recorded on planet Earth. As a result of this Mt. Samalas volcanic
  1989. explosion, weather patterns all around the world were altered.
  1990.  
  1991. Since the early days of settlement on Lombok, feuding among various
  1992. rulers and ethnic groups has been a part of the local political scene.
  1993. The colonial Dutch authorities were invited to intervene in 1894.
  1994. Japanese forces arrived at 5:00 pm on Saturday May 9, 1942. When the
  1995. Japanese left, the Dutch took over again; and then in 1958, the island
  1996. of Lombok was incorporated into the newly independent Indonesia.
  1997.  
  1998. These days, Lombok Island has a population of 3?rd million, people and
  1999. the capital city of the island is Mataram with ?rd million.
  2000.  
  2001. According to Alan Davies in England [sic] with his website Asiawaves,
  2002. there are some 35 FM stations on the air on Lombok Island. Radio
  2003. Republic Indonesia RRI operates two program networks on FM with a
  2004. total of seven FM transmitters, and also one lone mediumwave
  2005. transmitter.
  2006.  
  2007. It is extremely hard to find any printed information regarding the
  2008. history of radio broadcasting on Lombok Island (or all of Indonesia
  2009. for that matter); accurate and reliable information is almost
  2010. nonexistent. Annual entries in the WR(TV)HB provide a useful guide,
  2011. though even here, the editors have been dependent upon the monitoring
  2012. observations of just a few, though quite reliable, international radio
  2013. monitors.
  2014.  
  2015. After the end of World War 2, amateur and commercial stations began to
  2016. appear on the broadcasting scene in Indonesia and like we say,
  2017. reliable information regarding these stations is almost totally
  2018. nonexistent. The amateur broadcasters were known in the national
  2019. language Bahasa Indonesia as amatir stations.
  2020.  
  2021. They were not licensed amateur operators known as hams elsewhere
  2022. throughout the world, but rather they were small, irregular licensed
  2023. or unlicensed stations doing their best to provide a needed local
  2024. radio broadcasting service. These amatir radio broadcasting stations
  2025. simply chose what they could find as an open channel in the tropical
  2026. shortwave bands, and they were on the air with whatever programming
  2027. they could find.
  2028.  
  2029. From the available information, we would suggest that the first radio
  2030. broadcasting stations on the island of Lombok were installed by
  2031. government authorities, some time during the late 1950s. The first
  2032. entry in the WR(TV)HB is for the year 1960, and the first and only
  2033. station listed then operated with the callsign YDX with listed 1 kW on
  2034. the tropical shortwave 90 m band frequency 3223 kHz. Though shown as 1
  2035. kW, the actual power of this transmitter was less than 100 watts.
  2036.  
  2037. This original station carried the programming of RRI and the location
  2038. is given as Mataram, the capital city. Subsequent editions of the
  2039. WR(TV)HB show two shortwave channels in use on Lombok and at this
  2040. stage, RRI Mataram is listed with new callsigns. The frequency 3223
  2041. kHz is shown as YDV5, and a new channel 3365 kHz is shown with the
  2042. callsign YDV. Both channels are listed at the same 1 kW, so this
  2043. additional outlet would seem to be the same transmitter with just
  2044. another channel at a different time.
  2045.  
  2046. The 1973 edition of WR(TV)HB shows the installation of an additional
  2047. shortwave transmitter that was in use at either 1 kW or 5 kW. The 3223
  2048. kHz frequency continued at both power levels, with 1 kW during the day
  2049. and 5 kW during the evenings. The 1975 edition lists the power on two
  2050. additional channels, the new 120 m band frequency on 2390 kHz and on
  2051. also on 3365 kHz as just 60 watts each.
  2052.  
  2053. The 1975 issue also shows an additional new shortwave station on the
  2054. air, this time at Selong on the other side of the island of Lombok,
  2055. the east side. This new station was another government operated
  2056. station with just 75 watts on the out of band frequency 2854 kHz with
  2057. local RKPDK programing.
  2058.  
  2059. There’s a note in the 1975 edition of the WRTVHB stating that all
  2060. commercial stations in Indonesia were required to convert from
  2061. shortwave to mediumwave by March 23, 1975. However, many of the local
  2062. commercial shortwave stations were still heard on shortwave after that
  2063. date.
  2064.  
  2065. The usage of shortwave broadcasting by government stations on Lombok
  2066. Island faded out around the turn of the millennium, with the 3225 kHz
  2067. channel at Mataram as the final channel in use. Both power levels of 1
  2068. kW and 5 kW were still in use up to that time.
  2069.  
  2070. The RRI mediumwave channel with 10 kW on 855 kHz was introduced in the
  2071. mid 1970s and it is still on the air to this day. Supplementary RRI
  2072. mediumwave stations were also on the air beginning in the 1990s on
  2073. 1194 kHz and 1251 kHz, though these service have since been
  2074. transferred to the standard FM band.
  2075.  
  2076. Beginning in the 1980s, commercial and community radio broadcasting
  2077. stations began to appear on the mediumwave band on Lombok Island,
  2078. about half a dozen of them. All of these mostly low powered outlets
  2079. have since also transferred to the FM band (Adrian Peterson, IN,
  2080. script for AWR Wavescan Aug 12 via DXLD)
  2081.  
  2082. ** INTERNATIONAL. Like World Music? If your tastes in music are
  2083. eclectic and like to take you all around the world in styles and
  2084. genres of all types, then this station is for you.
  2085.  
  2086. Sveriges P2 Varlden (Varlden --- to be precise with two dots over the
  2087. ``a`` is Swedish for ``world``)
  2088. Here`s a link to station`s web page which has a version in English.
  2089. https://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=2619&artikel=6068466
  2090. Good listening! (John Figliozzi, Author and Editor, The Worldwide
  2091. Listening Guide, Aug 7 internetradio at HCDX via DXLD)
  2092.  
  2093. You might also like FIP Autour du Monde
  2094. https://www.fip.fr/webradio-fip-autour-du-monde
  2095. (Paul Webster, Sent while mobile, ibid.)
  2096.  
  2097. ** IRAN [and non]. STATEMENT ON HARASSMENT OF BBC PERSIAN STAFF
  2098. Date: 09.08.2018 Last updated: 09.08.2018 at 14.49
  2099. https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/statements/bbc-persian-staff
  2100.  
  2101. Responding to comments made on the Mizan news agency, Francesca
  2102. Unsworth, Director of BBC News, says:
  2103.  
  2104. “These latest comments from the Iranian news agency connected to the
  2105. judiciary in Iran represent a significant escalation of the threats
  2106. made against named BBC Persian staff. In deliberately inflammatory
  2107. language, this statement effectively incites violence against our
  2108. journalists.
  2109.  
  2110. "We call once again for all Iranian harassment against BBC Persian
  2111. staff and their families in Iran to end immediately. This is an issue
  2112. of press freedom, and of the rights of all journalists around the
  2113. world to operate without fear violence or persecution.”
  2114.  
  2115. Note to Editors
  2116.  
  2117. In a lengthy statement issued yesterday (08.07.18) by the Mizan news
  2118. agency, on the National Day Of Journalists in Iran, a series of
  2119. allegations were made against named BBC Persian journalists.
  2120. The most worrying passage says: “Without doubt, the mafia gang
  2121. associated with the joint psychological operations HQ of overthrowing
  2122. the system of the Islamic Republic, which has directly targeted the
  2123. Iranian people and their security, are not free to carry out any
  2124. counter-security measures against the Iranian people.
  2125.  
  2126. "The members and employees of this gang, a number of whom have
  2127. gathered in the BBC Persian propaganda-security apparatus, and even
  2128. their internal colleagues who are following the same line, must be
  2129. held answerable for their actions against the Iranian people. They
  2130. will surely be exposed one day before the Iranian nation, and God’s
  2131. hand of justice will manifest itself through the arms of the Iranian
  2132. people, and they will be punished for their actions.”
  2133.  
  2134. These comments were further amplified later by a statement from a
  2135. spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards Corps, in a significant
  2136. escalation of the type of language used against BBC Persian staff.
  2137.  
  2138. BBC Press Office 9 August 2018 (via Dr Hansjoerg Biener, DXLD)
  2139.  
  2140. ** IRELAND [non]. I know there has been some speculation about which
  2141. transmitter the IRRS broadcast on 7290 kHz comes from, but I noticed
  2142. on last night's show that they actually mentioned that it was also
  2143. receivable in CUSB, don't think I've ever heard them say that before,
  2144. and their website just shows the following:
  2145.  
  2146. A3 = AM Double Side Band (DSB), high power DCC (Dynamic Carrier
  2147. Controlled) modulation.
  2148.  
  2149. I'll check it more carefully tonight and see if they say it again,
  2150. and try it out in USB, I had recorded last night's show as I was out,
  2151. so wasn't able to do that (Alan Gale, England, August 11, DX LISTENING
  2152. DIGEST)
  2153.  
  2154. ** ITALY. NOMINATE A PRESIDENT - OVERSIGHT BODY TELLS RAI BOARD
  2155. No president until agreement can be reached says Di Maio
  2156. Redazione ANSA Rome 07 August 201815:32 News . . .
  2157. http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2018/08/07/nominate-a-president-oversight-body-tells-rai-board_7ef4a50b-6413-4635-a7ca-8ed09aa750df.html
  2158. (via Mike Cooper, Aug 7, DXLD)
  2159.  
  2160. ** ITALY. 2600.0, 2114- 09/8, Mazara R, Mazara del Vallo. Ital/E,
  2161. navig. warnings. Adjacent utility QRM. 24341
  2162. 2628.0, 2112- 09/8, Augusta R, Augusta, Ital/E, navig. warnings. 25242
  2163. 2632.0, 2113- 09/8, Napoli R, Napoli. Ital/E, navig. warnings, 15341
  2164. 2719.0, 2209- 02/8, Porto Torres R, Porto Torres, Navig Warnings, 35342
  2165. (Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, JRC NRD-545DSP, PERSEUS &
  2166. DRAKE R-E; Advanced Receiver amp.; raised, 4 loop K9AY, 30 m 180º/0º
  2167. mini-Bev., 80 m 300º/120º Bev., 200 m 270º/90º Bev., 270 m 145º/325º
  2168. Bev., 300 m 225º/45º Beverage, via radioescutas yg via DXLD) SSB, AM?
  2169.  
  2170. ** KIRITIMATI. See DX-PEDITIONS (several other countries not cross-
  2171. referenced)
  2172.  
  2173. ** KOREA NORTH [non]. UZBEKISTAN, Radio Free North Korea & Voice of
  2174. Wilderness via Tashkent, August 9
  2175. 1200-1300 15630 100 kW / 076 deg Korean Radio Free North Korea, good
  2176. 1330-1530 7625 100 kW / 070 deg Korean Voice of Wilderness, fair
  2177. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/radio-free-north-korea-voice-of.html
  2178.  
  2179. North Korea Reform Radio & Voice of Martyrs via Tashkent, August 9:
  2180. 1430-1530 7580 TAC 100 kW / 076 deg Korean N Korea Reform Radio, good
  2181. 1530-1600 7505 TAC 100 kW / 076 deg Korean V of Martyrs, fair signal
  2182. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/north-korea-reform-radio-voice-of.html
  2183. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  2184.  
  2185. Reception of North Korea Reform Radio via Tashkent, August 10
  2186. 2030-2130 7495 TAC 100 kW / 076 deg Korean Daily, fair plus jamming
  2187. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-north-korea-reform-radio.html
  2188. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  2189.  
  2190. ** KOREA SOUTH. Frequency change of Voice of Freedom on August 9:
  2191. 0300-0800 on 5920 HWA 010 kW / non-dir to NEAs Korean, ex 6045
  2192. 0900-1500 on 5920 HWA 010 kW / non-dir to NEAs Korean, ex 6045
  2193. 1600-2000 on 5920 HWA 010 kW / non-dir to NEAs Korean, ex 6045
  2194. 2100-0200 on 5920 HWA 010 kW / non-dir to NEAs Korean, ex 6045
  2195. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/frequency-change-of-voice-of-freedom-on.html
  2196. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  2197.  
  2198. Back on alternate frequency 5920.0 (stable), Voice of Freedom, ex:
  2199. 6045, on Aug 9. Good reception and not jammed (ex: 6045 still with
  2200. heavy N. Korea jamming). Thanks again to Amano-san for his excellent
  2201. feedback as to the names of these various programs. Highlights:
  2202.  
  2203. 1000: "Bodo gwangjang" ("News plaza"). My audio at
  2204. http://goo.gl/EcBP7G
  2205.  
  2206. 1010: "Nalssi ..."? ("Weather ..."). My audio at
  2207. http://goo.gl/wC3ycK
  2208.  
  2209. 1020: "Hanla-eseo Baegdu-kkaji" ("From Halla to Baekdu"). My audio at
  2210. http://goo.gl/zyn4Uc
  2211.  
  2212. 6015, KBS Hanminjok Bangsong 1, at 1009, Aug 8. Still with N. Korea
  2213. jamming, but somewhat readable; three IDs; first by native speaker of
  2214. English ("Now you are listening to KBS, Pops Freedom"), second in
  2215. Korean ("Yeoreobuneun jigeum, Daehanminguk Seoul-e seo bonaedeurineun
  2216. Pops Freedom eul mutgogyesip nida." English translation: "Now, you are
  2217. listening to Pops Freedom from Seoul, South Korea") and third again in
  2218. English, this time by the program's host Kwak Young il ("Now you are
  2219. listening to KBS, Pops Freedom"); mostly pop songs (Icona Pop - "I
  2220. Love It - I Don't Care," etc.); at 1020 the usual intro to "Everyday
  2221. English" ("Yeongeodaejang Gwag-Yeong il gwa hamkkehaneun KBS Hanminjok
  2222. bangsong, Pops Freedom!" English translation "Together with English
  2223. captain Kwak Young il, KBS Hanminjok Bansong, Pops Freedom!") language
  2224. lesson ("Cigarettes are on sale. You can pay . ."). Website in Korean
  2225. http://program.kbs.co.kr/scr/radio/popsfreedom/pc/
  2226. (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long
  2227. wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  2228.  
  2229. ** KURDISTAN [non non]. Radio Maria Erbil, Kurdistan iracheno, in FM
  2230. Radio Maria ha aperto ufficilamente le trasmissioni a Erbil, Kurdistan
  2231. iracheno, sui 104.9 MHz FM per la piana di Ninive
  2232. https://playdxblog.blogspot.com/2018/08/radio-maria-on-air-erbil-nel-kurdistan.html
  2233. (Giampiero Bernardini, Italy, 7 August, playdx yg via DXLD)
  2234.  
  2235. ** KUWAIT. Reception of MOI Radio Kuwait in English 15529.8, August 7:
  2236. 0500-0800 15529.8 KBD 250 kW / 310 deg WeEu English AM mode, very good
  2237. Wrong frequency announcement: 11970 in 19mb, instead of 15530 in 19mb
  2238. Plus second wrong frequency announcement: 15540, 25mb instead of 19mb
  2239. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-moi-radio-kuwait-in.html
  2240. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  2241.  
  2242. 11970 kHz from R. Kuwait is still active in DRM at 0500-0800 UT! All
  2243. scheduled DRM transmissions from Radio Kuwait are currently active.
  2244. They were off-air as follows:
  2245.  
  2246. 0500-0800 UT 11970 kHz 100 SoAs RKW_English
  2247. off-air 14.Jun.2018-10.Jul.2018
  2248.  
  2249. 0945-1325 UT 15110 kHz 310 WeEu RKW_Arabic
  2250. off-air 20.Jun.2018-28.Jun.2018
  2251.  
  2252. 1700-2000 UT 13650 kHz 350 NoAm RKW_Arabic
  2253. off-air 13.Jun.2018-09.Jul.2018
  2254.  
  2255. 1800-2100 UT 15540 kHz 310 WeEu RKW_English
  2256. off-air 20.Jun.2018-27.Jun.2018
  2257.  
  2258. 73, (Alexander Busneag, Germany, Aug 7, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO
  2259. 1943, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  2260.  
  2261. Reception of MOI Radio Kuwait General Service, August 12
  2262. 2000-2400 on 17550 KBD 250 kW / 350 deg to ENAm* Arabic, very good
  2263. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-moi-radio-kuwait-general.html
  2264. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 12-13, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  2265. * target is C&W NAm, axually California, as I have already said (gh)
  2266.  
  2267. ** LATVIA. HISTORY OF DX AND RADIO ------------
  2268. Undiscovered Secrets of Soviet Intelligence.
  2269.  
  2270. In the remote Latvian forests, not far from the place where the
  2271. colorful waters of the Baltic and the Gulf of Riga are connected,
  2272. there is a unique man-made object, which in the Soviet times was
  2273. completely secret and was absent on any maps. And for that there were
  2274. serious reasons ....
  2275.  
  2276. We must pay tribute to the skill of Soviet intelligence officers. More
  2277. than 20 years have passed since the moment when the object
  2278. "Zvezdochka" (also known as "Ventspils-8", also VCH51429, the same 649
  2279. separate point for the exploration of radio emissions of outer space)
  2280. was handed over to Latvia, and its appointment is still used by the
  2281. most different legends, sometimes - contradictory.
  2282.  
  2283. The main - and the most secret - part of the object were three radars
  2284. - with reflectors 12, 16 and 32 meters in diameter, respectively. This
  2285. equipment allowed to search for objects in space to remove from them
  2286. radio and electronic information, as well as to listen to phone calls
  2287. and radio conversations of potential adversaries. All the data flowed
  2288. to the Center - the headquarters of the GRU.
  2289.  
  2290. The literature on this object most often mentions the wiretapping of
  2291. the US State Department and the NATO submarine base in Norway, but for
  2292. sure, this is not complete information, but possibly even a deza
  2293. launched in order to withdraw conversations from the true
  2294. possibilities of this technique.
  2295.  
  2296. Be that as it may, the part has functioned successfully from the early
  2297. seventies to the early nineties. Around the technical zone there was a
  2298. guarded perimeter, next to it there was a military town with
  2299. kindergartens, a school, etc. In the garrison lived more than 2,000
  2300. people - the military and their families, technical specialists, staff
  2301. of the GRU and the KGB.
  2302.  
  2303. After the withdrawal of the Soviet contingent from the sovereignty of
  2304. Latvia, the military town quickly turned into a ghost town. Marauders
  2305. plundered everything - there are not only metal pipes and railings,
  2306. but even window frames. However, the abandoned military towns in our
  2307. Trans-Baikal were sorted out by the locals more thoroughly - by brick,
  2308. on concrete slabs ... but we will not be distracted from the topic.
  2309.  
  2310. In the abandoned five floors - signs (or ghosts?) of a once prosperous
  2311. Soviet life. When we flew into space, we went in formation, rejoiced
  2312. in a single impulse, and glued wallpaper to the new newspapers that
  2313. wrote about it.
  2314.  
  2315. The town and the antennas connected an underground tunnel - now the
  2316. entrance is immured, but only recently it was possible to get to any
  2317. curious tourist.
  2318.  
  2319. And here he is, the same "Saturn". The height is 47 meters. It is 32
  2320. meters in diameter. Weight is more than 600 tons. At the time of
  2321. construction - the largest radar of this type in Europe. And now - the
  2322. eighth in the world. Perhaps, among all post-Soviet neglect, its
  2323. existence in time and space can be characterized as successful.
  2324. Judge for yourself.
  2325.  
  2326. Leaving, our military took with them the smallest, 8-meter radar, and
  2327. all the remaining equipment was thoroughly spoiled. Cement was poured
  2328. into the mechanisms, nails were hammered into the wiring, large cables
  2329. were cut with axes. Acid was filled in all electronic devices. As a
  2330. result, Latvians received a pile of very impressive externally, but
  2331. completely dead iron. Hot national moods almost led to the destruction
  2332. of telescopes, but in the end they were decided to hand over to the
  2333. Latvian Academy of Sciences.
  2334.  
  2335. Honestly, for many it was like a mockery. What can a scientist do with
  2336. a heap of scrap metal? But the Latvian scientists succeeded, with the
  2337. help of improvised tools, Soviet books (all studied in some Soviet
  2338. universities!) And such and such a mother to partially restore the
  2339. functionality of the radars. So the Soviet "Saturn" on the "citizen"
  2340. became the Latvian radio telescope RT-32, and the secret Soviet object
  2341. "Zvezdochka" became the Ventspils International Center for Radio
  2342. Astronomy (also VIRAC). And the telescope soon began to work really -
  2343. for example, on February 16, 2013, tracked the span of the asteroid
  2344. D14.
  2345.  
  2346. Until recently, inside the telescope were guided tours. But with the
  2347. acceleration of the pace of reconstruction of the radar, they replaced
  2348. the fully restored reflector and replaced the Soviet heritage with
  2349. modern American and European equipment.
  2350.  
  2351. Today, RT-32 is part of a large scientific project, having entered the
  2352. pan-European radio astronomy network EVN. That is, excursions,
  2353. probably will be held, but the telescope, most likely, now it will be
  2354. possible to look only from the outside.
  2355.  
  2356. It is possible that the RT-32 will have new dual-purpose tasks. But
  2357. from a scientific point of view, this is in any case better than
  2358. destruction and oblivion (Rus-DX August 12 via DXLD)
  2359.  
  2360. ** LIBERIA [and non]. 6050, 12 Ago, 2111, LIBÉRIA, ELWA. OM fala,
  2361. prega enfáticamente. Sinal razoável, mas sofre moderada QRM da PBS
  2362. Xizang na mesma frequência. Predominância do sinal da ELWA. 73 (Jorge
  2363. Freitas, Feira de Santana Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, Tecsun PL-
  2364. 310ET, Antenna dipole of 25m, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  2365.  
  2366. ** MADAGASCAR. Madagascar World Voice African Pathways Radio August 10
  2367. 1800-1900 17640 MWV 100 kW / 310 deg WeAf English tx#2, fair/good
  2368. 2000-2100 17640 MWV 100 kW / 295 deg CeAf English tx#2, NO SIGNAL
  2369. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/madagascar-world-voice-african-pathways.html
  2370.  
  2371. Madagascar World Voice KNLS New Life Station on August 10:
  2372. 1800-1900 9570 MWV 100 kW / 355 deg EaEu Russian tx#1, very good
  2373. 1900-2000 9755 MWV 100 kW / 355 deg EaEu Russian tx#2, very good
  2374. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/madagascar-world-voice-knls-new-life.html
  2375.  
  2376. Reception of Madagascar World Voice Radio Feda, August 10
  2377. 1900-2000 11965 MWV 100 kW / 355 deg N/ME Arabic tx#1, very good
  2378. 2000-2100 13710 MWV 100 kW / 340 deg N/ME Arabic tx#1, very weak
  2379. 2200-2300 11790 MWV 100 kW / 325 deg NoAf Arabic tx#1, fair/good
  2380. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-madagascar-world-voice.html
  2381.  
  2382. WCB Madagascar World Voice The Light of Life on August 10:
  2383. 2100-2200 11610 MWV 100 kW / 325 deg WeEu Chinese tx#1, very good
  2384. 2200-2300 9490 MWV 100 kW / 055 deg EaAs Chinese tx#2, fair/good
  2385. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-madagascar-world-voice_10.html
  2386. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  2387.  
  2388. ** MEXICO. 650, Aug 8 at 1118, Radio 65 promo that it`s also ``en el
  2389. cien --- 100.5 FM``. XETNT Los Mochis, still holding onto AM, and we
  2390. hope for good, as Mexican AMers are dropping like flies, so we need to
  2391. keep reconfirming the ones that remain.
  2392.  
  2393. 810, Aug 8 at 1110, dominant signal from south, ID between songs as
  2394. ``Radio Rey, la más [poderosa?], seis, nueve minutos``. Should not be
  2395. claiming powerfulness, as IRCA Mex Log had it as only 1000/100 watts,
  2396. XERI, Reynosa, Tamaulipas, and so does WRTH 2018. By now probably on
  2397. hefty day power. On DX-398 vs heavy local storm noise. Our sunrise
  2398. 1144 UT (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  2399.  
  2400. ** MEXICO. The operators of XEMIL/XHMIL, Los Mochis, Sinaloa, did not
  2401. answer my question about their move to FM, but they were very happy to
  2402. tell me that I was selected as the winner of a free car wash... in Los
  2403. Mochis! :) 73 (Tim Hall, CA, Aug 8, ABDX yg via DXLD)
  2404.  
  2405. Lucky guy, Tim. Have you started you drive yet? Will go head down Baja
  2406. and take a ferry? 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL/WI, ibid.)
  2407.  
  2408. OK; I followed up and they confirmed the AM is gone (XEMIL-1000). 73
  2409. (Tim Hall, Chula Vista, ibid.)
  2410.  
  2411. ** MEXICO. 640, XENQ La NQ, Tulancingo, Hidalgo. 1057 August 12, 2018.
  2412. Mexi-tune, male at 1100 "La NQ, XENQ, 640 AM... 90 punto 1 FM... watts
  2413. potencia..." into anthem followed by another ID.
  2414.  
  2415. 660, XECPR, Radio Chan Santa Cruz, Philipe Carillo Puerto, Quintana
  2416. Roo. 1037 August 12, 2018. Apparent sign on (this one pops up at
  2417. variable timing) with maybe a slight low het atop strong XEDTL Radio
  2418. Ciudadana. Abruptly up with instrumental fill, then male "Ésta es
  2419. Radio Chan Santa Cruz..." at 1038. Quickly faded down.
  2420.  
  2421. 709.92, UNIDENTIFIED, 1053 August 11, 2018. Weak, low het here,
  2422. presumed Latin American. [typical of XEDP Chihuahua --- gh]
  2423.  
  2424. 710, MEXICO, XEMP, Radio 710, México, DF. 1103 August 10, 2018. Anthem
  2425. in progress, male at 1106 opening with "XEMP..." female mentioning
  2426. "frecuencia modulada" then alternating same man and woman mentioning
  2427. "watts de potencia," México, "Radio 710... Colonia... Ciudad de
  2428. México... la Emisora Instituto Mexicano de la Radio..." into Mexi-
  2429. tunes, cranky DJ from 1117, commercials, back to music through 1135
  2430. fade out.
  2431. http://www.imer.mx/radio70
  2432. doesn't show an FM simulcast channel.
  2433.  
  2434. 770, MEXICO, unidentified. 1058 August 10, 2018. End of song, into
  2435. highly truncated anthem to 1059 but too weak to capture the ID. XEACH
  2436. and XEANT both logged here previously.
  2437.  
  2438. 1080, MEXICO, XETUL, Radio Mexiquense, Tultitlán, Estado de México.
  2439. 1056 August 13, 2018. First time here, I think. Fast-talking
  2440. announcer, then New Age/techno beat filler music, male at 1101 "XE...
  2441. 1080 AM, Radio Mexiquense..." and seemingly parallel their stream at
  2442. radiotvmexiquense.mx up to this point, but not after. Spanish tropical
  2443. vocal, chatter, another "Radio Mexiquense" ID at 1120. Faded by 1126.
  2444. KRLD and Radio Cadena Habana mostly nulled. Estado de México
  2445. government owned. Interestingly, no national anthem near, on or after
  2446. the 1100 hour (Terry L. Krueger, All dates/times GMT, Clearwater, FL,
  2447. NRD-535, IC-R75, broken longwires, active MW loop, DX LISTENING
  2448. DIGEST)
  2449.  
  2450. ** MEXICO [and non]. MEXICAN RADIO TO BEAM CHINESE PROPAGANDA --- U.S.
  2451. PROBES LINKS BETWEEN BUYER OF TIJUANA STATION AND CHINA'S PHOENIX TV
  2452. Bill Gertz August 13, 2018 5:00 am
  2453. https://freebeacon.com/national-security/mexican-radio-beam-chinese-propaganda/
  2454.  
  2455. A large Spanish-language radio station in Mexico will soon begin
  2456. broadcasting in Chinese in a deal critics say will bring Beijing
  2457. propaganda to Chinese Americans throughout Southern California.
  2458.  
  2459. A Federal Communications Commission filing on the sale of radio
  2460. station XEWW AM 690 radio near Tijuana reveals the buyer has ties to
  2461. Phoenix Satellite Television US, a subsidiary of Hong Kong's pro-
  2462. Beijing Phoenix TV.
  2463.  
  2464. According to government sources, signs that Phoenix is involved in the
  2465. purchase of the radio station prompted the Trump administration last
  2466. week to begin an investigation into the national security implications
  2467. of the sale.
  2468.  
  2469. Phoenix TV has been identified by U.S. intelligence agencies as a
  2470. major overseas outlet used to spread propaganda and promote the
  2471. policies of the communist government in Beijing. The Hong Kong
  2472. television station also has close ties to China's intelligence service
  2473. and military.
  2474.  
  2475. The deal for XEWW, a 77,500-watt station capable of reaching all of
  2476. southern California, was brokered by a New York financial company, H &
  2477. H Capital Partners.
  2478.  
  2479. The sale, if approved by the FCC, will turn the AM radio station from
  2480. a Spanish broadcaster into a Chinese-language outlet capable of
  2481. reaching over 600,000 Chinese Americans living in the San Diego-Los
  2482. Angeles area with Beijing's propaganda themes.
  2483.  
  2484. Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) voiced concerns about the sale and urged
  2485. the FCC to investigate.
  2486.  
  2487. "The FCC must protect American security and economic interests, and
  2488. deny any attempt by the Chinese government to broadcast Communist
  2489. Party propaganda and other programming into the United States," Rubio
  2490. said.
  2491.  
  2492. Rubio added that he will soon introduce legislation requiring all
  2493. media outlets owned, directed, or otherwise controlled by the Chinese
  2494. government and Chinese Communist Party to register as foreign agents.
  2495.  
  2496. Even though the sale involves a foreign broadcaster, the FCC has a
  2497. role because the Mexican radio station broadcasts into the United
  2498. States. Under a 1992 U.S.-Mexico agreement limiting foreign broadcasts
  2499. from Mexico that can reach the United States, the FCC can block the
  2500. sale if the agreement will be violated.
  2501.  
  2502. The FCC granted temporary authority for the station to continue
  2503. Spanish broadcasts on July 20, pending a final review by the
  2504. commission.
  2505.  
  2506. The station was sold by GLR Southern California. GLR, or Grupo Latino
  2507. de Radio, is the U.S. subsidiary of PRISA Radio, the world largest
  2508. Spanish-language radio group.
  2509.  
  2510. XEWW is located in Rosarito, Mexico, about 10 miles from the U.S.
  2511. border.
  2512.  
  2513. The FCC application by GLR states the new ownership will provide "a
  2514. full range of Mandarin Chinese programming on station XEWW-AM
  2515. including music, entertainment, weather report, local (LA) traffic
  2516. report, and local Chinese community news."
  2517.  
  2518. The new owners plan to produce programming in Los Angeles and transfer
  2519. to programs to XEWW through the internet for broadcast by the radio's
  2520. transmitters.
  2521.  
  2522. H & H Managing Director Vivian Huo denied the company brokered the
  2523. radio deal for Phoenix. "We purchased the radio station ourselves and
  2524. there is nothing to do with Phoenix," she said in an email to the
  2525. Washington Free Beacon.
  2526.  
  2527. H&H has not operated a radio station in the past. According to Huo's
  2528. LinkedIn page, the company "brings value to investors through its
  2529. talent for obtaining the best possible strategic partners for its
  2530. corporate clients, including cross-border M&A deals."
  2531.  
  2532. Huo, a U.S. citizen, is H&H's founder and owns a 97 percent interest
  2533. in the company.
  2534.  
  2535. The FCC filing does not mention Phoenix and also states no foreign
  2536. entities are involved in the purchase.
  2537.  
  2538. However, a section of the FCC filing that requires identifying the
  2539. location of where radio programing for the Mexican broadcasts will be
  2540. produced lists the address in Irwindale, Cal., of Phoenix Satellite TV
  2541. US.
  2542.  
  2543. Asked about the listing of Phoenix's address, Huo said: "We have a
  2544. rental office in Phoenix building. That's it."
  2545.  
  2546. Additionally, a long-time Phoenix television reporter, Jackie Pang,
  2547. was recently hired by H&H as a senior adviser.
  2548.  
  2549. Ms. Pang said she is not involved in the radio deal, but she did not
  2550. respond when asked if she is still employed by Phoenix, as indicated
  2551. on her LinkedIn page.
  2552.  
  2553. Huo said Phoenix will not be involved in producing programing for the
  2554. radio station.
  2555.  
  2556. The Justice Department probe into the radio deal reflects stepped up
  2557. efforts by the administration to counter foreign influence operations.
  2558.  
  2559. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced last month that both
  2560. the department and FBI are targeting foreign disinformation and
  2561. influence operations, through prosecutions, counterintelligence
  2562. operations, and other legal measures.
  2563.  
  2564. "Influence operations are a form of information warfare," Rosenstein
  2565. said during a security conference in Colorado. "Covert propaganda and
  2566. disinformation are among the primary weapons."
  2567.  
  2568. Phoenix TV was blocked from an attempt to buy into the U.S.
  2569. broadcasting market in Southern California in 2013. The Chinese
  2570. broadcaster tried to purchase radio station KDAY, an FM station in
  2571. Redondo Beach, Calif., and turn it into a Chinese language
  2572. broadcaster.
  2573.  
  2574. That deal was led by RBC Communications, a group of investors led by
  2575. Phoenix and its editor, Anthony Yuen. The deal fell through in October
  2576. 2013 after funding irregularities in the proposed $19.5 million
  2577. purchase were discovered.
  2578.  
  2579. Earlier this week, another Los Angeles radio that broadcasts in
  2580. Chinese, the Chinese Sound of Oriental and West Heritage, filed a
  2581. petition with the FCC asking the FCC to block H&H's purchase of XEWW.
  2582.  
  2583. The Chinese broadcaster from the low power FM station KQEV said FCC
  2584. approval would cause economic harm and "might allow the Chinese
  2585. government to provide its own propaganda programming to air on the
  2586. station."
  2587.  
  2588. "If the programming of XEWW-AM is tainted by, or worse controlled by,
  2589. the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese American community of
  2590. Southern, California could be indoctrinated with CCP propaganda, and
  2591. the American political and economic community could be damaged," the
  2592. filing states. "An investigation of this issue is necessary."
  2593.  
  2594. Former Chinese insider and billionaire businessman Guo Wengui said
  2595. Phoenix TV was established under Chinese leader Jiang Zemin in the
  2596. early 1990s specifically as a government and intelligence tool for
  2597. overseas influence operations.
  2598.  
  2599. All Phoenix personnel are required to undergo some MSS intelligence
  2600. training, Guo said.
  2601.  
  2602. "Phoenix TV is very close to the MSS and Chinese military
  2603. intelligence," said Guo, who was once close to MSS Vice Minister Ma
  2604. Jian before breaking with Beijing several years ago.
  2605.  
  2606. Sarah Cook, a Chinese expert at Freedom House, said in recent
  2607. congressional testimony that Phoenix TV is the second most widely
  2608. viewed Chinese-language cable channel in the United States, and an
  2609. example of a Chinese propaganda outlet not directly owned by the
  2610. Beijing government.
  2611.  
  2612. "Owned by a former military officer with close ties to Beijing
  2613. officials, Phoenix TV's coverage is typically favorable to the
  2614. [Communist Party of China]," Cook told the U.S.-China Economic
  2615. Security Review Commission.
  2616.  
  2617. The chairman of the Hong Kong-based Phoenix Satellite Television
  2618. Holdings Ltd. is Liu Changle, a former PLA propaganda official who is
  2619. close to senior Chinese government leaders.
  2620.  
  2621. "Moreover, over the past two years, it has been used as an outlet for
  2622. airing televised confessions by various detained CCP critics, most
  2623. notably all five Hong Kong booksellers abducted by Chinese security
  2624. forces in late 2015," Cook said.
  2625.  
  2626. According to Cook, China state television, CCTV, holds a 10 percent
  2627. stake in Phoenix. As a result, Phoenix does not stray in its reporting
  2628. from official propaganda themes set in Beijing.
  2629.  
  2630. China is seeking to expand its influence operations in the United
  2631. States from Chinese-language outlets to English-language media, she
  2632. said.
  2633.  
  2634. Lianchao Han, a former Senate aide who has studied China's overseas
  2635. influence operations, said the attempted purchase of XEWW appears to
  2636. be part of a larger Beijing global propaganda operation.
  2637.  
  2638. China began spending over $7 billion 10 years ago to implement a
  2639. global propaganda strategy, Han said.
  2640.  
  2641. The goal of the propaganda is to garner support for Beijing's
  2642. policies, and to play down or ignore nefarious Chinese activities,
  2643. such as arms proliferation to rogue states and human rights abuses.
  2644.  
  2645. "Today the Chinese government media's presence can be seen everywhere
  2646. in North America. It has systematically taken control of nearly all
  2647. overseas Chinese language media, bought English-language radio and TV
  2648. stations, hired hundreds of American journalists to do their bidding,"
  2649. Han said.
  2650.  
  2651. He added: "Phoenix TV's recent purchase of XEWW through H&H Capital
  2652. shows the regime continues to carry out this strategy of brainwashing
  2653. people in the free world to endorse Beijing's policy of global
  2654. expansion and to re-write the current international rules and order."
  2655.  
  2656. Phoenix also was linked to the case of Chinese spy Chi Mak who was
  2657. convicted of illegally exporting defense technology to China in 2007.
  2658.  
  2659. Mak's brother Tai Mak was revealed by investigators as a PLA
  2660. intelligence officer working under cover as a broadcast engineer for
  2661. Phoenix in southern California. Tai Mak was also convicted as a
  2662. conspirator in the spy case (Washington Free Beacon via David Cole,
  2663. OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DXLD) MORE about this from Raymie, below
  2664.  
  2665. ** MEXICO. RAYMIE`S MEXICO BEAT this week --- including TDT = DTV
  2666.  
  2667. Scratch Grupo ACIR from the contest to buy Televisa Radio.
  2668.  
  2669. ACIR is apparently unhappy about Televisa's asking price of $170
  2670. million. On Monday, a meeting was held at ACIR's offices with José
  2671. Antonio Ibarra Fariña, and ultimately they agreed that Televisa was
  2672. asking too much.
  2673.  
  2674. One concern facing stations in this market is that the new government
  2675. wants to cut by as much as 50 percent its advertising spend.
  2676.  
  2677. Imagen is also currently uninterested at this time (Raymie Humbert,
  2678. Phœnix AZ, August 8, WTFDA Forum via DXLD)
  2679.  
  2680. A lot of us are scratching our heads at the emergence of XHVSS as a
  2681. grupera station, not because of the format (more on that in a moment),
  2682. but because of the name.
  2683.  
  2684. As of yesterday, this Hermosillo station is now 101.1 La Más Chingona.
  2685. If you're asking "what does that mean", that's...the problem.
  2686.  
  2687. You see, chingón (or chingona in the feminine) is a popular Mexican
  2688. expression to describe something that's pretty cool. But it also comes
  2689. from the word chingar, which means...the F-bomb. Dictionaries include
  2690. the word but note that it is vulgar. The official dictionary of the
  2691. Real Academia Española, the authority governing the Spanish language,
  2692. warns that the word is malsonante or offensive.
  2693.  
  2694. Yet here we are with a radio station calling itself La Más Chingona.
  2695.  
  2696. As to the grupera format, this too points to a development. It appears
  2697. the on-again, off-again relationship between Larsa and Hermosillo's
  2698. ratings king, XHHQ-FM "La Número Uno", has gone back off. XHHQ is no
  2699. longer on Larsa's site.
  2700.  
  2701. In December 2017,
  2702. https://twitter.com/LARSAVISIONTV/status/941169026247680001
  2703. Larsa and XHHQ entered into some sort of operating agreement. XHHQ
  2704. disappeared from the Larsa site in March, but as recently as May,
  2705. https://twitter.com/LARSAVISIONTV/status/995455629753012224
  2706. it was being described as a Larsa station.
  2707.  
  2708. Last edited by Raymie; 08-10-2018 at 12:43 AM. Reason: forum
  2709. censoring, lost context (Raymie, originally Aug 9, ibid.;
  2710. censoring???? - gh)
  2711.  
  2712. Multimedios's multiprogramming authorization for 52MX on XHTDMX in
  2713. Mexico City raised a lot of eyebrows for the significance of the move
  2714. in the scheme of MVS's television ambitions.
  2715.  
  2716. However, they also raised an eyebrow here because, upon adding the
  2717. fourth sub, Multimedios applied for it and said it would convert the
  2718. subchannels (6.2 through 6.4) to MPEG-4 compression.
  2719.  
  2720. While 52MX is not on 6.4 yet, the MPEG-4 was turned on for the 6.2 and
  2721. 6.3 subchannels, which had operated in MPEG-2 since being turned on.
  2722. This makes Multimedios the first commercial user of MPEG-4 in Mexico
  2723. since the failure of TV Azteca's HiTV subscription platform (this
  2724. considering XEIMT, technically a commercial television station, as
  2725. noncommercial).
  2726.  
  2727. The IFT multiprogramming tables list all of the SPR transmitters with
  2728. MPEG-4, though I believe in actuality it might only be in use for
  2729. Canal del Congreso on the third wave of transmitters that went into
  2730. operation in 2014-15. They also, correctly, list XEIMT Mexico City,
  2731. which transmits its secondary channel Canal 22.2 in HD using 6 Mbps
  2732. MPEG-4.
  2733.  
  2734. MPEG-4 is necessary for one or both subchannels to transmit dual HD
  2735. under the IFT-013-2016 technical guidelines for digital television
  2736. stations because those guidelines prescribe minimum bitrates in MPEG-2
  2737. and MPEG-4. (Notably, there are some exceptions end-running around the
  2738. guideline, namely XEJ in Juárez and, starting this week for some
  2739. unexplained reason, XHSFJ in Guadalajara which is transmitting a+ in
  2740. HD 1080i.)
  2741.  
  2742. To be defined as HD, a channel must transmit at 10 Mbps in MPEG-2 or 6
  2743. in MPEG-4. For SD, the minimum bitrates are 3 and 2.5 Mbps,
  2744. respectively.
  2745.  
  2746. XHTDMX-TDT will ultimately be multiplexed at 10 Mbps MPEG-2 for its
  2747. main channel (programming looks to start August 27) and 2.5 Mbps MPEG-
  2748. 4 for the other three subchannels. (MMTV is no stranger to doing this
  2749. in MPEG-2, either, on stations like XHVTU and XHTAO, making the MPEG-4
  2750. choice even more curious.)
  2751.  
  2752. Of course, all of this would be a footnote if not for the shaky track
  2753. record of receivers in decoding MPEG-4. Because ATSC A/72 never was
  2754. adopted in the United States for general use (outside of things like a
  2755. controlled access LPTV environment in Minnesota
  2756. https://www.mvtvwireless.com/
  2757. where all the STBs support A/70 Controlled Access and newer ones seem
  2758. to support A/72), receivers sold on the Mexican market are hit or miss
  2759. in whether you will get a picture. This was the problem that dogged
  2760. the SPR when it built its third-wave transmitters — people getting
  2761. blank screens, able to hear the normally transmitted audio but not see
  2762. the MPEG-4-encoded video. For Canal 22.2, it's not so much of a
  2763. problem because it has to be on every cable system, but for Milenio,
  2764. Teleritmo and 52MX, it might be a problem that impairs their potential
  2765. audience in the nation's capital (Raymie, August 10, ibid.)
  2766.  
  2767. I've been kind of bothered that Mexico mandated bitrates when
  2768. different encoding equipment will produce different results at the
  2769. same bitrate, and variable bitrate encoders will greatly improve
  2770. performance over static ones. It seems like the kind of thing that
  2771. serves to discourage technology upgrades among stations.
  2772.  
  2773. I'll be interested to find out how the MPEG-4 experiment goes though.
  2774. - Trip
  2775. Come visit RabbitEars for all your digital TV subchannel informational
  2776. needs.
  2777. http://www.rabbitears.info/
  2778. Comments are my own and not that of the FCC (my employer) or anyone
  2779. else (Trip Ericson, Alexandria VA, ibid.)
  2780.  
  2781. It's definitely not the wisest decision — it's probably led to a
  2782. decrease of HD availability generally — but it was put in there, and
  2783. when combined with the multiprogramming approval process, it has a
  2784. good amount of bite (Raymie, Aug 10, ibid.)
  2785.  
  2786. There's one more FM radio station in Mexico City.
  2787.  
  2788. Testing began today on 105.3 MHz for the long-awaited XHINFO-FM, which
  2789. will eventually become "Aire Libre", the city's newest—and last—
  2790. commercial FM station. A source first reported, and another confirmed,
  2791. that 105.3 was on air in the capital.
  2792.  
  2793. It's not yet known if 1560 AM is transmitting again—remember, XHINFO
  2794. is technically a second-wave migrant. However, it is not yet in HD
  2795. (Raymie, Aug 11, ibid.)
  2796.  
  2797. Can a jaguar be called a social wolf? You bet it can!
  2798.  
  2799. On July 31, I pointed to the concession for XHICT, signed by Manuel
  2800. Isaac Caballero Colli, and noted that he also owned XHACS. Well, the
  2801. rumors are true, and there's also a third station in the mix.
  2802. https://www.facebook.com/isacpotamo/posts/10156699849824314
  2803.  
  2804. We also know that XHICT will be known as Tulum Digital 104.7, and the
  2805. other station is Jaguar FM 90.5 in Chetumal (XHCCE-FM). The
  2806. concessionaires are Identidad Cultural en Tulum and Culturalmente
  2807. Chetumal. Neither XHICT or XHCCE are on air.
  2808.  
  2809. Jaguar FM will roar pretty loudly when it gets on air; it's an unusual
  2810. Class B1 social award. (XHACS and XHICT are class A.)
  2811.  
  2812. It's worth noting that neither of the two women who are the listed
  2813. principals in Culturalmente Chetumal seem to show up in much of
  2814. anything else, though Natalia Alcántara Ramírez is Facebook friends
  2815. with Isaac Caballero Colli (she's a real estate agent in Playa del
  2816. Carmen). (Raymie, Aug 12, ibid.)
  2817.  
  2818. On March 28, in a meeting of the municipality of Concepción del Oro,
  2819. Zacatecas, it was mentioned that NTR was seeking land for transmitter
  2820. space for the future XHPORO-FM 101.3.
  2821. http://concepciondeloro.org.mx/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Reunion-Ordinaria-30-abril-30-2018-.pdf
  2822.  
  2823. NTR sought to build a 36-meter tower on about 60 square meters of land
  2824. on Cerro del Cobre (which I can't find anywhere). (Raymie, Aug 14,
  2825. ibid.)
  2826.  
  2827. The biggest weapon in Grupo Acustik's radio arsenal is out. The
  2828. Informe Brozo is no more.
  2829. https://la-saga.com/entretenimiento/el-informe-brozo-saldra-del-aire/
  2830.  
  2831. Launched just seven months ago amidst a major promotional campaign,
  2832. the Informe Brozo was a sign of Acustik's sudden seriousness and its
  2833. major investment in star power. But after apparently having to change
  2834. studios to cut costs back in May, there appears to have been some sort
  2835. of impasse between Víctor Trujillo and Acustik, but no reason was
  2836. cited by Brozo in announcing the end (Raymie, Aug 14, ibid.)
  2837.  
  2838. The proposed transfer of operational control of XEWW to a group that
  2839. would broadcast programming in Chinese has hit an unexpected and
  2840. highly unusual roadblock in the United States.
  2841.  
  2842. The transfer of control, first filed for last month, from Grupo Latino
  2843. de Radio (an outright subsidiary of PRISA) to H&H Group USA, 97%
  2844. controlled by Vivian Huo and 3% by Julian Sant, would see the station
  2845. remain fed from the United States. But the connections of the
  2846. applicants are apparently raising alarms in Washington.
  2847.  
  2848. The first report of interest came from the Daily Mail,
  2849. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6056799/Chinese-investors-purchase-Mexican-radio-station.html
  2850. which reported that Vivian Huo is tied to Phoenix Satellite
  2851. Television, a wing of the Hong Kong-based, Beijing-aligned Phoenix TV.
  2852. H&H and Phoenix share office space in Irwindale, California, which is
  2853. also where the station's operations would be based.
  2854.  
  2855. The conservative Washington Free Beacon
  2856. https://freebeacon.com/national-security/mexican-radio-beam-chinese-propaganda/
  2857. reported the Trump administration launched a national security review
  2858. last week. The FCC does have the right to block the transfer of US
  2859. operational control of the station. The principal concern is that pro-
  2860. government Chinese propaganda would be part of the programming carried
  2861. on XEWW after the sale. Huo denied any connection between Phoenix and
  2862. H&H in an email to the Free Beacon.
  2863.  
  2864. The objectors also include other radio stations serving the Chinese
  2865. community in Los Angeles, such as KQEV-LP, and according to the Free
  2866. Beacon report, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), who said, "The FCC must
  2867. protect American security and economic interests, and deny any attempt
  2868. by the Chinese government to broadcast Communist Party propaganda and
  2869. other programming into the United States". He also said he would soon
  2870. introduce legislation requiring registration of any Chinese
  2871. government- or Communist Party-owned media outlets with the
  2872. government.
  2873.  
  2874. If Phoenix is behind H&H, it would be their second attempt at buying a
  2875. Southern California radio station. In 2013, Phoenix filed to buy KDAY
  2876. 93.5 FM,
  2877. https://www.laweekly.com/music/sources-kday-saved-4168752
  2878. sparking not only outcry from the Chinese community but also from
  2879. listeners to LA's heritage hip-hop oldies station. That deal also fell
  2880. through.
  2881.  
  2882. In the American context, Chinese foreign investments have come under
  2883. increased scrutiny amid concerns of strategic assets, and Chinese
  2884. foreign investment in the United States has fallen 92 percent so far
  2885. this year.
  2886. https://money.cnn.com/2018/06/20/investing/chinese-investment-united-states-falls/index.html
  2887.  
  2888. The new NDAA signed into law yesterday further strengthens the
  2889. Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) and expands its
  2890. purview.
  2891. https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/2159552/donald-trump-signs-bill-named-after-john-mccain
  2892.  
  2893. Concerns about governmental propaganda from foreign powers have also
  2894. been issues in Mexican radio in the past; they were most prevalent
  2895. with border blasters during World War II. Foreign investment in a
  2896. Mexican radio station is subject to the provisions of the Ley de
  2897. Inversión Extranjera, and the National Foreign Investment Commission
  2898. (CNIE), which must as in other sectors approve foreign investment,
  2899. also has the ability to block foreign investments for national
  2900. security reasons.
  2901.  
  2902. Additionally, Article 111 of the LFTR states:
  2903.  
  2904. ``In no case shall the concession and the rights conferred
  2905. therein, or the facilities, auxiliary or dependent services, and the
  2906. assets attached thereto, be ceded, levied, given as a loan or in a
  2907. trust, mortgaged or transferred, in part or in whole, to a foreign
  2908. government or state.``
  2909.  
  2910. The RTC will also need to (and likely will) approve the station
  2911. broadcasting in a non-national language, like for stations such as
  2912. XEPRS or XETRA-FM (Raymie, Aug 14, ibid.)
  2913.  
  2914. The FCC has the power to regulate the transmission of programming from
  2915. studios in the U.S. to a foreign transmitter which is powerful enough
  2916. and close enough to the border to be regularly received in the U.S..
  2917. They can't prevent Phoenix from programming XEWW from studios in
  2918. Mexico (or China) but they can prevent it from using studios in the
  2919. U.S..
  2920.  
  2921. Normally, applications for this permission are routine. All the ones
  2922. I've seen involve Mexican stations, and usually Mexican stations
  2923. broadcasting in Spanish but to a U.S. audience. I see several a year.
  2924. See, for example, this application for The CW to feed programming to
  2925. XETV Tijuana.
  2926. http://licensing.fcc.gov/myibfs/download.do?attachment_key=656783
  2927.  
  2928. I believe programmers feeding at least two Canadian stations would
  2929. have required this permission. CKLW AM 800 Windsor, Ontario was at one
  2930. time an affiliate of the CBS and Mutual radio networks - those
  2931. networks would have required permission. More recently, CFLZ-FM
  2932. Niagara Falls was programmed from studios in Buffalo, N.Y.. Two AM
  2933. stations in northern Washington State have programmed in South Asian
  2934. languages for an audience in Vancouver -- I don't know if their
  2935. studios were in Bellingham or Vancouver. If the latter, FCC permits
  2936. would have been required. All three recent moves fell afoul of
  2937. Canadian regulations and have been terminated.
  2938.  
  2939. 47CFR325(c) and (d):
  2940. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/47/325
  2941.  
  2942. ``(c) Broadcast to foreign countries for rebroadcast to United
  2943. States; permit
  2944. No person shall be permitted to locate, use, or maintain a radio
  2945. broadcast studio or other place or apparatus from which or whereby
  2946. sound waves are converted into electrical energy, or mechanical or
  2947. physical reproduction of sound waves produced, and caused to be
  2948. transmitted or delivered to a radio station in a foreign country for
  2949. the purpose of being broadcast from any radio station there having a
  2950. power output of sufficient intensity and/or being so located
  2951. geographically that its emissions may be received consistently in the
  2952. United States, without first obtaining a permit from the Commission
  2953. upon proper application therefor.
  2954.  
  2955. (d) Application for permit
  2956. Such application shall contain such information as the Commission
  2957. may by regulation prescribe, and the granting or refusal thereof shall
  2958. be subject to the requirements of section 309 of this title with
  2959. respect to applications for station licenses or renewal or
  2960. modification thereof, and the license or permission so granted shall
  2961. be revocable for false statements in the application so required or
  2962. when the Commission, after hearings, shall find its continuation no
  2963. longer in the public interest``
  2964.  
  2965. (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, Aug 15, ibid.)
  2966.  
  2967. That makes a lot of sense. If the FCC blocks the deal on national
  2968. security grounds, the American nationals could conceivably turn
  2969. around, find Mexican silent investors to cover either 51 or 75 percent
  2970. depending on how you read the reciprocity clause for broadcasting,
  2971. incorporate in Mexico, and buy the station's concession outright.
  2972. Given the whole business plan depends on programming from and for Los
  2973. Angeles, however, that might not work.
  2974.  
  2975. I don't think there's ever been a national security review in the US
  2976. for one of these 325(c) authorizations. They are usually incredibly
  2977. routine. There has been contestation — this is how XETV lost its ABC
  2978. affiliation ultimately in 1972, because KCST made a ton of noise about
  2979. the authorization in light of UHF policy.
  2980.  
  2981. Some of the 325(c)s I'm pulling up are mighty interesting...some of
  2982. these groups are sending the FCC outdated information on their Mexican
  2983. ties. To put it mildly, I shouldn't be seeing mentions of "Best FM" in
  2984. an MVS station list on a 2017 application (Raymie, Aug 15, ibid.)
  2985.  
  2986. I need to make a technical (legal) correction. The "47CFR325" quoted
  2987. above isn't. It isn't a FCC regulation, it's an Act of Congress --
  2988. part of the Communications Act, the law that created the FCC and gave
  2989. it its powers. I should have titled it simply "325(c) and d".
  2990.  
  2991. Yes, I've never seen a mention of national security in a 325(c)
  2992. permit.
  2993.  
  2994. There has been boilerplate text added in the last few years that makes
  2995. the permit contingent on the station actually using the technical
  2996. facilities that were approved by international agreement. Stations
  2997. near the border must be coordinated between the U.S. and Mexican
  2998. governments, based on the proposed technical parameters. (programming
  2999. & ownership do not enter into consideration here, only engineering) I
  3000. know some years ago there was a belief, backed up by some amount of
  3001. evidence, that at least one 325(c) station had been constructed with a
  3002. far higher ERP into the U.S. than had been coordinated.
  3003.  
  3004. As Raymie mentions, in the past competitive considerations and UHF
  3005. policy have entered into the equation when considering 325(c) permits
  3006. for TV stations in Tijuana. (to my recollection it has never come up
  3007. anywhere else on the border. Yes, there *are* 325(c) stations
  3008. elsewhere on the border, primarily in Texas.) (Doug Smith W9WI,
  3009. Pleasant View, TN EM66, http://www.w9wi.com Aug 15, ibid.)
  3010.  
  3011. ** MEXICO. 6185, Radio Educación (?) at 0307. Somewhere — but I can’t
  3012. find it now — I read a report that a flood in their building had
  3013. knocked Radio Education off the air, but there was a weak station in
  3014. Spanish here tonight. Hopefully them, back on. - Aug. 7 (Harold
  3015. Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia. Listening in my car, parked
  3016. overlooking Kalamalka Lake. CommRadio CR-1a and Sony AN-1 whip
  3017. antenna, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DXLD)
  3018.  
  3019. 6185.002, Aug 12 at 0054, S8-S9 carrier but no modulation audible,
  3020. XEPPM? Haven`t heard much from it lately, needs further chex.
  3021. Aoki/NDXC shows nothing else on 6185 thruout our evenings, not even
  3022. China. EiBi shows XEPPM span as 2200-0509. Don`t you believe HFCC
  3023. listing Manokwari, Indonesia! in English!! at 01-05!!!
  3024.  
  3025. XEPPM is a regular log for Manuel Méndez in Spain. His latest report:
  3026. ``MEXICO, 6185, Radio Educación, Ciudad de México, 0457-0503, 05-09,
  3027. music, extremely weak. 15311. (Méndez)`` I guess he meant 5 August
  3028. like some other logs in the same report sent on that date (Glenn
  3029. Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3030.  
  3031. Radio Educación in Mexico has a new ID for their SW service, hitherto
  3032. known as Radio Educación onda corta. Señal Cultura México, and/or
  3033. Cultura México Señal Internacional is on the air on 6185, at 2300-
  3034. 0555. There are several web pages giving further info on this service,
  3035. one of them being
  3036. http://www.radioeducacion.gob.mx/culturamexico/index.php
  3037.  
  3038. The new slogan has been in use for about one year. They are interested
  3039. in reports, which will be answered by online QSL, said Ms Pilar Cruz
  3040. in the 24th Encuentro Diexista, held 27-28 July in San Luís Potosí,
  3041. México. ”Sintonía libre” is a letterbox programme aired Tuesday,
  3042. Thursday and Sunday at times given at
  3043. http://www.radioeducacion.edu.mx/carta-programatica-del-mes
  3044. The international service can be heard online (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden,
  3045. SW Bulletin Aug 12 via DXLD)
  3046.  
  3047. 6185, Radio Educación, Ciudad de México, 0502-0522*, 10-08, Spanish,
  3048. comments, male, female. 15321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in
  3049. Reinante, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, WOR iog via DX
  3050. LISTENING DIGEST)
  3051.  
  3052. 6185, Aug 13 at 0105 & 0147, JBM music, at S9+5/10. Must be XEPPM, on
  3053. air but with usual modulation problem. Nothing else scheduled in our
  3054. evening, no longer even Vatican, nor China.
  3055.  
  3056. Henrik Klemetz reports in SW Bulletin Aug 12: [as above]
  3057.  
  3058. `Sintonía Libre`: I.e.: martes 2100-2130; jueves 1915-1945; domingo
  3059. 2245-2315 CDT/CST - now = UT: Wed 0200, Fri 0015, Mon 0345. That
  3060. monthly program sked grid still dated July, shows span in UT as 2200-
  3061. 0455, not as above. Normally 6185 would quit around 0500 UT during
  3062. DST.
  3063.  
  3064. On the same pages are program skeds for MW 1060, and new FM station
  3065. Señal Kukulcán 107.9 FM, Mérida, Yucatán. And linx to more detailed
  3066. daily programming. They also have 96.5 FM in CDMX, and Señal Cultura
  3067. Sonora, Hermosillo, no frequency given. Why do we have to go to the
  3068. WTFDA Database for basic info about them? 107.9, XHYRE-FM 3/3 kW,
  3069. 104/104m in Mérida; As for Hermosillo, NO station listed as Radio
  3070. Educación or the above slogan, but maybe this one? 107.5, XHUSH-FM,
  3071. 107.5, 10/10 kW, 100/100 m, ``CULTURE VARIETY, RADIO UNIVERSIDAD,
  3072. Universidad de Sonora-Hermosillo`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO
  3073. 1943, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3074.  
  3075. 6185, August 13 at 2138, JBA carrier already, maybe trace of
  3076. modulation, as XEPPM is suspected on air even earlier than skedgrid
  3077. now acknowledges, from 2200 instead of 2300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
  3078. LISTENING DIGEST)
  3079.  
  3080. ** NEWFOUNDLAND. 11336-AM, Aug 9 at 1316, YL ATC at Gander Radio is on
  3081. AM assigning primary and secondary comms frequencies to some flight as
  3082. 10021 and 8879 (or was it 2879 upon second hearing?), and selcall
  3083. tones. Yet simplex replies from flights are in USB.
  3084.  
  3085. 11279-USB, Aug 9 at 1317, OM ATC also at Gander Radio, with a United
  3086. flight, selcalls (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3087.  
  3088. ** NIGERIA. 945.0, 2225-2235 05/8, Radio Kebbi, Birnin Kebbi.
  3089. vernacular, tribal songs, talks. QRM STP, 34443 (Carlos Gonçalves,
  3090. Portugal via Giampiero Bernardini, playdx blog via DXLD) 10 kW vs 600
  3091. kW from VOA São Tomé (WRTH 2018 via DXLD)
  3092.  
  3093. ** NIGERIA. 7254.932, Aug 8 at 0532, VON is already on with song
  3094. prélude, maybe in English? Cut off at 0557 for percussion IS runup to
  3095. 0600 Hausa opening; VG S9+10/30 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
  3096. DIGEST)
  3097.  
  3098. ** NIGERIA [non]. Dandal Kura Radio Int. & Radio International Aug. 7
  3099. Dandal Kura Radio Int. via MBR Issoudun [see also CHAD non]
  3100. 0600-0700 11910 ISS 100 kW / 167 deg CeAf Kanuri, very good signal
  3101. Radio International via BaBcoCk Woofferton
  3102. 0700-0800 13810 WOF 250 kW / 165 deg WeAf Kanuri/French, very good
  3103. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-dandal-kura-radio-int.html
  3104. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3105.  
  3106. ** NORTH AMERICA. 7470, USA (religious pirate), Radio YHWH at 0220 (in
  3107. progress at tune-in), usual voice and monologue. Still there on
  3108. recheck at 0300 (with SW-2000629 and outdoor wire), Poor/Fair August 7
  3109.  
  3110. 7470, R. YHWH at 0320 (in progress at tune-in). Very strong reception
  3111. tonight, monitored with Satellit 205 and its whip. Right in the middle
  3112. of the "Ten Commandments of Yahweh" at tune-in. Everything disappeared
  3113. at 0334 - VG August 8.
  3114.  
  3115. 7470, R. YHWH at 0245 (in progress at tune-in). Usual host and the
  3116. Yahweh or the Highway monologue. Signal level on wild rollercoaster
  3117. ride here. Everything went off at 0304, but then Lazarus arose from
  3118. the dead at 0310. Thought the station closed again at 0324, but amping
  3119. up the volume at 0326 revealed the monologue was still going. S-1 to
  3120. S9 August 9 (Rick Barton, Logs from Central Arizona, Grundig Satellit
  3121. 205(T.5000) & 750; RS SW-2000629, & ATS-909X with various outdoor
  3122. wires. 73 and Good Listening....! - rb, WOR iog via DX LISTENING
  3123. DIGEST)
  3124.  
  3125. Rick Barton's comments got me thinking about why YHWH has such
  3126. fluctuations: I pretty much hear exactly the same thing here in
  3127. Victoria. Overall, modulation is quite low. Signal will drop to
  3128. nothing at times, and then suddenly jump back to a decent signal
  3129. strength. This is not a gradual, propagation variability, but more
  3130. like the op is in his shack, fiddling with his screwdriver trying to
  3131. get a bit more signal. The signal seems pretty stable frequency-wise,
  3132. although I haven't zoomed in on my Perseus SDR lately to be sure.
  3133. Perhaps he's just having fun flipping the switch from 10, to 1, to
  3134. 0.1, to 0.01 kW or the like. Who knows! 73, (Walt Salmaniw, BC, 0437
  3135. UT Aug 10, ibid.)
  3136.  
  3137. 7470, USA (religious pirate), R. YHWH at 0255 (in progress at tune-in)
  3138. with "Josiah on "Burnt Offerings", "The Ten Commandments of Yahweh"
  3139. and related topics. Last night, condx were either bad, or he was
  3140. having serious transmitter problems. Has anyone been hearing the
  3141. creepy "Days of Hard Life" song? I haven`t heard YHWH play it for
  3142. several weeks now. Seemed to just "pull the plug" at 0338. And, as
  3143. usual, OTHR radar pulses showed up on the channel after he went off,
  3144. which is common here for some reason. Good reception tonight. - heard
  3145. on Satellit 205 and indoor wire (more local T-storms - !), & frequency
  3146. verified with SW-2000629. VG, S-9 with some T-Storm. QRN. August 10
  3147.  
  3148. 7470, USA (religious pirate), Radio YHWH at 0230. In progress at tune-
  3149. in with familiar voice of "Josiah" in monologue. As usual, high highs
  3150. and low lows. After 0400, Josiah really underwater and was completely
  3151. gone under the static by 0404. But wait-! He is back with Good signal
  3152. at 0408. Still there at 0430, gone on 0440 recheck. - Variable signal
  3153. quality, August 12 (Rick Barton, from Central Arizona. Grundig
  3154. Satellit 205(T.5000) & 750; RS SW-2000629, & ATS-909X with various
  3155. outdoor wires. 73 and Good Listening....! -rb, WOR iog via DX
  3156. LISTENING DIGEST)
  3157.  
  3158. ** OKLAHOMA. 88.3, Aug 9 at 1600 UT check, K202BY, Family Radio
  3159. satellator in Enid is still dead air, ever since first noticed July 30
  3160. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still dead air August 15
  3161.  
  3162. ** OKLAHOMA. RF channel 17, Aug 9 at 1415, K17JN-D satellator, Enid`s
  3163. only local DTV signal, has been partially restored from six black
  3164. screens. 17-1 the only one showing those call letters, LR bug as 3ABN.
  3165. 17-3 AmFacts [Am=Amazing], LR bug as AFTV. 17-4 3ABN-ES, LR bug 3ABN
  3166. [+illegible, probably Español to match the audio]; 17-5 as Hope201,
  3167. bug UR arms raised in praise, and Hope Channel. 17-2 is dark, and so
  3168. is 17-6, which had been that way long before the latest crash. I
  3169. haven`t followed it closely, but I believe the 3ABN multi-network
  3170. subchannel lineups are not always the same depending on time of day.
  3171. 3ABN = Three Angels Broadcasting Network, an Adventist sub-sect which
  3172. I think is distinct from e.g. Adventist World Radio.
  3173.  
  3174. Re previous report on K17JN-D Enid, wondering about 3ABN, I found this
  3175. website explaining the 3 Angels stuff, but apparently dedicated to
  3176. debunking Adventism in general; surprise2, it seems the SDA have
  3177. contempt for other Christians, but aim at sidetracking existing
  3178. Christian converts rather than reaching the totally unchurched:
  3179. BIBLE TRUTH VERSUS ADVENTIST TRUTH
  3180. https://www.nonsda.org/study1.shtml
  3181. As of 0301 UT August 11, K17JN-D is same as before, black screen on
  3182. 17-2 and 17-6 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3183.  
  3184. ** OMAN. Reception of Radio Sultanate of Oman English/Arabic, August 9
  3185. from 1400 15140 THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu English-distorted audio
  3186. from 1500 15140 THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu Arabic, very good audio
  3187. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-radio-sultanate-of-oman-in_10.html
  3188. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3189.  
  3190. Evidently he does not hear CCI from RHC now starting 15140 at 1500.
  3191. Note 315 degrees is also USward, but hardly any signal propagates into
  3192. deep North America any more (Glenn Hauser, OK, DXLD)
  3193.  
  3194. Reception of Radio Sultanate of Oman English/Arabic, Aug 13
  3195. till 1426 15140 THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu NO SIGNAL, TX NOT ON AIR
  3196. from 1427 15140 THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu English, distorted audio
  3197. from 1500 15140 THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu Arabic, very good audio
  3198. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-radio-sultanate-of-oman-in_13.html
  3199. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3200.  
  3201. ** PAKISTAN. Radio Pakistan (now) offers eleven streams at
  3202. http://www.radio.gov.pk/live-streaming
  3203. (as compared to ten when last checked in February for a listening
  3204. project on the station):
  3205.  
  3206. Saut-ul-Quran
  3207. Islamabad Station
  3208. Current Affairs Channel
  3209. Dhanak (formerly VARSA-channel)
  3210. External Service
  3211. World Service
  3212. FM 101 (Islamabad, Mirpur, Karachi, Peshawar, Mianwali, both separate
  3213. and joint programming)
  3214. All streams were active when checked.
  3215.  
  3216. The new name Dhanak also catches attention. Internet research shows
  3217. that on 11 May 2018 Radio Pakistan launched the Dhanak music channel
  3218. (on 94 MHz for Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, so actually a
  3219. reformatting of another channel). „The objective of the new music
  3220. channel is to introduce young talent in the field of music besides
  3221. promotion of music and cultural heritage of the country. The channel
  3222. will broadcast Sufi music, qawalis, classical, semi classical, folk,
  3223. ghazals, pop, rock, fast, soft, jazz and old and new film music.“
  3224. (Dr Hansjoerg Biener, 13 August 2018, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX
  3225. LISTENING DIGEST)
  3226.  
  3227. ** PERU. 4921.0, Radio La Voz del Pueblo, Santiago de Chuco, 0428-
  3228. 0650, 12-08, only very weak carrier detected today here in Reinante.
  3229. Via remote SDR Kiwi receiver Pardinho, near São Paulo, strong carrier
  3230. on 4920.98, but not audible audio. Past days seems to be out of air
  3231. (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Reinante, Tecsun S-8800, cable
  3232. antenna, 8 meters, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING
  3233. DIGEST)
  3234.  
  3235. ** PERU. Los vengo captando en los 5820.00 kHz, en más de una
  3236. oportunidad, ésta es una estación que la hemos venido escuchando desde
  3237. tiempo atrás, en cadenas con otras estaciones del interior del país.
  3238. La señal salía desde Lima 1380 kHz, pero ahora los escucho en esta
  3239. frecuencia. Eso era parte de los reportes como R. Chaski
  3240. anteriormente, pues solo decían el ID de la Radio al s/on y/o s/off
  3241. (5980 kHz).
  3242.  
  3243. 5820.00, PERÚ, R. Nuevo Tiempo, (?), 2300-2335 UT, 44444, música y
  3244. programa religioso, ID "Radio Nuevo Tiempo" (escuchar grabación
  3245. adjunta), solo dan el ID, mas no indican de qué lugar transmiten ni
  3246. frecuencia alguna. Los he encontrado en Facebook
  3247. https://www.facebook.com/radiontperu/
  3248. (Pedro Arrunnátegui in Lima via Tore B Vik, SW Bulletin Aug 12 via
  3249. WORLD OF RADIO 1843, DXLD)
  3250.  
  3251. ** PHILIPPINES. 9794.98 approx., Aug 8 at 1133, ``O, Sole Mio`` in
  3252. non-Italian language catches my ear; not CNR1 as not // 11785 jammer.
  3253. EiBi shows FEBC Iba site this hour in Vietnamese, and indeed 1137 Viet
  3254. announcement follows. So they probably turned the great tune into a
  3255. hymn (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3256.  
  3257. ** PHILIPPINES [non?]. 9645, Aug 11 at 0019, S9-S7 tonal SE Asian
  3258. language, rustic music. Aoki/NDXC still shows RVA in Kachin at 0000-
  3259. 0027, like in WRTH 2018, but RVA has supposedly self-destructed. Could
  3260. it be that some services still remain? Only thing else at this hour
  3261. would be CNR1 Beijing in Chinese, but this is certainly not Mandarin.
  3262. Another possibility: Kachin, or whatever, moved to SMG VATICAN site,
  3263. reception of which here and now at this level would be more likely
  3264. than from Palauig (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING
  3265. DIGEST)
  3266.  
  3267. Lienard Lifran from France commented on this and I also heard her here
  3268. with a weak signal but an excellent signal in the Twente SDR. We also
  3269. wondered if it would be Radio Veritas Asia. 73 (Jorge Freitas, Feira
  3270. de Santana, Bahia, Brasil, WOR iog WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING
  3271. DIGEST)
  3272.  
  3273. 9645, PHILIPPINES? Radio Veritas Asia (Tentative, per EiBi), 0020,
  3274. 8/10/18 in listed Kachin. Woman then man announcers, calliope like
  3275. musical bridge to same woman including a list with distinctive
  3276. declining tone, Southeast Asian style song, man starts talking and off
  3277. mid sentence at scheduled 0027. Good.
  3278.  
  3279. [+ same] 0015, 8/11/18. Man then woman, flute music, brief talk by man
  3280. cut off at 0027. Good. Definitely not Mandarin of CNR 1 also listed.
  3281. The language did sound like Katchin from selections of that language I
  3282. looked up on the Internet. It was too good on two nights in a row to
  3283. be likely to be from the Philippines at this time of day (about 40
  3284. minutes before local sunset on 8/10/18) with only a few CNR / CRI
  3285. outlets were barely audible from Asia either day. So location is
  3286. likely not Palauig if in operation at all. Radio Veritas Asia is
  3287. reported to be off the air, so this may be a left over program
  3288. broadcast from another location (Mark Taylor, Madison, Wisconsin.
  3289. Equipment: Perseus, Airspy HF+, SDRPlay RSP1; ICOM R75, Tecsun PL 880,
  3290. and various other portables; 42 meters dipole, 100’ long wire, W6LVP
  3291. loop, NASWA Flashsheet via WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DXLD)
  3292.  
  3293. Could be that some of RVA`s subcontractors were not so eager to
  3294. dispense with SW, made separate arrangement to continue (Glenn Hauser,
  3295. WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DXLD)
  3296.  
  3297. ** PHILIPPINES. GONE AND FORGOTTEN: SHORTWAVE RADIO SEARV IN THE
  3298. PHILIPPINES - Part 1
  3299.  
  3300. Our opening feature in Wavescan today is Gone and Forgotten: The story
  3301. of shortwave Radio SEARV in the Philippines - Part 1. Today’s feature
  3302. is a presentation of the first half of the story, about a low power
  3303. facility in the Philippines that was a forerunner to a higher powered
  3304. international shortwave station that was on the air for ten years. It
  3305. was heard far and wide while it was active, and it honored reception
  3306. reports with a QSL card that showed a large callsign in a bright
  3307. cheery red.
  3308.  
  3309. Strange as it may seem, this international shortwave station SEARV has
  3310. been almost completely forgotten. It does not even appear among the
  3311. other historic international shortwave stations in the Philippines
  3312. that are listed in the series of booklets under the title, Transmitter
  3313. Documentation Project, compiled by Ludo Maes in Belgium.
  3314.  
  3315. Let’s go back now to the year 1901, the year of earliest beginnings
  3316. for what is now Silliman University in the Philippines, or the
  3317. Silliman Institute, as it was back then. It was originally established
  3318. as an elementary school for boys, and it opened with just fifteen boys
  3319. in a rented house by the sea at Dumaguete on the south eastern side of
  3320. Negros Island.
  3321.  
  3322. The pioneer educational staff were Dr. and Mrs. David Hibbard; the
  3323. school was named in honor of Dr. Horace Brinsmade Silliman, a
  3324. Christian businessman in Cohoes, New York who funded the original
  3325. project; and back then it was also supported by the Presbyterian
  3326. Church in the United States. The Silliman Institute was granted
  3327. university status in the Philippines in the year 1938.
  3328.  
  3329. On May 26, 1942 during the Pacific War, the Japanese army entered the
  3330. university property in the southern Philippines, and they took it over
  3331. as their headquarters for the local area. Several members of the
  3332. university staff, together with many students, fled into nearby
  3333. mountainous areas, where academic studies were continued under the
  3334. informal title, Jungle University.
  3335.  
  3336. Before the Pacific War engulfed the Philippines, Professor Henry Roy
  3337. Bell had established his own amateur radio transmitter at the
  3338. university, and when he fled into the mountainous areas, he took some
  3339. of the radio equipment with him. In an isolated jungle location he
  3340. reactivated the transmitter under the callsign KZCB, and he made
  3341. direct contact in Morse Code with Hawaii, California and Australia.
  3342.  
  3343. The Australian station that transmitter KZCB contacted was General
  3344. Douglas MacArthur’s callsign KAZ in Darwin, which was in reality the
  3345. Australian aviation aeradio station VZDN. The flow of regular
  3346. communication from KZCB began in mid April 1943, and MacArthur himself
  3347. responded to this Philippine station.
  3348.  
  3349. Five years after the end of the Pacific War, a 1 kW mediumwave station
  3350. DYSR was installed in Silliman Hall and it was activated on 840 kHz in
  3351. August 1950. Soon afterwards, according to the WRTVHB, a 250 watt
  3352. shortwave transmitter was activated under the callsign DYH4, and
  3353. subsequently another shortwave transmitter, a 300 watt unit was
  3354. activated on the tropical band channel 3277 kHz under the callsign
  3355. DYB4.
  3356.  
  3357. Programming for mediumwave DYRS was produced locally and all three
  3358. transmitters carried the same programming in parallel. A 15 minute
  3359. program from the Voice of America was on the air each Sunday and
  3360. Wednesday.
  3361.  
  3362. Occasionally the station administration issued statements regarding
  3363. the planned upgrading of their station with higher power on both
  3364. mediumwave and shortwave. These projected plans included an increase
  3365. on mediumwave from 1 kW to 5 kW, and on shortwave an increase from 250
  3366. and 300 watts up to 1 kW and perhaps even 20 kW.
  3367.  
  3368. However, only one of these projected power increases was ever
  3369. implemented, and that took place in the mid 1960s when a new
  3370. mediumwave transmitter at 10 kW was installed. Under this power
  3371. increase though, the station was still on the air on the same channel
  3372. 840 kHz under the same callsign DYSR.
  3373.  
  3374. Apparently the usage of the two low power shortwave transmitters
  3375. continued even when the 50 kW SEARV transmitter was inaugurated in
  3376. 1968, and all three transmitters were closed at approximately the same
  3377. time in the mid 1970s. The mediumwave unit was closed in 1976 in favor
  3378. of an FM service.
  3379.  
  3380. An interesting event transpired at Dumaguete in the southern
  3381. Philippines during the evening of Saturday March 29, 1975. This is
  3382. what happened.
  3383.  
  3384. Back 43 years ago, there was a call from the police on Siquijor
  3385. Island, stating that they needed reinforcements to ward off a band of
  3386. pirates. Flight Lieutenant Eugene Malahay at Mactan Airbase on Mactan
  3387. Island in Cebu province was asked to fly a contingent of forty
  3388. security officers to the air strip at Dumaguete from where they would
  3389. travel east by launch across the dozen miles to Siquijor Island.
  3390.  
  3391. Air force officer Malahay flew a Fairchild C123K Provider plane with
  3392. its contingent of enforcement officers for the 36 minute journey from
  3393. Mactan Island to Dumagete. However, the air strip at Dumaguete had no
  3394. runway lights, and even in the clear sky moonlight, the runway could
  3395. not be seen adequately.
  3396.  
  3397. The pilot made a few low passes over the runway, and local citizens
  3398. became aware that a plane seemed to be in distress. The aircraft radio
  3399. receiver was tuned to mediumwave station DYSR at the university and
  3400. the travelers were surprised to hear an announcement from the local
  3401. police office, asking nearby people to drive quickly to the air strip
  3402. and to light it up with car headlights. Shortly afterwards, the plane
  3403. landed safely, making this event the first night landing at the
  3404. Dumaguete airstrip.
  3405.  
  3406. That was Part 1 of our story on the early origin of Shortwave Radio
  3407. SEARV in the Philippines. Next week here in Wavescan you will hear
  3408. Part 2.
  3409.  
  3410. * Postscript --- But as a quick a postscript to Part 1 of this
  3411. Shortwave Radio SEARV article, we present now this additional
  3412. information on the radio scene at these three locations: Mactan
  3413. Island, Siquijor Island and Dumaguete.
  3414.  
  3415. Mactan Island is the most densely populated island in the Philippines
  3416. with nearly half a million people on its 21.65 square miles and it was
  3417. already a thriving community when the Spanish settled there in the
  3418. 1500s. It is located just a short distance away from Cebu City on Cebu
  3419. Island, with two road bridges making a connection. There are two
  3420. airports side by side on Mactan Island, the Philippine air force and
  3421. also a civilian airport.
  3422.  
  3423. On the radio scene, there are no radio broadcasting stations listed
  3424. for the island, though with such a large population it would be
  3425. expected that there should be at least several local community FM
  3426. stations. There must also be several amateur stations on the island,
  3427. and of course, shortwave communication stations for the twin airports.
  3428.  
  3429. With an area of 35.02 square miles, Siquijor Island is slightly larger
  3430. than the aforementioned Mactan Island, though with considerably less
  3431. people, only some 26,000. A daily ferry service operates between
  3432. Siquijor and Dumaguete.
  3433.  
  3434. Likewise, there are no radio broadcasting stations listed for Siquijor
  3435. Island, though there are communication stations, and of course amateur
  3436. stations which come in useful for external communication in times of
  3437. bad weather and other emergency occasions.
  3438.  
  3439. According to the current official list, there are seven FM stations in
  3440. the city of Dumaguete, including the university station DYSR, with the
  3441. SR indicating Silliman Radio, with 5 kW on 95.1 MHz (Adrian Peterson,
  3442. Indianapolis, script for AWR Wavescan July 15 via DXLD)
  3443.  
  3444. Gone and Forgotten: Shortwave Radio SEARV - 2
  3445.  
  3446. In our program last week we presented the story of the early low power
  3447. shortwave stations (and their parallel mediumwave unit) that were
  3448. installed in Silliman University on the southeast edge of Negros
  3449. Island in the Philippines back soon after the end of the Pacific War
  3450. in the middle of last century. In our program today, we turn to the
  3451. story of Gone and Forgotten - 2: The Story of Shortwave Radio SEARV at
  3452. the same university location in the Philippines.
  3453.  
  3454. During the early 1960s, three radio transmitters were constructed in
  3455. an unnamed garage in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in the United States; two
  3456. mediumwave at 10 kW and one shortwave at 50 kW. We would suggest that
  3457. these three transmitters, including the 50 kW shortwave unit, were all
  3458. constructed by Mission Engineering which it is known was located at
  3459. Hiawatha, a suburb of Cedar Rapids in Iowa. (Mission Engineering is
  3460. these days identified as CEC, Communications Engineering Company,
  3461. still located at Hiawatha in suburban Cedar Rapids.)
  3462.  
  3463. All three transmitters were built under contract and they were
  3464. destined for installation overseas, in Asia. It is not known these
  3465. days which country received the two mediumwave transmitters.
  3466.  
  3467. However, the shortwave transmitter was intended for installation in
  3468. the Philippines at Silliman University in Dumaguete, for SEARV, the
  3469. South East [ASIA] Radio Voice. In April 1964, a special ceremony was
  3470. conducted at the dockside in San Francisco regarding the 50 kW
  3471. transmitter that was ready for shipment to Asia.
  3472.  
  3473. Then more than a year later (July 1965), the noted Arthur Cushen in
  3474. Invercargill, South New Zealand reported in the Australian monthly
  3475. magazine, Radio and Hobbies, that the transmitter had been received at
  3476. Dumaguete in the southern Philippines. However as he stated, the
  3477. station engineers at the time were uncertain as to what type of
  3478. antenna system should be employed, though they preferred curtain
  3479. rather than the proposed rhombic.
  3480.  
  3481. The new higher powered shortwave station was planned as an extension
  3482. of the lower powered DYH4 which was already on the air with a ¼ kW on
  3483. 6055 kHz. For the new 50 kW shortwave transmitter, a total of five
  3484. frequencies were approved with five new callsigns in the consecutive
  3485. DYH series running from DYH5 - DYH9.
  3486.  
  3487. The WR(TV)HB for 1965 stated that test broadcasts from a 75 kW or 100
  3488. kW transmitter were scheduled to begin in early 1965. The 1966 edition
  3489. of the same WR(TV)HB stated that test broadcasts would be scheduled
  3490. some time during that year. The 1967 edition listed the transmitter
  3491. power as 50 kW.
  3492.  
  3493. Finally, for the first time, test broadcasts from the new SEARV were
  3494. on the air and they were beamed towards Thailand and Burma. This new
  3495. station on the shortwave bands was noted in New Zealand on 15420 kHz
  3496. in March 1968. Interestingly though, a different set of four callsigns
  3497. were introduced, and these were in the DZU series, running from DZU5
  3498. to DZU8.
  3499.  
  3500. Later in that same year September 1968, Polish language programming
  3501. was heard in Europe from SEARV on the very low frequency 4980 kHz,
  3502. though Arthur Cushen in New Zealand stated that he heard them still on
  3503. their regular 15420 kHz channel. Two years later again, he stated that
  3504. SEARV was on the air spasmodically with test broadcasts, and that they
  3505. were playing classical music with test announcements in English every
  3506. quarter hour.
  3507.  
  3508. Programming was beamed towards India, Pakistan, China, and the
  3509. countries of southeast Asia, and additional channels noted on air
  3510. were: 9750 9770 11910 15145 and 17860 kHz. The callsign shown for 9770
  3511. kHz for example was DZU6.
  3512.  
  3513. Unfortunately, Radio SEARV shortwave struck the same problems as did
  3514. Radio Veritas Asia; a shortage of funding, a shortage of trained
  3515. personnel, and insufficient programming from too few regional studios.
  3516. Thus it was that the 1976 edition of the WR(TV)HB stated that the
  3517. station was silent, and the equipment was for sale.
  3518.  
  3519. However, by the time that this annual 1976 international radio
  3520. directory was published, the station was already closed and the
  3521. transmitter was already under installation at the aforementioned Radio
  3522. Veritas Asia on the edge of Malolos, north of Manila. In fact, this 50
  3523. kW American made imported transmitter was first activated at its new
  3524. location in May 1975. Due to technical problems with the two German
  3525. made 100 kW transmitters at Radio Veritas Asia, the 50 kW SEARV
  3526. transmitter from Dumaguete was the only unit on the air at RVA Malolos
  3527. for the next couple of years.
  3528.  
  3529. During its some eight years of on air activity, Radio SEARV shortwave
  3530. was a very reliable verifier of listener reception reports. Only one
  3531. card was ever printed and this identified SEARV in large red letters
  3532. across the middle of the card. All were posted from a box address in
  3533. the capital city Manila, not from the station location itself at
  3534. Dumaguete in the southern Philippines.
  3535.  
  3536. On Sunday and Monday February 23 and 24, 1986, insurgents burst into
  3537. the RVA transmitter base near Malolos and deliberately destroyed all
  3538. five transmitters in the building, including the more recently
  3539. installed 50 kW shortwave unit. The 22 year old SEARV/RVA 50 kW
  3540. transmitter was thus destroyed, and along with all of the remnants of
  3541. the other damaged equipment, we would presume, were sold for metal
  3542. scrap (Adrian Peterson, Indianapolis, script for AWR Wavescan July 22
  3543. via DXLD)
  3544.  
  3545. ** PHILIPPINES. 15715, VOA Goof, Special English to Myanmar, August 13
  3546. 1130-1159 (heard via online sdr). A fairly unbiased feature on the
  3547. history of Black Americans' struggle for civil rights ended in mid-
  3548. sentence when the carrier went off abruptly at 1159, one minute short
  3549. of the slotted time (Heath Hall, Albuquerque, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3550.  
  3551. An encouragement not to listen on SW, but rather webcast where
  3552. interruptions would not be the same. Unfortunately this is not too
  3553. rare, example of lack of coördination between studio and remote
  3554. transmitter site (Glenn Hauser, DXLD)
  3555.  
  3556. ** PHILIPPINES. Reception of FEBC - Radio Teos in Ukrainian, August 12
  3557. 1529-1600 on 11650 BOC 100 kW / 323 deg to CeAs Ukrainian Sun, good:
  3558. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-febc-radio-radio-teos-in.html
  3559. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3560.  
  3561. ** POLAND. I came across an interesting article describing innovative
  3562. pirate radio from Poland in 1982:
  3563. http://idlewords.com/2007/04/ balloon_pirate_radio.htm
  3564.  
  3565. An excerpt:
  3566.  
  3567. "On launch day we would drive the hydrogen-filled fire extinguisher,
  3568. the balloons and transmitter to some out-of-the-way place far upwind
  3569. from the city. [...] We would fill the balloons with hydrogen and
  3570. attach a transmitter, which had a built-in timing device that would
  3571. turn it on 15 minutes after takeoff. That way we could easily
  3572. disappear without worrying about anyone pinpointing the signal.
  3573. Despite its low power, the range of a balloon transmitter was
  3574. enormous, several dozen kilometers. Broadcasting time was effectively
  3575. limited by the kind of batteries we could get back then."
  3576.  
  3577. Regards, Lw (Larry Will, Free Radio Weekly Aug 12 via DXLD) So could
  3578. they then recover it? (gh)
  3579.  
  3580. ** ROMANIA. 9760, RRI at 2157 // 7315 with IS to opening music at 2200
  3581. and a man with ID and target area and web platforms then a woman with
  3582. news at 2201 – Very Good Aug 7 – How come they can have two
  3583. transmitters for this broadcast but not for the North American
  3584. broadcasts?
  3585.  
  3586. 13650, RRI at 2027 with IS to opening music at 2030 and a man with ID
  3587. and target areas and web platforms then a woman with news at 2031 –
  3588. Very Good Aug 7 - // 11850 was not heard. I wonder if they are having
  3589. problems with one of their transmitters as 9730 was not heard // 7375
  3590. last night at 0021 and // 11850 was not heard back on August 2 (Mark
  3591. Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40
  3592. and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, WOR iog via DXLD)
  3593.  
  3594. 9730, Aug 10 at 0016, RRI in English, // weaker 7375, the latter with
  3595. light pulse jamming, since last season it was in use briefly by Radio
  3596. Martí; such are the risks of ever using an ex-Martí channel.
  3597.  
  3598. One of the 300 kW Tsiganeshti transmitters had been off the air since
  3599. July 28 with technical issues, and 9730 was reported as one of the
  3600. missing frequencies at this and other hours to North America. See DXLD
  3601. 18-32 for schedules and discussion. The frequency is back, but they
  3602. could have switched transmitters around, or brought up the 100 kW at
  3603. Saftica which was available.
  3604.  
  3605. 7395, Aug 10 at 0017, the simultaneous Romanian service of RRI is
  3606. still here, but sounds like a clash with something in English, not //
  3607. 9730. The mix finally stops, leaving Romanian only, so I conclude it
  3608. was a clumsy voice-over with the underaudio way too loud. For SW
  3609. reception, there should be no underaudio once the v/o be established.
  3610.  
  3611. Nominally during the 00-01 hour we have two frequencies in English,
  3612. 7375 // 9730 via Tsiganeshti, and two in Romanian, 7395 // 9790 via
  3613. Galbeni per EiBi. But next night August 11 at 0027 we have 7395 but
  3614. 9790 is missing, while both English frequencies are on again (Glenn
  3615. Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3616.  
  3617. Radio Romania International: Tsiganeshti TX1 on air/Galbeni TX2 off-
  3618. air
  3619.  
  3620. Radio Romania International - regular schedule:
  3621. http://ab27.bplaced.net/rri.pdf
  3622.  
  3623. Since 09-Aug-2018, 1000 UT, Tsiganeshti TX1 is back in operation! Only
  3624. the DRM transmissions from Tsiganeshti TX1 are still missing (and DRM
  3625. 0530-0630 UT still comes via Saftica):
  3626. http://ab27.bplaced.net/drm.pdf
  3627.  
  3628. But --- since 09-Aug-2018, 2000 UT, Galbeni TX2 is off-air! The
  3629. following transmissions from Radio Romania Int. are affected:
  3630.  
  3631. 0000-0200: Ron 9790
  3632. 0200-0300: Spa 9510
  3633. 0300-0400: Eng 9740 DRM
  3634. 0400-0500: Ron 7330
  3635. 0500-0530: Fra 7330 DRM
  3636. 0530-0600: Eng 17760
  3637. 0600-0630: -
  3638. 0630-0700: Ara 11790
  3639. 0700-0800: Ron ????? /Sun
  3640. 0800-0900: Ron ????? /Sun
  3641. 0900-1000: Ron ????? /Sun
  3642. 1000-1100: Fra 11650
  3643. 1100-1200: Eng 17670
  3644. 1200-1230: Ara 11700
  3645. 1230-1300: -
  3646. 1300-1500: Ron 11950
  3647. 1500-1530: -
  3648. 1530-1600: Ara 11900
  3649. 1600-1700: Fra 11975
  3650. 1700-2000: Ron 11975
  3651. 2000-2030: Fra 6170
  3652. 2030-2100: Eng 6170
  3653. 2100-2200: -
  3654. 2200-2300: Eng 7315
  3655. 2300-2400: Spa 11800
  3656.  
  3657. Best regards, (Alexander Busneag, Aug 11, WOR iog via DX LISTENING
  3658. DIGEST)
  3659.  
  3660. I listened to the 0000 UT August 11 RRI English transmission on 9730,
  3661. and signal strength seemed to be typical for this frequency, So I
  3662. think the usual 300 kW transmitter is in use. Did not check // 7375
  3663. (Stephen Luce, Houston, Texas, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3664.  
  3665. But Aug 12 circa 0045, 9730 was unusually weak << 9925 KBC, over
  3666. almost the same path, just a little further (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF
  3667. RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3668.  
  3669. And these are the Sunday only broadcasts of Radio Romania
  3670. International which are transmitted via RADIOCOM Galbeni TX2 (300 kW)
  3671. which is currently temporarily off-air:
  3672.  
  3673. 0700-0800 UT: Ron 11790 kHz/Sun
  3674. 0800-0900 UT: Ron 11650 kHz/Sun
  3675. 0900-1000 UT: Ron 11650 kHz/Sun
  3676. (Alexander Busneag, Germany, Aug 12, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3677.  
  3678. And of course 11650 kHz is not on air right now (0910 UT), only 15200
  3679. plus both TIG frequencies, 13790 and 15130 kHz. Could it be that in
  3680. fact they take down one transmitter after another for repairs? If so
  3681. one must conclude that the third TIG unit is no longer operational. I
  3682. understand that it was meant to be used as aux in such cases (Kai
  3683. Ludwig, ibid.)
  3684.  
  3685. 9730, Aug 12 at 0044, RRI English with mailbag, unusually weak and
  3686. poor at S6-S8 with flutter, much less than 9925 KBC via Germany which
  3687. is S9+10/20 without flutter. Almost the same path except Romania is a
  3688. bit further. RRI should have 3 X the power of Nauen, but suspect it`s
  3689. QRP. Romanian language transmitter on 9790 is still AWOL. RRI English
  3690. // 7375 is still normally loud (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1943,
  3691. DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3692.  
  3693. From August 9, 2000 UT RADIOCOM Tsiganeshti tx#1 300 kW is on air
  3694. again. From August 9, 2000 UT RADIOCOM Galbeni tx#2 300 kW is off air
  3695. due to technical issues. The following transmissions of Radio Romania
  3696. International are affected
  3697. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/radiocom-galbeni-tx2-300-kw-is-off-air.html
  3698. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Aug 11-12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.:
  3699.  
  3700. 0000-0156 9790 300 kW / 310 deg ENAm Romanian
  3701. 0200-0256 9510 300 kW / 245 deg SoAm Spanish
  3702. 0300-0356 9740 050 kW / 100 deg SoAs English DRM
  3703. 0400-0456 7330 300 kW / 285 deg WeEu Romanian
  3704. 0500-0526 7330 050 kW / 285 deg WeEu French DRM
  3705. 0530-0556 17760 300 kW / 100 deg SEAs English
  3706. 0630-0656 11790 300 kW / 140 deg N/ME Arabic
  3707. 0700-0756 11790 300 kW / 140 deg N/ME Romanian Curierul romanesc Sun
  3708. 0800-0856 11650 300 kW / 165 deg EaAf Romanian Curierul romanesc Sun
  3709. 0900-0956 11650 300 kW / 285 deg WeEu Romanian Curierul romanesc Sun
  3710. 1000-1056 11650 300 kW / 285 deg WeEu French
  3711. 1100-1156 17670 300 kW / 165 deg EaAf English
  3712. 1200-1226 11700 300 kW / 140 deg N/ME Arabic
  3713. 1300-1456 11950 300 kW / 285 deg WeEu Romanian
  3714. 1530-1556 11900 300 kW / 140 deg N/ME Arabic
  3715. 1600-1656 11975 300 kW / 285 deg WeEu French
  3716. 1700-1956 11975 300 kW / 285 deg WeEu Romanian
  3717. 2000-2026 6170 300 kW / 285 deg WeEu French
  3718. 2030-2056 6170 300 kW / 300 deg WeEu English
  3719. 2200-2256 7315 300 kW / 300 deg WeEu English
  3720. 2300-2356 11800 300 kW / 280 deg SoAm Spanish
  3721.  
  3722. ??????????? ?? Observer ? 1:48 PM (via DXLD)
  3723.  
  3724. ** SOUTH AFRICA. Fair to good signal of South African Radio League
  3725. SARL, August 12
  3726. 0800-0900 17760 MEY 250 kW / 019 deg EaAf Sun Amateur Radio Today:
  3727. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/fair-to-good-signal-of-south-african.html
  3728. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 11-12, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3729.  
  3730. ** SOUTH AFRICA. SABC IN QUEUE FOR GOVERNMENT BAILOUTS
  3731. https://mybroadband.co.za/news/government/271635-massive-government-bailouts-planned-for-sabc-post-office-saa.html?source=newsletter
  3732. (Bill Bingham, RSA, Aug 13, WOR iog via DXLD) never loaded for me (gh)
  3733.  
  3734. ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 9395, WRMI Radio Miami Int’l; 1238, 8/8; Bro.
  3735. HyStairical with old program moaning about people not listening to him
  3736. & call from slow-speaking (common trait of B.S. callers) dude
  3737. complaining about not being able to find him on the radio as much as
  3738. in the past. Maybe he’ll run the [anti-] Hauser rant again. SIO=4+54;
  3739. // 9330 via WBCQ(presumed) SIO=4+54 & unusually a tad better than 9395
  3740. (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ----- All logged
  3741. by my ears, on my receiver, in real time & without the aid of a
  3742. computer! -----, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3743.  
  3744. GERMANY, USA. The Channel 292 website at
  3745. http://www.channel292.de/schedule-for-bookings/
  3746. is reporting that the broadcasts from The Overcomer Ministry on 6070z
  3747. end next week, with the last day being August 14 (Alan Roe,
  3748. Teddington, UK, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DXLD) Later: back on
  3749. Aug 16-19, at least, per Alan
  3750.  
  3751. GERMANY, Brother HySTAIRical, final day via Channel 292, August 14
  3752. 0400-1200 6070 ROB 010 kW / non-dir to CeEu English Tue, last 5 min:
  3753. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/brother-hystairical-final-day-via.html
  3754. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3755.  
  3756. ** SRI LANKA. 11904.9, Aug 10 at *0031:16.5, SLBC JBA carrier on,
  3757. timesignal unknown, but then some JBA music. Seems this never gets
  3758. started on time or even ahead of time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
  3759. DIGEST)
  3760.  
  3761. ** SUDAN [non] & SUDAN SOUTH [non]. Reception of FPU Radio Tamazuj and
  3762. Radio Dabanga, July 20 [sic; long delay in reporting?]
  3763. Radio Tamazuj
  3764. 1459-1527 15150 MDC 250 kW / 340 deg EaAf Juba Arabic, very good
  3765. 1459-1527 15550 SMG 250 kW / 150 deg EaAf Juba Arabic, fair/good
  3766. Radio Dabanga
  3767. 1529-1627 15150 MDC 250 kW / 340 deg EaAf Juba [sic] Arabic, very good
  3768. 1529-1627 15550 ISS 250 kW / 138 deg EaAf Juba [sic] Arabic, very good
  3769. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-fpu-radio-tamazuj-and.html
  3770. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 9-10, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3771.  
  3772. 11650, MADAGASCAR, Radio Tamazuj presumed at 0353 with talks by man
  3773. and woman, sometimes sound bridges, to 0357 off. Sounded Arabic, so
  3774. would be Sudanese Arabic. Sign off listed as 0430. - Good, Aug. 7
  3775. (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia. Listening in my car, parked
  3776. overlooking Kalamalka Lake. CommRadio CR-1a and Sony AN-1 whip
  3777. antenna, WOR iog via DXLD)
  3778.  
  3779. ** SUDAN SOUTH [non]. 11620, MADAGASCAR, Eye Radio at 0406 in Sudanese
  3780. Arabic, talks, announcements, some sounded to be in local languages,
  3781. heard mention of a website, mentions of Sudan and Juba. At 0425 began
  3782. English with “Eye Radio” promo, followed by “Hello and welcome to our
  3783. weekly program…”, woman talking about South Sudan. - Fair through
  3784. noise, Aug. 7 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia. Listening in
  3785. my car, parked overlooking Kalamalka Lake. CommRadio CR-1a and Sony
  3786. AN-1 whip antenna, WOR iog via DXLD)
  3787.  
  3788. FRANCE, Eye Radio in Juba Arabic & English via TDF Issoudun August 7:
  3789. 1500-1600 15410 ISS 250 kW / 139 deg EaAf Juba Arabic/Eng/other* M-F
  3790. * including other langs: Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, Bari, Zande & Lutoho in
  3791. varies time
  3792. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/eye-radio-in-juba-arabic-english-via.html
  3793. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3794.  
  3795. MADAGASCAR, Reception of Eye Radio via Talata Volonondry, August 13:
  3796. 0400-0500 11620 MDC 250 kW / 335 deg EaAf Arabic* Mon-Fri, very good
  3797. * including other languages:
  3798. English/Dinka/Nuer/Shilluk/Bari/Zande/Lutoho.
  3799. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-eye-radio-via-talata.html
  3800. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 12-13, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3801.  
  3802. FRANCE, Eye Radio in Juba Arabic & English via MGB TDF Issoudun Aug 13
  3803. 1500-1600 on 15410 ISS 250 kW / 139 deg to EaAf Juba
  3804. Arabic/English/other* Mon-Fri
  3805. * including other langs: Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, Bari, Zande & Lutoho in
  3806. varies time
  3807. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/eye-radio-in-juba-arabic-english-via_13.html
  3808. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3809.  
  3810. ** SWAZILAND. ESWATINI, Reception of Trans World Radio Africa in 19mb
  3811. on August 7:
  3812. 1400-1415 on 15360 MAN 100 kW / 043 deg to SoAs Urdu Daily, very good
  3813. 1557-1627 on 15105 MAN 100 kW / 013 deg to SoAf Kirundi Mo-Fr, strong
  3814. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-trans-world-radio-africa_7.html
  3815. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3816.  
  3817. ** SWAZILAND [non]. Trans World Radio Africa via BaBcoCk Grigoriopol,
  3818. August 7:
  3819. 1628-1629 11780 KCH 300 kW / 160 deg to EaAf TWR Eu Interval Signal,
  3820. 1629-1700 11780 KCH 300 kW / 160 deg to EaAf Somali Daily, very good
  3821. 1800-1845 9940 KCH 300 kW / 157 deg to EaAf Tigrinya Mo-Th, strong:
  3822. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-trans-world-radio-africa_98.html
  3823. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3824.  
  3825. ** SWEDEN. THREE SUCCESSFUL TRANSMISSIONS FROM SAQ GRIMETON ON
  3826. ALEXANDERSON DAY 2018
  3827.  
  3828. On Alexanderson Day, July 1st, 2018, three transmissions with the old
  3829. Alexanderson alternator SAQ at World Heritage Grimeton Radio Station,
  3830. Sweden took place at 0845, 1045 and 1245 UT on 17.2 kHz CW. A video
  3831. stream from all three transmissions was also broadcasted on our
  3832. YouTube channel.
  3833. https://alexander.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=521e9c51318e4c7f70e1e6b56&id=4b77891f83&e=a135588730
  3834.  
  3835. We have recieved 321 listener reports, whereof 5 was unheard. THANK
  3836. YOU all listeners for your reports and for all your enthusiastic and
  3837. positive feedback!
  3838.  
  3839. A summary report with all listener reports can be viewed and
  3840. downloaded here.
  3841. https://alexander.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=521e9c51318e4c7f70e1e6b56&id=2ed0e2a080&e=a135588730
  3842.  
  3843. Explore our interactive listener reports map. Open the map here or
  3844. click on the map image below.
  3845. https://alexander.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=521e9c51318e4c7f70e1e6b56&id=af5e4f3178&e=a135588730
  3846.  
  3847. Use the menu to the left, to search through recent transmissions.
  3848. Click on the individual dots for detailed listener information. Enjoy!
  3849. (Please report any errors or change requests to
  3850. webmaster@alexander.n.se)
  3851.  
  3852. Best regards from The Alexander association team @Grimeton, Sweden.
  3853. (via Mike Terry, Aug 12, WOR iog via DXLD)
  3854.  
  3855. ** TAIWAN. Test transmissions of Radio Taiwan Int via Tamshui August 9
  3856. 1700-1705 on 11990 TSH 300 kW / 325 deg to WeEu German AM mode, good,
  3857. 1800-1805 on 9700 TSH 300 kW / 315 deg to WeEu German AM mode, good:
  3858. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/test-transmissions-of-radio-taiwan.html
  3859. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3860.  
  3861. ** TAIWAN. 9199.920, August 9 at 1241, JBA carrier, must be Sound of
  3862. Hope escaping jamming. Aoki/NDXC has the frequency as 9199.907, pretty
  3863. close. I wonder if all the .XXX exact measurements for SOH are from
  3864. Wolfgang Büschel`s exhaustive SDR survey now several months old? Just
  3865. yesterday I had only CNR1 jamming on 9200, but an hour earlier at
  3866. 1142.
  3867.  
  3868. [non] 9180, August 9 at 1241, today this is the SOH frequency
  3869. obliterated by strong CNR1 jamming // 11785, while SOH is Aoki-listed
  3870. on 9180.018 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CHINA
  3871.  
  3872. 9730 (actually somewhat lower in frequency), Radio Free Asia relay via
  3873. Sound of Hope, on Aug 7. Tuned in to hear IS at 0856, during which at
  3874. 0858 had an ID in English ("You have been listening to Radio Free
  3875. Asia"); decent reception for summertime (QRN/static), per attached
  3876. brief audio clip. RFA audio clip also posted at
  3877. http://goo.gl/7QMv6z
  3878. (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long
  3879. wire, WOR iog via DXLD)
  3880.  
  3881. ** TIBET. 6025, 12 Ago, 2107, TIBETE (Relay), PBS Xizang em tibetano.
  3882. Essa emissora é bastante eclética com respeito a música, toca muita
  3883. música pop chinesa, claro, mas toca também música ocidental
  3884. selecionada de boa qualidade. Há pouco tocava um Reggae. Gosto de
  3885. ouvir as seleções musicais dela e sempre à noite tem bom sinal e como
  3886. já disse gosto muito de ouvir música em ondas curtas com o
  3887. característico fading. Às 211 [sic] YL fala. Segue com a boa seleção
  3888. musical, agora mesmo. Às 2118 uma versão em chinês de uma música de
  3889. Fred Mercury. Sinal razoável sem aparente QRM. 73 (Jorge Freitas,
  3890. Feira de Santana Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, Tecsun PL-310ET,
  3891. Antenna dipole of 25m, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3892.  
  3893. ** TIBET [non]. TAJIKISTAN, Frequency change of Voice of Tibet Aug 12
  3894. 1205-1230 NF 11644 DB 100 kW / 095 deg to EaAs Chinese, ex 11646
  3895. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/frequency-change-of-voice-of-tibet-on.html
  3896. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3897.  
  3898. TAJIKISTAN, Frequency change of Voice of Tibet Aug 13
  3899. 1305-1330 on 11614 DB 100 kW / 095 deg to EaAs Chinese, ex 11616
  3900. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/frequency-change-of-voice-of-tibet-on_13.html
  3901. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 13, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX
  3902. LISTENING DIGEST)
  3903.  
  3904. Until now, VOT via DB was always on frequencies ending in 2, 3, 7 or
  3905. 8, making them 2 or 3 kHz from ChiCom jammers always ending in 0 or 5.
  3906. Now the jammers can be slightly more effective 1 kHz away (Glenn
  3907. Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3908.  
  3909. ** TONGA. See DX-PEDITIONS (several other countries not cross-ref`ed)
  3910.  
  3911. ** TURKEY. Another odd frequency 9655.7 kHz of Voice of Turkey Aug 7
  3912. 0830-0955 on 11795.0 EMR 500 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Farsi, missing today
  3913. 1000-1055 on 9655.7 EMR 500 kW / 072 deg to CeAs Georgian, instead of
  3914. 0600-1155 on 11675.7 EMR 500 kW / 150 deg to WeAs Turkish on August 6&
  3915. 1300-1355 on 11965.7 EMR 500 kW / 020 deg to EaEu Russian on August 6:
  3916. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/another-odd-frequency-96557-khz-of.html
  3917. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3918.  
  3919. Another odd frequency 11795.7 of Voice of Turkey August 7
  3920. 0822-0825 11795.7 EMR 500 kW / 105 deg WeAs Bosnian, unscheduled px,
  3921. 0827-0955 11795.7 EMR 500 kW / 105 deg WeAs Persian, back on the air
  3922. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/another-odd-frequency-117957-khz-of.html
  3923. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3924.  
  3925. TRT Voice of Turkey on very odd frequency 9655.7 August 11:
  3926. 1000-1055 9655.7 EMR 500 kW / 072 deg CeAs Georgian, ex nom. 9655.0
  3927. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/trt-voice-of-turkey-on-very-odd.html
  3928. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3929.  
  3930. TRT Voice of Turkey on odd frequencies 13765.7/11795.7/9855.7 kHz,
  3931. August 12, all EMR 500 kW
  3932. 0500-0655 13765.7 / 210 deg CEAf Hau/Swa, instead of 13765 August 12
  3933. 0822-0825 11795.7 / 105 deg WeAs Bosnian-unscheduled px shortwave
  3934. 0830-0955 11795.7 / 105 deg WeAs Persian, instead of 11795 August 12
  3935. 1000-1025 9855.7 / 032 deg CeAs Tatar, instead of 9855.0 August 12
  3936. 1000-1055 9655.0 / 072 deg CeAs Georgian, x 9655.7 kHz August 12
  3937. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/voice-of-turkey-on-odd-freqs.html
  3938. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 11-12, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3939.  
  3940. Very odd frequencies 11675.7 & 11965.7 kHz of TRT Voice of Turkey,
  3941. August 13 [ALL EMR 500 kW]
  3942. 0500-0655 13765.0 / 210 deg CEAf Ha/Sw, instead of 13765.7 August 12
  3943. 0600-1155 11675.7 / 150 deg WeAs Turkish, instead of 11675 August 12
  3944. 0830-0955 11795.0 / 105 deg WeAs Farsi, instead of 11795.7 August 12
  3945. 1000-1025 9855.0 / 032 deg CeAs Tatar, instead of 9855.7 August 12
  3946. 1000-1055 9655.0 / 072 deg CeAs Georgian, same 9655.0 August 12
  3947. 1300-1355 11965.7 / 020 deg EaEu Russian, instead of 11965 August 12
  3948. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/very-odd-frequency-116757119657-khz-of.html
  3949. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3950.  
  3951. Strong signal of Voice of Turkey on nominal 11675 August 14
  3952. 0600-1155 11675 / 150 deg to WeAs Turkish, instead of 11675.7 Aug 13
  3953. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/trt-voice-of-turkey-on-nominal.html
  3954.  
  3955. Strong signal of Voice of Turkey on nominal frequency 11965 August 14
  3956. from 1300 11965 / 020 deg EaEu tx on/off & on/off + 80 sec dead air,
  3957. 1301-1355 11965 / 020 deg EaEu Russian, instead of 11965.7 August 13
  3958. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/voice-of-turkey-on-nominal-frequency.html
  3959. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3960.  
  3961. ** UKRAINE. PIRATE RADIO, Russian Pirate Radio Europe on 5832/5856
  3962. [sic] kHz, August 9-10:
  3963. from 2209 5832 unknown tx / unknown EaEu, non-stop Music, good
  3964. from 1207 5836 [sic] unknown tx / unknown EaEu, non-stop Music, fair
  3965. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/russian-pirate-radio-europe-on-58325856.html
  3966. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 9-10, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  3967.  
  3968. Got an eQSL Radio Pirate Europe --- 10 August 2018 / 2100-2125 UT /
  3969. 5835 kHz / E-mail: serg104-130 @ rambler.ru Quote from the letter:
  3970. "Thank you for accepting us. Also have sent the report. We work from
  3971. two points, Western Ukraine on the ridge of the Carpathians, and
  3972. southeast 200 km from the city of Donetsk. Bazooka Antenna;
  3973. Transmitter power from 400 W to 1.5 kW »
  3974.  
  3975. You can see the confirmation here -
  3976. http://rusdx.blogspot.com/2018/08/blog-post_11.html
  3977. http://rusdx.blogspot.com/2018/08/blog-post_89.html
  3978. (Anatoly Klepov, Moscow, Russia, QSL World, Rus-DX August 12 via DXLD)
  3979.  
  3980. Radio Pirate Europe - Ukraine --- Received the first e-QSL for me from
  3981. the pirate Radio Pirate Europe from Ukraine for the report of August
  3982. 10, 2018. Cards without data from the report. The station broadcasts a
  3983. diverse music collection and jingles with identification. Replica from
  3984. Radio Europe: "Good afternoon, No problem." With Ser. The guys with
  3985. Radio Pirate Europe thank you very much for confirming and it's good
  3986. that the pirate radio does not die! e-QSL can be found here
  3987. http://freerutube.info/2018/08/11/e-qsl-radio-pirate-europe-ukraina-avgust-2018-god/
  3988. (Dmitry Elagin, Saratov, Russia / "deneb-radio-dx", via QSL World,
  3989. ibid.)
  3990.  
  3991. Within an hour, after sending the report, Radio Pirate Europe sent a
  3992. response with photos and four versions of QSL. Apparently you can
  3993. choose to your taste, the more they are without details. Their page in
  3994. the VC:
  3995. https://vk.com/radioevropa
  3996. (Pavel Ivanov, Belgorod, Russia / "deneb-radio-dx", ibid.)
  3997.  
  3998. 5833, 11/8 1630, Pirate R. Europe - English music sufficient (Roberto
  3999. Pavanello, Vercelli / Italia, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) He does not put
  4000. it in Ukraine (gh)
  4001.  
  4002. PIRATE RADIO, Russian Pirate "Radio Europe on Shortwave" on 5832v kHz,
  4003. August 11
  4004. 1212&1505 5832v unknown tx/unknown EaEu Music instead of 5836 Aug 10:
  4005. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/russian-pirate-radio-europe-on_11.html
  4006. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4007. Ivo does not place this in Ukraine or Russia (gh, DXLD)
  4008.  
  4009. PIRATE RADIO, Russian Pirate "Radio Europe on Shortwave" on 5832.3
  4010. kHz, August 12:
  4011. from 1100 on 5832.3 unknown tx / unknown to EaEu announcing in
  4012. English/Russian/Polish/German
  4013. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/russian-pirate-radio-europe-on_12.html
  4014. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 11-12, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4015.  
  4016. PIRATE RADIO, Russian Pirate "Radio Europe on Shortwave" on August 14:
  4017. 1203&1305 5832.5 unknown tx / unknown EaEu, non-stop Music, fair
  4018. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/russian-pirate-radio-europe-on_14.html
  4019. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4020.  
  4021. ** U K. THE FUTURE OF BROADCASTING IN THE UK
  4022. By David Harris davidharris@bdxc.org.uk
  4023.  
  4024. Two recent announcements have led to resumed media interest in the
  4025. future of broadcasting in the UK. Firstly, the BBC, in March 2018,
  4026. stated that they do not intend to pursue the FM switch off in the
  4027. immediate future. Global Radio, the biggest commercial operator in the
  4028. UK have also backed this stance. Secondly, the RAJAR figures, released
  4029. in May 2018 show that for the first time more than 50% of people
  4030. access radio via a digital platform.
  4031.  
  4032. For the past 15 years we have been told a series of untruths about how
  4033. wonderful DAB is and how important it is to switch off the obsolete
  4034. medium of FM and replace it with shiny new digital DAB. Back in July
  4035. 2016 I wrote an article for Communication which debunked some of the
  4036. specious claims of those who promote DAB. These claims continue to be
  4037. promulgated but no one has really owned up to the reasons why
  4038. commercial stations, i.e. Bauer, Global and News Corp (Wireless Group)
  4039. who control well over 50% of all commercial radio, wanted to switch
  4040. off FM. Here are the real reasons behind the campaign to switch off FM
  4041. and why it received tacit support from various governments.
  4042.  
  4043. To save money.
  4044.  
  4045. This is the main driver in any business. An FM transmission network is
  4046. expensive to operate and DAB with its multi-station streams is more
  4047. cost effective.
  4048.  
  4049. To saturate the market.
  4050.  
  4051. FM is a scarce resource whereas DAB offers many channels for the big
  4052. operators who can saturate the market with Absolute 70s, 80, 90s,
  4053. Heart 2, and so on.
  4054.  
  4055. To sell off the FM spectrum.
  4056.  
  4057. A huge amount of money has been made by the government in selling off
  4058. UHF bandwidth to mobile phone companies. The idea of selling off the
  4059. FM band to data operators may have gained the support of the Treasury.
  4060. Even if this is feasible then it would require FM to be switched off
  4061. in most of Western Europe, otherwise there would be huge interference
  4062. issues in the summer when enhanced propagation brings in foreign FM
  4063. signals.
  4064.  
  4065. To end pirate radio.
  4066.  
  4067. It does not seem to be feasible for a pirate station to operate on
  4068. DAB. However if computer hackers can break into government computer
  4069. systems then hacking a DAB transmitter cannot be that big of a
  4070. challenge. Although pirate FM stations only seem to be a problem in
  4071. the London area, governments would like to put an end to these
  4072. unregulated stations.
  4073.  
  4074. For many years we were threatened with the prospect of the FM switch
  4075. off when the magic figure of 50% DAB listening was reached. When it
  4076. became clear that this was not going to happen the goalposts were move
  4077. to include “all digital platforms”. The Q1 2018 Rajar figures show
  4078. that for the first time the digital listening share passed the 50%
  4079. mark. However, only 36.8% was DAB, with 9.3% online/app and 4.8%
  4080. digital TV. This means that 49.1% still prefer AM/FM. www.rajar.co.uk
  4081.  
  4082. In the beginning there was AM (MW and LW). From 1922 when the first
  4083. broadcasts began in the UK until 1955 when the first FM trials started
  4084. AM ruled supreme. FM was very slow to be rolled out across the UK and
  4085. it was not until the launch of BBC local stations in 1967 that there
  4086. was anything new to listen to on this band. It was the launch of
  4087. commercial radio in the UK from 1973 onwards that really gave people
  4088. an incentive to buy an FM radio in order to enjoy good reception of
  4089. music stations. It took a long time for the whole of the FM spectrum
  4090. (88-108 MHz) to become available for broadcast use as police and
  4091. utility companies still occupied some frequencies. It was not until
  4092. 1995 that Radio 1, the BBC’s flagship pop music station was available
  4093. on FM across the UK, some 28 years after it was first launched.
  4094.  
  4095. For the last 30+ years we have lived in an AM/FM world, in common with
  4096. most other countries around the world. Although DAB was first trialled
  4097. in 1995 it was not until 2000 that the first, very expensive, DAB
  4098. receivers became widely available. The DAB lobby has been pursuing its
  4099. war of attrition for the past 15 years although there are now signs
  4100. that it has given up the fight. Firstly, the technology that was the
  4101. selling point of DAB has now been superseded. DAB+ offers even more
  4102. cost savings to broadcasters than the original DAB and appears to
  4103. offer a more resilient signal. However, having persuaded millions of
  4104. people to buy hugely overpriced DAB radios they are not going to
  4105. switch over to DAB+ broadcasting and alienate those who bought DAB
  4106. radios before 2012 which were not DAB+ compatible.
  4107.  
  4108. Secondly, online listening has increased with many people using
  4109. Smartphones to access radio broadcasts. The rise of smart speakers
  4110. such as Amazon Echo has also transformed radio listening for gadget
  4111. lovers. No one could have foreseen these technical advances a few year
  4112. ago. Who is to know how music and radio broadcasts will be accessed in
  4113. years to come? I think it is inevitable the online/app share will
  4114. continue to rise but with many Millennials abandoning conventional
  4115. radio it is unlikely that DAB listenership will increase much beyond
  4116. 40%.
  4117.  
  4118. The way forward is to accept and support a new plurality of FM/DAB. I
  4119. suspect that AM will slowly wither away and hopefully become a
  4120. platform for community stations. We have seen AM slowly disappear
  4121. across Northern Europe with the Dutch allocating frequencies for low
  4122. power local stations. The FM switch off in Norway was a disaster with
  4123. huge numbers of people abandoning radio completely. In the UK if
  4124. TalkSport, Absolute Radio, and Smooth Radio were moved from MW it
  4125. would be no loss to anyone especially if their frequencies were made
  4126. available to low power community stations.
  4127.  
  4128. I am confident that FM with its superior audio quality and ease of
  4129. tuning will continue to be the most popular way in which people access
  4130. radio for the foreseeable future. OFCOM should encourage the migration
  4131. of commercial stations from AM and FM to DAB. This could be
  4132. incentivised by letting commercial stations drop any requirement to
  4133. broadcast news, weather and traffic information. FM would become the
  4134. gold standard for high quality stereo broadcasting and the preferred
  4135. platform for the BBC, community stations and Classic FM. BBC Radio 5
  4136. Live could move from AM to FM in place Radio 1, which as a “youth“
  4137. station should be on digital only. I suspect that with Brexit, crisis
  4138. in the NHS, housing shortages, escalating Cold War and a host of other
  4139. major problems any talk of switching off FM is going to be very low
  4140. down the list of priorities for any future government (via author
  4141. David Harris for DX LISTENING DIGEST; originally published in August
  4142. Communication of the British DX Club)
  4143.  
  4144. ** U K [and non]. TAJIKISTAN, Reception of BBC via Dushanbe August 8:
  4145. 1530-1830 on 9900 DB 250 kW / 072 deg to NEAs Korean, good
  4146. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-bbc-via-dushanbe-on-august.html
  4147. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4148.  
  4149. BBC WS Audible in Eastern NA --- One of the very few hours when BBC WS
  4150. can be picked up here in NB. Noted this afternoon (9 August) between
  4151. 20 and 21 UT with portable receiver indoors on its whip antenna (would
  4152. likely be better outdoors especially with external antenna):
  4153. 9410 kHz from Woofferton: poor to fair signal with deep fades
  4154. 11810 kHz from Ascension: poor to fair with deep fades
  4155. 12095 kHz from Ascension: inaudible (-- Richard Langley, NB, 2026 UT
  4156. Aug 9, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4157.  
  4158. And, in the east, if you stay up late, the BBC WS uses the Madagascar
  4159. relay to west Africa between 04 and 05 on 9915 kHz. I’ve noted fair to
  4160. good reception most days (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, ibid.)
  4161.  
  4162. ** U K [non non]. The HFCC schedule has just been updated:
  4163. http://www.hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A18&broadc=BBC
  4164.  
  4165. 7345 kHz, 0600-0700 UT, BBC Worldservice English, Woofferton (!),
  4166. 170 , 300 kW, since 08-Aug-2018. So this reception was not via
  4167. Ascension, but via Woofferton:
  4168.  
  4169. BBC Worldservice in English on 7345 kHz, 0600-0700 UT ... Excellent
  4170. reception here in Germany, 12-Aug-2018 (Alexander Busneag, Germany,
  4171. Aug 13, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4172.  
  4173. The change to Wooferton at 0600 on 7345 simply extends the 0500
  4174. transmission on the same frequency and site to two hours. This has
  4175. been one of the better times/frequencies for me in Houston (Stephen
  4176. Luce, Houston, Texas, ibid.)
  4177.  
  4178. BBC Worldservice in English on 11810 kHz, 1800-2200, via Woofferton,
  4179. talking about "huge satellite dishes to receive scientific data from a
  4180. spacecraft at a maximum data rate of 555 kbit/s". Very good reception
  4181. here in Germany, 14-Aug-2018 (Alexander Busneag, Germany, WOR iog via
  4182. DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBCWS: See also IRAN [and non]
  4183.  
  4184. ** U S A. 418 kHz, Aug 10 at 0545 UT, I brave the storm noise level on
  4185. MW to detect an NDB, ID as IY --- that`s Charles City, Iowa; I am
  4186. really tuned to 417-USB where it`s best copied (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
  4187. LISTENING DIGEST)
  4188.  
  4189. ** U S A. 5000; Whenever precise timings are needed, such as with Sri
  4190. Lankan sign-ons, I have to calculate a correxion factor to my watch
  4191. which keeps gaining little by little, and is difficult to reset; so of
  4192. course I tune to WWV, its most important funxion among many.
  4193.  
  4194. Now WWV, WWVB and WWVH are threatened with extinxion thanks to the
  4195. corrupt, incompetent, anti-science, Drumpf budget request for next
  4196. year, as revealed on the NIST website (which has been up for six
  4197. months), just discovered by Richard Langley:
  4198. https://www.nist.gov/director/fy-2019-presidential-budget-request-summary/fundamental-measurement-quantum-science-and
  4199.  
  4200. ``Illustrative program reductions in FY 2019
  4201. -$6.3 million supporting fundamental measurement dissemination,
  4202. including the shutdown of NIST radio stations in Colorado and Hawaii``
  4203.  
  4204. Maybe that`s why they have started announcing their phone numbers
  4205. every hour? But why haven`t they been sounding the alarm on the air
  4206. about closing down the broadcasts??? It`s *time* to get on congress-
  4207. critters about this threat. Other vital NIST services are also under
  4208. the gun (Glenn Hauser, OK, 0255 UT August 11, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX
  4209. LISTENING DIGEST)
  4210.  
  4211. End to WWV, WWVB, WWVH? Trump budget request:
  4212. "-$6.3 million supporting fundamental measurement dissemination,
  4213. including the shutdown of NIST radio stations in Colorado and Hawaii"
  4214.  
  4215. See:
  4216. https://www.nist.gov/director/fy-2019-presidential-budget-request-summary/fundamental-measurement-quantum-science-and
  4217. (-- Richard Langley, Aug 10, WOR iog via DXLD) Viz.:
  4218.  
  4219. Budget Request
  4220.  
  4221. NIST requests a total of $127.0 million to support core measurement
  4222. science programs advancing the precision, accuracy and comparability
  4223. of the measurements that underpin the U.S. economy and innovation
  4224. ecosystem. The FY 2019 request is a net decrease of $49.0 million from
  4225. FY 2018 levels. The proposed reductions will allow NIST to consolidate
  4226. and focus on narrower core SI measurement programs while meeting
  4227. budget levels. NIST will focus on basic research while reducing
  4228. funding for efforts applying some of its breakthroughs into new
  4229. measurement applications.
  4230.  
  4231. FY 2018 Annualized CR: $176.0 M
  4232. Lab Programs: $129.8 M
  4233. Corporate Services: $4.3 M
  4234. SCO/SPO: $42.0 M
  4235.  
  4236. FY 2019 Request: $127.0 million (-27.8%)
  4237. Lab Programs: $103.2 M
  4238. Corporate Services: $2.3 M
  4239. SCO/SPO: $21.5 M
  4240.  
  4241. Two bar graphs showing the numbers outlined in the FY19 budget request
  4242. vs. FY18 annualized CR
  4243.  
  4244. Illustrative program reductions in FY 2019
  4245.  
  4246. -$6.3 million supporting fundamental measurement dissemination,
  4247. including the shutdown of NIST radio stations in Colorado and Hawaii
  4248. -$3.5 million for Lab to Market, which seeks to accelerate
  4249. technology transfer from federal laboratories
  4250. -$6.6 million in environmental measurements projects across NIST
  4251. laboratories, including work measuring the impact of aerosols on
  4252. pollution and climate change, and gas reference materials used by
  4253. industry to reduce costs of complying with regulations
  4254. -$5.8 million eliminating the NIST Greenhouse Gas (GHG)
  4255. Measurements program, including Urban Dome research grants to advance
  4256. the direct measurement of GHG emissions on the scale of cities or
  4257. regions.
  4258. -$6.7 million in forensic science, reducing the program size to
  4259. $7.3 million by prioritizing measurement science in the NIST labs and
  4260. eliminating program management functions and external grants for the
  4261. Organization of Scientific Area Committees for Forensic Science and
  4262. the Forensic Science Center of Excellence
  4263. -$4.1 million in R&D targeting application of NIST quantum
  4264. breakthroughs to applied measurement needs, including temperature and
  4265. atmospheric gas metrology (via DXLD)
  4266.  
  4267. Thus the corrupt, incompetent, minority-``elected``, anti-science
  4268. Trumpence regime also wants to cripple several other vitally important
  4269. funxions of NIST. This page has been up for six months, apparently not
  4270. noticed until now: ``Created February 09, 2018, Updated February 12,
  4271. 2018`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4272.  
  4273. The National Institute of Standards and Technology is the parent
  4274. agency maintaining the Federal "atomic clock", which measures time
  4275. with accuracy approaching a variation of one second every million
  4276. years. Of course Trump and his henchmen want to completely dismantle
  4277. this somewhat vital function, along with many others (stated below)
  4278. handled by the NIST. So far there has been virtually NO publicity of
  4279. this ridiculous move; Trump continues to cripple and/or completely
  4280. eliminate anything and everything that doesn't directly benefit the
  4281. top 1%, certainly including himself and his corrupt family, along with
  4282. military-defense contractors, and whomever else is on the "approved"
  4283. list, as dictated by Vladimir Putin. Please look into this, and help
  4284. spread the word of continued destruction by the Nazi-inspired Trump
  4285. regime! (Greg Hardison, CA, WOR iog via DXLD)
  4286.  
  4287. From someone (Tom Van Baak) on the leap second list I participate in:
  4288.  
  4289. "From what I understand the same 'threat' occurred in 2017 with the
  4290. FY18 budget. In the end, the budget ended up greater even than what
  4291. was asked. So no cuts were made. Who knows what will happen this time.
  4292. Still, it's always a concern; for the staff, for the time service, for
  4293. the users. The greater issue is to maintain a comprehensive national
  4294. or global time dissemination system, with deep and multiple levels of
  4295. accuracy, redundancy, security, and resiliency."
  4296.  
  4297. And from a USNO employee (Demetrios Matsakis):
  4298.  
  4299. "I note that the deregulation of power-line-time makes the WWV-series
  4300. even more critical. So far, though, I haven't seen super-large
  4301. changes in the timing of the 60 Hz signals coming into the USNO.
  4302. Seems like there was a net 30 second drop in June." (Richard Langley,
  4303. NB, ibid.)
  4304.  
  4305. There also is the Telephone service at (303) 499-7111, which at least
  4306. I use pretty regularly. Whither that??? -- (GREG HARDISON, CA, ibid.)
  4307.  
  4308. The shutdown of NIST radio stations in Colorado and Hawaii
  4309. Solution: Sell them to (anyway bankrupt) iHeartMedia.
  4310. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CpsPgXyIm8
  4311. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, WOR iog via DXLD) Ha, ha (gh)
  4312.  
  4313. My first thought was to wonder if Blump's looking for a way to
  4314. monetize the whole thing. "Trump Time"... (Greg Hardison, CA, ibid.)
  4315.  
  4316. [and non]. I could see WWV shutting down some frequencies, as what
  4317. happened back in the 1970's when 20 and 25 MHz were dropped. Perhaps
  4318. 2.5 MHz could also be a victim. WWVB is probably the least likely to
  4319. get the ax, as there are a large number of consumer clocks that use
  4320. that as a reference. Wonder how safe CHU is? (Stephen Luce, Houston,
  4321. Texas, ibid.)
  4322.  
  4323. CHU's a continuing option. They're probably safe since Trudeau has
  4324. infinitely more good sense than Blump. Does CHU have a phone service?
  4325. (Greg Hardison, CA, ibid.)
  4326.  
  4327. Yes, in two languages:
  4328. English: 613-745-1576
  4329. French: 613-745-9426
  4330. See:
  4331. https://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/services/time/talking_clock.html
  4332. (Richard Langley, ibid.)
  4333.  
  4334. Ah! Good to know -- thanks! (Greg, ibid.)
  4335.  
  4336. NIST FY2019 BUDGET INCLUDES REQUEST TO SHUT DOWN WWV AND WWVH
  4337. SWLing Post
  4338.  
  4339. Many thanks to a number of SWLing Post readers who have pointed out
  4340. the NIST 2019 Presidential Budget request which has now been posted
  4341. online and includes a desired reduction of:
  4342.  
  4343. “$6.3 million supporting fundamental measurement dissemination,
  4344. including the shutdown of NIST radio stations in Colorado and Hawaii“
  4345.  
  4346. I’ve always considered WWV and WWVH to be the heartbeat of the
  4347. shortwaves here in North America–a constant, timely companion and
  4348. brilliant gauge of HF propagation. Indeed, on a personal note, WWV was
  4349. actually the first station I ever remember hearing on shortwave.
  4350.  
  4351. I assumed both stations would be some of the last to go silent on the
  4352. shortwaves.
  4353.  
  4354. No doubt, I find this budget request very disappointing. Let’s hope,
  4355. somehow, this does not come to fruition. We will certainly post
  4356. any/all updates here on the SWLing Post.
  4357.  
  4358. https://swling.com/blog/2018/08/nist-fy2019-budget-includes-request-to-shutdown-wwv-and-wwvh/
  4359.  
  4360. WWVH is the callsign of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and
  4361. Technology's shortwave radio time signal station in Kekaha, on the
  4362. island of Kauai in the state of Hawaii. Coordinates: 21 59'16?N
  4363. 159 45'47?W
  4364.  
  4365. WWVH is the Pacific sister station to WWV, and has a similar broadcast
  4366. format. Like WWV, WWVH's main function is the dissemination of
  4367. official U.S. Government time, through exactly the same methods as
  4368. found on WWV's signal.
  4369.  
  4370. To minimize interference with the WWV broadcasts on the same
  4371. frequencies, WWVH's broadcasts on 5, 10 and 15 MHz are directional,
  4372. pointed primarily west. Despite this strategy, in certain places,
  4373. particularly on the west coast of North America; and at certain times,
  4374. due to ionospheric conditions, the listener can actually hear both WWV
  4375. and WWVH on the same frequency at the same time. The information
  4376. modulated on the carrier is modified to reduce confusion if both are
  4377. received simultaneously. In particular, voice announcements on one
  4378. correspond to silent periods on the other. WWVH uses a female voice to
  4379. distinguish itself from WWV, which uses a male voice. WWVH time
  4380. signals can also be accessed by telephone. (Wikipedia via Mike Terry,
  4381. bdxc-news iog via DXLD)
  4382.  
  4383. Fwd: [LEAPSECS] no more listening to leap seconds? Hi Glenn:
  4384. Discussion about impact of possible termination of NIST radio services
  4385. is ongoing on the LEAPSECS list. Interesting post related to SW
  4386. appended below. -- Richard
  4387. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  4388. (| Richard B. Langley, Geodetic Research Laboratory, Web:
  4389. http://gge.unb.ca/ || Dept. of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering |
  4390. University of New Brunswick | Fredericton, N.B., Canada E3B 5A3, DXLD)
  4391.  
  4392. Begin forwarded message:
  4393. To: Leap Second Discussion List <leapsecs@leapsecond.com
  4394.  
  4395. With WWV and a older-style shortwave receiver, the public has the
  4396. ability to set a stopwatch or similar device to sub-second accuracy.
  4397. More importantly, a person who isn't a time lord can be reasonably
  4398. certain they have accomplished this task correctly.
  4399.  
  4400. With any other device I can think of, there is a lot of computing
  4401. equipment serving as an intermediary between the radio signal (or the
  4402. internal clock set by NTP) and the time display. This intermediary
  4403. computing consumes a non-obvious amount of time that non-time-lords
  4404. are ill-equipped to evaluate. Therefore such devices cannot be relied
  4405. upon to display time to sub-second accuracy.
  4406.  
  4407. Such unreliable devices include personal computers (whether Linux,
  4408. MacOS, or Windows), consumer "atomic clocks", consumer GPS devices,
  4409. cell phones, etc. A less obvious instance of an unreliable computer
  4410. intermediary are some of the more recent short wave receivers which
  4411. perform digital signal processing, which may occur on the RF signal,
  4412. the intermediate signal, or the audio signal.
  4413.  
  4414. People with a practical need for sub-second accuracy are navigators
  4415. and land surveyors obtaining azimuth measurements by observations of
  4416. celestial bodies, among others.
  4417.  
  4418. The number of people who can make a formal statement that the time
  4419. kept by a particular clock is traceable to national standards will be
  4420. drastically reduced, because the number of people who have, and know
  4421. how to use, a shortwave receiver is vastly greater than the number of
  4422. people who have a clock steered to GPS, and are capable of making a
  4423. formal statement about the accuracy of the GPS-steered clock.
  4424.  
  4425. WWV can also be played to the public to directly demonstrate to that
  4426. polling places are being opened and closed at the correct times.
  4427. Computer displays and cell phone displays may not be persuasive to the
  4428. public due to the extensive publicity about Russian hacking and other
  4429. illegal manipulation of computers and related services. I'm an
  4430. election official. I wonder how it will go over if, during the 2020 US
  4431. presidential election, I turn a voter away because the time to close
  4432. the polls has just passed, and CHU is playing in the background
  4433. (Gerry Ashton, LEAPSECS mailing list, via Richard Langley, DXLD)
  4434.  
  4435. Possible Shutdown of WWV, WWVB and WWVH Time Stations
  4436.  
  4437. Hi Glen [n] - Someone just passed me the link to the upcoming NIST
  4438. Budget Request for FY2019.
  4439.  
  4440. Under the section titled “Illustrative program reductions in FY 2019”,
  4441. note the entry of “$6.3 million supporting fundamental measurement
  4442. dissemination, including the shutdown of NIST radio stations in
  4443. Colorado and Hawaii”.
  4444.  
  4445. The entire paper is at this URL:
  4446. https://tinyurl.com/ybn9xghv
  4447.  
  4448. It’s hard for me to imagine not having a frequency/time standard on HF
  4449. and VLF. It was always a necessity in my earlier SWL and Ham Radio
  4450. days and also during my military and State Department lives. I suppose
  4451. that the government has access to better means of frequency/time
  4452. measurement with satellites now, but it is still hard for me to
  4453. imagine not having the on-the-air sources – not to mention that it
  4454. will render all my “atomic clocks” and weather devices useless. All of
  4455. these either depend on WWVB or WWV for a time source.
  4456.  
  4457. Hopefully this will not come to fruition. From my many years of
  4458. writing budget requests in the State Dept bureaucracy, we quickly
  4459. learned to fold drastic entries such as this into the budget request
  4460. knowing that it would probably boost our chances of getting our budget
  4461. passed rather than have someone make the decision to go ahead with
  4462. such drastic cuts. - Stay tuned! 73 (– Bill, WPE4FSJ / WPC4SC / KK4XO
  4463. [William B Harrison, Elgin SC], Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4464.  
  4465. ** U S A. 12695.5-CW, Aug 11 at 2229, VVV VVV VVV CQ DE KFS --- it`s
  4466. the OSOB heard with an ID marker --- as I have tuned the entire 12 MHz
  4467. marine band which is mostly vacant now. So KFS, California, really
  4468. stands out; but it`s not a really funxional coastal station, rather an
  4469. MRHS Saturday legacy activation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
  4470. DIGEST)
  4471.  
  4472. ** U S A. 17530, 12 Ago, 2024, USA, VOA em francês. Música
  4473. instrumental, muito bonita. A qualidade da modulação da VOA é
  4474. indiscutível, ouvir música com bom sinal dela é muito bom. Às 2026 OM
  4475. fala e faz menção a Washington. Bom sinal. 73 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de
  4476. Santana Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, Tecsun PL-310ET, Antenna
  4477. dipole of 25m, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4478.  
  4479. [non]. VOA Learning English via Udorn Thani/Tinang on Aug 13:
  4480. 1130-1200 on 12030 UDO 250 kW / 304 deg to SEAs English, good signal
  4481. 1130-1200 on 15715 PHT 250 kW / 283 deg to SEAs English, weak signal
  4482. 1130-1200 on 17790 PHT 250 kW / 283 deg to SEAs English, fair signal
  4483.  
  4484. Voice of America VOA Studio 7 special program to Zimbabwe is deleted:
  4485. 1200-1500 on 15295 SAO 100 kW / 126 deg to ZWE English/Shona/Ndebele
  4486. 1200-1500 on 17820 SAO 100 kW / 138 deg to ZWE English/Shona/Ndebele
  4487. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/voa-learning-english-via-udorn.html
  4488. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4489.  
  4490. VATICAN, Voice of America via Santa Maria di Galeria on August 13:
  4491. 1027-1030 15620 SMG 250 kW / 139 deg EaAf Music of other VOA prgr,
  4492. 1030-1100 15620 SMG 250 kW / 139 deg EaAf Somali, very good signal
  4493. 1030-1100 17775 SMG 250 kW / 130 deg EaAf Somali, very good signal
  4494. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/vaticannon-voice-of-america-via-santa.html
  4495. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4496. Violating Separation of Church and State (gh)
  4497.  
  4498. ** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1942 monitoring: confirmed
  4499. Wednesday August 8 at 2100 on WBCQ 7490v, very poor, and like last
  4500. week starting a semiminute later on much better WRMI 9955 from 2100.5.
  4501. It had just come on with IS & ID loop at *2058. At 2123 measured WBCQ
  4502. at 7490.028. 2330, not aired on WBCQ 9330v. Next:
  4503. Thu 2330 WBCQ 9330v to WSW [maybe]
  4504. Fri 2330 WBCQ 9330v to WSW [maybe]
  4505. Sat 0631 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW
  4506. Sat 1431 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW
  4507. Sat 1930v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND
  4508. Sat 2130 WBCQ 9330v to WSW [maybe, or 2330?]
  4509. Sun 0310v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND
  4510. Sun 1030 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW
  4511. Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v to WSW [maybe]
  4512. Mon 0130.5 WRMI 5850 to NW, 7780 to NE
  4513. Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW
  4514. Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 to SSE
  4515. Mon 0400 WRMI webcast only, non-direxional
  4516. Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v to WSW [maybe]
  4517. Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW
  4518. Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 5950 to WNW [or #1943?]
  4519. Tue 2130 WRMI 5950 to WNW [or #1943?]
  4520.  
  4521. WORLD OF RADIO 1942 monitoring: via UTwente SDR, 6190-CUSB, Saturday
  4522. August 11 first checked at 1415 during Media Network Plus, nothing
  4523. audible, but by 1432, WOR has started and JBA, improving to better by
  4524. 1450-1500* check. Alan Gale, England, hears it direct: ``Hi Glenn,
  4525. World of Radio was audible for the full half hour on HLR today at 1430
  4526. UT on 6190 kHz. The signal wasn't too strong at the start, but had
  4527. come right up in strength by the end. Attached is a short mp3 showing
  4528. the start and finish. Alan``
  4529.  
  4530. WOR 1942 confirmed starting late at 0348 UT Sunday August 12 on
  4531. WA0RCR, 1860-AM, MO, good (gh)
  4532.  
  4533. Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, reports: ``GERMANY, Reception of World of Radio
  4534. via HLR on 9485-CUSB, August 12:
  4535. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-world-of-radio-via-hlr-on_12.html
  4536. 1030-1100 on 9485 GOH 001 kW / 230 deg to CeEu English Sun, good
  4537. signal. Wrong frequency announcement:"...HLR SWSce on 7265 kHz",
  4538. instead of 9485!`` Next:
  4539.  
  4540. Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v to WSW [maybe]
  4541. Mon 0130.5 WRMI 5850 to NW, 7780 to NE
  4542. Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW
  4543. Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 to SSE
  4544. Mon 0400 WRMI webcast only, non-direxional
  4545. Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v to WSW [maybe]
  4546. Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW
  4547. Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 5950 to WNW [or #1943?]
  4548. Tue 2130 WRMI 5950 to WNW [or #1943?]
  4549. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4550.  
  4551. Glenn: Note the additional airing of WoR. From my recording last
  4552. Sunday evening, 12-13 August UT (note the additional times for
  4553. Wavescan and World of Radio): [on 7780]
  4554.  
  4555. 2130 World of Radio (#1942) (instead of Voice of the Report of the
  4556. Week, VORW Radio International, cancelled in this time slot) (Richard
  4557. Langley, NB, Aug 14, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4558.  
  4559. WORLD OF RADIO 1942 monitoring: confirmed UT Monday August 13 from
  4560. 0130.5 on WRMI 5850 VG, and 7780 poor (presumably the reverse toward
  4561. NE instead of NW). Also confirmed UT Mon Aug 13 from 0301 on Area 51
  4562. webcast, and at 0329 VP on WBCQ 5129.83. Also confirmed UT Mon Aug 13
  4563. at 0330 on WRMI 9955, fair; and immediate playback from 0400 on WRMI
  4564. webcast only. Next:
  4565. Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v to WSW [maybe]
  4566. Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW
  4567. Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 5950 to WNW [or #1943?]
  4568. Tue 2130 WRMI 5950 to WNW [or #1943?]
  4569.  
  4570. WORLD OF RADIO 1942 monitoring: confirmed UT Tuesday August 14 at 0030
  4571. on WRMI 7730, VG. Unchecked, presumed inaudible Tue Aug 14 at 2030 on
  4572. WRMI 7780 & 5950.
  4573.  
  4574. WORLD OF RADIO 1943 contents: Antarctica, Australia and non, Bahamas,
  4575. Brasil, Cuba and non, Indonesia, Korea South, Kuwait, México, Perú,
  4576. Philippines non, Romania, South Carolina non, Tibet non, USA,
  4577. convention, publication, and the propagation outlook
  4578.  
  4579. WORLD OF RADIO 1943 monitoring: ready for first airing Tuesday August
  4580. 14 at 2130 on WRMI 5950, but inaudible except for a JBA carrier
  4581. checked as late as possible, 2158. ``Probably``, I said for WBCQ 9330v
  4582. at 2330 Tue Aug 14, but no show; maybe tomorrow. Confirmed Wednesday
  4583. August 15 at 1055 check the 1030 WRMI 5950 broadcast, S9+10 but sounds
  4584. only fair; also with RTTY QRM about 5951 --- haven`t had that before -
  4585. -- requiring LSB tuning to eliminate it. Rick Barton, AZ, heard it
  4586. too: ``5950, WRMI at 1030 with opening of Glenn Hauser WoR, confirmed
  4587. on. Good over utility station sound on frequency, and I am still in
  4588. thunderstorm mode as the latest "monsoon" season t-storm just passed
  4589. thru 1/2 hour ago. Fair/Good on SW-2000629 and windowframe antenna.
  4590. August 15`` Next:
  4591.  
  4592. Wed 2100 WBCQ 7490v to WSW
  4593. Wed 2100.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE
  4594. Wed 2330 WBCQ 9330v to WSW [probably?]
  4595. Thu 2330 WBCQ 9330v to WSW [maybe]
  4596. Fri 2330 WBCQ 9330v to WSW [maybe]
  4597. Sat 0631 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW
  4598. Sat 1431 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW
  4599. Sat 1930v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND
  4600. Sat 2130 WBCQ 9330v to WSW [maybe, or 2330?]
  4601. Sun 0310v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND
  4602. Sun 1030 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW
  4603. Sun 2130 WRMI 7780 to NE [NEW]
  4604. Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v to WSW [maybe]
  4605. Mon 0130.5 WRMI 5850 to NW, 7780 to NE
  4606. Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW
  4607. Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 to SSE
  4608. Mon 0400 WRMI webcast only, non-direxional
  4609. Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v to WSW [maybe]
  4610. Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW
  4611. Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 5950 to WNW [or #1944?]
  4612. Tue 2130 WRMI 5950 to WNW [or #1944?]
  4613.  
  4614. Full schedule for WOR on all outlets, not just SW; podcast linx:
  4615. http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html
  4616. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4617.  
  4618. WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI WRMI:
  4619.  
  4620. ** U S A. USofA: 5850, WRMI, FL, Okeechobee with a new 'mostly ham
  4621. radio' Broad Spectrum Radio featuring info about ham radio and then
  4622. into a digital attempt. I say attempt because the text mostly didn't
  4623. decode, and only one photo made it. James B has issues sometimes!
  4624.  
  4625. Then into SW Radiogram #59 which was in flawlessly. Stories this time
  4626. were about NASA marks its 60th year; Cars that don't meet air quality
  4627. standards end up in Africa! a MFSK128 encoded story about Used cars
  4628. exported to Africa; a MFSK64 encoded story about a Milky Way sibling
  4629. devoured by Andromeda and the Death of Oldrich Cip, SW frequency
  4630. planner and Images of the week including a shot of a "Spotless" Sun
  4631. and a cool fish: [illustrations]
  4632.  
  4633. Then into the business growth show at BoH. 554+4+4+ THIS close to all
  4634. 5s. 0658-0830, 6/Aug SDRplay +SDRuno +FLDigi for the digital bits,
  4635. +randomwire Ken Zichi, MI, MARE Tipsheet August 10 via DXLD)
  4636.  
  4637. 9455, UT Thursday August 9 at 0155, WRMI is still on here with Hal
  4638. Turner, much stronger than // 7490 WBCQ. Despite WRMI skedgrid showing
  4639. System L for 9455, which was UT Thursday only at 00-04, as ``currently
  4640. off air`` as of August 1! Maybe Hal belatedly renewed his contract for
  4641. 01-03. VG signal on 355 azimuth. Too bad this is not employed for full
  4642. time variety of programming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4643.  
  4644. Reception of Voice of The Report of The Week via WRMI-1, August 10
  4645. 2200-2300 7780 YFR 100 kW / 044 deg WeEu English Sat, good signal
  4646. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-voice-of-report-of-week.html
  4647. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 11-12, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4648.  
  4649. 9955, August 11 at 1400, since it`s Saturday, WRMI does not sign off
  4650. but radiates Blalock the Blaster; some weeks instead at this hour,
  4651. it`s Slovakia in Spanish; you never know which it will be (Glenn
  4652. Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4653.  
  4654. 9395, Sat Aug 11 at 2200, `Voice of the Report` of the Week is
  4655. starting on WRMI; John is ill-informed about his own schedule. Says
  4656. this is the Thursday Aug 9 edition, also to be heard on Friday Aug 10
  4657. and Sunday Aug 12 (but not Sat Aug 11!). Also audible on much weaker
  4658. // 7780. He thinx that since the 11580 broadcast was canceled, the
  4659. triplicated frequencies also were canceled. Same situation a week ago.
  4660. Lists frequencies he is on at some time or other: 9955, 9395, 7780,
  4661. 7730, 7570, 7490, 5950, 5850. 7570? This is one WRMI frequency which
  4662. had been dedicated to nothing but BS, but the skedgrid now shows it
  4663. opening an hour earlier on Sundays only for VORW at 2200 (Glenn
  4664. Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4665.  
  4666. Monitored WRMI Sunday Evening / Monday Morning (UTC) 7780 kHz Schedule
  4667. From my recording last Sunday evening, 12-13 August UTC (note the
  4668. additional times for Wavescan and World of Radio):
  4669.  
  4670. 2015 Viva Miami (acknowledging listeners' reports; a new version)
  4671. 2030 Reserve Military Retirement
  4672. 2100 Wavescan (#494) (instead of Voice of the Report of the Week, VORW
  4673. Radio International, cancelled in this time slot)
  4674. 2130 World of Radio (#1942) (instead of Voice of the Report of the
  4675. Week, VORW Radio International, cancelled in this time slot)
  4676. 2200 Your Weekend Show (Bob Biermann talking about fake preachers;
  4677. Bro. Stair: Are your ears burning?)
  4678. 2300 Full Gospel (Half-) Hour
  4679. 2330 Shortwave Radiogram (#60)
  4680. 0000 Radio Slovakia International in Slovak
  4681. 0030 Radio Slovakia International in English (transmitter went off
  4682. twice during the program for a couple of minutes each time)
  4683. 0100 Wavescan (#494)
  4684. 0130 World of Radio (#1942)
  4685. (Richard Langley, NB, Aug 14, WOR iog via DXLD)
  4686.  
  4687. 5950 // much stronger 9395, Aug 13 at 0109, VOA news is starting at
  4688. flexible time via WRMI Oldies stream, until 0113 (instead of Argentina
  4689. To The World on weekdays). Includes two AP voice reports and only one
  4690. from a VOA correspondent. Mike Cooper, Atlanta, August 6, opined in
  4691. DXLD 18-32 and quoted on WOR 1942: ``VOA NEWS IS SECOND-HAND ---``
  4692. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4693.  
  4694. WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ WBCQ:
  4695.  
  4696. ** U S A. 7490+, Aug 10 at 0038, WBCQ with some neat honky-tonk piano
  4697. music more to my taste than VORW playing a request for Stray Cats on
  4698. WRMI 7730; then another jazz piano tune, but 0045 cut to gospel
  4699. huxtress in English. What`s all this? WBCQ schedule just shows
  4700. ``Available Time Slot`` for 8-9 pm EDT Thursday --- was that an ex-
  4701. VORW time too? Now not on 7490 sked at all.
  4702.  
  4703. 7490+ // 9330.1 // 5130-, UT Sat Aug 11 at 0000, WBCQ `Allan Weiner
  4704. Worldwide` about the same on the top two, JBA on the third, but all
  4705. synchronized. The ``brain trust`` are all in the studio, besides
  4706. Angela, also Tom Barna and Timtron. When AW remarx that Hillary should
  4707. be in jail, I tune out at 0011. Recheck at 0024, TimTron is
  4708. monologuing about his bout with Lyme disease, how he takes 7 meds in
  4709. the morning, no alcohol but pot OK, and he is now recovering, but has
  4710. had other medical problems such as at 0030 a tick on his dick, which
  4711. the studio audience finds quite amusing. That`s all I can report this
  4712. week, and John Carver`s computer is down, so we may not hear more from
  4713. him.
  4714.  
  4715. 5129.928, Aug 12 at 0058, WBCQ Area 51 talking about Bob, ``Church of
  4716. the Subgenius Hour of Slack``, an erstwhile gospel huxter parody,
  4717. discussing whether this be episode 343 or 344 or 343 and a half.
  4718. Recheck at 0325, has drifted slightly to 5129.940, both about 0.1 kHz
  4719. higher than usual spot (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4720.  
  4721. ** U S A [and non]. From the Isle of Music, August 19-25, 2018:
  4722. Our special guest is Ricardito Rivera, former lead vocalist with Los
  4723. Latinos and Rumbavana. He is still performing in Spain, and we will
  4724. discuss his career and listen to music from the the Los Latinos period
  4725. until today.
  4726.  
  4727. Four options to listen to the transmission:
  4728.  
  4729. 1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most
  4730. of the Eastern Hemisphere (including parts of East Asia and Oceania)
  4731. with 100 kW, Sunday 1500-1600 UT on SpaceLine, 9400, from Kostinbrod,
  4732. Bulgaria (1800-1900 MSK)
  4733.  
  4734. 2. For the Americas and parts of Europe, Tuesday 0000-0100 UT on WBCQ,
  4735. 7490 from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9 PM EDT in the US). This has
  4736. been audible in parts of NW, Central and Southern Europe with an
  4737. excellent skip to Italy recently.
  4738.  
  4739. 3 & 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 and Saturday
  4740. 1200-1300 UT on Channel 292, 6070 from Rohrbach, Germany.
  4741.  
  4742. Also recommended:
  4743. 1. Jetzt geht's los! (Here We Go!), an excellent program of early
  4744. German Jazz produced by Radio Ohne Nahmen, comes on right before FTIOM
  4745. on Tuesdays from 1800-1900 UT on Channel 292.
  4746.  
  4747. Uncle Bill's Melting Pot, Sun, August 19 & Tuesday, August 21, 2018
  4748. Episode 76 takes us to the DPRK (North Korea) for an encounter with
  4749. its popular music. The broadcasts take place:
  4750.  
  4751. 1. Sundays 2200-2230 UT (6:00-6:30 PM Eastern US) on WBCQ The Planet
  4752. 7490 from the US to the Americas and parts of Europe
  4753.  
  4754. 2. Tuesdays 2000-2030 UT on Channel 292, 6070 from Rohrbach, Germany
  4755. for Europe. If current propagation conditions hold, the broadcast
  4756. should reach from Iceland to Western Russia, Scandinavia down to North
  4757. Africa and the Middle East, AND a long bounce to parts of New Zealand.
  4758.  
  4759. Also recommended:
  4760. Marion's Attic, a unique program produced and hosted by Marion Webster
  4761. featuring early 20th Century records, Edison cylinders etc. played on
  4762. the original equipment, comes on immediately before UBMP on Sundays
  4763. 2100-2200 UT on WBCQ 7490 (William "Bill" Tilford, Owner/Producer,
  4764. Tilford Productions, LLC, Aug 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4765.  
  4766. OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW:
  4767.  
  4768. ** U S A. 17775, Aug 8 at 1334, KVOH is already on way early before
  4769. nominal *1400, with praise music in Spanish, S8 and building.
  4770. Propagation varies widely; some days JBA even after 1400. Websked at
  4771. http://www.voiceofhope.com/schedule/kvoh_program_grid.pdf
  4772. still claims to start SW at 1400, but webstream is always running with
  4773. Spanish or English available if they turn on transmitter elsewhen
  4774. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4775.  
  4776. ** U S A. 6155, Aug 10 at 0000, what`s this? Huge S9+25 loud,
  4777. distorted wideband signal centered approximately here where normally
  4778. there is nothing; music, then introducing a padre on a Spanish talk
  4779. show. I have quickly switched to FM tuning mode which makes it
  4780. somewhat readable, like other such spurs out of RHC.
  4781.  
  4782. I suspect it`s WEWN, totally out of whack again, which is supposed to
  4783. be just starting 5970 after QSY from day frequency 12050. 6155 cuts
  4784. off abruptly at 0002 before I can copy anything further. Retune to
  4785. 5970 and find it S9+20 of dead air until off at 0002:40*; back on at
  4786. *0004:30, but modulation on and off. I am 95% sure the FM blob was
  4787. this same WEWN transmitter.
  4788.  
  4789. The Spanish program grid
  4790. http://ewtn.org/radio/sp_radio_sched.asp
  4791. is dated 2017! And fails to show UT, just local AM & PM times in
  4792. Miami, Mexico City and Buenos Aires --- but are those for DST or
  4793. standard time??? Assuming the start of the 5970 block at 0000 means 7
  4794. pm in Miami, as if it were winter, this Thursday/UT Friday hour was/is
  4795. ``Por la calzada de Emaús``. Of course, most of their shows could be
  4796. hosted by a padre, if not by a madre; definitely Roman Catholic, and
  4797. there are not many such international SW stations in Spanish.
  4798.  
  4799. 24 hours later, August 10 at 2359, I`m checking again, but no show
  4800. circa 6155, just open carrier on 5970 --- and no carrier at 0033
  4801. August 11 nor yet any 6155-FM. This station is an engineering disaster
  4802. (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4803.  
  4804. ** U S A. 15555-USB, Aug 13 at 1418, the WJHR gospel huxter is audible
  4805. only at S0-S2; not always audible at all, so is it erratically on air
  4806. or just due to propagation?
  4807.  
  4808. Benn Kobb says, ``Hi Glenn, DXLD 1831 included a remark from WJHR,
  4809. Milton FL (via Australian DX News) that "We just moved the station to
  4810. a new location and installed a new directional Yagi antenna". Such
  4811. changes typically require formal application to FCC. You asked: "So
  4812. what is the new location and has the FCC authorized it or even been
  4813. notified?" My inquiry to the FCC International Bureau, which licenses
  4814. domestic SW stations, was answered on August 10, 2018 as copied below.
  4815. - - -
  4816. "Mr. Kobb, We have communicated with George Mock of WJHR and he states
  4817. that they have not made any changes. Tom Lucey, FCC"``
  4818.  
  4819. Altho it was recently received as an e-QSL, the remark might have been
  4820. written years ago, unspecified. It seems that FCC remains unconcerned
  4821. that as is obvious to any casual monitor, WJHR cannot be running the
  4822. required 50 kW minimum power (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4823.  
  4824. ** U S A [non]. 9370, Aug 11 at 1500 via UTWente SDR I check in case
  4825. WWRB could have resumed Radio Munansi for Uganda --- instead I hear YL
  4826. in unknown language mentioning ``kiloHertz`` several times. Aoki/NDXC
  4827. shows VOA Burmese via THAILAND at 1430-1530. (As well as long-
  4828. abandoned WWRB Overcomer on 9370 at 11-01!) I also check 15240-,
  4829. another frequency WWRB previously employed for Munansi and nothing
  4830. there but strong splash from 15245 in English = CRI via Kashgar (no
  4831. sign of VOK English during same hour, same frequency). Aoki also still
  4832. lists Munansi via WWRB Sat & Sun at 15-17 in Mus+ic, and 17-21 in
  4833. Lug+anda.
  4834.  
  4835. 5050, UT Monday August 13 at 0120, WWRB is still on in non-daily
  4836. broadcast, awful humbuzz louder than the gospel-huxter modulation.
  4837. What a loss! May be totally the fault of the program provider, but
  4838. Dave lets it run that way (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4839.  
  4840. ** U S A. 15809.961V, Aug 12 at 1430, WTWW-3 is on at S9+20, first
  4841. time heard in several days, country music // only S9+10 WTWW-1 9475
  4842. SFAW. Higher carrier is wobbly, vibrating slightly vs BFO, unlike
  4843. other signals such as 15825 WWCR. Recheck at 1830: 15809.9+ is OFF.
  4844. What is the schedule for it? Just on Tedwhims (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
  4845. LISTENING DIGEST)
  4846.  
  4847. ** U S A. Re: [WOR] Unique Radio via WINB August 11th 2018, 1100 UT:
  4848. WINB just signed on (a few minutes before 1100 UT). Let’s see if they
  4849. manage to air Unique Radio at 1100 --- Nope! A religious program.
  4850. Maybe later (— Richard Langley, NB, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4851.  
  4852. Hearing “Sounds of your life“ program hosted by Aussie DJ. Mostly EZL
  4853. music and religious oriented tunes. Mentions NRI3 a few times. Canned
  4854. program IDs. Excellent signal here going past 1300 (Stephen C Wood,
  4855. Harwich, Mass., Perseus SDR, 20 x 40 terminated superloop antenna,
  4856. 1305 UT Aug 11, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See AUSTRALIA [non]
  4857.  
  4858. 15665-15670-15675, Mon Aug 13 at 1417, WINB DRM is certainly back on.
  4859. The noise is very strange, however, a much different, ``rougher``
  4860. sound on the lower side than the upper side. Maybe has something to do
  4861. with splitting/combining data and audio transmissions (Glenn Hauser,
  4862. OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4863.  
  4864. Tweeted by WINB two hours ago: "We are back DRM today, but will be off
  4865. tomorrow. We are switching the service with the power company and
  4866. putting in a new balun at the same time. We should be on for Wednesday
  4867. [Aug 15] and remain on" (Richard Langley, 1802 UT Aug 13, WOR iog via
  4868. WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4869.  
  4870. 15670 DRM, reply to my Aug 13 log of WINB from Richard Langley, NB, at
  4871. 1802 UT Aug 13: ``Tweeted by WINB two hours ago: "We are back DRM
  4872. today, but will be off tomorrow. We are switching the service with the
  4873. power company and putting in a new balun at the same time. We should
  4874. be on for Wednesday and remain on"`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO
  4875. 1943, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4876.  
  4877. ** U S A. Fair signal of World Wide Christian Radio WWCR-1 August 8
  4878. from 1155 15825 WCR 100 kW / 046 deg WeEu English, instead of 15795
  4879. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/fair-signal-of-world-wide-christian.html
  4880. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4881.  
  4882. WWCR-1 program sked updated Aug 1 still shows it totally off the air
  4883. daily: 0500-0900 3215, 0900-1200 15795 (gh, DXLD)
  4884.  
  4885. Fair to good signal of World Wide Christian Radio WWCR-1, August 9:
  4886. 1115&1130 15825 WCR 100 kW / 046 deg to WeEu English, instead of 15795
  4887. 1115&1130 15795 WCR 100 kW / 046 deg to WeEu Arabic/Russian Mo-Fr A-18
  4888. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/fair-to-good-signal-of-world-wide.html
  4889. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4890.  
  4891. 7490, WWCR Nashville TN (presumed); 1244, 8/8; “Power Hour” with snake
  4892. oil huxters offering things that will cure anything; Heart & Body
  4893. extract, Adaptametic & Metahemp Solution. S20 peaks (Harold Frodge,
  4894. Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ----- All logged by my ears, on
  4895. my receiver, in real time & without the aid of a computer! -----, DX
  4896. LISTENING DIGEST)
  4897.  
  4898. ** U S A. Reception of WRNO Worldwide Radio in English/Chinese, Aug 7
  4899. till 0605 on 7505 RNO 050 kW / 020 deg to ENAm English, very good
  4900. from 0605 on 7505 RNO 050 kW / 020 deg to ENAm Chinese, fair/good
  4901. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-wrno-worldwide-radio-in_7.html
  4902. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4903.  
  4904. Reception of WRNO Worldwide Radio in English/Chinese Aug 9
  4905. till 0501 on 7505 RNO 050 kW / 020 deg to ENAm English, very good
  4906. from 0501 on 7505 RNO 050 kW / 020 deg to ENAm Chinese, very good
  4907. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-wrno-worldwide-radio-in_10.html
  4908. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4909.  
  4910. ** U S A [and non]. KTNN-660 Off the Air -- Local time 01:30 MST in AZ
  4911. [0830 UT] 50 kW powerhouse in the west, KTNN-660, The Navajo Nation,
  4912. Window Rock, AZ seems to be off the air the last couple of hours. Just
  4913. logged Canadian CFFR, Calgary, Alberta here in western AZ. Lots of
  4914. weak stuff in there. Go get 'em. [Later:] They were off all night and
  4915. they still seem to be down as of 10:00 AM PDT [1700 UT] Normally I get
  4916. a very weak daytime signal in western AZ using a passive loop, but
  4917. nothing heard this morning.
  4918.  
  4919. I did also log KGSV-660, 6 kW, Oildale, CA with Punjab music and talk
  4920. (weak) most of the night. I spent some time last night hoping that
  4921. east coast WFAN-660 would rise up out of the noise but it didn't.
  4922. Maybe if this outage continues into tonight there will be another
  4923. chance (Bill ``desertbilly``, RADIO-TIMETRAVELLER
  4924. http://radio-timetraveller.blogspot.com
  4925. Aug 10, ABDX yg via DXLD)
  4926.  
  4927. ** U S A. 770, Aug 8 at 1113 UT, ``Newsradio 94.5 FM and AM 770
  4928. KKOB``, new ``Roswell`` movie to be made in Santa Fé; 1116 anti-
  4929. American commentary by Rush Limbaugh, making me want to puke. What a
  4930. pity that NM`s #1 AM station purvey this crap (and also subordinate
  4931. itself to an FM translator, which surely blox Duques from hearing 100
  4932. kW Gallup 94.5 line-of-sight at elevations in The Heights, 200 km/125
  4933. miles; now called KYAT with a Navajo name, and format/country).
  4934.  
  4935. KKOB 94.5 relay is K233CG, on Sandia Crest, 3251 meters AMSL, with 250
  4936. watts direxional WSW across the city, says FCC FM Query. KKOB already
  4937. had its own full-power Cresttop FM on 93.3, but separately programmed.
  4938. {full-power here means deliberately reduced from 100 kW ERP due to
  4939. extreme height above average terrain elevation advantage.}
  4940.  
  4941. Back to 770: I should not be hearing this big dominant signal at 5:13
  4942. am MDT, pre-sunrise, certainly not the 230-watt fill-in from Santa Fe,
  4943. but the 50 kW main transmitter from the North Valley of ABQ, which is
  4944. supposed to be nulling toward us and WABC, so either the pattern is
  4945. way out of whack or they are just running non-direxional day pattern
  4946. already. (BTW, no sign of TPs on 774, not in season yet, also edged by
  4947. music from 780 KSPI Stillwater.)
  4948.  
  4949. Speaking of ABQ, later this morning at 1350-1455 UT, I catch repeat of
  4950. the new season première of `Better Call Saul` on AMC cable. I`ve never
  4951. followed this nor its sequel `Breaking Bad` despite the ABQ locations,
  4952. out of general distaste for the subject matter, no matter how great
  4953. the acting be reviewed; but decided to give this a chance. Hmmm, I
  4954. don`t think I`m hooked for any more episodes (Glenn Hauser, OK, ex-
  4955. Albuquerque, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4956.  
  4957. HI Glenn, You wrote: "1116 anti-American commentary by Rush Limbaugh,
  4958. making me want to puke. What a pity that NM`s #1 AM station purvey
  4959. this crap".
  4960.  
  4961. So damn true! That station is a travesty and waaay too conservative
  4962. for the city, if not for all of our blue state. I can't even listen to
  4963. their traffic report without catching the end of ignorant, xenophobic
  4964. opining (Heath Hall, Albuquerque, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4965.  
  4966. ** U S A. 840, TEXAS, KVJY, Pharr. 1052 August 7, 2018. Mexi-tune,
  4967. then male canned ID at 1058, mentioning a "Radio ---" slogan not
  4968. copied, KJAV (FM), KVJY, (in English) and "... Pasadena Blvd..." an
  4969. apparent reference to a mailing address. Quickly faded. This one makes
  4970. an occasional and brief appearance around my local sunrise, and a
  4971. different format each time thus far, this the third I believe (Terry
  4972. L. Krueger, All dates/times GMT, Clearwater, FL, NRD-535, IC-R75,
  4973. broken longwires, active MW loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4974.  
  4975. ** U S A. 1110, WTIS, Tampa. 1300 August 13, 2018. Finally caught
  4976. their slogan, it's "101.1 La Mega" near top of hour within seemingly
  4977. automated salsa/tropical music format with no announcer or commercials
  4978. heard. W266CW is the 101.1 MHz translator (Terry L. Krueger, All
  4979. dates/times GMT, Clearwater, FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, broken longwires,
  4980. active MW loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  4981.  
  4982. ** U S A. Jim Carlyle, the O/O of WION Ionia MI has announced a "sort
  4983. of" DX Test planned for NEXT weekend. I will quote from his message to
  4984. me:
  4985.  
  4986. "The "plan" as of now is to have our AM stereo engineer here tuning up
  4987. and EQ'ing the transmitter and our whole "back room" system on the
  4988. night of Friday to Saturday, the 17th to 18th, overnight. Backup date
  4989. is the next day of the 18th to 19th, Saturday to Sunday.
  4990.  
  4991. "At this time he'll be using tones and programming to put the B-E
  4992. transmitter through paces to get it tuned in as a component of our AM
  4993. stereo, not just the transmitter of it. Since I've never witnessed
  4994. this, I don't know how often it'll be on, off, and at high power, but
  4995. that's the night during those "special hours" that your group members
  4996. may want to listen-in. We'll switch our stream to the FM side during
  4997. that time so the 'net listeners don't get noise. Feel free to pass
  4998. this along --- and if anything changes, I'll let you know. I'll update
  4999. you as it gets closer, too.
  5000.  
  5001. "Glad to have you folks enjoy this. No exact time yet, but I'll find
  5002. out from Greg before that weekend though, since it's a "real" tune-up
  5003. (basically to EQ the transmitter for best sound with our AM optimods)
  5004. It could vary depending on what he runs-into.
  5005.  
  5006. "This engineer is one of the designers of AM stereo, been with
  5007. Motorola for years, and found us via web; then adopted us. Was a
  5008. station owner, sold his recently, and enjoys coming here to "play" as
  5009. he puts it."
  5010.  
  5011. We should have more details for the next TipSheet, but I guess the
  5012. 'key' here is to turn on a radio and listen to 1430! There will be
  5013. periods of 'full day power' which should really get out. QSLs may well
  5014. be issued --- Jim and I are working on that and MARE may act as a
  5015. 'clearing house' if things go as planned! Stay tuned! --kvz (Kenneth
  5016. Vito Zichi, MI, MARE Tipsheet August 10 via WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DXLD)
  5017.  
  5018. ** U S A. Glenn, In case you are interested on the KYND 1520 topic:
  5019. https://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?710313-Memo-to-Bill-Turner-regarding-KYND
  5020. (Artie Bigley, Aug 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5021.  
  5022. Indeed we are --- that`s the Cypress TX station which used to QRM KOKC
  5023. OKC with test loops, but not heard lately. Some insight into what it`s
  5024. like to work for a failing station, after we catch up on what`s been
  5025. going on there since late May: (gh, DXLD) Viz.:
  5026.  
  5027. Memo to Bill Turner regarding KYND
  5028.  
  5029. The audio on the promo loop running on KYND 1520 is very, very low.
  5030. Makes the signal sound quite feeble. Not the sort of thing you want
  5031. going on when you are looking for paying clients or a new owner. The
  5032. difference is very obvious when you compare the 1520 audio to other
  5033. stations on the local AM band. Please check!!! (Mediafrog+, May 27,
  5034. radiodiscussions via DXLD)
  5035.  
  5036. I thought it was completely silent the other day (AnyHuman, May 31,
  5037. ibid.)
  5038.  
  5039. The KYND audio was back to good levels at a Thursday morning check.
  5040. The day before it had been virtually nonexistent; basically dead air.
  5041. Perhaps Bill is reading the forum again. Meanwhile KYND has been
  5042. without a paying client for almost nine months. Wonder if they’ve had
  5043. any serious offers on the station sale? (Mediafrog+, June 1, ibid.)
  5044.  
  5045. You are forgetting I am monitoring the station and/or the transmitter
  5046. as part of my job. So, generally if I'm not listening, I'm monitoring
  5047. the transmitter. In that instance, it might be a few minutes between
  5048. looks at the transmitter. I've likely called the engineer before you
  5049. notice. And I read the forums too. You might even notice a problem
  5050. before I do if I'm, say, having lunch with a potential client. Even
  5051. when I'm, away, our engineer watches the station. I monitor the
  5052. transmitter while away and have the phone in my pocket, even on
  5053. vacation (Bill Turner, June 6, ibid.)
  5054.  
  5055. What app do you use to monitor the transmitter? Just curious
  5056. (AnyHuman, ibid.)
  5057.  
  5058. No app. I have the IP and codes. Only thing I dislike about that is
  5059. the codes always go out of date and I have to remember a new set; some
  5060. security feature I suppose (Turner, ibid.)
  5061.  
  5062. I understand so it's basically just through your Internet browser.
  5063. Cool (AnyHuman, June 6, ibid.)
  5064.  
  5065. Today I found KYND running a prerecorded mix of oldies, replacing the
  5066. client appeal looped message. Perhaps they have found a new client
  5067. that is not ready to launch, or perhaps have a prospective new owner?
  5068. (Mediafrog+, June 29, ibid.)
  5069.  
  5070. KQQB was running oldies with the message every so often last I checked
  5071. (AnyHuman, June 30, ibid.)
  5072.  
  5073. KYND was blasting into North Texas today, much to my surprise wiping
  5074. out any trace of KOMA/KOKC. Caught Bob Seger "Fire Lake", Stevie
  5075. Wonder "Superstitious", Midnight Runners "Come On Eileen", Paul Simon
  5076. "Mother And Child Reunion". Heard some DJ banter but it happened
  5077. during fades making it hard to tell exactly who it was (LibertyNY,
  5078. July 26, ibid.)
  5079.  
  5080. That was certainly KYND. Getting in to North Texas is rare for us.Not
  5081. since Hurricane Harvey have we haunted North Texas radios. After
  5082. Harvey we were messing with KOKC in Oklahoma City. I surmised the
  5083. ground system was floating at that point. I doubt there had been that
  5084. much moisture in the ground since radio was invented. It has been hot
  5085. and dry here so, a heavy rain didn't cause your reception this time.
  5086. (Bill Turner, July 26, ibid.)
  5087.  
  5088. I can certainly say I can't recall ever catching KYND before, it was
  5089. as strong as KGOW normally is before they power down. For a moment I
  5090. thought KOKC flipped formats! (LibertyNT, July 26, ibid.)
  5091.  
  5092. Good story, LibertyNT, I'm guessing you received KYND in North Texas
  5093. close to sunset or just after sunrise, when AM daytime signals tend to
  5094. travel the farthest (ThatVoice22, July 29, ibid.)
  5095.  
  5096. Distant reception of KYND would have to be after sunrise, as the
  5097. station appears to be running a limited schedule. At numerous recent
  5098. checks I have not found KYND on the air between 6 pm and sunset, and a
  5099. 4:30 pm [CDT = 2130 UT] check this past Friday also showed no sign of
  5100. KYND.
  5101.  
  5102. The situation at KYND is certainly not good, as they have not had a
  5103. paying client in almost a year, and there has been no news of a sale
  5104. of the station. Bill Turner is probably not at liberty to say what is
  5105. going on, but KYND ownership continues to burn money keeping the
  5106. station on the air, even with limited hours.
  5107.  
  5108. As I said on another thread, we are probably at a saturation point for
  5109. the “brokered time” business model in the Houston market (Mediafrog+,
  5110. ibid.)
  5111.  
  5112. Yes, no client for so long has hurt all of us in the pocketbook. The
  5113. station is running until 3 pm at this point. Some maintenance taking
  5114. place on the 30th. Hint: the 1st isn't far away (Turner, July 29,
  5115. ibid.)
  5116.  
  5117. It had to have been around 7:30 AM (LibertyNT, July 30, ibid.)
  5118.  
  5119. The 1st of August is here and the expected changed may or may not
  5120. happen. I could sure use some leads just in case (Turner, Aug 1,
  5121. ibid.)
  5122.  
  5123. Wasn't sure what the reference to August 1st meant, but I think KYND
  5124. has been silent since then. A 25K signal and nobody's interested - I
  5125. wonder why parties on lesser signals like 1050, 1090, 1110, 1230,
  5126. 1460, and 1480 haven't jumped on to KYND. Any hope for the future,
  5127. Bill? (ThatVoice22, Aug 6, ibid.)
  5128.  
  5129. My August 1 guy didn't work out. I vented to some friends. See below.
  5130. Meanwhile, since writing that I have 3 leads. Each one a long shot.
  5131.  
  5132. I'm putting the station on a day or two a week for not be permanently
  5133. silent, mostly when someone wants to 'run the signal'. I'm trying to
  5134. save my owners some money in hopes I won't be job hunting.
  5135.  
  5136. RADIO HAS BEAT ME TO A PULP
  5137.  
  5138. As some of you know I have a day job managing a radio station in a top
  5139. 10 market. I've been with the station 25 years as of last month.
  5140.  
  5141. My market is 113 radio signals. 17 stations do what we do. We lease
  5142. our broadcast day. We are a daytime only without a translator but a
  5143. good signal.
  5144.  
  5145. It can be the easiest and yet the hardest job in radio. When you have
  5146. a client, it is easy. You just keep things on the air and the check
  5147. coming in. When you don't have a client it is the hardest.
  5148.  
  5149. The reality is it is a sign of weakness to 'need a station'. It is a
  5150. weakness for a station to 'need a client'. Nobody knows who is looking
  5151. for a station and a station does not know who needs a station. It's
  5152. usually an introduction or the entity happens to find you. At least
  5153. selling businesses, you know it is a numbers game. Call on so many
  5154. businesses and you'll find a yes.
  5155.  
  5156. There are 17 stations in my market doing what we do. The demand is
  5157. less than that, driving down prices. I am thinking my owners didn't
  5158. get that at first. After all, that was not the case when the last
  5159. client bought.
  5160.  
  5161. That last client broke their contract with about 2 hours notice. They
  5162. didn't pay and said they were broke but were on another station the
  5163. next day. That was last September.
  5164.  
  5165. I took a pay cut. I lowered expenses. I still had to pull from
  5166. savings. I began my hunt. I found several good ones but my owners
  5167. wanted too much per month. By the time they lowered the rate, those
  5168. good ones found a radio home for the dollar amount they wanted.
  5169.  
  5170. In November I was told we were going dark in December if I didn't have
  5171. a client. I was scared. In late November, I found a plum potential
  5172. client. We worked out a deal. He used us to get a better rate at
  5173. another station after a month of negotiating.
  5174.  
  5175. January came with a 50% pay cut. More trimming expenses in store. It
  5176. is bare bones and I still tap savings. My owners stayed with it but
  5177. put the station up for sale. If they found a buyer, as is the case in
  5178. radio, the staff isn't retained.
  5179.  
  5180. June came around. My owners said my job was done June 1 and the
  5181. station was going dark.
  5182.  
  5183. I had a lead. I worked it. The offer was not anything my owners would
  5184. say yes to but I took it in and they gave it the okay. Sure we'd lose
  5185. lots of money for months but it was a start. The start date was to be
  5186. August 1.
  5187.  
  5188. It's August 1. He didn't start. He didn't pay. They'd keep the station
  5189. if I found a client.
  5190.  
  5191. I am trying to save this but I don't think I can. The client wants to
  5192. run promos in August then start in September, giving us a check
  5193. September 1. He wants a month of benefit free while my owners foot all
  5194. the bills.
  5195.  
  5196. I'm tired and feel beaten to a pulp. There have been deadlines where
  5197. you never knew if you had a job or a paycheck the next day. Today
  5198. might be my last day at the station.
  5199.  
  5200. I pity my owners that have hung in there. They are in the same boat as
  5201. me. Radio can be a cruel mistress. It's no different than any other
  5202. business. I feel I need a long vacation but I know I had better not
  5203. spend a dime. I have run through too much of my savings already.
  5204.  
  5205. Radio has taught me to keep watch for that glimmer of light at the end
  5206. of the tunnel even though you are getting all too familiar with the
  5207. bottom of the barrel. You learn to walk the tight rope without a net.
  5208. You carry on.
  5209.  
  5210. I'm not the only one. Last week I talked to a guy in the same boat.
  5211. Years of hard work and dedication only to have the rug pulled out from
  5212. under him squashing his future like a bug. He is trying to create his
  5213. future from thin air. He did all the right things. Life isn't fair.
  5214.  
  5215. My lease is up at my place. If I have a job, a client, that's fine. If
  5216. not, that's another situation all together. While I have almost a
  5217. decade to put in to radio before retiring, I have seen my age and
  5218. being 'over qualified' being a negative. I'll have to find something.
  5219. I want it to be in radio because I love radio. I'll have to move if
  5220. I'm done here.
  5221.  
  5222. I'm lucky. I started behind the microphone 40 years ago, then
  5223. programming, then to sales and then management. I can pinch hit in
  5224. most positions in a station. I may not be the best but I can hold my
  5225. own without a chip on my shoulder. My love of radio and my experience
  5226. make me an asset. I'm constantly learning.
  5227.  
  5228. So, I'm just venting. I'm looking for that glimmer of light at the end
  5229. of the tunnel. Meanwhile I carry on. I always have and it always
  5230. worked out. It will this time too.
  5231.  
  5232. By the way, my owners rejected the revision. I thought they would. If
  5233. I had to make that decision, I would have done the same. I'm back to
  5234. square one. I'm working two leads. It's not promising. You just never
  5235. know, the next call might be the one (Bill Turner, Aug 11, ibid.)
  5236.  
  5237. Thank you, Bill, for detailing the difficult realities of radio
  5238. time/format leasing. Knowledge, courage, and determination - you have
  5239. it all. Best wishes on the two existing leads (ThatVoice22, Aug 13,
  5240. ibid.)
  5241.  
  5242. Thank you for the kind words. For some that are not in radio, they
  5243. think we make big money and essentially play all day. In radio sales
  5244. they think we con and cheat folks. The reality is I'm a negotiator. My
  5245. work is to get as much as I can for my owner while making sure I offer
  5246. the best possibility for success for my client. It's the only way we
  5247. both win. It's my owners that sustain the loss for the client to get
  5248. up to the rate we need and you never get that back. So, I have the
  5249. challenge of lowering their loss without making it hard on the client
  5250. to reach the financial challenge. Unfortunately the guy that didn't
  5251. follow through got a heck of a deal but never understood that. Let's
  5252. say he'll never see that offer repeated anywhere in the market. I
  5253. continue the two leads and find myself impatient at the time it is
  5254. taking (Bill Turner, Aug 13, ibid.)
  5255.  
  5256. ** U S A. FCC SHUTS DOWN ALEX JONES’S FLAGSHIP RADIO STATION
  5257. By Jacqueline Thomsen - 08/15/18 07:57 PM EDT
  5258. http://thehill.com/policy/technology/technology/402063-fcc-shuts-down-alex-jones-flagship-radio-station
  5259. (via Clara Listensprechen, dxldyg via DXLD) Not very informative but
  5260. linx to several original sources, including this one answering WTFK:
  5261.  
  5262. AUSTIN PIRATE RADIO STATION, FLAGSHIP FOR ALEX JONES, FACES $15K FINE
  5263. BUSINESS === By Gary Dinges - American-Statesman Staff
  5264.  
  5265. Liberty Radio is the Austin flagship for controversial radio host Alex
  5266. Jones. Posted: 3:22 p.m. Wednesday, August 15, 2018
  5267. https://www.mystatesman.com/business/austin-pirate-radio-station-flagship-for-alex-jones-faces-15k-fine/IKeK5Z5IUjegmfqznULCLN/
  5268.  
  5269. A pirate radio station that serves as controversial host Alex Jones’
  5270. Austin flagship has been knocked off the city’s airwaves – at least
  5271. temporarily – and the Federal Communications Commission has levied a
  5272. $15,000 penalty that the station’s operators are refusing to pay.
  5273.  
  5274. A lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Austin accuses
  5275. Liberty Radio of operating at 90.1 FM without federal consent since at
  5276. least 2013. Religious programming was airing on that frequency
  5277. Wednesday, in place of Liberty Radio.
  5278.  
  5279. A check of the Liberty Radio website, txlr.net, indicated the station
  5280. stopped being transmitted over the air in December, but has been
  5281. streaming online and via a call-in “listen line.”
  5282.  
  5283. RELATED: Bans don’t seem to be lessening reach of Alex Jones, InfoWars
  5284.  
  5285. According to court documents, FCC enforcement agents from Houston were
  5286. called to the Austin area to investigate 90.1 FM after the agency
  5287. received a complaint. Using high-tech equipment, those agents were
  5288. able to trace the signal to the Orchard Plaza apartments at 1127 and
  5289. 1205 E. 52nd St. in East Austin.
  5290.  
  5291. The agents reported that Liberty Radio was being operated out of some
  5292. sort of maintenance or utility room at the complex. Travis Central
  5293. Appraisal District records indicate that up until late last year, the
  5294. complex – subject of numerous well-publicized city nuisance violations
  5295. – had been owned by an entity linked to Walter Olenick and M. Rae
  5296. Nadler-Olenick, who are listed as the two defendants in the federal
  5297. lawsuit over Liberty Radio (via DXLD)
  5298.  
  5299. 15K$ fine would be a drop in the bucket for AJ if even he paid it.
  5300. IIRC, quite a few years ago there was briefly an FM pirate in Enid,
  5301. which was relaying the 90.1 GCN pirate in Austin (gh, DXLD) More:
  5302.  
  5303. I thought you might like this story from The Washington Post.
  5304.  
  5305. FCC SHUTS DOWN ALEX JONES’ PIRATE FLAGSHIP RADIO STATION
  5306. The Federal Communications Commission has shut down a pirate radio
  5307. station that served as the flagship outlet for conspiracy theorist
  5308. Alex Jones. . .
  5309.  
  5310. https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/fcc-shuts-down-alex-jones-pirate-flagship-radio-station/2018/08/15/d0cbaf64-a0d8-11e8-a3dd-2a1991f075d5_story.html
  5311. Sent from my iPhone (via David Cole, OK, DXLD)
  5312.  
  5313. Associated Press Austin, Texas August 15, 2018
  5314.  
  5315. The Federal Communications Commission has shut down a pirate radio
  5316. station that served as the flagship outlet for conservative conspiracy
  5317. theorist Alex Jones.
  5318.  
  5319. The Austin American-Statesman reports the FCC also has fined the
  5320. station’s operators $15,000 — a fine the FCC says in a lawsuit the
  5321. operators are refusing to pay.
  5322.  
  5323. The lawsuit filed in federal court in Austin alleges Liberty Radio
  5324. operated on a channel without a license since at least 2013. The
  5325. lawsuit names as defendants Walter Olenick and M. Rae Nadler-Olenick.
  5326.  
  5327. Court documents show the FCC had tracked the transmissions to a 50-
  5328. foot tower at an Austin apartment complex owned by an entity linked to
  5329. the Olenicks.
  5330. http://time.com/5368588/fcc-liberty-radio-alex-jones/
  5331. (via Mike Terry, WOR iog via DXLD)
  5332.  
  5333. ** U S A. 162.450 MHz, FLORIDA, KEC38, NOAA Weather Radio, Largo (but
  5334. really, it's Seminole). I went back to the former WHBO 1040 kc/s
  5335. transmitter site, where two towers remain in what's now a small,
  5336. otherwise reasonably upscale non-gated housing development, to take a
  5337. closer inspection of a nearby separate transmitter box and tower
  5338. behind a collapsing wood stockade fence with a "U.S. Government
  5339. Licensed Broadcast Stations - Vandalism Investigated by F.B.I. No
  5340. Trespassing" sign (as currently on the cover of my Facebook page).
  5341.  
  5342. This time I had my frequency counter with me (hi, FBI), and while it
  5343. didn't want to lock up on an exact frequency without me getting closer
  5344. in ankle deep swamp muck, it bounced between 162-163 MHz constantly.
  5345. The lady next door doing yard work kept a wary eye on me (hello to
  5346. her, too). And indeed the site is confirmed here, a nice site for
  5347. those wanting to go transmitter spotting any NOAA station:
  5348.  
  5349. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?hl=en&msa=0&ie=UTF8&mid=100vLnERm-RPnR6kpEG1EEyfq9ys&ll=27.845777081983496%2C-82.77669012713625&z=16
  5350. (Terry L. Krueger, All dates/times GMT, Clearwater, FL, NRD-535, IC-
  5351. R75, broken longwires, active MW loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5352.  
  5353. ** U S A. AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY SERVICE VOLUNTEERS ASSIST IN
  5354. CALIFORNIA FIRE RESPONSE Wednesday, August 8, 2018 6:57 PM
  5355. ARRL 08/07/2018 [UPDATED 2018-08-08 @ 1210 UTC]
  5356.  
  5357. http://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-emergency-service-volunteers-assist-in-california-fire-response
  5358.  
  5359. Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®) volunteers have pitched in to
  5360. assist where needed to provide or support communication as
  5361. catastrophic wildfires have struck California. Volunteers from
  5362. multiple ARRL Sections in the state have stepped up to help, as some
  5363. fires remain out of control. The fires have claimed several lives,
  5364. destroyed more than 1,000 homes, and forced countless residents to
  5365. evacuate, including radio amateurs. ARRL Sacramento Valley Section
  5366. Emergency Coordinator (SEC) Greg Kruckewitt, KG6SJT, said this week
  5367. that things have calmed somewhat compared to the past couple of weeks,
  5368. with American Red Cross shelter communicators stepping down after 10
  5369. days of support. Initially, there were four shelters in Redding. On
  5370. August 5, the Shasta-Tehama ARES team was able to take its
  5371. communications trailer to Trinity County to support a shelter in
  5372. Weaverville opened for Carr Fire evacuees, he said.
  5373.  
  5374. “This relieved the Sacramento County ARES volunteers who had been up
  5375. there for several days,” Kruckewitt said. “For mutual assistance to
  5376. Weaverville, it is a 4.5- to 5.5-hour drive for the Sacramento Valley
  5377. Section people who helped out. Communications at the shelter have been
  5378. important, as power and cell phone coverage is often spotty, with
  5379. power going off for hours at a time.” All ARES activations for the
  5380. Carr Fire ended the evening of August 7.
  5381.  
  5382. CalFire reports that the Carr Fire in Shasta and Trinity counties
  5383. covers more than 167,000 acres and is 47% contained. Evacuations and
  5384. road closures are in effect. At one point, more than a dozen ARES
  5385. volunteers from Shasta, Sacramento, Butte, Placer, and El Dorado
  5386. counties were working at shelters opened in the wake of the Carr Fire.
  5387.  
  5388. “Sacramento Valley ARES member Michael Joseph, KK6ZGB, is the liaison
  5389. at the Red Cross Gold County Region Disaster Operations Center (DOC)
  5390. in Sacramento,” he noted, adding that Joseph has been in the DOC since
  5391. the fire started. “When the fire in Sonora started, we scrambled to
  5392. get some ARES members to that location to see what communications the
  5393. shelter needs.”
  5394.  
  5395. Kruckewitt said Winlink continues to be the go-to mode, as fire has
  5396. damaged several repeaters and no repeater path exists to the Gold
  5397. County Region of the Red Cross in Sacramento.
  5398.  
  5399. “One difficulty we ran into this weekend was that the Red Cross needed
  5400. [ARES Emergency Coordinator and SEC] contact information for various
  5401. counties that also are experiencing fires and having to open
  5402. shelters,” he said. Completing that task involved lots of phone calls.
  5403. “We encourage all ARES members to get to know their neighboring ARES
  5404. groups and…check into their nets.”
  5405.  
  5406. Kruckewitt told ARRL that demand for ARES communicators is rising as
  5407. the fires continue to grow. Joseph reported over the weekend that the
  5408. Mendocino Complex Fire burning toward Colusa and Glenn counties was
  5409. being closely monitored, although no additional requests for ARES
  5410. assistance were being made. The Ranch Fire in the Mendocino Complex
  5411. covers some 242,000 acres and is only 20% contained. The Mendocino
  5412. Complex Fire is being called the largest wildfire in California
  5413. history, although the Carr Fire has been more devastating.
  5414.  
  5415. ARES teams in other California Sections have remained on standby if
  5416. needed. One problem in deploying volunteers has been closed roads. In
  5417. the San Francisco Section, Section Manager Bill Hillendahl, KH6GJV,
  5418. said the four-county repeater was destroyed by wildfires a couple of
  5419. years ago. Power has just been restored to that location, and
  5420. Hillendahl said that with fires crossing county lines, his Section is
  5421. now considering getting the repeater back in service. A key node for
  5422. the Carla system of linked repeaters was destroyed by fire, further
  5423. hampering intrastate communication for ARES teams (via Mike Terry, Aug
  5424. 8, WOR iog via DXLD)
  5425.  
  5426. ** VATICAN [non]. 9610, August 8 at 1140, VN relay via VOA Greenville,
  5427. violating Separation of Church and State, is still running in Spanish.
  5428. Finishes with VR theme/IS at 1145 and immediately off by 1145.5*
  5429. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5430.  
  5431. ** VIETNAM [non]. 7315, August 10 at 0010, dead air instead of Voice
  5432. of Vietnam relay in English by WHRI. 0019 retune, dead air, then
  5433. praise music fill in English starts, still no VOV. At 0036, gospel
  5434. huxter in English, not VOV in Spanish!
  5435.  
  5436. Next night, August 11 at 0031, VOV in Spanish has resumed. After years
  5437. and years, WHRI still has problems getting this relay on air properly.
  5438. Why does Hanoi put up with it, or do they even know, likewise the
  5439. Christian ads between VOV languages?
  5440.  
  5441. 7315, Aug 13 at 0123, praise music in English instead of VOV relay via
  5442. WHRI, which is supposed to run daily at 0000-0200; 0133 still music,
  5443. instrumental (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5444.  
  5445. ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. 1550.0, *1801-... 04/8, ALGERIA, POLISARIO
  5446. Front (cland.), Rabouni. Arabic, anthem, prayer, songs. 35443
  5447.  
  5448. 1550.0, 1151-1215 06/8, ALGERIA, POLISARIO Front. Arabic, songs,
  5449. talks. 15341 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal via Giampiero Bernardini,
  5450. playdx blog via DXLD)
  5451.  
  5452. ** YEMEN [non]. 11860, 12 Ago, 1930, Iêmen, Republic of Yemen Radio em
  5453. árabe. OM e YL se alternam em falar, predominância de fala do OM.
  5454. Sinal justo com moderado fading, mas áudio constante. Sinal
  5455. melhorando. Às 1944 música. Às 2000 YL fala, mais música às 2008.
  5456.  
  5457. Gravei um bom pedaço do que pode ser a minha última escuta dessa
  5458. emissora. A partir de amanhã a Radio Marti vai começar a transmitir
  5459. nessa frequência. Tanto espaço vazio hoje em HF, eles já transmitem em
  5460. diversas frequências se alternando o dia todo por 24 horas e vão
  5461. transmitir justamente nessa frequência que a Republic of Yemen Radio
  5462. transmite. Podem até argumentar que a frequência usada pela Republic
  5463. of Yemen Radio não está oficializada pela HFCC e que também a sua
  5464. transmissão não vai interferir no destino alvo dela, o que é verdade,
  5465. mas muito possivelmente vai impedir que ouvintes na América não a
  5466. ouçam mais. Lamentável! 73 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana Bahia,
  5467. 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, Tecsun PL-310ET, Antenna dipole of 25m, WOR
  5468. iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5469.  
  5470. ** ZANZIBAR. With the closing of transmissions of Radio Transmundial,
  5471. enters its place: 11735, 09 Aug, 1808, Zanzibar BC in English
  5472. (identified). OM speaks as if he is presenting news. At 1810 OM starts
  5473. talking in Swahili. In 1812 it looks like vignettes. At 1813 music
  5474. local pop. Weak signal, moderate fading, but audio is not lost,
  5475. without QRM. 73 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S,
  5476. 38 58´W - Brasil, Tecsun PL-310ET, Antenna dipole of 25 meters-
  5477. direction northeast-southwest, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5478.  
  5479. UNIDENTIFIED. 6920-6947 approx., August 13 at 0126, DRMish noise again
  5480. in middle of pirate band, and no pirates anywhere around. After my
  5481. last report of it August 4-5, Mark Taylor, WI, replied: ``Your 6925 -
  5482. 6935 - 6945 Unidentified from last night was also heard here and in
  5483. several other places according to people on the HF Underground pirate
  5484. chat. It sounded more like a utility than DRM here. No one I am aware
  5485. of tried to decode it as DRM. It was there all evening, so you`re
  5486. right that it wasn't local``.
  5487.  
  5488. Re my wideband noise logs around 6920-6947, Chris Smolinski replies:
  5489. ``This is almost certainly one of the high frequency trading sites,
  5490. sending real time financial quotes.
  5491. https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,44885.0.html
  5492. See some TDoA location efforts`` It`s a very interesting thread, also
  5493. its straying, three pages so far (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO
  5494. 1943, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5495.  
  5496. UNIDENTIFIED. 6955-AM, Aug 12 at 0041, JBA carrier, the OSOB which
  5497. might be a pirate even tho it`s a normally active Saturday evening.
  5498. Four reports of an unID carrier here much earlier during the Aug 11
  5499. daytime, but none now:
  5500. https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,45011.0.html
  5501. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5502.  
  5503. UNIDENTIFIED. NUMBERS STATION, Reception of E11 Oblique August 13:
  5504. 0450-0453 on 7469 unknown secret tx site to Eu English USB, good
  5505. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-e11-oblique-in-41mb-on.html
  5506. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 12-13, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5507.  
  5508. UNIDENTIFIED. EGYPT, Mystery Egyptian Music Station on 9600, August 11
  5509. 0902-0919 on 9400 unknown tx / unknown to ????, 17 min. dead air
  5510. 0919-0920 on 9400 unknown tx / unknown to ????, test tone 1000Hz
  5511. 0920-0925 on 9400 unknown tx / unknown to ????, very good signal
  5512. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-mystery-egyptian-music_11.html
  5513. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 10-11, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5514.  
  5515. EGYPT, Mystery Egyptian Music Station on 9400, August 12
  5516. 0900-0917 on 9400 unknown tx / unknown to ????, good signal:
  5517. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/mystery-egyptian-music-station-on-9400.html
  5518. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 11-12, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5519.  
  5520. EGYPT, Mystery Egyptian Music Station on 9400, August 13
  5521. 0900-0910 on 9400 unknown tx / unknown to ????, good signal:
  5522. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/mystery-egyptian-music-station-on-9400_13.html
  5523. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 12-13, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5524.  
  5525. EGYPT, Mystery Egyptian Music Station on 9400/9550 kHz, August 14
  5526. 0815-0820 on 9600 unknown tx / unknown to ????, very good signal:
  5527. 0930-0940 on 9600 unknown tx / unknown to ????, weak/fair signal:
  5528. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/mystery-egyptian-music-station-on.html
  5529. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5530.  
  5531. UNIDENTIFIED. NUMBERS STATION, E11 Oblique in "the heart of 31mb" on
  5532. August 10
  5533. 1910-1913 on 9610 unknown secret tx site to Eu English USB, good
  5534. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-e11-oblique-in-heart-of.html
  5535. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5536.  
  5537. NUMBERS STATION, E11 Oblique in "the heart of 31mb" Aug 12
  5538. 1910-1913 on 9610 unknown secret tx site to Eu English USB, good
  5539. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-e11-oblique-in-heart-of_13.html
  5540. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5541.  
  5542. UNIDENTIFIED. 10277.77-USB, Aug 9 at 1249, weak 2-way in unknown
  5543. language, maybe Tagalog (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5544.  
  5545. UNIDENTIFIED. 10430, UNKNOWN, 1015. Strong open carrier, holding in to
  5546. tuneout at 1033. Still strong on rechecks until after 1100. Always
  5547. finding unexplained oddball OCs on the SW bands. August 7 (Rick
  5548. Barton, Logs from Central Arizona, Grundig Satellit 205(T.5000) &
  5549. 750; RS SW-2000629, & ATS-909X with various outdoor wires. 73 and Good
  5550. Listening....! - rb, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5551.  
  5552. UNIDENTIFIED. 10570-USB, Aug 13 at 0134, 2-way in Spanish, poor & very
  5553. poor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5554.  
  5555. UNIDENTIFIED. 11460+, slightly on the plus side, JBA carrier, August 8
  5556. at 1128. Probably explained by Aoki as Sound of Hope and/or ChiCom
  5557. *jamming, but SOH Taiwan had been measured on the minus side,
  5558. 11459.844. I wonder how permanent, non-variable those exact SOH
  5559. measurements may remain? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5560.  
  5561. UNIDENTIFIED. NUMBERS STATION, Reception of E11 Oblique on August 11
  5562. 1300-1310 on 11581 unknown secret tx site to Eu English USB mode, good
  5563. 1345-1348 on 15825 unknown secret tx site to Eu English USB mode, good
  5564. * co-ch WWCR 15825 WCR 100 kW / 046 deg to WeEu English tx#1 AM, weak:
  5565. http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/08/reception-of-e11-oblique-in-25mb-19mb.html
  5566. (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, August 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5567.  
  5568. UNIDENTIFIED. 11802-USB, August 11 at 0012, Spanish 2-way INTRUDER
  5569. immediately whistling, talking about putas and cohetes. Almost as
  5570. daring as the Free Speech on WBCQ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
  5571. DIGEST)
  5572.  
  5573. UNIDENTIFIED. 12612.30-USB, August 10 at 0023, 2-way in Spanish, only
  5574. one side heard; legit maritime communication, or pirate intruder? One
  5575. never hears any proper IDs from these, in-band or OOB (Glenn Hauser,
  5576. OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  5577.  
  5578. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  5579.  
  5580. UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS
  5581. ++++++++++++++++++++++++
  5582.  
  5583. Hope you and your family is doing well. As always, thank you very much
  5584. for your dedication and trustworthy knowledge sharing to/with the SWL
  5585. community (Huelbe Garcia, Brasil, PU3HAG, WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DX
  5586. LISTENING DIGEST)
  5587.  
  5588. I’ve been a fan of WOR since the early 90’s when I got my first world
  5589. band receiver, a Radio Shack DX-390. You are high on my list of good
  5590. friends I never met. Regards, (Michael Lijewski, Clovis, NM, WORLD OF
  5591. RADIO 1943, with his WR-22 review at RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM)
  5592.  
  5593. No new contributions received this week, via PayPal, not necessarily
  5594. in US funds, to woradio at yahoo.com
  5595. or by money order or check in US funds on a US bank to:
  5596. Glenn Hauser, P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702 (WORLD OF RADIO 1943)
  5597.  
  5598. PUBLICATIONS
  5599. ++++++++++++
  5600.  
  5601. 39TH EDITION OF THE AM RADIO LOG
  5602.  
  5603. Hi All! Preorders for the 39th edition of the AM Radio Log are now
  5604. being accepted at
  5605. http://nationalradioclub.org
  5606.  
  5607. Postage and printing prices have remained stable and the so have this
  5608. year`s prices for the Log. 73 (Wayne Heinen, Editor AM Radio Log, Aug
  5609. 8, nrc-am gg via WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DXLD)
  5610.  
  5611. Primary listing by frequency of all US & Canadian AM stations, with
  5612. numerous cross references and additional info. IN PRINT ONLY, loose
  5613. leaf 3-hole punched, approx. 300 pages. Essential reference (gh)
  5614.  
  5615. SHORTWAVE BULLETIN
  5616.  
  5617. The most important reason for changing to monthly editions is that
  5618. there are several other publications, like mailing lists, dealing with
  5619. logs on a day to day basis.
  5620.  
  5621. The most important in my opinion is Glenn Hauser's mailing list
  5622. DXLD/WOR.
  5623.  
  5624. SWB started as an entirely Nordic bulletin in the beginning of the
  5625. sixties. Unfortunately most Nordic DX-ers nowadays mostly listen to
  5626. MW. To keep SWB alive, we now have to rely mostly on foreign SW DX-
  5627. ers. As we have done since the start, logs are entered in frequency
  5628. order, just like DSWCI did. As a complement SWB focuses on various
  5629. forms of information, like technical stuff, etc.
  5630.  
  5631. In the old days SWB had lots of new or seldom heard stations in the
  5632. log. That has changed to the opposite - the shortwave bands have lost
  5633. almost all stations in the tropical bands. With this in mind, I can't
  5634. see any use to produce biweekly issues any longer (Thomas Nilsson,
  5635. ed., Sweden, SW Bulletin Aug 12 via DXLD)
  5636.  
  5637. RADIO PHILATELY
  5638. +++++++++++++++
  5639.  
  5640. WARD STAMPS FROM PALESTINE
  5641.  
  5642. Dear radio friends: On April 14th, 2017, the Palestinian National
  5643. Authority (PNA - Gaza Office) issued a series of 3 stamps to
  5644. commemorate the World Amateur Radio Day of that year (18th April).
  5645. Please, see attached images. For more details about the World Amateur
  5646. Radio Day, please, go to IARU website. Have fun. All the best. 73
  5647. (FABIO FLOSI - PU2KLM, radiostamps yg via DXLD) Viz.:
  5648.  
  5649. https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/radiostamps/photos/photomatic/447189765/lightbox/138756765#zax/138756765
  5650.  
  5651. You may need to be a member of the radiostamps yg to access it, in
  5652. which case you already know about it. But could be open archived.
  5653. Three stamps, one with an ARRL-like emblem; one with a comms receiver,
  5654. and another with an obviously non-ham radio, like an antique consumer
  5655. Grundig or Nordmende with large speaker grille (gh, DXLD)
  5656.  
  5657. MUSEA
  5658. +++++
  5659.  
  5660. THE REVOLUTION IN YOUR POCKET --- FIFTY YEARS AGO A TRANSISTOR RADIO
  5661. CALLED THE TR1 STARTED THE REMAKING OF THE WORLD BY SEMICONDUCTORS
  5662.  
  5663. https://web.archive.org/web/20060820121345/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/2004/2/2004_2_12.shtml
  5664. (via Kevin Redding, Crump, Aug 8, ABDX yg via DXLD)
  5665.  
  5666. FRENCH RADIO INTERVAL SIGNALS, 1936 ...
  5667. Jaka Bartolj? @MediaHistoryNow
  5668.  
  5669. From a 1936 German radio atlas, a brief guide to the interval signals
  5670. used by various French radio stations
  5671. 1 Files 81KB JPG 81KB Save
  5672. https://twitter.com/MediaHistoryNow/status/1028022804158001152
  5673. (via Kim Elliott, WOR iog via DXLD)
  5674.  
  5675. A couple measures of musical notation for five stations. Lots more of
  5676. interest in that feed; keep paging down (gh, DXLD)
  5677.  
  5678. CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES
  5679. +++++++++++++++++++++++++
  5680.  
  5681. IRCA Sept 6-9 in St Charles MO: as in DXLD 18-32
  5682. (via WORLD OF RADIO 1943)
  5683.  
  5684. DX-PEDITIONS
  5685. ++++++++++++
  5686.  
  5687. Like Downtown Auckland
  5688.  
  5689. Here are some more "Kiwi Cliff" recordings from yesterday morning's
  5690. session at Rockwork 3 -- once again demonstrating the unique
  5691. transoceanic signal boost that the wacky site provides for New
  5692. Zealand, Fiji and Tonga. All of these MP3's (except for the 531
  5693. signals) were recorded on the new XHDATA D-808 portable, which is
  5694. getting the "acid test" in this very rough DXpedition environment. So
  5695. far two hot-rodded D-808 models have performed superbly! Yesterday
  5696. morning's photo of a hot-rodded D-808 model next to the largest known
  5697. FSL antenna on the planet (a 17 inch model) is posted at
  5698. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/gb01w0pramps7kfn84b1jim4d578ngzd
  5699. A full report on the D-808's DXpedition performance will be made after
  5700. the trip.
  5701.  
  5702. 531 PI Auckland, NZ Cook Island Maori program ("Kia Orana" at 7
  5703. seconds) dominating over More FM at 1241
  5704. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/corkss7eozvso7igmkzhgewp2ornv531
  5705.  
  5706. 531 More FM Alexandra, NZ Modern rock format station equal with PI
  5707. for female-voiced ID (at 17 seconds) at 1321
  5708. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/pwqph0o7bj8t7zevlzq267hpuayjkl6j
  5709.  
  5710. 558 Radio Fiji One Suva, Fiji Pushing S9 with island choral music
  5711. and female-voiced ID (at end) at 1310
  5712. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/wa7w6ewm4298pqrs6h348dklqs6ojnls
  5713.  
  5714. 603 Radio Waatea Auckland, NZ Thunderous level with Maori music at
  5715. 1245 -- its strongest performance in several years
  5716. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/czow74byhg8m6e3selthpxvam8pqov98
  5717.  
  5718. 657 Star Wellington/ Tauranga, NZ Another blistering signal with
  5719. Christian music and Star ID at 1238 ("Star, playing the Christian
  5720. music you love to hear"
  5721. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/i5q311ii09gbni9dnxzyojrmh62x7616
  5722.  
  5723. 1017 A3Z Nuku'alofa, Tonga Male island speech at potent level at
  5724. 1258 -- the new "Big Gun" Pacific island station
  5725. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/x13lettk1ct4ejt2f0f8d504drowvdsr
  5726.  
  5727. 73 and Good DX, (Gary DeBock (DXing at the Rockwork 3 ocean cliff with
  5728. Craig Barnes near Manzanita, OR, USA), 7.5" loopstick CC Skywave &
  5729. XHDATA D-808 portables + 15", 15" and 17" Airport-unfriendly FSL
  5730. antennas, 7 Aug, IRCA at HCDX via DXLD)
  5731.  
  5732. Five DXer Session at the Rockwork Cliff
  5733.  
  5734. It's safe to say that this morning's ocean cliff transoceanic
  5735. propagation provided a real thrill for all five of us. Despite the
  5736. need to dodge the squatters and spread out over three different
  5737. Highway 101 turnoffs, the exceptional Kiwi propagation reminded us
  5738. again how unique this wild cliff can be.
  5739.  
  5740. Antenna setup in total darkness right next to total strangers is never
  5741. boring, and this morning Tom and Chuck needed some reasonable space to
  5742. set up their broadband loops. When I drove up at 1150 (0450 local
  5743. time) I noticed that Tom was setting up at Rockwork 4, and Chuck at
  5744. Rockwork 3 (apparently along with Nick, who was testing out
  5745. propagation at various places with verticals). By now Craig had become
  5746. fully accustomed to my vehicle, and he showed up at a perfect time to
  5747. follow me to Rockwork 6, which had just enough space in between the
  5748. squatters to set up four large FSL's and PVC bases.
  5749.  
  5750. After enjoying 6 days of thrilling DU-DX on the cliff Craig had become
  5751. a pretty skillful live DXer and Baby FSL user, and by now he was fully
  5752. capable of running independently on his own. During the DXpedition he
  5753. had switched to a new-design, TSA friendly 3.5" FSL with a rubber
  5754. locking collar to keep all the ferrite rods securely in place-- and he
  5755. was using it to track down almost as much DU-DX as I was. He alerted
  5756. me when stations on 531, 585, 936 and 1017 were coming in, and
  5757. mentioned that this type of DXing was so thrilling that he needed to
  5758. book a return trip next August right away.
  5759.  
  5760. After the session all 5 DXers got together at Rockwork 4 to discuss
  5761. the exceptional results. 1 kW Kiwi stations like 936-Chinese Voice
  5762. were as strong as they've ever been, with Nick mentioning reception of
  5763. 540-Rhema (a low-powered NZ network). Tom said he had great Kiwi
  5764. conditions all over the band, so after he and Chuck review their
  5765. Perseus files this DXpedition could well compete for the all-time Kiwi
  5766. MW-DX record on the west coast (established here in July of 2014).
  5767.  
  5768. Photos from this morning's session are posted at
  5769. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/0wxcc0b1cvt3220ir7htdouddcmnngp4
  5770. (Craig, Chuck, Tom and Nick at Rockwork 4) and at
  5771. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/y9j42u9c7pg9ey7e6n7vnmd69dquw522
  5772. (Craig and me alongside "FSL Row" at Rockwork 6) 73 and Good DX, (Gary
  5773. DeBock (in Nehalem, OR for two more days), ibid.)
  5774.  
  5775. I'm sure it's about #2,758 on their list of priorities, but would a
  5776. friendly phone call or two to the Oregon Highway Patrol help in moving
  5777. the squatters along??? (Bob Coomler, W7SWL, Tucson, AZ, ibid.)
  5778.  
  5779. Hi Bob, Unfortunately, since it's a major U.S. highway (101) inside an
  5780. Oregon state park (Oswald West), the squatters apparently have the
  5781. right to stay there as long as they want. As I was explaining to Bill
  5782. W., about half of them seem to be tourists who don't want to pay for a
  5783. motel room, but the other half seem to be hard luck individuals living
  5784. inside their vehicles indefinitely (Gary, ibid.)
  5785.  
  5786. Turbo-boosted 1017-Tonga
  5787.  
  5788. Prior to this Rockwork DXpedition it was somewhat of a challenge to
  5789. track down 1017-A3Z in Tonga here at the cliff, primarily because of
  5790. its very early morning sign off at around 1100 UTC. We normally arrive
  5791. at the Highway 101 turnoffs around that time for antenna setup, and
  5792. Tonga had usually bailed by the time the broadband loops were set up.
  5793. The quick set up FSL's usually could catch the Tonga sign off, but
  5794. without the sunrise enhancement boost that dramatically boosts up DU
  5795. signals.
  5796.  
  5797. All that has changed completely with 1017-Tonga's new 24/7 broadcast
  5798. schedule. The signals from Nuku'alofa have transformed into something
  5799. like the old 738-Tahiti, becoming the most powerful and reliable DU
  5800. big gun on the cliff. Like 558-Fiji, it seems to have somehow tapped
  5801. into the Kiwi propagation pipeline to this wild site.
  5802.  
  5803. This morning Tonga pounded in with its best-ever signal at the
  5804. Rockwork cliff at 1305 with beautiful island music, hitting S9+ on
  5805. even a hot-rodded XHDATA D-808 portable
  5806. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/radzvqalieda4gnakw8l34kwd4z1n9lf
  5807.  
  5808. Tonga wasn't the only DU on the warpath this morning. At the 1300 the
  5809. rare 2 kW Kiwi station 531-More FM pounded in with an S9 ID at the
  5810. TOH, managing to completely bury its more common Kiwi co-channel PI
  5811. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/9o43ydwob8pwwi98303rdelm23k83fig
  5812.  
  5813. The squatters once again were out in force, making three DXers spread
  5814. out to three different turnoffs (Tom at Rockwork 4, Chuck at Rockwork
  5815. 2 and me at Rockwork 3). Despite the somewhat ragged-looking
  5816. California vehicle parked only 15 feet away from me the session was
  5817. uneventful (except for the good Longwave and Medium Wave DU-DX). As
  5818. posted earlier, the 500 watt Longwave NDB (air navigation beacon) 260-
  5819. NF on Norfolk Island, an Australian territory, showed up on a hot-
  5820. rodded Tecsun PL-380 and 15" Longwave FSL at 1210
  5821. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/209sk7dvhkfglpqv50gs1ehypgmxz2m2
  5822. This was my first Ultralight South Pacific NDB reception in over 5
  5823. years, and was quite a thrill. 73 and Good DX, (Gary DeBock (DXing at
  5824. the Rockwork 3 ocean cliff near Manzanita, OR, USA), 7.5" loopstick CC
  5825. Skywave SSB & XHDATA D-808 & Longwave Tecsun PL-380 portables + 17" &
  5826. 15" Medium Wave and 15" Longwave FSL antennas (a.k.a. "Financial
  5827. Sinkhole Loops"), Aug 9, ibid.)
  5828.  
  5829. ULTRALIGHT LONGWAVE DX -- 260-NF (500W IN NORFOLK ISLAND)
  5830.  
  5831. It was a thrill this morning to receive the 500 watt Longwave NDB
  5832. beacon 260-NF on Norfolk Island (between NZ and Australia) on a hot-
  5833. rodded Tecsun PL-380 pocket radio and 12" Longwave FSL antenna at 1210
  5834. UTC this morning at the Rockwork 3 ocean cliff turnoff on Highway 101
  5835. near Manzanita, Oregon. At 6,702 miles (10,786 km), this was my first
  5836. Ultralight Longwave South Pacific NDB reception in 5 years.
  5837. Unfortunately the band tanked after the reception, and by 1220 even
  5838. the big gun 353-LLD (in Hawaii) was bailing. Thanks to Tom R. for
  5839. demonstrating the Longwave potential of the ocean cliff!
  5840. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/209sk7dvhkfglpqv50gs1ehypgmxz2m2
  5841. 73 and Good DX, (Gary DeBock (in Nehalem, OR, USA), Ocean Cliff
  5842. Showdown -- New XHDATA D-808 Hotrod Vs. 17" Monster FSL, Aug 9, ibid.)
  5843.  
  5844. For those interested in how a new, stand-alone 7.5" loopstick XHDATA
  5845. D-808 portable stacks up against a D-808 inductively boosted by a 17"
  5846. Monster FSL, the same 2 minute segment of 1017-A3Z in Nuku'alofa,
  5847. Tonga was recorded on both models from 1304-1306 yesterday at the
  5848. Rockwork 3 ocean cliff near Manzanita, Oregon. Both models were raised
  5849. up on standard 4' PVC bases. and all other conditions (recording
  5850. level, etc.) were equalized.
  5851.  
  5852. Both the 7.5" loopstick D-808 and the Monster FSL-assisted D-808 start
  5853. off their recordings with Tonga dominant over the Australian station
  5854. 1017-2KY, which initially attempts to make it a horse race with A3Z
  5855. but folds badly in the clutch.
  5856.  
  5857. The stand-alone 7.5" loopstick D-808 portable's reception of the two
  5858. stations is linked at
  5859. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/xw0vuzpbqyg2gc0ekh7s2tdzm5n6r7l0
  5860.  
  5861. The reception of a D-808 boosted by a 17" Monster FSL is linked at
  5862. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/r6yrwe7pzze6kw59qnzrbg8c704kg1l2
  5863.  
  5864. By the way, the 7.5" loopstick D-808 transplant operation is one of
  5865. the easiest such modifications to perform in the history of portable
  5866. DXing. There are two ideally-situated terminal connections to solder
  5867. in a loopstick transplant, presumably because the Chinese engineers
  5868. (or reverse engineers?) used this system to test out various
  5869. loopsticks (Gary DeBock (in Nehalem, OR for one more day), ibid.)
  5870.  
  5871. Hi Gary, You are so right about Tonga since it`s gone 24/7! This re-
  5872. energized station has been a powerhouse into Grayland this week too,
  5873. and like you said the vibrant signal is a welcome replacement for
  5874. Tahiti 738. It makes for enjoyable wide-bandwidth listening!
  5875.  
  5876. For any carrier chasers out there, after calibration my SDR's software
  5877. reports their signal as 5.5 Hz on the high side of 1017. At least a
  5878. couple other station peaks were noted slightly lower than 1017. Good
  5879. DX, (Guy Atkins, ibid.)
  5880.  
  5881. As a newbie to Rockworks TP/DU DXing, I appreciated Tonga. It was
  5882. usually the first frequency I checked to check daily propagation. 73,
  5883. (Craig Barnes, Sent from my iPhone, ibid.)
  5884.  
  5885. Yes, we were all amazed to hear 1017-Tonga at such a potent level. It
  5886. showed up on all 9 days for me, usually with some extended S9
  5887. strength. Craig even had it at S9 level on his 3.5" Baby FSL
  5888.  
  5889. Despite the squatter issue we all had a lot of DU-DXing fun at the
  5890. Cliff, and as far as I know, Craig, Tom, Nick and I are all booking
  5891. our return trips for next August. Unfortunately those guys left
  5892. without hearing Western Australia, but it certainly seemed like 558
  5893. was making a return appearance this morning around 1256 during my very
  5894. last session (DU English female speech in between the Fiji music). Now
  5895. comes the hard part-- matching the recorded content with ABC's
  5896. byzantine, contradictory website. 73, (Gary (back in the DU-DXing
  5897. wasteland of Puyallup), ibid.)
  5898.  
  5899. Tonga had a new transmitter installed about a year ago, which would?
  5900. explain why it's been heard so well lately. There's a brief story
  5901. about it at
  5902. http://www.tonga-broadcasting.net/?p=7192
  5903. (Bruce Portzer, ibid.)
  5904.  
  5905. Thanks for the information and link, Bruce. It's obvious that
  5906. something had dramatically changed with 1017-Tonga's signal in Oregon.
  5907. Along with the revitalized 558-Fiji, North American DXers now have two
  5908. powerful DU targets. The Japanese transmitter on 558 is still
  5909. performing very well, and 990-Fiji Gold was a big gun in the Cooks.
  5910. (Gary DeBock, ibid.)
  5911.  
  5912. 558-6WA at Rockwork --- Prior to this year the Western Australian ABC
  5913. station 558-6WA in Wagin had been heard for three years in a row at
  5914. the Rockwork 4 cliff in August, making the 9, 126 mile station seem
  5915. like somewhat of a regular visitor. Last year it was joined by 531-
  5916. 6DL, a 10 kW station in Dalwallinu, which Tom and I received on August
  5917. 4th.
  5918.  
  5919. This year's DXpedition had featured great reception from Fiji, Tonga
  5920. and New Zealand, although it seemed like Western Australia would be
  5921. silent. After 8 days of a 9 day DXpedition it still hadn't shown up,
  5922. and yesterday morning was my last day at the Cliff. After dodging the
  5923. squatters to set up at Rockwork 6 I had a single 15" FSL antenna tuned
  5924. only to 558 kHz for the duration, as well as one tuned only to 531
  5925. kHz. It seemed bleak until around 1256, when something came out of the
  5926. noise on 558, just before being swallowed up by Radio Fiji One
  5927. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/pl2kecw36jus1pfh1e8g6r3rx88p9gud
  5928.  
  5929. The ABC website lists the program as "Nightlife" for this time slot in
  5930. Western Australia, with a story concerning tracking down the history
  5931. of one's ancient ancestors. The ABC podcast contains the voices of
  5932. several female speakers and more research will be done, but at least
  5933. in consideration of the program format and the DU English spoken,
  5934. there doesn't seem to be much doubt about the identity of the station.
  5935. 73, (Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA), ibid.)
  5936.  
  5937. Is Kiribati still doing well on 846? 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.)
  5938.  
  5939. They certainly were on the Washington coast around 0515 UT this past
  5940. week Neil, but by supposed s/off at 1000, not really. Kiritimati local
  5941. sunset is about that time, not too long after the northwest coast's.
  5942. Depending on your local interference, maybe 0500-0600 UT might be a
  5943. good time for you to record? The Pacific islands often seem to have
  5944. enhancement at transmitter sunset when listening on the northwest
  5945. coast, as well as a little ways inland. best wishes, (Nick Hall-Patch,
  5946. Victoria BC, ibid.)
  5947.  
  5948. Both Kiribati stations (846 and 1440) sign off around 1006 UT
  5949. recently, Neil, and our usual antenna setup at the Rockwork cliff is
  5950. around 1100 for the sunrise sessions. For this reason, neither station
  5951. is usually reported from the cliff. 621-Tuvalu and 540-Samoa, both of,
  5952. which also sign off before we usually set up antennas, fall into the
  5953. same category.
  5954.  
  5955. 846-Kiribati is a relatively easy catch on the west coast around 0500
  5956. UTC in winter and spring, however. It even showed up around S5 in the
  5957. DU-DXing wasteland of Puyallup, WA in March (Gary DeBock (in Puyallup,
  5958. WA, AUG 10, ibid.)
  5959.  
  5960. I have had Kiribati 846 carrier peaking here best about 0453 (just
  5961. after their sunset) and over 30 dB above the noise floor. This level
  5962. has been shown to be clearly above what is needed to get audio from
  5963. other DU's but KOA slop is horrendous on the west DKAZ aimed right at
  5964. them. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, Barrington IL, ibid.)
  5965.  
  5966. Somebody needs to equate the various Rockworks sites with latitudes
  5967. and longitudes. A handheld GPS coupled with online mapping tools could
  5968. sort that out in short order. For instance, a couple of the noteworthy
  5969. big-gun East Coast DXing sites are Granite Pier - Rockport, MA at
  5970. 42.667 N / 70.621 W and Tonset Rd. - Orleans, MA at 41.8072 N /
  5971. 69.9537 W.
  5972.  
  5973. Is anyone going to put some of the DXpedition's better Perseus files
  5974. up on a cloud server? Almost 10 years ago Guy Atkins was doing that
  5975. kind of thing with his now-defunct "Five Below" webpage. Seems that it
  5976. would be even easier to find somewhere to park ~2 GB capture files now
  5977. (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, South Yarmouth, MA, ibid.)
  5978.  
  5979. If you're happy with Google Earth, try these Mark (these are sites
  5980. used in the last go round):
  5981. Rockwork 2: 45.7447 N / 123.9607 W
  5982. Rockwork 3: 45.7438 N / 123.9593 W
  5983. Rockwork 4: 45.7435 N / 123.9583 W
  5984. Rockwork 5: 45.7424 N / 123.9561 W
  5985. Rockwork 6: 45.7415 N / 123.9541 W
  5986. Not much to choose between them, easy walking distance, unlike the
  5987. mountain top above, or the beach below. Best wishes, (Nick, ibid.)
  5988.  
  5989. I hope I'm adding clarification and not fuel to the fire, but this
  5990. annotated satellite view map and Rockwork cliffs lat./long.
  5991. spreadsheet might help:
  5992.  
  5993. https://app.box.com/s/x49nvbi61nmzxrpa9b0pu2ji1bhhftng
  5994. I made the map of cliffs #2, 3, and 4 in 2012, which also shows the
  5995. relative angle of the rock walls near each cliff (to get an idea of
  5996. domestic signals attenuation, etc.).
  5997.  
  5998. The .xlsx spreadsheet is from 2011, and I *think* Gary created this
  5999. originally. I have compared the Google-reported latitude and
  6000. longitudes of the Rockwork turnouts with the numbers in the
  6001. spreadsheet, and they indicate that turnout #1 is furthest north as
  6002. Gary's mentioned (and also shows as the trail head for Elk Flats Trail
  6003. on Google Maps). Turnout #6 is listed in the spreadsheet as "right
  6004. next to milepost 41 sign" and this can be confirmed with the Street
  6005. Map view. 73, (Guy Atkins, ibid.)
  6006.  
  6007. Hi Mark, I still have all those old WAV files from the blog available
  6008. for anyone who wants to try them. As you'll recall they were recorded
  6009. by DXers from many continents and locations. The earliest ones are
  6010. from Grayland and Cappahayden and date from November, 2008. These are
  6011. all Perseus files, which should play well in HDSDR also (If I recall
  6012. correctly). Here's the link:
  6013. http://www.mediafire.com/folder/1shbad73mby1c/wav
  6014. 73, (Guy Atkins, ibid.)
  6015.  
  6016. Thanks, Guy for the link! Do you have any SDR recordings from the past
  6017. year or two? I do have some ELAD recordings from Corpus Christi, TX DX
  6018. trip from 2015 and 2016 and also from here at home base in Cedar
  6019. Creek, TX I can contribute to your web page if you wish them? Thanks
  6020. (James Niven, Austin, Texas, ibid.)
  6021.  
  6022. Hi James, Thanks for your offer to contribute new files, but my
  6023. Perseus blog was active from 2007-2011; I have not been adding to the
  6024. WAV file directory since then. I've only maintained the existing
  6025. recordings in cloud storage for archive purposes. 73, (Guy Atkins,
  6026. Puyallup, WA, ibid.)
  6027.  
  6028. Maybe someone at sdr_filesharing Yahoo group would like to get James'
  6029. and other files together somewhere? 73, (Mauno, Joensuu, Finland,
  6030. Ritola, ibid.)
  6031.  
  6032. ROCKWORK CLIFF DU'S FOR 8-9 (FINAL LIVE DXING SESSION)
  6033.  
  6034. The ninth and final day of my Rockwork cliff DXpedition probably
  6035. featured more drama than any other, starting with my drive up the
  6036. mountain at 1050 (0350 local time) to scout out any turnoff with
  6037. enough space in between the squatters to allow FSL antenna setup.
  6038. After looking over all the turnoffs between #6 and #3 it seemed like
  6039. the squatters had maxed out all the turnoff space, so I needed to push
  6040. my luck a little and set up in about 15 feet of space between two
  6041. squatters at #6. This would maybe allow one FSL to be set up--
  6042. assuming that there was no interaction with my "neighbors" in the
  6043. total darkness.
  6044.  
  6045. Since I had received the Norfolk Island beacon 260-NF the previous day
  6046. I was highly motivated to chase more Longwave beacons from the South
  6047. Pacific, but they failed to cooperate. The 12" Longwave FSL could only
  6048. track down the Hawaii super beacons 332-POA and 353-LLD, so I shifted
  6049. my Longwave attention to the Alaskans, which boomed in like
  6050. gangbusters. The weather broadcasts from the air navigation beacons
  6051. 251-OSE (Bethel), 385-OCC (Yakutat) and 394-RWO (Kodiak) were as loud
  6052. as I had ever heard them at the Rockwork cliff, even though they are
  6053. all of low power (1 kW or less).
  6054.  
  6055. Because Western Australia had yet to be received by any of us over the
  6056. past eight days, as soon as one of the two neighboring squatters
  6057. cleared out (around 1200) two 15" FSL antennas were set up to record
  6058. 531 and 558 kHz for the entire session. These were the two frequencies
  6059. where Tom and I had received 531-6DL and 558-6WA last year, and every
  6060. effort would be made to track down at least one of them during this
  6061. last chance. As reported previously a marginal DU English signal broke
  6062. through on 558 briefly around 1254 but was immediately swallowed up by
  6063. Radio Fiji One for the remainder of the session. Despite the rather
  6064. dicey 558-DU English recording (and the rather dicey subject matter of
  6065. the ABC "Nightlife" episode, which I needed to listen to about 10
  6066. times to find my recorded material), I was able to track down a
  6067. segment of my recorded material on the ABC podcast, confirming that I
  6068. had indeed received 558-6WA on the 9th day of a 9 day DXpedition. This
  6069. was its fourth August appearance in four years at the Rockwork cliff.
  6070.  
  6071. Australian signals finally had the edge over the Kiwis on the other MW
  6072. frequencies as well early in the session, although the Oz exotics like
  6073. 531-6DL and 558-7BU failed to show up like last year. 531 kHz was a
  6074. total zoo as 2PM and 4KZ apparently fought it out from 1240-1305, only
  6075. to be replaced by PI and More FM fighting it out after that. 558-Fiji
  6076. and 1017-Tonga made their usual S9 appearances, and late in the
  6077. session at 1316 I recorded some music on 855 not // 774 (maybe 3CR or
  6078. Rhema?). Chuck was supposedly at the cliff during this session but in
  6079. the scramble for antenna setup space at 1100 there was no chance to
  6080. locate him. At the end of this wild and wacky session a Rockwork 6
  6081. DXpedition video was recorded, showing the multiple FSL setup, the
  6082. hot-rodded XHDATA D-808 (on a PVC base) and several squatter vehicles
  6083. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO2ybVYaeG0
  6084.  
  6085. 251 OSE Bethel, AK Aero Beacon with weather report strong at 1137
  6086. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/5nltfhojcclfs6vwsvnsstd0h90wiq13
  6087.  
  6088. 277 ACE Homer, AK Aero Beacon with weather report fair at 1208
  6089. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/6dmwnis63nurfl2ha2wudocw1sgl0bjk
  6090.  
  6091. 332 POA Puhoa, Hawaii Aero Beacon S9+ at 1107
  6092. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/yepbr3328vxdywbb1udby5tl4zvv25jn
  6093.  
  6094. 385 OCC Yakutat, AK Aero Beacon weather report strong at 1133
  6095. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/yuw38tqgh49djgfrmqd6ushdfb32s9tk
  6096.  
  6097. 394 RWO Kodiak, AK Aero Beacon with weather report strong at 1209
  6098. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/fzy99wrxdhtjghxuixq87er4rlsjgusj
  6099.  
  6100. 531 PI Auckland, NZ Apparent Samoan conversation, good level 1309
  6101. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/h6o18yz4pmizb6jeasfpntqsp0xazu83
  6102.  
  6103. 531 Oz Mix From 1251-1256 these two Oz stations did their best to
  6104. drown each other out, sometimes near S9. Theo, how is your Oz English?
  6105. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/el2xsfgzgxe27n0l9gb7tp9g1iecdh7l
  6106.  
  6107. 531 UnID-DU Apparent Oz station playing Country-Western music
  6108. across the 1300 TOH with some kind of ID at 30 seconds
  6109. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/yj18j2q2makxegv4kxoj7k50148njpct
  6110.  
  6111. 558 6WA Wagin, Western Australia Last-chance appearance at 1254
  6112. before being immediately swallowed up by Fiji; the operative words
  6113. (from 30 to 35 seconds) are "you have to be extremely careful of the
  6114. vanity publishing area")
  6115. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/dv5g0dc3k469p7upm5t92dy66fq34u8l
  6116.  
  6117. ABC website Podcast material matching the "operative words" on the
  6118. Nightlife program (proving 6WA reception)
  6119. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/mw00oo69wdovircqi0q95cfr5db9ykok
  6120.  
  6121. 558 Radio Fiji One Suva, Fiji The usual S9 appearance with
  6122. beautiful island music at 1255 (after letting 6WA squeeze through for
  6123. a few seconds)
  6124. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/e4y2m2eo8u4dv3n7htzj6ptjkxmsqhoa
  6125.  
  6126. 855 UnID-DU Fair-level music at 1316 not // 774 (maybe 3CR, or
  6127. Rhema?)
  6128. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/0ip0rqpcal1bwk5e6fgxp4pgnvywcba8
  6129.  
  6130. 73 and Good DX, (Gary DeBock (DXing at the Rockwork 6 ocean cliff near
  6131. Manzanita, Oregon, USA), Longwave receptions made with a 7.5" LW
  6132. loopstick Tecsun PL-380 + 12" Longwave FSL; MW receptions made with
  6133. 7.5" loopstick CC Skywave SSB model + 15" FSL antenna (531 kHz only)
  6134. and 7.5" loopstick XHDATA D-808 models + 15" and 17" FSL antennas (all
  6135. other MW frequencies), Aug 14, nrc-am gg via DXLD) All these are
  6136. posted both to NRC and IRCA (gh)
  6137.  
  6138. DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See INDIA; KUWAIT; ROMANIA; USA: WINB
  6139. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  6140.  
  6141. DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DAB See UK!
  6142. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  6143.  
  6144. DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See MEXICO; OKLAHOMA
  6145. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  6146.  
  6147. RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM
  6148. +++++++++++++++++++++
  6149.  
  6150. BAMA BOATANCHOR MANUAL ARCHIVE:
  6151.  
  6152. Här kommer en bra länk att lägga ut:
  6153. BAMA: The BoatAnchor Manual Archive
  6154. http://bama.edebris.com/manuals/
  6155. Den innehåller en massa manualer på äldre och nyare Trafikmottagare
  6156. med tillbehör samt instrument antenner mm. 73, (Dan Andersson i
  6157. Delsbo, SW Bulletin Aug 12 via DXLD)
  6158.  
  6159. TO ALL XHDATA D-808 OWNERS
  6160. To: "XHDATA" <xhdata.eng@ml.free.fr>
  6161.  
  6162. Hi everyone, I have noticed that if you look at the display of the
  6163. XHDATA D-808 under a low-angle light you can see everything that can
  6164. be displayed. But some of these indications don't ever light up.
  6165.  
  6166. One of these hidden words reads "SYNC", which could mean that the set
  6167. actually has a hidden synchronous detector, just like the Tecsun
  6168. PL880. Have any of you guys out there managed to activate that
  6169. function? 73, (Rémy Friess, France, Aug 7, WOR iog via DX LISTENING
  6170. DIGEST)
  6171.  
  6172. Good morning Remy, I have seen this on the display and maybe it`s
  6173. really in the chip. Also "DAB" btw :-) However, the "secret SYNCH" in
  6174. the PL-880 you mentioned is not very useful and rather a step back.
  6175. Based on that experience I am not very hopeful concerning a useable
  6176. SYNCH in the D-808 - even if it´s hidden somewhere. vy73 (Harald Kuhl,
  6177. MWcircle iog via DXLD)
  6178.  
  6179. A step back, yes. But only a small step back. The PL880 being a
  6180. catastrophic receiver altogether, it can't step back very much or it
  6181. falls into absolute nothingness. .. ;-) ;-) ;-)
  6182.  
  6183. And as the D-808 beats the PL880 on all aspects, maybe the sync will
  6184. be better too. Don't say wishful thinking, I know it probably is.
  6185. Regards, (Rémy Friess, ibid.)
  6186.  
  6187. Recently, a lot of KiwiSDR (0-30 MHz) receivers have been deployed in
  6188. BRASIL and SAm. Some WebSDR may also cover broadcast bands -
  6189. http://sdritajai.ddns.net:8081
  6190. comes too off my head (Huelbe Garcia, Brasil, PU3HAG, DX LISTENING
  6191. DIGEST)
  6192.  
  6193. NEW XHDATA D-808 PORTABLE ROCKS AT ROCKWORK!
  6194.  
  6195. Judging by the 50+ recent purchasers of the new XHDATA D-808 AM-LW-FM-
  6196. SW-AIR portable (according to eBay records), the Chinese-made model is
  6197. quickly becoming one of the hottest new SSB portables on the planet.
  6198. Despite the fact that much of its circuitry was "inspired" (to use a
  6199. generous term) by the C.Crane Skywave SSB model, the radio is in fact
  6200. a highly sensitive, selective and versatile model that excels in both
  6201. AM and FM-DXing. Although direct shipments to North America from China
  6202. seem to be forbidden (apparently to avoid a copyright lawsuit), a
  6203. single eBay seller has come up with a scheme to ship the model through
  6204. Israel, resulting in a booming business by finally welcoming American
  6205. and Canadian customers (at a somewhat higher price than the rest of
  6206. the world).
  6207.  
  6208. As reported previously the D-808 model is based on the American-
  6209. designed Silicon Labs Si4735 DSP chip, and is the first such model. to
  6210. fully utilize its multiple DSP filtering capabilities. The previous
  6211. technical report described its 3 7/8" (96mm) loopstick, which gives it
  6212. AM sensitivity superior to that of the Skywave SSB (or any other
  6213. Ultralight-sized radio), and also its relatively powerful audio amp,
  6214. which improves upon a serious issue in the Skywave SSB. The SSB
  6215. circuitry seems to be directly "inspired" by the Skywave SSB, and
  6216. operates in an identical manner. Finally, XHDATA offers the D-808 to
  6217. most of the world at a price about half that of the $169.99 Skywave
  6218. SSB, although North American customers pay a slight premium at $112.87
  6219. (+ $10 shipping).
  6220.  
  6221. For the past 9 days I was DU-DXing at the Rockwork ocean cliff near
  6222. Manzanita, Oregon-- an enhanced-propagation site with a reputation for
  6223. wild weather, Murphy's Law accidents and (recently) squatter
  6224. proliferation. I brought along two hot-rodded (7.5" loopstick) D-808
  6225. portables for the extended trip, with the full intention of giving
  6226. them the "acid test" of all-out DU-DXing for 9 days straight. They
  6227. would be my main transoceanic DX receivers on all frequencies except
  6228. 531 kHz, providing 90% of all MP3's recorded during the trip. Most of
  6229. these recordings would be made with the assistance of 15" and 17" FSL
  6230. antennas, but the hot-rodded D-808 models would still be given plenty
  6231. of chances to chase DU-DX as stand-alone receivers.
  6232.  
  6233. So what is the D-808 verdict? The models were drenched with drizzle,
  6234. bumped around with moderate shocks, left in 103 degree (43 C) car
  6235. trunks and even endured a couple of hard stares from the "squatters"--
  6236. without missing a beat. Once you get used to D-808's tuning and volume
  6237. controls being on opposite sides, and memorize the key pad functions
  6238. so that you can use the model in total darkness, you will be quite
  6239. thrilled with its performance. Changing the frequency in total
  6240. darkness causes the display to blind you temporarily with its intense
  6241. light, so you will need to memorize the key pad numbers if you wish to
  6242. change frequencies well before sunrise. Make sure you memorize the AM
  6243. bandwidth (DSP filter) control on the keypad, since you will use it
  6244. frequently. The 3.7v lithium-ion battery has superior run time once it
  6245. is fully charged, giving you a lot of flexibility in extended DXing
  6246. sessions. On occasion the D-808 panel display would show the battery
  6247. charge with only two bars instead of the full three, but the radio
  6248. didn't seem to suffer any loss of performance on such occasions.
  6249. Inductive coupling boosts from a large FSL antenna or other tuned loop
  6250. can easily be peaked by listening for the sudden gain rush in the D-
  6251. 808 audio when the frequencies match.
  6252.  
  6253. As a stand-alone portable the "supercharged" D-808 can provide a lot
  6254. of DU-DXing excitement at an enhanced-propagation site like the
  6255. Rockwork ocean cliff. "Big Gun" DU's like 531-PI, 603-Waatea, 657-Star
  6256. and 1017-Tonga can manage very good signals on the hot-rodded D-808,
  6257. and you can also track down multiple weaker DU signals if you have
  6258. some determination, patience and perseverance. Four such recordings
  6259. made last week at the Cliff demonstrate the hot-rodded D-808's
  6260. potential for Big Gun DU reception-- 657-Star (a.k.a. "Stah") and
  6261. 1017-Tonga:
  6262.  
  6263. 657 Star Wellington, Tauranga, New Zealand (50/10 kW at 7,106
  6264. miles/ 11,436 km) Star news and weather at 1301 on 8-7
  6265. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/o23o52mcz3zn00cf9hc2a8tacx6fwlje
  6266.  
  6267. Christian music at 1307 on 8-7
  6268. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/r0agerz997km3jwoihei39j292ccge2f
  6269.  
  6270. 1017 A3Z Nuku'alofa, Tonga (10 kW at 5,632 miles/ 9,064 km)
  6271. Station ID and female-voiced island news at 1301 on 8-8, followed by
  6272. island music at a good level; some co-channel audio from 2KY in
  6273. Sydney, Australia (5 kW at 7,630 miles/ 12,279 km) is in the middle of
  6274. the recording
  6275. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/tp3i89vky6p7hbylgkk1bp4pa5nvnuku
  6276.  
  6277. Island music at good level at 1323 on 8-8
  6278. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/xc2vsdzrlc84id81vcbsmgpqknkc5b1j
  6279.  
  6280. As previously reported, a ""supercharged" D-808 was given a chance to
  6281. go up against a D-808 + 17" Monster FSL antenna combo in the reception
  6282. of 1017-Tonga at 1304 on 8-8. The D-808's reception of the station is
  6283. posted at
  6284. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/xw0vuzpbqyg2gc0ekh7s2tdzm5n6r7l0
  6285. while the D-808/ Monster FSL combo's reception of the exact same
  6286. segment is posted at
  6287. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/r6yrwe7pzze6kw59qnzrbg8c704kg1l2
  6288.  
  6289. Although the huge FSL does provide a lot of gain, the "supercharged"
  6290. D-808 can generally track down most of the same DX, although at a
  6291. weaker level. But even a 3.5" "Baby FSL" model (like Craig Barnes used
  6292. at the Rockwork cliff last week) can dramatically boost a D-808's
  6293. DXing performance, whether it is a stock D-808 or "supercharged" D-
  6294. 808. Craig was able to receive about 90% of the DX that I did when we
  6295. chased DU's side-by-side. Someone with a D-808 and a TSA-friendly Baby
  6296. FSL would make out like a TP-DXing Bandit in a place like Hawaii, or
  6297. the Cook Islands!
  6298.  
  6299. Photo of stand-alone "Supercharged" XHDATA D-808 portable in action
  6300. at Rockwork 6 on August 9th is posted at
  6301. https://dreamcrafts.box.com/s/x5pt2lpigce6ww1s1spyjga1qqc4bso4
  6302.  
  6303. 73 and Good DX, (Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA), Aug 13, nrc-am gg
  6304. via DXLD)
  6305.  
  6306. AMAZING NEWS: DIRECTION & QTH LOCATING OF SW TRANSMITTER SITES
  6307.  
  6308. The advent of affordable SDR technology for the hobbyist radio
  6309. enthusiast/listener/dxer has been an amazing breakthrough in recent
  6310. times. Couple that with remote receiver access via websites like
  6311. http://sdr.hu
  6312. which carries the KIWI branded SDR network of global KIWI SDR's and
  6313. your whole world opens up for listening & possibly roughly determining
  6314. where some radio stations might be located.
  6315.  
  6316. Recently another giant leap of brilliant programming has been
  6317. undertaken (credits yet to be determined & allocated, Andras HA7ILM is
  6318. obviously one) & it's freely available at the website. Specifically it
  6319. enables users via the website to direction find or pinpoint the
  6320. location of a transmitter site for a frequency, be it known or unknown
  6321. via a very simple procedure of selecting preferably at least 3 SDR
  6322. receivers that surround (if known) a known or suspected transmitter
  6323. site.
  6324.  
  6325. This morning I trialled this technique via the website on the Voice of
  6326. Turkey transmitter site for their English broadcast on 9830kHz between
  6327. 2230 & 23 UT with 3 Kiwi SDR rxer locations that surrounded the known
  6328. Emirler.
  6329.  
  6330. Within 2-3 minutes the website had sampled & computed the exact
  6331. location via a displayed heat map of the exact transmitter site, so
  6332. very precisely, that I almost fell off my chair. Wow this technology
  6333. is brilliant.
  6334.  
  6335. It is a fun time to be alive & active with this kind of technology in
  6336. place & it's freely available for us users. Pity so little left on SW
  6337. bands to listen to & discover, but we all know that, best to focus on
  6338. the positive.
  6339.  
  6340. Full details on just how to use this technology is available on this
  6341. webpage (below), that I periodically browse every few months or so (as
  6342. I did today).
  6343.  
  6344. https://www.rtl-sdr.com/kiwisdr-tdoa-direction-finding-now-freely-available-for-public-use/
  6345.  
  6346. I'll be creating a photo album folder & maybe files folder on our
  6347. Yahoo Group webpage for users to paste their transmitter site heatmap
  6348. finds & other associated research material for SW broadcast
  6349. frequencies that we have not been able to determine until the advent
  6350. of this accessible technology; i.e. to allocate a frequency to a
  6351. mystery transmitter site location. Think of it, we, in theory, should
  6352. be able to now pinpoint the hidden location (QTH) of once unknown
  6353. transmitters.
  6354.  
  6355. Locating jamming sites however may not be reliable due to the fact
  6356. that more than one audible transmission would most likely be in use on
  6357. the frequency.
  6358.  
  6359. I would really be interested in peoples discoveries & have them report
  6360. their discoveries in our message area.
  6361.  
  6362. We've often been frustrated as DXers in the past at not being able to
  6363. precisely locate a transmitter site or determine exactly which
  6364. transmitter is in use for a particular frequency. Now we have the
  6365. accessible technology & if more people purchase these KIWI SDR's & add
  6366. them to the network with GPS reference clocks we should to able to
  6367. determine the transmitter sites of many more mystery transmissions
  6368. globaly.
  6369.  
  6370. Have fun guys and remember to report your finds & add comments here.
  6371. More soon (Ian, SWSites Yahoo Group via DXLD)
  6372.  
  6373. TDoA ON KIWSDR NET: DIRECTION FINDING FOR ALL!
  6374.  
  6375. Neues von Nils Schiffhauer:
  6376.  
  6377. Seit Juli dieses Jahres kann man die KiwiSDR-Netz auch peilen -
  6378. kostenlos und sehr komfortabel. Diese Funktion wird schon vielfach von
  6379. Funkamateuren wie Kurzwellenhörern genutzt, die von dieser neuen
  6380. Werkzeug begeistert sind. Gelegentlich ist Kritik zu hören, dass
  6381. manche Ergebnisse (ziemlich) danebenliegen. Das liegt zumeist daran,
  6382. dass dieses so genannten TDoA-Tool nicht optimal bedient wird. Deshalb
  6383. hat Nils, DK8OK eine 22-seitige praxisbezogene Einführung geschrieben,
  6384. die an 13 konkreten Fallbeispielen zwischen 2.6 MHz und 15.6 MHz
  6385. erläutert, wie man dieses neuartige Werkzeug bedient - und wie nicht.
  6386. 37 instruktive Illustrationen zeigen mit einem Blick, um was es
  6387. jeweils geht und wie man zu optimalen Ergebnissen kommt.
  6388.  
  6389. Das PDF kann kostenlos und diskriminierungsfrei von seiner Website
  6390. heruntergeladen werden:
  6391. https://dk8ok.org/2018/07/25/direction-finding-first-experiences/
  6392. 73 (Christoph Ratzer via A-DX, via SW Bulletin Aug 12 via DXLD)
  6393.  
  6394. [map showing triangulation convergence near Montpélier, France]
  6395. Four receivers are nailing Saissac as transmitter site of STANAG 4285
  6396. transmission on 12666.5 kHz on July 16th, 2018, 1545 UT.
  6397.  
  6398. A dream has become true: direction finding (DF) in the range of 0 to
  6399. 30 MHz for all! The method is “time difference of arrival”. This is a
  6400. speaking term, and it works exactly like it says: measuring the
  6401. different times of arrival of a signal at at least three different
  6402. receivers and calculating the position of the transmitter.
  6403. Base is the net of KiwiSDRs.
  6404. https://sdr.hu/?q=kiwisdr
  6405.  
  6406. If connected to GPS, each of this SDRs is able to deliver an I/Q
  6407. stream with time stamps of a very high resolution. If you compare the
  6408. recordings of different receivers tuned to the same station at the
  6409. same time, you will find a slight time difference from receiver to
  6410. receiver. This is due to the “time of flight” from transmitter to
  6411. receiver. HF is traveling 300 km per 1 millisecond – so time is
  6412. distance.
  6413.  
  6414. However, you don’t know the absolute transmitting time on transmitters
  6415. other than time signal stations. So “Time Difference on Arrival”, or
  6416. TDoA, measures the time differences of arrival. The first step is to
  6417. compare the I/Q streams to find at which time difference their content
  6418. does correlate. From these time differences, there are calculated
  6419. curves onto a map. They cross in that region, where most likely the
  6420. transmitter is located – see the screenshot at the top which I did to
  6421. locate the STANAG 4285 transmitter on 12666.5 kHz.
  6422.  
  6423. Due to concept, most reliable results (and, hence: sharp regions where
  6424. the curves meet) are achieved only with the same propagation mode
  6425. prevailing at all receiving stations. This is most strictly the case
  6426. on VLF and long wave, where we mostly have one and stable waveguide-
  6427. like propagation. As soon as we approach skywave propagation, you must
  6428. care for more or less the same propagation mode, of which a one-hop
  6429. propagation (e.g. 1 x F2) should be preferred.
  6430.  
  6431. The software has been developed by some smart people around Christoph
  6432. Mayer who also provides detailed information on the concept of this
  6433. approach on his website.
  6434. https://hcab14.blogspot.com/
  6435.  
  6436. It quickly has become an extension of the KiwiSDR net. This makes it
  6437. very comfortable to use – if you take care of what is said above
  6438. (DK8OK, Nils Schiffhauer via A-DX via SW Bulletin Aug 12 via DXLD)
  6439.  
  6440. Re: [A-DX] Time-Difference-of-Arrival (TDOA) - plugin bei Kiwi SDRs,
  6441. Beta test version. Seit einigen Monaten arbeite ich zusammen mit dem
  6442. KiwiSDR Entwickler an diesem Thema. Hier einige weitere relevante
  6443. Links:
  6444. * http://kiwisdr.com
  6445. * http://valentfx.com/vanilla/categories/kiwisdr-tdoa-topics
  6446. * http://81.93.247.141/~linkz/directTDoA/
  6447. * http://hcab14.blogspot.com
  6448. TDoA code: http://github.com/hcab14/TDoA
  6449. 73, (Christoph Mayer via A-DX, ibid.)
  6450.  
  6451. [TDOA story summarized briefly on WORLD OF RADIO 1943, referring to
  6452. here for more info]
  6453.  
  6454. SANGEAN WR-22
  6455.  
  6456. Mr. Hauser, I wrote a little review on the Sangean WR-22 and thought
  6457. I’d send it over. The thing is at
  6458. http://sixgunsiding.blogspot.com/2018/08/my-new-radio.html
  6459. but I’m pasting the text below. Feel free to use all or part or none
  6460. of it, as you see fit. The blog is mostly about Southwestern history,
  6461. but I liked the WR-22 so much, I wrote it up. The radio is AM/FM, no
  6462. shortwave, but the reception out of the box makes me think it would
  6463. make a good radio for the casual MW DXer, and an excellent family
  6464. radio.
  6465.  
  6466. I’ve been a fan of WOR since the early 90’s when I got my first world
  6467. band receiver, a Radio Shack DX-390. You are high on my list of good
  6468. friends I never met. Regards, Michael Lijewski, Clovis, NM.
  6469.  
  6470. I guess I’m a little old timey, but I don’t like listening to the
  6471. radio from the internet or cable. I like my radio on radio. So when my
  6472. old Radio Shack DX-390 gave up the ghost after 24 years, I was
  6473. downright mournful.
  6474.  
  6475. I wondered, “Do they still even make radios?” Turns out they do. Not
  6476. only that, but the table (or tabletop) radio, a type that went out of
  6477. style in the early 70’s has made a big comeback. I started looking at
  6478. Bose radios, but they were too expensive, and real ugly. Then I
  6479. browsed the Tivoli tabletop models. I don’t think you’d find a better
  6480. looking radio out there, but the tuners, along with the rest of the
  6481. controls, are mostly analog. I may be old timey, but I love digital
  6482. tuning and volume control. Finally, I looked at what Sangean had to
  6483. offer. Sangean manufactured my faithful old Radio Shack model and it
  6484. was the best all-round radio I ever owned. Sure enough, Sangean had
  6485. jumped on the tabletop bandwagon and produced some great looking
  6486. radios that also had the modern specs I wanted.
  6487.  
  6488. I ordered a Sangean WR-22, which was delivered yesterday. It’s a
  6489. beauty, wood cabinet and a jet black control panel, with a big bright
  6490. (and dimmable), display. Heavy too, I bet it weighs more than a dozen
  6491. iPhones. The audio quality is great right out of the box, though I
  6492. turned the bass way down.* It amazes me how these new tabletop radios
  6493. can fill a room with music. It also has RDS (radio data system) on the
  6494. FM, which tells you what station you're listening too, and sometimes
  6495. the song or program as well. It can also set the clock automatically,
  6496. but only if the station keeps its time correctly. (Are you listening,
  6497. KENW?)
  6498.  
  6499. The radio has 5 preset buttons, just like the car, so everybody can
  6500. have their favorite station in an instant. (I like National Public
  6501. Radio, but my girlfriend prefers Cow Country Radio.) It also has a
  6502. remote control, perfect for when you are across the room and the old
  6503. swamp cooler kicks in, or when somebody starts snoring and you just
  6504. don’t have the gumption to get out of bed to turn up the volume. A
  6505. word of caution, like so many things these days, this is a
  6506. microprocessor controlled device and you’d be wise to use it with a
  6507. surge protector.
  6508.  
  6509. Out here on the High Plains, the biggest issue in a radio is often
  6510. reception. Either you’re 50 miles from the nearest broadcast tower, or
  6511. you live in a canyon, or your house is covered in stucco on chicken
  6512. wire making reception difficult. Fear not, the WR-22 has powerful
  6513. tuners (some have compared it favorably to the legendary GE Super
  6514. Radio) and also has AM and FM antenna jacks in the back if you need to
  6515. upgrade. It also has a clock (RDS or manual) with alarm settings,
  6516. snooze, nap, Bluetooth, and a USB port for MP3 listening from a thumb
  6517. drive, and probably some other good stuff too.
  6518.  
  6519. The radio costs $128.00 ($22 cheaper than my DX-390 cost in 1993),
  6520. before taxes and delivery. Whether you listen to “All Things
  6521. Considered” or “Unshackled!”, country or Tejano, rock or R&B, this is
  6522. the radio for you.
  6523.  
  6524. Be sure and tune in for my next radio review, in about 25 years.
  6525.  
  6526. * The overabundance of bass was due to the LOUDNESS setting being
  6527. turned to ON. I turned it to OFF and that solved the bass problem. I
  6528. have also read that placing the back of the radio too close to a wall
  6529. can exaggerate the bass as the woofer is on the back. Anyway, the
  6530. audio quality has risen from great to perfect (Michael Lijewski,
  6531. Clovis NM, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
  6532.  
  6533. JK ANTENNAS. THE ULTIMATE, VERSATILE, REVERSIBLE, RECEIVE ANTENNA
  6534. SYSTEM --- FOUR Receive Antenna Designs in ONE Package
  6535. 1. Classic Beverage
  6536. 2. Beverage on the Ground (BOG) or Beverage in Sod (BIS)
  6537. 3. FLAG
  6538. 4. Inverted EWE
  6539.  
  6540. ? New unique design
  6541. ? Uses low cost RG-6 cable
  6542. ? Flexible feed-point can be located at any position along antenna
  6543. length (Beverage & BOG/BIS)
  6544. ? All passive high-reliability design
  6545. ? Termination resistors can be adjusted from shack to optimize
  6546. directivity and S/N
  6547.  
  6548. The JK BevFlex-4 is actually four antenna system designs in a single
  6549. package and is based on our earlier BevPro-1 reversible Beverage
  6550. antenna design that has been deployed worldwide. All four designs
  6551. allow you to maximize your low frequency receiving capabilities based
  6552. on your particular physical space constraints. All system designs are
  6553. totally passive, provide 180 degree reversibility, and allow
  6554. termination optimization from your operating position
  6555.  
  6556. [diagram illustrations]: SWB latest issue/archive:
  6557. http://www.hard-core-dx.com/swb/archive.htm
  6558.  
  6559. More information here:
  6560. https://jkantennas.com/rx-antenna.html
  6561. Manual & FAQ:
  6562. https://jkantennas.com/assets/jk-bevflex-4-manual.pdf
  6563. https://jkantennas.com/assets/jk-bevflex-4-faqs.pdf
  6564. BevPro - 1: The Ultimate Reversible Beverage Antenna System
  6565. More info here:
  6566. http://www.nakatoyo.com/pixeltec/BevPro-1-Information-for-Web-site1.pdf
  6567. (SW Bulletin Aug 12 via DXLD)
  6568.  
  6569. ANIMALS & INSECTS IN RADIO
  6570.  
  6571. In our program today we present another episode in the story of
  6572. Animals and Insects in Radio. Today’s program is Episode 3 in this
  6573. three part mini-series on the story of Animals and Insects in Radio,
  6574. and on this occasion, we begin with a visit to the one-time Deutsche
  6575. Welle Relay Station which is located near Trincomalee on the northeast
  6576. coast of the island of Sri Lanka.
  6577.  
  6578. It was back in the early part of the year 1985 that our DX editor
  6579. Adrian Peterson teamed up with the well known shortwave radio
  6580. personality Jonathan Marks from Radio Netherlands and his wife Marian
  6581. for a five hour journey by car across the island of Sri Lanka from
  6582. Colombo to Trincomalee. The purpose for this journey through the
  6583. sometimes dangerous insurgency areas was for a visit to what was the
  6584. Deutsche Welle relay station which had been installed in what had
  6585. previously been a Royal Navy wireless communication station.
  6586.  
  6587. Following our inspection of the shortwave and mediumwave equipment in
  6588. that very modern international radio broadcasting station, our tour
  6589. guide at Deutsche Welle took us out into the massive antenna field. He
  6590. explained that there were occasions when a tribe of wild Asian
  6591. Elephants had broken down the protective fence surrounding the antenna
  6592. field and they then encroached onto the station property, sometimes
  6593. causing damage to an aerial system. Then too he added, from time to
  6594. time, a troop of wild monkeys has come parading through the area,
  6595. swinging from the structural wires of the huge curtain antenna
  6596. systems, though thus far, they had caused very little damage, and
  6597. neither had any of them become electrocuted.
  6598.  
  6599. We should add that SLBC, the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, now
  6600. operates the Trincomalee radio station, and that this our DX program
  6601. Wavescan is regularly heard on shortwave from one of their four
  6602. powerful 250 kW transmitters.
  6603.  
  6604. Then too, VOH the Voice of Hope in Zambia Africa has experienced a
  6605. similar problem with monkeys invading their station property. There
  6606. are many wild monkeys that live in the trees surrounding the antenna
  6607. field of their isolated shortwave station. Sometimes they get so bold
  6608. that they come right down onto the ground surrounding the transmitter
  6609. buildings looking for food.
  6610.  
  6611. A few months ago, the engineering staff discovered that the air
  6612. temperature in the main transmitter building itself was getting
  6613. dangerously high; and in addition, the industrial air conditioning
  6614. unit was no longer working. When they investigated, they found that
  6615. much of the insulating material surrounding the ducts from the
  6616. compressors outside the back of the building had been stripped bare by
  6617. the monkeys; and in addition, some of the electrical wiring had been
  6618. broken off also. Needless to say, when all had been repaired and
  6619. replaced, they were careful to ensure that all of the outer surfaces
  6620. were monkey-proofed.
  6621.  
  6622. Over in nearby India, Manosij Guha tells us in the 2002 edition of
  6623. Larry Magne’s now defunct annual publication Passport to World Band
  6624. Radio that a shortwave radio station in his country had a similar
  6625. animal problem. Manosij tells us that All India Radio AIR established
  6626. a shortwave relay station near the small town of Aligarh some 60 miles
  6627. east of New Delhi in 1971.
  6628.  
  6629. Initially this station, on its estate of more than 800 acres,
  6630. contained two shortwave transmitters at 250 kW each, together with 39
  6631. antenna systems and 15 miles of feeder lines. Manosij Guha stated that
  6632. on several occasions nilgais, the large brown Indian antelope, have
  6633. invaded the antenna farm and been electrocuted in the antenna field.
  6634.  
  6635. On two separate occasions in two widely separated countries, sheep
  6636. have been the culprit in causing strange sounds in a radio
  6637. transmission.
  6638.  
  6639. The now silent shortwave station operated by Radio Australia in
  6640. Victoria was installed on a property of 600 acres located at 490
  6641. Verney Road in what is now North Shepparton. Although the property is
  6642. located in what is described as sheep grazing country, currently the
  6643. area is becoming somewhat built up with local housing.
  6644.  
  6645. At the height of its operational capacity, Radio Australia Shepparton
  6646. contained seven shortwave transmitters; 4 @ 100 kW, 2 @ 50 kW, and 1 @
  6647. 10 kW. On the antenna farm were 15 steel towers standing 210 ft high
  6648. supporting 24 curtain antennas, with an additional 4 rhombic antennas
  6649. for use in emergency occasions.
  6650.  
  6651. In its earlier usage in the postwar years, the growth of high grass in
  6652. the antenna field became a problem due to the likelihood of fires
  6653. during the hot dry summer. So a flock of 850 sheep were obtained,
  6654. Border Leicester cross with Merino, and they kept the grass down.
  6655.  
  6656. On one occasion way back, apparently there was a meter in the
  6657. transmitter hall at Shepparton that gave a strange erratic reading.
  6658. When the staff investigated outside, they discovered that one of the
  6659. sheep was scratching an itch by rubbing itself against a feeder line
  6660. pole.
  6661.  
  6662. Back towards the end of the year 1993, a similar event occurred in
  6663. England. It was reported that a government communication radio station
  6664. at Scarborough in Yorkshire, Northern England was emitting strange
  6665. high frequency noises. An investigation revealed that sheep were
  6666. rubbing against what they described as an aerial pole.
  6667.  
  6668. Back towards the end of the year 1993, Jonathan Marks (again!) in his
  6669. DX program Media Network from Radio Netherlands shortwave told the
  6670. story of how a school of shrimp put their station on the island of
  6671. Bonaire in the Caribbean off the air. The concentration of shrimp in
  6672. the water pond clogged the water intake for the cooling system and the
  6673. station had to be closed until the fish were cleared from the cooling
  6674. equipment. The abundance of shrimp in the wetlands and shoreland areas
  6675. of Bonaire attracts the Pink Flamingo for which the island is quite
  6676. famous.
  6677.  
  6678. The March 1999 issue of Contact, the monthly magazine from the World
  6679. DX Club in England, tells us another interesting story. They state
  6680. that the National Rivers Authority in Great Britain inserted a tiny
  6681. radio transmitter into 450 salmon fish so that they could be tracked
  6682. as they migrate up the River Hirnant in Wales.
  6683.  
  6684. At one stage, their mobile radio detector indicated that one of these
  6685. fish had leaped out of the water and was moving across dry land. The
  6686. authorities tracked the mobile salmon with their radio receiver to the
  6687. home of a fisherman, who confessed that he had been fishing without a
  6688. license.
  6689.  
  6690. And finally, one for the birds! This item happened back during the
  6691. 1940s, and it is taken from a 1995 issue of the American radio
  6692. journal, Radio World.
  6693.  
  6694. The incident that we refer to occurred at mediumwave station WBAA,
  6695. which is still located at Purdue University in West Lafayette,
  6696. Indiana. At the time, the station was located in the Electrical
  6697. Engineering Building, and the antenna was suspended between two towers
  6698. that were part of the steel framework of the building. These towers
  6699. extended 88 feet above the top of the building and they supported a
  6700. cage antenna made up of several parallel conductors each about seven
  6701. inches apart.
  6702.  
  6703. One summer afternoon back in the 1940s at about four o’clock, the
  6704. meter on the transmitter indicated a gradual change in the antenna
  6705. current. The operator checked all systems, and everything seemed to be
  6706. OK. After half an hour with very low antenna readings, the meter
  6707. reading began to improve until it slowly returned back to normal.
  6708.  
  6709. Next day, and on the following days, always at about the same time,
  6710. the antenna reading began to deteriorate to a dangerously low level,
  6711. and then gradually return to normal. Now on Sundays station WBAA was
  6712. off the air, and on one occasion the operator happened to drive past
  6713. the station at about the same time, four o’clock in the afternoon.
  6714.  
  6715. He was amazed to discover that the antenna was literally covered with
  6716. Blackbirds, perched on the cross bars from one end of the antenna to
  6717. the other. In spite of the heavy construction of the antenna, it was
  6718. sagging noticeably, enough to change the level of capacitance with the
  6719. ground.
  6720.  
  6721. In addition, the effective increase in the size of the antenna with
  6722. all of the birds upon it changed the impedance factor of the antenna.
  6723. This then was the cause for the low meter readings and the
  6724. deterioration of the level of the transmitted signal.
  6725.  
  6726. Indeed that cage antenna was in reality, a bird cage antenna! (Adrian
  6727. Peterson, IN, script for AWR Wavescan Aug 5 via DXLD)
  6728.  
  6729. HOW FM STEREO CAME TO LIFE
  6730.  
  6731. https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/how-fm-stereo-came-to-life
  6732. (via Kevin Redding, Crump, Aug 10, ABDX yg via DXLD)
  6733.  
  6734. Great article about how stereo broadcasting came to the FM Band,
  6735. including a bit about the hybrid AM-FM stereo system used briefly.
  6736. Great stuff! 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, WTFDA gg via DXLD)
  6737.  
  6738. PROPAGATION
  6739. +++++++++++
  6740.  
  6741. SOLAR MINIMUM CONDITIONS ARE IN EFFECT
  6742.  
  6743. The sun has been without sunspots for 38 of the past 41 days. To find
  6744. a similar stretch of blank suns, you have to go back to 2009 when the
  6745. sun was experiencing the deepest solar minimum in a century. Solar
  6746. minimum has returned, bringing extra cosmic rays, long-lasting holes
  6747. in the sun's atmosphere, and strangely pink auroras.
  6748.  
  6749. http://spaceweather.com/
  6750. (via Mike Terry, Aug 7, WOR iog via DXLD)
  6751.  
  6752. PARKER SOLAR PROBE LAUNCHED AT 3:31 EDT THIS MORNING
  6753.  
  6754. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/08/09/this-nasa-spacecraft-is-about-to-probe-one-of-earths-scariest-threats-the-sun/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.72b4fe458355&wpisrc=nl_az_most&wpmk=1
  6755. (via Gerald T Pollard, NC, Aug 12, DXLD)
  6756.  
  6757. THE PERSEID METEOR SHOWER IS UNDERWAY
  6758. Southgate August 6, 2018
  6759.  
  6760. Earth is entering a stream of debris from giant comet 109P/Swift-
  6761. Tuttle, parent of the annual Perseid meteor shower.
  6762.  
  6763. Although the shower is not expected to peak until next weekend, NASA
  6764. all-sky cameras are already detecting dozens of Perseid fireballs
  6765. every night over the USA.
  6766.  
  6767. This early activity may be a good omen for the nights ahead,
  6768. especially Aug. 11th-13th when Earth is expected to pass through the
  6769. densest part of the comet's debris zone.
  6770.  
  6771. Visit Spaceweather.com for more information and observing tips.
  6772. http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2018/august/the-perseid-meteor-shower-is-underway.htm#.W2nq-dJKjIU
  6773. (via Mike Terry, Aug 7, WOR iog via DXLD)
  6774.  
  6775. VIRGO: RADIO METEOR RADAR
  6776.  
  6777. I’m wondering if any of you are regular users of the online Java
  6778. application, “Virgo”? It’s useful for determining the best direction
  6779. to point your antenna for meteor scatter contacts. You simply enter
  6780. your grid square, and it displays the active meteor scatter, and shows
  6781. you which direction to point your antenna.
  6782.  
  6783. <http://www.dl1dbc.net/Meteorscatter/>
  6784.  
  6785. I regularly used this for about three years, but stopped using it
  6786. about two years ago. Security updates to both web browsers and Java
  6787. itself made it increasingly difficult to find ways to “white list” the
  6788. application and get it to run successfully.
  6789.  
  6790. If anyone has figured out an easier way to get this application to run
  6791. successfully, I’d love to hear it. It’s a great app, and completely
  6792. safe. Haven’t been able to find anything else similar that is
  6793. accessible to amateurs involved in meteor scatter work either.
  6794.  
  6795. 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, 121 Mayfair Park, Maylene, AL 35114, EM63nf,
  6796. Aug 7, WTFDA gg via DXLD)
  6797.  
  6798. I used to use it a couple of years ago - then it stopped working for
  6799. me when I upgraded my PC. I'll try it again (Bill H[epburn], ibid.)
  6800.  
  6801. Sabine, DL1DBC and author of the “Virgo” meteor scatter radar page
  6802. respond to my plea for help in getting this Java based, web
  6803. application to run last night. He announced that Alexander, DL8AAU,
  6804. and Bastian, DB1BM, made a redesign of the software and it is now
  6805. available in a standalone version. It can be downloaded here:
  6806.  
  6807. <https://bitbucket.org/NoGy/virgo/downloads/>
  6808.  
  6809. It runs perfectly on my Windows 10 64 bit machine. YMMV. No joy on my
  6810. MacBook Pro so far.
  6811.  
  6812. All you need to do is enter your Maidenhead Grid Square in six-digits,
  6813. and the software will show you the direction of the radiant for all
  6814. currently active meteor showers. It also has some great real-time data
  6815. about rates, etc. Wonderful tool for those chasing meteor scatter DX.
  6816. Highly recommended! Thanks to Sabine, Alexander, and Bastian for their
  6817. hard work on this. 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, ibid.)
  6818.  
  6819. UNIDENTIFIED. 89.3, Aug 12 at 0550 UT, I select this open frequency to
  6820. listen for meteor bursts at the annual Perseid peak. The best one
  6821. comes at 0551, minor ones at 0556, 0559, 0600 with some talk but no
  6822. ID, 0610. Nothing further as I am dozing off. This on the PL-880 with
  6823. telescopic antenna only. Also let the DX-398 run all night on 92.1,
  6824. but no RDS capture to be seen.
  6825.  
  6826. From http://spaceweather.com/ via Mike Terry, WOR iog: ``The Perseid
  6827. meteor shower is expected to peak this weekend with 100 or more
  6828. meteors per hour. The best time to look is during the dark hours
  6829. before sunrise on Sunday, August 12th, and again on Monday, August
  6830. 13th. At those times, the shower's radiant will be high in the sky,
  6831. spewing meteors in all directions`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
  6832. DIGEST)
  6833.  
  6834. :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
  6835. :Issued: 2018 Aug 13 0125 UTC
  6836. # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction
  6837. Center
  6838. # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web
  6839. # http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/weekly.html
  6840. #
  6841. # Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
  6842. #
  6843. Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 06 - 12 August 2018
  6844.  
  6845. Solar activity was very low throughout the period. No Earth-directed
  6846. CMEs were observed in available satellite imagery.
  6847.  
  6848. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.
  6849.  
  6850. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was
  6851. normal background levels throughout the period.
  6852.  
  6853. Geomagnetic field activity was ranged from quiet to active. Quiet
  6854. levels were observed on 06 Aug, 08-10 Aug and 12 Aug; unsettled
  6855. levels were reached on 07 Aug and active levels were reached on 11
  6856. Aug. Mostly nominal solar wind conditions were observed through the
  6857. period. A SSBC followed by very weak influence from a negative
  6858. polarity CH HSS occurred on 11 Aug. Total magnetic field strength
  6859. briefly reached 11 nT around 11/0400 UTC but no significant periods
  6860. of southward Bz were observed.
  6861.  
  6862. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 13 AUGUST-08 SEPTEMBER 2018
  6863.  
  6864. Solar activity is expected to be very low throughout the outlook
  6865. period.
  6866.  
  6867. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.
  6868.  
  6869. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is
  6870. expected to range from normal to moderate levels over the outlook
  6871. period.
  6872.  
  6873. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to range from quiet to active
  6874. levels over the outlook period. Unsettled levels are expected on 13
  6875. Aug, 18 Aug, 04 Sep and 07-08 Sep; active levels are expected on
  6876. 16-17 Aug, 20-21 Aug and 03 Sep. All increases in geomagnetic
  6877. activity are anticipated in response to multiple, recurrent CH HSSs.
  6878. The remainder of the outlook period is expected to be at quiet
  6879. levels.
  6880.  
  6881. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt
  6882. :Issued: 2018 Aug 13 0125 UTC
  6883. # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction
  6884. Center
  6885. # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web
  6886. # http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wwire.html
  6887. #
  6888. # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table
  6889. # Issued 2018-08-13
  6890. #
  6891. # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest
  6892. # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index
  6893. 2018 Aug 13 68 8 3
  6894. 2018 Aug 14 68 5 2
  6895. 2018 Aug 15 68 5 2
  6896. 2018 Aug 16 68 12 4
  6897. 2018 Aug 17 68 15 4
  6898. 2018 Aug 18 68 8 3
  6899. 2018 Aug 19 68 5 2
  6900. 2018 Aug 20 68 15 4
  6901. 2018 Aug 21 68 12 4
  6902. 2018 Aug 22 68 5 2
  6903. 2018 Aug 23 70 5 2
  6904. 2018 Aug 24 70 5 2
  6905. 2018 Aug 25 70 5 2
  6906. 2018 Aug 26 70 5 2
  6907. 2018 Aug 27 70 5 2
  6908. 2018 Aug 28 70 5 2
  6909. 2018 Aug 29 70 5 2
  6910. 2018 Aug 30 70 5 2
  6911. 2018 Aug 31 70 5 2
  6912. 2018 Sep 01 70 5 2
  6913. 2018 Sep 02 70 5 2
  6914. 2018 Sep 03 70 12 4
  6915. 2018 Sep 04 70 8 3
  6916. 2018 Sep 05 70 5 2
  6917. 2018 Sep 06 68 5 2
  6918. 2018 Sep 07 68 10 3
  6919. 2018 Sep 08 68 8 3
  6920. (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1943, DXLD)
  6921.  
  6922. GEOMAGNETIC INDICES - GEO
  6923. Compiled By: Phil Bytheway
  6924. E-mail: DXM.EiC@gmail.com
  6925.  
  6926. Geomagnetic Summary July 1 2018 through July 31 2018
  6927. Tabulated from WWV on-line status daily (K @ 0000 UTC).
  6928.  
  6929. Date Flux A K Space Wx
  6930.  
  6931. 1 68 3 1 no storms
  6932. 2 67 3 0 no storms
  6933. 3 68 4 1 no storms
  6934. 4 68 5 1 no storms
  6935. 5 68 17 4 minor, G1
  6936. 6 71 7 2 no storms
  6937. 7 72 5 0 no storms
  6938. 8 72 4 1 no storms
  6939. 9 73 2 1 no storms
  6940. 10 72 7 1 no storms
  6941. 11 73 8 2 mo storms
  6942. 12 72 8 2 no storms
  6943. 13 73 6 1 no storms
  6944. 14 72 5 0 no storms
  6945. 15 72 4 1 no storms
  6946. 16 72 9 3 no storms
  6947. 17 71 8 2 no storms
  6948. 18 71 4 1 no storms
  6949. 19 71 4 1 no storms
  6950. 20 71 7 2 no storms
  6951. 21 70 11 2 no storms
  6952. 22 68 5 1 no storms
  6953. 23 67 4 1 no storms
  6954. 24 67 17 4 no storms
  6955. 25 66 9 2 no storms
  6956. 26 66 4 1 no storms
  6957. 27 67 4 2 no storms
  6958. 28 68 5 1 no storms
  6959. 29 68 5 1 no storms
  6960. 30 68 5 2 no storms
  6961. 7/31 68 6 3 no storms
  6962.  
  6963. Gx – Geomagnetic Storm Level
  6964. Rx – Radio Blackouts Level
  6965. Sx – Solar Radiation Storm Level
  6966. (IRCA DX Monitor August 18, published Aug 14, via DXLD)
  6967.  
  6968. TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING
  6969. ++++++++++++++++++++++++
  6970.  
  6971. FAHRENHEIT 11/9
  6972.  
  6973. Friends, Amazing news! The World Premiere of our film, “Fahrenheit
  6974. 11/9”, will be Opening Night at the Toronto International Film
  6975. Festival! This is the 2nd time we've been picked for opening night at
  6976. North America's biggest and most prestigious festival! This is an
  6977. incredible honor.
  6978.  
  6979. After its world premiere in Toronto, it will open in theaters
  6980. everywhere on September 21st, 6 and 1/2 weeks before the midterm
  6981. elections.
  6982.  
  6983. And the official trailer is out! Watch it here:
  6984. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRQv9xMQ3E0
  6985.  
  6986. I'll be sharing ideas and updates as we approach the world premiere,
  6987. but for now, here is a Q&A I did with HuffPost yesterday about the
  6988. film (Click here for the full article).
  6989. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/fahrenheit-11-9-trailer-michael-moore_us_5b6b6256e4b0bdd062061ed6
  6990.  
  6991. Thanks for all of your support throughout this process. See you at the
  6992. movies! Michael Moore mike@michaelmoore.com (via DXLD) Viz.:
  6993.  
  6994. HuffPost Q&A
  6995.  
  6996. In starting “Fahrenheit 11/9,” what was your intention? Did it change
  6997. at all during the course of production?
  6998.  
  6999. Donald Trump is an evil genius. He has no intention of leaving the
  7000. White House. Whenever he hears that another country has a president
  7001. for life, he perks up and thinks, “I like the sound of that!” And he
  7002. has an obedient political party that holds every seat of power backing
  7003. him up.
  7004.  
  7005. American journalism schools have not trained students how to cover an
  7006. authoritarian leader. Our media has no idea what it is up against.
  7007. They're getting steamrolled by a tyrant because Trump understands
  7008. media and understands the country he lives in more than those that
  7009. cover him do. This puts us all in grave danger. If nothing else, I
  7010. hope this film exposes that grave danger and shows people the way out.
  7011.  
  7012. Has your approach to chronicling American politics shifted over the
  7013. years? At what point does a documentary like this risk preaching to
  7014. the choir?
  7015.  
  7016. The majority of Americans agree with me on the issues. I'm part of the
  7017. majority. Our choir is much bigger than Trump's choir or Fox News'
  7018. choir.
  7019.  
  7020. Unfortunately, our choir is out of tune, and it's hard to hear our
  7021. voices through all the sobbing and despair. That all ends on Sept. 21.
  7022. The choir needs a song to sing. Once we come together in beautiful
  7023. harmony, the Trump crime family will be prosecuted, law and order will
  7024. be restored, we'll have Medicare for All and we'll declare that “Game
  7025. of Thrones” must remain on the air for at least three more seasons.
  7026.  
  7027. On opening weekend, “Fahrenheit 9/11” was the number one movie in
  7028. every red state in the country. It was a hit in military towns and on
  7029. military bases. My choir is the American people. The old guard of the
  7030. Democratic Party has failed to speak to them. I will at least give
  7031. them a song they can belt out.
  7032.  
  7033. Given the title's connection to “Fahrenheit 9/11,” what's your
  7034. assessment of American politics today compared to when you made that
  7035. film?
  7036.  
  7037. When we started making “Fahrenheit 9/11,” George W. Bush had a 70
  7038. percent approval rating, 29 Democratic senators had voted for the Iraq
  7039. war, and The New York Times and the liberal establishment were all
  7040. aiding and abetting Bush and his war. Every TV network was waving the
  7041. American flag, and those of us who dissented were in a lonely minority
  7042. and called unpatriotic. Outlets like HuffPost didn't exist and MSNBC
  7043. was trying to out-Fox Fox News. It was a dark, dark time, and America
  7044. and the world has paid a very steep price for it.
  7045.  
  7046. Now we live in even darker times. So that hasn't changed!
  7047.  
  7048. However, we now live in a very liberal country. Most Americans may not
  7049. label themselves as liberal, but if you look at almost every major
  7050. issue, the majority of Americans support the liberal position. They
  7051. want Medicare for All. They believe in women's equality and equal pay.
  7052. They believe immigration is good for America. They believe in LGBQT
  7053. rights and marriage equality. They want gun control. They want to
  7054. break up the big banks. They want universal pre-K and free public
  7055. college for all. They want to tax the rich and corporations. And on
  7056. and on and on. It's amazing how liberal the American people are when
  7057. you look at it issue by issue.
  7058.  
  7059. What is the most startling revelation you found in meeting folks for
  7060. this project?
  7061.  
  7062. The revolution is happening in the most unlikely of places. The
  7063. resistance - the true resistance - is not coming from the Democratic
  7064. Party or from the liberal establishment. I can't reveal too much right
  7065. now, but there is a real insurgency taking place. I don't know if it
  7066. will succeed or not. It might be too late.
  7067.  
  7068. Conversely, did you discover anything that offered a glimmer of hope?
  7069.  
  7070. *uck hope. Seriously, f*ck hope. Fu*k despair, too. But fuc* hope.
  7071.  
  7072. Hope is passive. Hope gives you permission to let someone else do the
  7073. work. Hope leads people to believe that tax returns, or a pee tape, or
  7074. the FBI or an adult film star will save the country. Hope, and the
  7075. passivity that comes with it, is what helped get us here to begin
  7076. with. It's the lazy way out.
  7077.  
  7078. We don't need hope. We need action
  7079.  
  7080. (Michael Moore, Aug 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###
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