January 2009 ABDX Journal
Vol 4. Issue 1
Editors Corner:
ABDX membership has reached 202 members! 202 today, tomorrow the world, one
DXer at a time. I thank all of you for being members of ABDX.
The January CME is all about ultralight radio logs. There has been a lot of interest in this
type of DX. We have a good number of ultralight logs this month. February’s CME is
about DXing weather reports on any band.
Analog TV DX was supposed to be shut down in February and now the government has
changed the date until June. You have 4 months to DX analog TV and then its all digital.
A very big thank you to Jay Rogers for setting up a DX test at WOON. It was widely
heard in the northern states.
If anyone wants to help write a column for the Journal please write me at amfmdx at
centurytel dot com. If anyone has a one off story for the Journal it would be excellent to
have it sent along as well.
This is the site to join ABDX. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ABDX/
To join ABDX by mail here’s where to send the mail:
ABDX-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
The ABDX website URL is: www.abdx.org
The ABDX Journal is available to all at no cost. Please pass it around to your DXing
friends and also post it on other lists as well. We want as many as possible to see the
Journal so we can grow the DX hobby. Please do your part to keep our hobby viable.
You can get your copy of the journal at www.abdx.org
Kevin Redding, Phil Rafuse, Powell Way, Mike Richard, Jay Heyl and Martin Foltz the
ABDX crew.
The Broadcast Band
Harry Helms – Corpus Christi, TX
Receiver, Antenna.
1/21
I'm hearing the Caribbean Beacon on 1610 now with a female speaker (Mrs. Scott??) and
some non-religious pop music from the 1960s/early 1970s, dominant on channel and building
nicely as the sun sets. Thanks for the tip, Juan!
1/22
Fun stuff! XEUACH, Radio Chapingo dominant on channel with what can best be described as
"Cuban techno" music but it can be easily nulled for Anguilla, with Mrs. Scott rambling on
about the "auxiliary functions of the church" or whatever. I suspect the Caribbean Beacon
should be as widely heard as it was in the late 1980s when it was a winter regular at my QTH
in San Diego. Go get 'em, campers!
Ron Gitschier – Palm Coast, FL
DX-398
1/3 8:24PM Local, WCZZ Greenwood, SC 1090 - Heard "Sporting News Radio" heading into a
break, string of national-oriented ads, nothing localized noted for listening for three to four
minutes.
Signal varied, but peaked to what I'd envision as 20db over 9, fading slowly back and forth with
a spanish language easy listening sort of vocal song on another station. I'll try to head back out
for the local ID. And me with ALL my portable radios AT WORK. Every one... to my wife's
delight, no less.
1/6 1550 KHZ, presumed, WRHC Coral Gables, FL. Hispanic Language Telephone Talk,
noted caller and hosts voices were // to 670, mentions of communities around Miami-Dade,
also // to Cadena Azul website where WRHC streams live. Signal fair at peaks, but usually
poor, nulling WNZF Bunnell, FL on a barefoot Radio Shack DX 398 just prior to 11PM eastern
time.
670 kHz, presumed WWFE Miami, FL, signal poor but readable, as per above notes.
1/29 Trying out a DaySequerra Model M4 AM and FM HD Tuner (heaviest tuner I've ever
carried...): Radio Shack 15-1853 AM loop antenna.
660 WFAN NY, NY. in HD
700 WLW Cincy, OH in HD
780 WBBM Chicago, IL in HD
880 WCBS NY, NY in HD
1010 WJXL Jax Beach, FL, in HD
1510 WLAC Nashville, TN in HD.
530 RVC Turks and Caicos, curiously, NOT broadcasting in HD, apparently. Nor
570 Radio Reloj, Cuba, NOT in HD, either. hmm.. (eye roll)
Steven Wiseblood – Boca Chica Beach, TX
Receiver, Antenna
1/21/2009
1610 XEUACH MEXICO, Edo. de MEXICO, Chapingo; 2007 M ancr in SP, playing FarEastern orchestral music from India, China and South Korea, ID "Radio Universidad Autónoma
Chapingo" good signal! ; 2017 apparently mixing w/EG station, two Men talking about religion,
but not //6090!
XEUACH Chapingo playing Middle-Eastern/gypsy type chanting now, SP M & W ancrs,
mixing with two EG men w/Caribbean accent(?) talking about religion!
1610 XEUACH MEXICO, Edo. de MEXICO, Chapingo; 2104 apparent school song "bim-boombah" 2107 MEXICO orchestral National anthem then s/off still with open carrier 2111.
1610 ANGUILLA "The Hill" Caribbean BEACON; 2117 Pastor Melissa Scott talking religion
"God is not an option..." //6090
Ira Elbert New III – Watkinsville, GA
Sony ICF 2010 or as listed
1510 WLAC TN Nashville - 01/01/09 0130 - Coast To Coast AM with George Noory featuring Art Bell
hosting Part II of his Annual Prediction Show for 2009. Very good, steady signal. "Newsradio 1510,
WLAC".
IEN-GA Ira Elbert New, III, Watkinsville - SONY SRF-M37
550 WDUN GA Gainesville – 01/01/09 1349 – The Capital One Bowl. Good, steady
signal. “WDUN, Newstalk 550”.
580 WGAC GA Augusta – 01/01/09 1400 – The Capital One Bowl and TOH ID. Good,
steady signal above the static. “Newstalk 580, WGAC, Augusta…Where News Comes
First”.
640 WGST GA Atlanta – 01/01/09 1405 – Atlanta area traffic and weather. Good,
steady signal. “640 WGST Traffic…”.
660 WLFJ SC Greenville – 01/01/09 1419 – The Dave Ramsey Show. Good, steady
signal. “Christian Talk 660”.
680 WCNN GA North Atlanta – 01/01/09 1500 – The Outback Bowl on ESPN Radio
and TOH ID. Good, steady signal. “WCNN, North Atlanta…680, The Fan”.
750 WSB GA Atlanta – 01/01/09 1506 – The Capital One Bowl. Very good, steady
signal. “Newstalk 750, WSB”.
960 WRFC GA Athens – 01/01/09 1800 – TOH ID and The Fifth Quarter Show. Very
good signal. Athens’ Sports Radio, 960, The Ref…WRFC, Athens”.
1540 WTBI SC Pickens – 01/01/09 1320 – Southern Gospel. Good signal with periodic,
deep fades. “WTBI’s Walk Down Memory Lane”.
1610 WPQX GA Watkinsville – 01/01/09 1328 – Oconee County’s EMA Station with
news and information about Oconee County, Georgia. Very good signal. “This is WPQX
600”.
1690 WMLB GA Avondale Estates – 01/01/09 1331 – An eclectic mix of Blues, Folk
Music and Americana. Good signal with slight fades. “Your Voice of the Arts, AM 1690”.
780 WBBM IL Chicago – 01/02/09 2143 – Newscast. Good, steady signal.
“…WBBM780.COM”.
820 WBAP TX Fort Worth – 01/02/09 2132 – The Laura Ingraham Show. Good signal
with slight static. “…on Newstalk 820 WBAP”.
1120 KMOX MO St. Louis – 01/02/09 2117 – NHL Game. Very good, steady signal.
“This is KMOX”.
1200 WOAI TX San Antonio – 01/02/09 2122 – NBA Game. Good signal with slight
fades. “Spurs Radio 1200, WOAI”.
1630 KCJJ IA Iowa City – 01/02/09 2132 – High School Basketball. Weak, but steady
signal above the static. “The Mighty 1630, KCJJ”.
720 WVCC GA Hogansville – 01/26/09 1731 – Traffic and weather for Midwest
Georgia. Good signal. “720, The Voice”.
Martin Foltz – Mission Viejo, CA
HQ 180
I noted KFBK IBOC is off tonight, 10:50 PM PST 1/7/09. I can clearly hear KOKC on 1520. I
can usually null the IBOC but the signal is better with it off.
Here is a report on our trip to Costa Rica.
Wendy and I spent a week in Costa Rica and I had some time to DX during the daytime. I
mostly concentrated on verifying slogans and some format information. We stayed in a house
outside of Huacas in northwest Costa Rica. The nearest large town was Santa Cruz.
There was an earthquake in San Jose a few days before our trip but it wasn't felt where we
were. I did note some San Jose stations were not heard. We arrived early on January 10, 2009
and left early morning
January 17, 2009.
The receiver used was my Radio Shack TRF. It does not have digital frequency readout.
Reception inside the house was very poor. I suspect the walls were made of concrete blocks.
Most of my listening was near a window and on the outside patio (16th).
The variety of music and programming was a nice change from US stations. Lots of different
upbeat music to listen to. We will probably be back and next time I'll take something to do
some recordings. The FM dial was also full but didn't listen much with my SRF-59. Next time I'll
take an ultralite with digital readout.
All programs were in Spanish, all slogans as heard, times in UTC. Costa Rica is UTC-6 hrs.
530 COSTA RICA R Sinfonola 1815 1/16 music program
540 NICARAGUA R Corporacion 1811 1/12, ID talk with mentions of Sandinistas, big hum.
550 COSTA RICA R Santa Clara 2301 1/16 ID, noticias. Might have religious format
570 COSTA RICA 5-70 AM Libertad 1802 1/16 music program
590 COSTA RICA R Nacional 1800 1/16 ID, news
610 COSTA RICA R Maria 1820 1/12 religious talk, ID and into news at 1830.
640 COSTA RICA R Rica 1702 1/16 music program, ID with call letters too.
670 COSTA RICA R Managua 1824 1/16 ID, what sounded like a radio drama program
700 COSTA RICA FCN R Internacional tentative1650 1/16, big signal but never heard an ID,
news opinion program and music.
730 COSTA RICA R Pacifico 7-30 1905 1/16 ID, musica romantica
780 COSTA RICA R America 1456 1/15 music program
800 COSTA RICA R Gigante 800 AM 1908 1/16 music program
850 COSTA RICA R Cartago 1938 1/16 music program
870 COSTA RICA R Universidad de Costa Rica 1909 1/10 classical music
890 COSTA RICA R Heredia 1947 1/16 music program, nice ID with calls 1959, also
mentioned 8-90 AM
910 COSTA RICA 9-10 AM 2000 1/16 news, religious pgm. Heard at 2304 with talk and
slogans mentioned
930 COSTA RICA R Costa Rica 2005 1/16 religious music program, slogan mentioned during
a song at 2010.
960 COSTA RICA Actual 9-60 2021 1/16 talk program
980 COSTA RICA R Alajuela tentative 2027 1/16 weak with mentions of Banco de Costa Rica,
music program
1100 COSTA RICA R Chorotega 1615 1/12 religious program
1180 COSTA RICA R Victoria, 11-80, 2052 1/16 music program
1200 COSTA RICA R Cucu 2100 1/16 la numero uno en musica ranchera, might have been
relaying their FM
1340 COSTA RICA R Sideral La 13-40 2113 1/16 music program with mentions of San
Ramon.
1420 COSTA RICA R Pampa 2128 1/16 heard other times too, had two spurs just below 1420,
around 1400 and 1410.
1560 COSTA RICA R Nicoya 2137 1/16 music program including an English song.
1590 COSTA RICA R 16 2146 1/16 talk program, ID and mention of Grecia at 2159.
I left out many UNIDs. Some stations just don't ID that often. Several UNIDs were probably in
Nicaragua (600, 620).
Chris Black – Cape Cod, MA
Icom 756 Pro II, Icom R-75, SDR-IQ 35' x 90' flag loop, 300' long wire
1431 DJIBOUTI Voce of America/Radio Sawa, Arta 01Jan09 0029 - Man in Arabic, then woman
with Arabic song, woman with apparent news, US rap music. 0043 Man with "Radio Sawa" ID, then
more mid-east and US pop music. - Fair-Good in peaks
810 BAHAMAS ZNS3, Nassau 06Jan09 0007 - Man in Island English reading obituary reports for
Jan 9. Then "Radio Bahamas news time seven minutes past the hour of seven". - Recorded - Fair-Good
with WGY phased
810 COLOMBIA HJCY Caracol Colombia, SF de Bogatá 06Jan09 0013 - Interview with founder of
the FARC guerrilla movement, Manuel Marulanda Vélez, a k a Tirofijo, who died last year. Then
discussion about the ELN guerrilla group and one of its most prominent members, father Camilo Torres
Restrepo, killed in action in 1966. - Recorded - Fair with WGY phased, thanks to Henrik Klemetz and
Sylvain Naud via RealDX for translation.
1040 CJMS,Montréal QC - 02Jan09 1915 - (WBZ IBOC off temporarily
1320 WATR,Waterbury CT - 02Jan09 1200 - Recorded-"Your favorite oldies 1320 AM WATR
Waterbury"
1040 WYSL,Avon NY - 03Jan09 0038 - News Talk
1040 WNJE,Flemington NJ - 03Jan09 0052 - ID as "1050 ESPN New York"
1490 WCEC,Haverhill MA - 03Jan09 1559 - Recorded - "WCEC Haverhill-Lawrence a Costa-Eagle
broadcasting station"
1490 WXTG,Hampton VA - 03Jan09 1400 - Recorded - "This is WXTG AM Hampton and WXTG-FM
Virginia Beach"
920 WCHR,Trenton NJ - 04Jan09 2223 - ESPN with football
920 WIRD,Lake Placid NY - 04Jan09 2121 - Recorded - oldies, YL with singing jingle ID, "WNBZ"
[sister // station on 1240]
920 CKNX,Wingham ON - 05Jan09 2226 - Recorded - "AM 9-20 CKNX" 2232 Focus on the family
920 WGHQ,Kingston NY - 05Jan09 2153 - "920 WGHQ"
720 GREENLAND: (Denmark) KNR, Simiutaq 14Jan09 2132 - Man in Inuit language -
Recorded - Good, language verified by Jean Burnell via RealDX
720 PORTUGAL RDP 1, various 14Jan09 2149 - Soccer match announcing by man in Portuguese.
Benfica was playing Olhanenses. The match was part of the ongoing Carlberg Cup. - Recorded - FairGood under WOR IBOC and mixing with Danish from Greenland. Thanks to Henrik Klemetz for
translation.
1610 ANGUILLA The Caribbean Beacon, The Valley 22Jan09 0109 - // 6090
Woman peaching in English – Good
531 FAROE ISLANDS (DENMARK) Kringvarp Føroya, Akraberg 22Jan09 2159 - Musical theme
ending previous interview segment then 3 short pips and another 3 short pips and time check. Then man
with news in Faroese, a language related to Icelandic. - Recorded - Fair verified by Bjarne Mjelde via
RealDX
Phil Rafuse – Stratford, PEI
Drake R8 and LFE M601C or as Listed
Its been a long while since I did some armchair DX - but feeling like I'm coming down with the
flu, leaning back in my radio room chair - DXing with the Drake R8 using its aftermarket remote
certainly was preferable for me tonight rather than sitting bolt upright or hunched over another
receiver:
1380 CKPC Brantford ON with a classic hits format, playing mostly 70s music, then into a
promo for CKPC.com. 1380 is normally a frequency I would just spin by, but I'm glad I paused.
12:41 a.m. AST Jan 20/09
1650 CINA Mississauga ON and CJRS Montreal QC slugfest with CINA dominating at times.
CINA brings back happy memories of the old 1680 WTTM :)
It dawned on me as well while surfing the MW band with the Drake R8 that its rather sloppy LC
filters are rather handy for spotting TAs - indeed, I snagged a couple higher band TAs by
switching to the Palstar R30A and Icom R71A with their tight filters. But Germany 1422 and
Saudi 1521 are common catches here.
And now, snuffle, snuffle, ache ache, spin spin, back to bed...
Home with the flu, I caught the following on the Drake R8 fed by the
1/21
LFE-M601C antenna:
Starting at 8:23 a.m. AST [ending at about 8:50 a.m.]
1250 WMTR Morristown NJ - NEW!
960 WATS Sayre PA IDing as WAVR - NEW!
960 WELI New Haven CT
640 WNNZ Westfield MA with NPR programming - NEW! CBN St. John's NL
normally owns this frequency.
1070 WTWK Plattsburgh NY "EVE 1070"
As you may guess, I was trying to receive again 1070 KNX and got a usual pest. But, I was
also trying to receive again 960 CFAC and I got WATS.
I could have so easily passed WNNZ by. The programming sounded rather CBC like, so I
assumed it was CBN. But then, I heard references to CT, NH and MA. So I waited and I got
an ID for WNNZ.
Heard at 11:22 p.m. AST Jan 27/09 on a Stromberg-Carlson for Collins R-392 fed by the LFE
M601C antenna:
750 WSB Atlanta GA
Normally, 750 CBGY across the pond to the NE in NL owns the frequency about 2/3 of the
time, while YVKS Caracus Venezuala across the pond :)
to the S owns it the the other third of the time. Catching WSB here in PEI is quite rare.
Richard Berler – Laredo, TX
Sony EX-5
1/14
KATH Frisco, TX 500W 910 KHz 455 miles from Laredo. Religion talk/program 8:50pm
KMBZ Kansas City, MO 5KW 980 KHz 840 miles from Laredo. U of MO. Basketball vs. Colorado
8:55pm
1/16
On Sangean PR-D5:
WWLS Moore, OK 640 KHz 5KW (still daytime) 5:40 pm 546 miles from Laredo...talking about
OK Thunder NBA team
KNSS Wichita, KS 1330 KHz 5KW 5:45 pm (still daytime) 712 miles from Laredo...O'Reilly
Factor
Chicago on 670 was coming in great with their 50KW!
1/27
On SONY ICF-S5W
Monday...KCKM 1330 KHz 5KW Monahans, TX...Kickin Country. 351 miles from Laredo...5:37pm
local
Tuesday...WYLD 940 KHz 10KW New Orleans...Amen 940 (Gospel). 597 miles from Laredo...5:37 pm
local
Kevin Redding – Adamsville, TN
Receiver and Antenna as listed
Heard on a Sangean DT400W nekkid:
1160 WYLL Chicago, IL 1/1 1500 ToH ID, News, Sandy Rios repeat with right wing Sarah
Palin love stuff.
Heard on a little DX399:
540 WWCS Canonsburg, PA 1740 Radio Disney and teeny bopper music.
570 Radio Reloj Cuba 1804 Time Pips and Morse RR.
850 KOA Denver, CO 1827 with announcer asking people if they had a hot tub and if the
Bronco's suck.
Heard on a DT400W nekkid:
870 WWL New Orleans, LA 1/2 0906 with local news right after the national news.
1040 WHO Des Moines 1/3 1703 with ToH ID and Hawkeyes v. Hoosier basketball.
1090 WCZZ Greenwood, SC 1/3 1717 with Sporting News Radio. NEW
1110 KFAB Omaha, NE 1/3 1706 with WX 13F tonight and ID.
1200 WOAI San Antonio, TX 1/3 1709 with Mike McConnell show and right wing rot.
Thanks to PEW III for heads up about WCZZ being full power
1130 WBBR New York City, NY 0735 Bloomberg Sports and then weather.
1190 WOWO Ft. Wayne, IN 1532 with Ft. Wayne Komets hockey, score 3-2.
1330 WEBY Milton, FL 1632 "Talking Baseball" subject free agents.
1560 KGOW Bellaire, TX 1719 ad for a Texas DWI lawyer // to webstream. Ad for an
emergency hurricane supply kit.
760 HJAJ Barranquilla, Colombia 1928 Erray Say Ennay. SS woman and man announcers.
Fighting o/u WJR.
Heard on a Sangean DT400W nekkid.
1130 CKWX Vancouver, BC 1/4 2327 with weather for Vancouver, Revelstoke, Kelowna, etc.
ID. Nice signal.
1050 CHUM Toronto, ON 1/5 0532 with traffic report for backups on the 401 ID and ad for
Bruno's Fine Foods. CHUM 1050.
810 WGY Schnectady, NY 1/5 0530 ID then news.
1030 WBZ Boston, MA 1/5 0525 with ID and cutting through all the IBOC.
1070 KNX Los Angeles, CA 1/5 0536 ID "KNX newstime three thirty six." then fade out.
1520 KOKC Oklahoma City, OK 0543 with news and ID. It would come up above WLAC IBOC
at times.
740 KRMG Tulsa, OK 2149 covering the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes in the GMAC Bowl.
660 KSKY Dallas, TX 2305 ID and Dr. Laura. This station is now conservative talk. Last time I
heard it they had REL.
I heard a couple of mornings ago from CBW in Winnipeg on my DT400W but forgot to report it.
Didn't have it in the logs because I was laying in bed.
Heard on a DT400W nekkid:
620 WDAE St. Petersburg, FL 1/11 2005 with ID " You're listening to 620 WDAE The Sports
Animal". I usually hear Jackson, MS here. NEW.
1340 KSMO Salem, MO 11/13 2220 Popping out of the soup for only 30 seconds, an ID. "1340
KSMO".
1320 WHIE Griffin, GA 0620 1/15 with promo and ID "Solid Country Gospel WHIE Griffin."
620 KMKI Dallas, TX 2158 with R. Disney then ID. Fighting with a sports station. NEW #284
from TN.
1290 KIVY Crockett, TX 2005 ID and intro to Kennard Tigers basketball. NEW #285
Heard on an Eton E-1 and 150 foot wire:
1610 The Caribbean Beacon, The Valley, Anguilla 1/21 1835 I had to use PBT, USB, 4 kHz,
Sync Det and weak as hell, there it was DGS speaking from the dead and fighting it out with
what I presume is the Canadian on the same freq. Thank you to Bogdan and others who put
out this info. BTW they have 6.090 running again.
1000 CMAC Radio Guama, Los Palacios, Pinar del Rio, Cuba 2300 playing Cuban National
Anthem into music. NEW.
1134 Glas Hrvatske Zadar, Croatia [t] 2140 het coming in and out, heard non English speech
and on occasion non English music. Do not know for sure that this is Croatia but presume it is.
Had to use it all, PBT Sync Det, filters and USB to hear this. If it is it, this is the first TA on MW
to get some speech or music. Have had the BSKSA het on 1521.
540 WDAK Columbus, GA 0700 with ToH ID and into FOX News complaining about any
stimulus for the economy.
1080 CMCU Guines, La Habana, Cuba 1/28 2300 playing Andalante Cubanos, the national
anthem of Cuba.
790 CMAQ Pinar Del Rio, Pinar, Cuba 1/28 Radio Reloj with Cuban news and RR morse
Neil Kazaross – Barrington, IL
Drake R8 and BOGs
WCCM 1110 NH on late with SS ballads These guys from this state that is extremely tough
this far west on at night again and running endless SS ballads with a pause inbetween each
and same as webstream.
Alan Furst – Round Rock, TX
As listed
1/14
WCNN The 680 The Fan with promo for The Rude Awakening and interview with John Smoltz.
Heard on Sangean DT-200VX 5:45PM CST.
1/16
KKIM 1000 Albuquerque NM. This is listed as 10KW day and 38 watts night. Heard under
Radio Mil. 10:40 PM
Radio Reloj on 790 with audio and tones. Also with tones only under KOA on 850.
AR 7030 and Quantum Loop v 2.0
1/21
-I'm hearing what I assume is the Beacon on 1610. There is chanting,which sounds middle
eastern with an English language announcer. The announcer mike is very low, can't pull him
out to get positive ID.
Tim Hall – Chula Vista, CA
Receiver, Antenna
1/2
This morning on the way to work I heard 1180 running ABC news and sports and IDing as "the
new KERN." Haven't been able to tell if KERI is on 1410 now. Phone number 842-KERN.
1/23
No IBOC for the second night in a row. Every channel from 570 to 630 sounds better.
I wonder why their HD listeners haven't noticed. Maybe they're both out of town :)
"This is WPFK505, Banning(?); this highway advisory radio is operated by CalTrans on AM
620.". WPFK505 is/was a network of 6 stations on 620 in Riverside county around I-15 and I10. They almost never had more than 2 of them on the air at the same time. They may have
moved them to 1610 to escape XESS-620 and the slop from KOGO-600 (which by the way
had IBOC turned off last night). Caution is advised when logging this one since the CalTrans
office that runs the HARs for Riverside and San Bernardino counties is notorious for messing
up their IDs in every possible way.
Paul LaFrienere – Grand Marais, MN
Icom R-75, Antenna
1150 UNID 1510 CST 6 JAN 08. Station calling themselves either "Memories 1370"
or "Memories 1470." Could not make out which. NOS format.
1330 WNTA IL Rockford. 1100 CST. Slid in with TOH I.D. then promptly disappeared.
Never realized in 50+ years of DXing that I had never logged this one. NEW
There has been a Fox Sports Radio affiliate dominating 1070 all night. Still there at 0520 CST
18 Jan 09. Might be WKOK. No sign of WTSO Madison, WI ESPN which is the usual
dominant on 1070 in these parts. I have not waited around for TOH I.D. to see if it is WKOK.
1200 WOAI TX San Antonio. 1-20 0540. Local ads.
1200 WCHB MI Taylor. 1-20 0702. Detroit ads. I.D. "WCHB"
1200 KFNW ND West Fargo. 1-22 0900 TOH I.D. "Faith Radio" slogans.
1210 KOKK SD Huron. 1-20 0535. Local news headlines "on KOKK."
1210 WPHT PA Philadelphia. 1-22. 0543. Ads for firms in Delaware Valley. Talk.
1210 WJNL MI Kingsley. 1-22 0945. "From Cadillac to Canada--this is WJNL."
1220 KLBB MN Stillwater. 1-20. 0800. "This is 'Music of Your Life' on 1220 KLBB
Stillwater--Mpls--St. Paul.
1220 CHSC ON St. Catharines. 1-20. 1503. News. "The official station of the Ice Dogs."
1220 CJRB MB Boissevain. 1-22 0928. Ad for West--Man Wildcats. Rel.
1230 WKLK MN Cloquet. 1-20 1003. News. Local weather. NOS.
1230 WTKG MI Grand Rapids. 1-22. 0655. Call letter I.D. The biggest pest I have on
1230.
1230 KTRF MN Thief River Falls. 1-22 0851 Tradio type program.
1230 WIKB MI Iron River. 1-22 0906. Local ads. Call letter I.D.
1240 WMFG MN Hibbing. 1-20 1006. "America's Best Music on 1240 WMFG."NOS.
1240 WOMT WI Manitowoc. 1-22 0913. Talk about inauguration. womt.com
1250 WSSP WI Milwaukee. 1-21 0425. Fox Sports Radio
1250 KBRF MN Fergus Falls. 1-20 0550. Local ads. I.D. Buck Owens--'Together
Again.'
1250 CHSM MB Steinbach. 1-22 0832. Local ads & weather. Long list of MB temps.
1260 WNDE IN Indianapolis. 1-20 0628. Fox Sports Radio. wnde.com I.D.1260 WNDE.
1260 WXCE WI Amery. 1-20 1020. Local news. & I.D.
1260 WSDZ IL Belleville. 1-22. 0720. Radio Disney.
1260 KROX MN Crookston. 1-22 0937. Local weather. Call letter I.D.
1270 KWEB MN Rochester. 1-20 1021. Sport talk. Local ads.
1270 WWWI MN Baxter. 1-20 1022. "Your newstalk station--3WI."
1270 WXYT MI Detroit. 1-22. 0630. Sports talk. Detroit ads.
1270 WMKT MI Charlevoix. 1-22 1007. "WMKT sports" followed by "WMKT weather"
followed by I.D.
1280 KVXR MN Moorhead. 1-20 1027. EWTN
1280 WWTC MN Minneapolis. 1-20 1030. "AM 1280--The Patriot." Inaug coverage.
1280 CFMB QC Montreal. 1-20. 1515. Ads & talk in Italian.
1280 WNAM WI Neenah. 1-22. 0717. NOS. Call letter I.D.
1290 WIRL IL Peoria. 1-21 0450. Local ads & I.D.
1290 WMCS WI Greenfield. 1-21 0456. Promos for programs on "The Talk of the Town-WMCS."
1290 KKAR NE Omaha. 1-21 0500. TOH "Newstalk 1290--K--Car—KKAR Omaha."
1290 CFRW MB Winnipeg. 1-20. 1455. Oldies I.D. News.
1290 WHIO OH Dayton. 1-22. 0606. "Newstalk 1290 WHIO traffic."
1290 WKLJ WI Sparta. 1-20. 0927. Local ads & weather. " ESPN 1290."
Dean Wayman – O’Neill, NE
Kaito 2100, Homebrewed Loop
1/9
600 khz KSJB 5000 w class B 'Classic Country' Jamestown N.D. Girls/Boys B ball stats and
then into a break for news and a song
650 khz KGAB class B 8500w Day 500w Night 'Cheyennes News/Talk' Orchard Valley WY.
670 khz WSCR 50 kw class A '670 The Score' Chicago Ill.
1010 khz CFRB 50w class A , simulcast on 6070 khz 'News Talk 1010' Toronto ,Ontario
1060 khz KYW 50 kw class A '24 hour News' Philadelphia PA. My first real east coast
contact!
1130 khz CKWX 50 kw 'News 1130' Vancover B.C. I heard (your forecast for tommorow
and your maritime forecast) which peaked my interest ? so i peaked the loop! my first real west
coast contact . That's Coast to Coast in 5 Mins. !!!
I Know I Know ! not a great catch but C to C pretty cool!
1/13
580 khz WIBW Topeka Ka. 5000w Class B News /talk /sports
640 khz WOI Ames Ia. 5000w Day 1000 night Class B Local news talk/ and NPR
Last time we did a pocket Radio DX , this set was on it's way to me so i had a good time with
this . Just to make it a bit more trouble, i decided to try at noon and sunset
Radio ; Kaito WRX 911 Barefoot
11:30 - 12:00 Central
540 KWMT 'AM 540'
5000w Day,170 Night Fort Dodge Ia.
570 WNAX 'Radio 570'
5000w
Yankton S.D.
590 KXSP 'Big Sports 590'
5000w Class B Omaha Ne.
620 KMNS 'Fox Sports Radio 620' 1000w Class B Sioux City Ia.
640 WOI '640 WOI' NPR \Talk 5000w D 1000w n Ames Ia.
660 KCRO 'Omaha's Christian Talk' 1000w D 54w N Omaha Ne.
680 KFEQ '680 KFEQ' N\T\Sports 5000w Class B St. Joseph Mo.
750 KMMJ 'A Message you can Trust'10,500w Class B Grand Island Ne.
780 WJAG 'News Talk 780'
1000w Class D Norfolk Ne.
800 KQAD 'Light Fav's AM 800' 500w Day 80w N Lavernne Minn.
840 KTIC '840 Rural Radio'
5000w Class D West Point Ne.
880 KRVN 'News\Talk\Info'
50,000w Class B Lexington Ne.
900 KJSK 'The Talk of The Town' 1000w Class D Columbus Ne.
1000 KXRB 'Coutry 1000'
10,000w Day 1000w N Sioux Falls S.D.
1020 ???? Spanish
1050 KLOH 'America's Best Country' 9380w Day 432w N Pipestone Minn.
1110 KFAB News\Talk
50,000w Class A Omaha Ne.
1350 KBRX 'Top Dog in Country' 1000w Class D
O'Neill Ne.
1450 KYNT 'Yankton's Home Team' 1000w Class C Yankton S.D.
1590 KTCH 'Real Country' 2500w D 47w N Class D Wayne Ne.
1620 KOZN '1620 The Zone'
ESPN Radio
Omaha Ne...............................................
5:00 - 7:30 PM Central
600 WMT News\Talk
5000w Class B
Cedar Rapids Ia.
650 WSM 'Nashville's Country Legend' 50,000w Nashville Tenn.
650 KGAB 'Cheyenne's News\Talk' 8500w D 500w N Orchard Valley Wyo.
760 WJR News\Talk\Sports 50,000w Class A
Detroit Mich.
780 WBBM News \Talk
50,000w Class B
Chicago Ill.
790 KGFO 'Mighty 790'
5000w
Class B
Fargo N.D.
800 WBAR No info Other than a FM station In N.Y. ?
810 KBHB 'Five State Farm Radio' 25,000w D 60w N Sturgis S.D.
830 WTGO I Heard (Chicago's Proggresive Talk) but no info ?
840 WHAS 'Depend On It'
50,000w
Louisville Ky.
850 KOA 'News Radio 850 KOA' 50,000w Class A Denver Colo.
850 WWJC 'The Light' Religous 10,000w Class D Duluth Minn.
860 CJBC French Language
50,000w Class A Toronto Can.
860 KNUJ 'Full Service News\Talk' 1000w D 5w N New Ulm Minn.
870 WWL 'The Big 890'
50,000w Class A New Orleans La.
880 KRVN News\Talk\Info
50,000w Class B Lexington Ne.
890 WLS News\Talk
50,000w Class A Chicago Ill.
920 KYFR 'Family Radio'
5000w D 2500w N Shenandoah Ia.
940 KPSZ 'Praise 940'
10,000w D 5000w N Des Moines Ia.
990 CBW 'CBC Radio 1'
50,000w Class A Wininpeg Man.Can
1020 ??? Spanish Music and Talk
1040 WHO 'Who Radio'
50,000w Class A
Des Moines Is.
1100 WTAM Clevelands Only News Radio' 50,000w Cleveland Ohio
1110 KFAB 'News\Talk'
50,000w Class A Omaha Ne.
1120 KMOX Sports\Talk \News 50,000w Class A St. Louis Mo.
1160 KSL 'Ksl News Radio' 50,000w Class A Salt Lake City Utah
1170 KFAQ 'Tulsa's Talk Radio 1170' 50,000w
Tulsa Okla.
1190 CFSL 'AM 1190' Country 10,000w D 5000w N Weyburn Sas.Can.
1250 ??? Spanish Music and Language
1350 KBRX 'Top Dog In Country' 1000w Class D O'Neill Ne.
1500 KSTP 'AM 1500 KSTP' News \Talk 50,000w St. Paul Minn.
1520 KOKC 'Talk Radio 1520'
50,000w
Oklahoma City Okl.
1540 KXEL 'Iowa's News Talk Station' 50,000w Waterloo Ia.
1590 KTCH 'Real Country'
2500w D 47w N Wayne Ne.
1590 ???
Spanish Music and Talk
1630 KRND 'La Grande'
10,000w D 1000w N Fox Farm Wyo.
1670 WTDY 'The Pulse'
10,000w D 1000w N Madison Wi.
1690 WVON 'The Talk Of Chicago' 10,000w D 1000w N Chicago Ill.
1700 KBGG 'AM 1700 The Champ' 10,000w D 1000w N Des Moines Is.
Actually this is a decent Radio I like the Blue color and it got me about 15 new contacts ?
I didn't bother with FM but I can Recieve Stations from 200+ miles away at night with this little
thing!
The only thing I don't like about it, is the analog dial, it's very easy to get lost in it , but if you
know what your looking for? and what it should sound like, it's good fun.
A cheap pair of headphones makes it much easier to hear as well.
About 4:00 in the afternoon ,WBBM (Chicago) starts to run over WJAG (Norfolk Ne.) been
doing that all winter .
One station from the east was still on Day power WOI Ames Ia.
Three from the west were still on Day power as well, KGAB Wyo ,KBHB S.D. ,KSL Salt Lake
Utah.
1/24
1020 Khz KOIL Regional Mexican Programing 50,000 D 1,400 N Plattsmouth Ne. Class B
,lot's of nice music here.
1250 Khz heard what sounded like ( Numero Uno) other than that ,no info yet?
Jay Heyl – Orlando, FL
As Listed
1/1/09 0830Z 0720kHz WGN News and promo for WGN
1/3/09 Local WORL-660 was off the air during the time I was listening last night and this gave
me a shot at what I have to think is a rather rare catch in these parts. KSKY-660 was coming in
with a pretty decent signal.
The only other thing worth noting is that WGN was coming in much stronger than WBBM last
night. Usually WBBM is in clear and WGN is rather poor.
01/03/09 0441EST 780 WBBM Weather. 17F at O'Hare.
01/06/09 0156EST 1120 KMOX Call-in show about economy
01/06/09 0200EST 1200 WOAI ID at TOH before news
01/06/09 0212EST 650 WSM ID during promo
01/06/09 0215EST 720 WGN Discussion of 2008 movie box office take. Unusually strong signal.
01/06/09 0220EST 660 KSKY Political talk. ID during break.
Heard on a Sony SRF-59.
2009-01-15 0431EST 820 WBAP Midnight Trucking network with oddly rational political
discussion, into local weather at BOH.
2009-01-15 0435EST 830 WTRU Station promo and mention of WTRU.com
WBAP is only noteworthy because there is a local on 810 that puts a lot of splatter on the
adjacents. Even I was surprised that the little Sony could separate WBAP from the neighboring
local. Amazing radio for $15.
A couple from last night on my stock Eton E100 barefoot.
2009-01-22 0300EST 1620 WNRP Gulf Breeze, FL "News radio 16-20". Mention of Pensacola. Into
talk about NFL draft.
2009-01-22 0354EST 1630 WRDW Augusta, GA ID during break
1/29 You either have far better reception in your area (or the little loop included with the XDRF1HD is far worse than I thought), or that is one very hot tuner. I checked the same
frequencies and here's what I got.
660 WORL Orlando. This blocks most of the competition here. KSKY threatens to break
through sometimes.
700 WLW HD is being detected, but can't get a lock.
780 WBBM I'm getting a lot of noise. Maybe having the antenna a couple feet from the
computer monitor isn't a good idea.
880 WCBS HD detected, but no lock.
1010 WJXL Signal fading in and out. No sign of HD.
1510 WLAC HD detected, but no lock.
I also got an HD detection on 840, but no lock.
Bruce Carter – Dallas, TX
Superadio III
1/28
Pretty good opening from about 1200 up - I've done some 500 mile
stations like a 1650 from Arkansas in the Dallas area, the 1560 from
Houston sounds like a local, even as low as 1170 from Tulsa and WOAI
1200 from San Antonio are as strong as locals. I don't know how long
it will last or whether it has to do with the ice storm.
John Cereghin – Smyrna, DE
Car radio or as listed
1/1/09
Was looking for 890-WFKJ Cashtown PA for the ultralight log last night, instead got
unexpected 890-WBAJ Blytheville SC with "Bible Answers Live" with good TOH ID at 1700.
Brand spanking new station for the master log and ultralight station #446, so a good way to
end 2008. Heard barefoot on the DT-400W.
WJUN-1220 Mexico PA at 1630 with ESPN programming. Also a new station for my master
log.
WCTF-1170 Vernon CT at 1645 with distinctive Family Radio/Harold Camping program
WYSL-1040 Avon NY, at 1650 in the middle of an ad string with lots of Rochester-area
addresses
WEEX-1230 Easton PA at 0015 on Jan. 3 with ESPN radio. IDs with 1320-WTKZ. Heard
barefoot on the DT-400W. Ultralight station #460 and my 23rd ultralight graveyarder.
920 WBAA West Layfayette IN at 1700 with "All Things Considered". No ID but obviously an
NPR station, and this is the only one listed on 920. I believe West Lafayette is on Eastern
Time (the wacky time zone issues in Indiana makes that tough to figure out at times!) so the
schedule fits. Mark this as presumed. Logged on the DT-200VX barefoot and would be UL
station #460 if it held up. A 602-mile catch.
1/6
1270 WTSN Dover NH at 0825, local sports reports and ads, call ID. Heard on my 2000 Ford
Taurus and a new log.
1440 WLXN Lexington NC at 1700 with Dennis Miller show and call ID. Heard on the DT400W barefoot for my 462nd UL station. Was sitting on 1440 and may have had one of the
ESPN outlets from either Red Lion (York) or Landsdale PA but couldn't get an ID or any local
mentions, so I'll be sitting on 1440 again tonight at sunset.
From January 18-20, I was in the bustling metropolis of Ney, Ohio (about 45 miles west of
Toledo) visiting family, so I took my DT-200VX for some ultralight DXing. The electrical noise
in Ney was simply horrible (sitting under the traffic light in Ney totally wiped out the AM band
on my car radio) but I managed to null it out and get some logs. Nothing exotic or fancy, but
for the record, here's what was heard:
630 CFCO
Chatham ONT, IDed with 92.9, "Country 92.9 and 630"
960
WERC
Birmingham AL, "Newsradio 960 WERC". This was the best log of the trip
980
WONE
Dayton OH, Fox Sports Radio
1030
WUFL
Sterling Heights MI, "Family Life Radio", Christian programming
1140 WAWK
Kendallville IN, "1400 The Hawk"
1150 WIMA
Lima OH
1220 WERT
Van Wert OH, only 250 watts!
1230 WCWA
Toledo OH
1260 WNDE
Indianapolis IN
1280 WONW
Defiance OH, the local station, talk and Fox Sports, plus Defiance High School
Bulldogs basketball games. I have heard this station in Delaware
1320 WILS
1340 WCSR
Lansing MI
Hillsdale MI, "Radio Hillsdale"
1350 WCSM
Celina OH
1380 WKJG
Ft Wayne IN
1400 WBAT
Marion IN with sports talk
1450 WLYV
Ft Wayne IN, "Redeemer Radio", Christian programming
1520 WQCT
Bryan OH, the other local station
1570 WGLL
Auburn IN, Three Angels Broadcasting Network, Catholic programming
1590 WTVB
Coldwater MI
1/23
Getting Croatia-1134 and BBC-693 around 2030 Eastern here in Delaware so far. Still
checking.
1/26
740 KRMG Tulsa OK, 2200, new for the UL log but a re-log overall, but nice since this adds
Oklahoma to the log for my 34th UL state.
850 WFTL, West Palm Neach FL, 2205 with "Newsradio 8-5-0, WFTL" ID and south Florida
weather. 912 miles at 1 kw (listed). Big signal, booming in.
1310 WTLB, Utica NY at 1530, "The All-New 1310, The Game", Fox Sports Radio and lots of
ads for Rome, Utica and the Mohawk Valley.
1310 Here is the mystery- someone had the satellite feed open and I hears "This is the ABC
Radio Networks Test Channel" loop from 2015-2030 with test tones for "the right channel",
then "the left channel" and then "for both channels" but no IDs. Anyone else hear this on
Sunday night?
W. G. Hauser – Enid, OK
DX398
** MEXICO. XERF, 1570, dominating the channel at 2150 UT Jan 5, in show ``El Baúl de los
Recuerdos`` (The Trunk of Memories), presenting only female singers of the 60s. Ran late so
Big-Ben style hourtop 16 chimes did not appear until 2201, `4 en punto`, yeah, sure. Reception
was axually worse by then, still an hour before sunset, because other skywave was building up
from peanut-power US stations, but there are so many of them! Could not catch axual XERF
ID, maybe during fade, but did get `100,000 vatios` and an apparent toll-free 866- number,
mention of IMER, the Mexican government agency which runs it (and used to run XERMX);
after 2202 into news, ``Última Hora``
** OKLAHOMA. KEOR, Catoosa/Sperry/Tulsa OK, 1120, had kept on with nothing but music
tests for weeks and weeks, but missing Jan 3 at 1937 check, allowing KMOX to just barely be
heard as its skywave was starting to build. We shall see if KEOR be off for good again. Still off
at 1750 UT check Jan 4.
KEOR, 1120, Catoosa, missing for the third day in a row, Jan 5 at 2100 UT; but I am only
making one brief check sometime during the days. Henceforth it will be news if it is back on
** U S A. WBAP, 820, with IBOC noise on 830 (too much Kansas City on 810 to tell the other
side on caradio), Jan 5 at 2147 UT; so they are still running it at least daytimes, nights not
checked
** U S A. 1680, Tue Jan 6 at 0703 UT check was not even in news, but black gospel music, no
doubt KRJO Monroe LA, which tends to be the dominant 1680 here at night. On UT Sunday I
had heard Tom Leykis talkshow later in the same hour from unknown source. Perhaps the only
solution will come from monitoring one week later than that, unless it was a total fluke
** OKLAHOMA. WKY 930 OKC is now ``La Indomable 930 AM, con la mejor música regional
mexicana en todo el estado de Oclajoma``, an exaggeration, as daytime coverage does not
really reach the four corners of the state with any significant signal. Also claiming 5 times the
power as before, so where did this format move from, a 1 kW station? ID as heard 1720 UT
January 9. 930 sounds like local origination and not an FM simulcast; until a 1731 plug for a
show on La Indomable 105.3! Which I cannot get in Enid, at least not on a portable to confirm
whether //. 105.3 is KINB Kingfisher, NW of OKC, which has only 0.93 kW ERP, so they are
comparing FM and AM powers which are in reality Incomparables. Tigermap 60 dBu coverage
not working, but region map shows site is due east of Okarche, the next town S of Kingfisher,
making an upright isosceles triangle with Kingfisher, and putting it a bit closer to NW OKC.
Anyhow, coverage of 930 AM is much greater for those wishing to listen to AM.
The IDs only mention 930 AM so maybe the 105.3 promo was a leftover. $$ trumps language
as an ad in English for Turbotax ran at 1732 UT, and Spanglish is also OK. Just before 1801
UT ran legal ID in Spanish but with calls pronounced in English, ``WKY, Oklahoma City`` and
una emisora de Citadel Broadcasting Company. According to radio-info.com posts, KINB
105.3 is now sports, but in Spanish too, from ESPN.
KEOR-1120 Catoosa still missing Jan 9 at 1717 UT check.
Quick caradio monitoring check while visiting OKC Jan 7: RBN far-right pirate on 107.1 still on
the air with good coverage, but new KNID North Enid takes over not far north of OKC. 99.7,
still no sign of (KZLS) hijacked from Enid to ``Mustang``, just the gospel-huxter translator
K259AM which FMedia! says will become K261DP on 100.1 instead
** U S A. Earlier this month I could not hear KGNO 1370 Dodge City KS in the daytime, as I
used to, and figured it must have been silent. But it`s back now, altho heard via skywave, Jan
28 at 0720 UT with ID as ``AM Gold Radio 1370, KGNO``. And enjoyable music such as a
1960s version of Carole King`s ``Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow``; ``America`` by Simon &
Garfunkel; ``Expressway to your Heart``, ``Gimme Some Lovin``` and something by The
Temptations. Lots of QRM, but generally dominating the channel.
Also presumably same heard at 1514 UT still with heavy skywave CCI --- sounds like a
regional channel, which it is. Now playing Ray Stevens` ``Ahab, the A-rab``, 1520 ``We May
Never Pass This Way Again`` by Seals & Croft.
New format, no longer sports/talk as in 2008-2009 NRC AM Log. Night power supposed to be
only 230 watts vs day power 5000, non-direxional day and night, which is a bit of a rarity.
Maybe grandfathered; it is an old station. Here`s Ernie Cooper`s 1933 QSL:
http://www.nrcdxas.org/ERC_Veries/KS/KGNO.pdf
Can`t find a KGNO website (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1540 kHz, Jan 28 at 1513 UT station in Spanish with 214 area code, therefore the
32-kW KZMP, licensed to University Park, the suburb named for SMU in The Metroplex. But
more significantly, it was bothered by IBOC (boo, hiss), and so was KOMA-1520 OKC, at this
late hour. AFAIK, this could only be coming from WCKY 1530 Cincinnati (or whatever the calls
are this week), and there was a strong AM talker on 1530 I did not try to ID (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. 1690, WVON Berwyn IL, Jan 28 at 1511 UT running opinion disclaimer, then the
Santita (sp?) Jackson Show, and she IDed it as ``The Talk of Chicago, 1690, WVON``. I would
think that one of the bigger stations would have locked up that slogan in that market. This in
the bright sunlite on our ice and snow, but solar angle still plenty low for strong skywave from
over a megameter away on the X-band. This station must also be the source of IBOC hiss I
often hear on 1680, altho not at this moment (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. KEOR, 1120, Catoosa/Sperry/Tulsa, active again with stale unannounced
oldies, Jan 30 at 1932 UT check. Still apparently testing pending sale to start regular
programming with announcements, even commercials (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** U S A. Jan 30 at 1932 UT, exactly an hour after local mean noon, on caradio heard weak
but steady signal on 1200 with weather for ``The Alamo City``, so must be WOAI San Antonio,
residual skywave, as that`s a bit much for groundwave at almost 500 miles on this high a
frequency, even tho it combats higher and higher solar angle southward (Glenn Hauser, Enid
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Powell E. Way III – Silverstreet, SC
Eton E-10
Heard on a very tiny Zenith Royal 20 1/4:
760 HJAJ Barranquilla, Colombia 2040 Fighting o/u WJR. ID'd previously by Kevin Redding
560 WFRB Frostburg, MD running talk. OWNING the frequency. Certainly not 50 watts. It took
until TOH ID as they run generic liners. There was a MD local commercial that pointed that
way. 01/17/09 2000 hours
690 WIST LA New Orleans ...weak NOS and ID of sorts "You are listening to the mighty 690
WIST" very week but not much else on the frequency...had to null WLW's hissnicity... 2200
hours 01/23/09
Kaito 1103 somewhere in the woods 5 miles NW of Silverstreet, SC
Larry Wild –Aberdeen, SD
DX396 FRG-7, 90 foot wire antenna
1/4 @ 8pm, CST. "Listener supported Christian Radio in Lincoln" The call sounded like W?NO.
The only station in a Lincoln on 1370 is WLLM, Lincoln Illinois. They are a Christian station.
But there night time power is 35w. Daytime is 1000. I find this hard to believe.
Bruce Winkelman – Tulsa, OK
Drake R-8, 50 foot wires
1/12
770 WVNN on top of the frequency on the drive home this evening 1805CST.
Noted as well this evening between 2115-2130CST here at home with WBBM
IBOC phase nulled. Doubt they're on night power.
Barry McLarnon – Ottawa, ON
Receiver, Antenna
1/16
CKDO appears to be off the air tonight (currently 2130 EST). 1580 sounds like a graveyard
channel in their absence.
1/25
KPRM Park Rapids MN apparently on day power/pattern tonight, C&W music, ID heard at
2143 EST.
1/28
Conditions continue to improve tonight, bringing some nice signals from the west. I've heard,
for example:
540 CBK (huge, maybe best ever here)
660 CFFR
850 KOA
880 CKLQ
960 CFAC
970 KQAQ
1070 KVKK (and maybe KNX in behind)
1130 CKWX
1140 CHRB
1290 CFRW
1630 KRND
Alas, 'tis past time for bed...
1/30
549 here now is Germany, with classical music. Signals at mid-band seem to be improving,
with UK 1089 and 1215 now producing audio.
Conditions are good in the other direction too: hearing KNX on 1070 very well at times (with a
little help from the phaser to knock back CHOK). WTIC has been cooperating by leaving their
IBOC crud generator off tonight.
Bogdan Chiochiu – Pierrefonds, PQ – QC
Sangean CST-818, PK's Shielded Mag LW Loop
1/17
570 CUBA CMDC, Radio Reloj, Pilón JAN 17 0342 - Woman with nx and RR code IDs at the end of
one news item. Couldn't copy much, as the reception wasn't as good as the last Sunday morning, but
obviously you don't need armchair copy to get the RR code IDs past WSYR Syracruse... I wonder when
is WSYR nest maintenance period ? (Chiochiu-QC)
600 CUBA CMKV, Radio Rebelde, Urbano Norris JAN 15 0210 - "...el primero, segundo..." baseball
play-by-play. Good under domestics. SIO 422 (Chiochiu-QC)
640 CUBA CMBC, Radio Progreso, Guanabacoa and / or CMBD, Radio Progreso, Las Tunas JAN 17
0339 - Presumed with Spanish programming in heavy QRM from WNNZ and other weaker visitors.
This one is NOT as strong as it once had, giving real hope of hearing the José Elias Diaz Gomez's DX
tests during the Sintonía DX program over Unión Radio (YVQO, Puerto-La Cruz, Anzoátegui) during,
at least, a decent semi-auroral opening, if not a heavy auroral one. (Chiochiu-QC)
730 unID JAN 17 0450 - In local CKAC null: romantic Spanish male vocal getting through strong
residual CKAC, followed by Spanish announcements way under residual CKAC. SIO 412. I had some
fadings in null of their groundwave, as if skywave already start to blen with groundwave at such a short
distance (probably 12 km from downtown Montreal as the crow flies) ! HJCU Melodía AM in Santafé
de Bogotá is suspected, as XEX is now "Sports Ya". Also, didn't seem // 640... (Chiochiu-QC)
750 VENEZUELA YVKS, Radio Caracas Radio, Caracas, Distrito Federal JAN 17 0350 - Woman
announcer with several repporters concerning a lost video and their attempts at trying to locate that lost
video which seemed fairly suspect (weird, to say the least). SINPO 33322, as the signal wasn't too stable
and almost completly faded away with WSB fading-up. Overall, pretty fair reception ! (Chiochiu-QC)
760 COLOMBIA HJAJ, RCN Cadena Basíca, Barranquilla JAN 17 0350 - Man in studio chatting with
someone outdoors, very threshold and unreadable. Condx need to be at least SLIGHTLY below average
to South America for this one to be, at least, listenable ! (Chiochiu-QC)
770 CUBA CMKB, Radio Rebelde, QTH ? JAN 17 0449 - Cuban "beisbol" event way under WABC,
noted in passing. (Chiochiu-QC)
780 VENEZUELA YVNM, Radio Coro, Coro, estado Falcón JAN 17 0445 - one hour later, after an
unsuccesful attempt to listen to a definite signal out of HJAJ-760, got to hear an upbeat cumbia using
major chords with lots of accordeon at a fair level. Quite surprised to get this, as this one is well heard
when conditions are at least AVERAGE toward South America and the past night they were well
subpar. A couple of dozens of seconds later, I was chassing possible Colombia-730 ! (Chiochiu-QC)
1/20
Radio Progreso is in on 640 kHz with a poor and almost listenable signal playing a highly expressive
radio drama. The only LAm signal I was able to notice. I have an annoying buzz that is disturbing most
MW frequencies and it is threshold on 640 but very loud and annoying everywhere, so this, mixed up
with a Foreign Languages class tomorrow at 9 o'clock will definitively run any DXing tonight.
1/23
Spain-585 with weak talk right now... Seems like the TAs are getting back...
The weak talk on 585 kHz was my first MW TA in 2009 yet !
1/23
550 VENEZUELA YVKE, Caracas, Distrito Federal JAN 30 0140 and 0207 - Did tune to this channel
at both times, heard with a passionate speech by Hugo Chavez about how bolivarianism is related to
social justice. Good to very good, but not quite excellent. Minor QRM from WEVD from Waterbury,
VT. SINPO 33534 ! It's the 5th time this season I log this Caraqueño ! Semi-regular ! (Chiochiu-QC)
600 CUBA CMKV, Radio Rebelde, Urbano Norris JAN 30 0405 - Good over WICC ! Probably the
most reliable Rebelde MW frequency in the Montreal area, now that CMBA-670 is heavy pestered by
the ugly WFAN-660 IBOC hash ! Of course, you can always use either shortwave (5025 kHz) and the
Internet to catch them out ! (Chiochiu-QC)
610 CUBA CMAN, Radio Rebelde, Bahía de Honda JAN 27 0430 - as I randomly tuned around, heard
their distinctive "Rebelde, La Habana" IS through WIP Philadelphia. The only noteworthy catche from
late Monday night, as during most of the evening, all LW, MW and SW were severely hammered by a
strong buzz which dissapeared around local midnight allowing for this weak 1 kW Cuban to sneak
through the Philadelphia pest, in CHNC null ! Semi-regular here ! (Chiochiu-QC)
750 VENEZUELA YVKS, Caracas, Distrito Federal JAN 30 0150 - carrying the "Librería Sonica" litt.
program with reviews of novels and poems. According to the announcements I caught, this is a remake
of a program heard during the daylight, those unavailable to overseas listeners ! Huge, SINPO 43533 !
At the Saul Chernos, Coro on 780 is the most commun YV, but in the Montreal ares, the biggest
Venezuelan pest is YVKS-750 (RCR). (Chiochiu-QC)
760 COLOMBIA HJAJ, RCN Cadena Basíca, Barranquilla JAN 30 0135 - Spanish talk noted in
passing at a fair-good level, in a very deep WJR null. SIO 343 in WJR null ! Didn't stay with it. I'm tired
of this being the ONLY Colombian coming through with any degreee of regularity ! A few weeks ago I
tentaitvely logged HJHP-580 in Cali which is probably the best bet for North American DXers wanting
to log a Todelar station. Todelar is the the third biggest Colombian network after Caracol and RCN !
(Chiochiu-QC)
Heard on the Sangean CST-818 / PK's Magnetic Shielded LONGWAVE loop combo:
555 St KITTS AND NEVIS ZIZ, Basseterre FEB 1 0220 UTC - with upbeat calypso music. Good to
nil (in a fade right now). Best reception in AM Wide mode since AM Narrow revealed a fairly distorted
sound. On the low-end of the AM Broadcast band, the PK's Shielded Magnetic LW loop shows similar
performence to the Sanyo MCD-S830's ferrite bar antenna ! But, above 580 kHz and below 800 kHz, the
Sanyo MCD-S830 with it's own ferrite bar, has the edge... This makes me even more tempted forward
purchasing a MW Magnetic loop ! I'm quite impressed with this Caribbean split ! I didn't even bother to
turn on the Sanyo MCD-S830 I usually use for mediumwave DXing, since TAs were better the past
night between 580 (585) and 630 (621) kHz were the Sanyo MCD-S830 has the edge and I don't regret it
since I couldn't get the faintest trace out of Spain-585 tonight, as far as I tried (I'm only DXing since a
couple of minutes with the computer far enough from the radio to avoid QRM) ! (Chiochiu-QC)
On both the Sanyo MCD-S830 barefoot and on the Sangean CST-818 / PK's Shielded Magnetic
longwave loop (which was set to amplify the highest frequency) combo, Spain-585 is in and out. At
0320 UTC, after an Afrocuban vocal, the male announcer talking about how Cuban music is popular all
over the world ! SIO 423 -> fairly good SIO ! Best level since 2009 begun ! Also, some jazz music with
male comments between the jazz music selections !
Curiously enough, the PK's Magnetic LW loop is having more gain on 585 kHz MW than the ferrite bar
antenna inside the Sanyo MCD-S830 boombox portable which hears almost, but not quite as much as
the Sangean CST-818 / PK's Shielded Magnetic LW loop combo do in the 500s. Above the 500s, into
the 600s and beyond the gain is lower, though earlier I had possible Croatia on 1134.
As the Murphy Law is in effect, Spain-585 fades just before the top-of-the-hour !
Norbert Ansay – Warwick, RI
Grundig G6
1140 CJTR Quebec Canada 5:05 PM EST talking about unstable snow in moutains warning of
avalance dangers 1/2/09 owned channel dont like giving calls. [CHRB? Ed.]
1070 WKOK Sunbury PA 4:58 PM EST running football game broke for station ID caught ID
clearly 01/03/09
560 CFOS Owens Sound Canada 4:38 AM EST playing hands across the water followed by
AM 560 CFOS 1/4/09
950 WIBX Utica New York 5:30 AM EST gave calls then onto news and weather 1/5/09
1010 CFRB Toronto Canada 5:00 AM ET gave calls and into the news. I have heard this
station many times under or over WINS NY. This logging is in complete absence of WINS with
local grade signal. 1/6/09
570 WSYR Syracuse NY 5:30 AM EST Gave weather going down to 16 then gave calls 1/6/09
900 CHML Hamilton Onterio Canada 4:30 AM EST came out of an ad block and gave calls
CHML Hamilton 1/7/09
970 WZAN Portland Maine 4:00 AM EST grabbed calls at TOH in null of 970 soup bowl 1/8/09
900 CINW Montreal Canada 3:58 AM EST running coast to coast break for ID ad for friday
night disco party slogan AM 940 montreals greatest music and calls . 1/10/09
870 WHCU Ithaca NY 5:34 PM EST gave calls followed by weather cold front coming in
1/12/09
Eric Berger – Carleton, MI
GE Superadio III
SAT 03 JAN 2009
17.00 ** WHLN-AM 1410 Harlan, KY - Faded up with ID, lost.
17.08 ** -AM 1300 - Poor with Oldies 1300, 'Good Time Radio.' Lost.
17.17 ** WJFK-AM 1300 Baltimore, MD - Faded up over above with ads, MD Basketball on
ESPN 1300
17.29 ** -AM 1410 - Faded up with Adult Standards, lost
17.30 ** WLSH-AM 1410 Lansford, PA - Faded up with ads, 'Oldies 1410.'
17.39 ** -AM 1380 - Faded up with 25 Years Of Hits, lost
17.43 ** KAGE-AM 1380 Winona, MN - Faded up with KG Country, lost.
18.03 ** -AM 1350 - Faded up with Urban Gospel, lost
18.51 ** WHWH-AM 1350 Princeton, NJ - Mostly Poor with diverse playlist, 'Radio Ted,
WHWH' heard here.
*SUN 04 JAN
16.45 ** -AM 1360 - Faded up with 'End Of the World' by R.E.M., lost at end of record
16.47 ** WPPA-AM 1360 Pottsville, PA - Popped in with ID and ads
16.52 ** -AM 1000 - Poor under WMVP with Contemporary Christian mx, nothing said between
records. Thinking maybe needed Horseheads, NY?
17.19 ** WHAW-AM 980 Weston, WV - Poor with True Oldies Channel, only
affiliate listed on their site. New catch!
17.55 ** KRNT-AM 1350 Des Moines, IA - Fair with Nostalgia, show promo between records.
Haven't heard in a while!
*MON 05 JAN
7.47 ** WONE-AM 980 Dayton, OH - Fair with Fox Sports
7.57 ** WTEM-AM 980 Washington, DC - Fair to SE with ESPN 980, Website promo
7.59 ** -AM 1000 - Very poor under WMVP with what sounded like C&W mx, possibly
unneeded WIOO
8.29 ** WLEC-AM 1450 Sandusky, OH - Very poor with nx, Timeless Favorites
8.45 * WQLR-AM 1660 Kalamazoo, MI - Poor with 1660 The Fan, AZO area ments
8.59 ** WSMI-AM 1540 Litchfield, IL - Very poor under KXEL with Community Calendar, HS
basketball promo, CNN nx, lost. New catch!-17.41 ** WGCR-AM 720 Pisgah Forest, NC - Fair with prayer, sign off, SSB
David Hochfelder – Albany, NY
Receiver, Antenna
1/8
Last night was a pretty good LA night here in Albany, NY, with Cuba wrecking WOR on 710. I
had very strong (at peaks) Spanish on 730, with what sounded like a religious program, and
the Mexican National Anthem at 0100 ET/0000 CT. I don't know if the National Anthem was
from the same station, but the odds are good. I know that XEX in on this channel, but format
doesn't fit. WRTH is not much help either.
Juan Gualda – Ft. Pierce, FL
Receiver, Antenna
1/20
I noticed a fairly strong signal on 1610 tonight at about 6:00 pm, with a female talking about
scripture, and many mentions of Dr. Scott. It’s still there as of this writing at 8:44 pm eastern.
Down in the Basement
(Editor – Jay Heyl)
Martin Foltz – Mission Viejo, CA
Collins 51J-2, HQ-180A, Palomar Engineering VLF converter
1 January
KSM 426 kHz 1 Jan 09 first heard at 0113UTC with weak signal. In good
at 0127 with weather broadcast. This on the HQ-180A. Switched to the
51J-2 at 0138. Listened later at 0335UTC they started a VVV marker.
7 January
Today I received a letter, prepared card and business card in the
mail from Tofino MCTS for my reception of VAE on 518 kHz. v/s Dale
Gross, Officer-In-Charge. 1 KW, 110 foot vertical antenna, capacitive
top loaded just installed Oct 15, 2008.
Kevin Redding – Cosmic Crump, TN, center of the known universe
Eton E-1, 150 foot wire
4 January
171 2158 I can hear some violin music playing but way too weak to ID.
Who is on 171? (Ed. Probably Morocco with their 2MW transmission.)
189 2201can only detect a carrier and a little super weak voice.
252 RTE Ireland 2205 a woman with an Irish accent reading the news it sounds like but also
exceptionally weak.
These are the very first LF broadcast receptions in a very long time for me. I heard
Komsomolsk 153 in AZ but nothing since then.
Its pretty awesome to get this so far inland in my estimation.
Rick Barton – Bartlett Lake, AZ (Dxpedition)
Sangean ATS-803A
4 January
272 (UNID.) SRL (any help here?) 0530. (Ed. Probably 270-SRL, Santa Rosalia, Baja
California Sur)
373 TF Aruba (Pueblo) CO 0610
359 YQZ Quesnel, British Columbia, CAN. 0615 and mixing with
Boise "BO".
290 YYF Penicton, B.C., Canada, NDB 0530
346 YXL 0615 Sioux Lookout NDB , tangling with "Chandler" (CA)
NDB. (at field, Sioux Lookout, Ontario, CAN).
346 FCH Chandler NDB, Fresno, CA 0610
358 BO Boise , ID ("Ustik"). 0543.
373 ITU "Truly" NDB (Great Falls, MT) 0545.
404 MOG Montague, CA 0600.
Ron Gitschier – Bunnell, FL
RS DX-398
198 kHz: "-.. / .. / .--" (Ed. DIW, Dixon, NC)
387 kHz: "-./-/-" (Ed. Most likely 388-AM, Tampa, FL)
333 kHz: ".-/../.." (Ed. Most likely 335-LEE, Leesburg, FL)
243 kHz: "../.-/-.." (Ed. Most likely 243-IAK, Palatka, FL)
Powell E. Way, III – The other center of the known universe
Direction finding Hitachi with no model number
329 CH Charleston AFB, North Charleston, SC 1940 01/12/09
379 BRA Asheville, NC 1945 01/12/09
Bogdan Chiochiu – Pierrefonds, PQ – QC
Sangean CST-818, PK's Shielded Mag LW Loop
162 FRANCE France Inter, Allouis JAN 17 0251 - Fair-good with minimal computer-like hash
playing slow music on guitar. SIO 453 ! (Chiochiu-QC)
171 MOROCCO Medi Un, Nador JAN 16 0345 - continous plantive Arabic vocals which were
perphaps religion-related. Generally fair ! The best North African LW in the Montreal area !
(Chiochiu-QC)
183 GERMANY Europe 1 JAN 16 0310 - Booming in as I tuned it with a French talkshow
regarding the sexuality of the older persons ! This and Iceland-189 are usually the strongest
longwave broadcasters to reach my QTH in the Montreal area ! (Chiochiu-QC)
189 ICELAND Rikisutvarpid, Gufaskalar JAN 17 0125 - with a mixture of Icelandic and
English-language pops and short IDs as "Ruv (Fier?)..." between almost each song. (ChiochiuQC)
207 unID JAN 14 0320 - bits of unredable audio getting through several beacons including
perphaps QI on 206 kHz in Nova Scotia. SIO 111, nothing usable. (Chiochiu-QC)
216 FRANCE RMC, Roumoules JAN 16 0420 - French news, poor-fair in the absence of the
usual groundwave and/or short-skip beacon that dominates this TA channel. (Chiochiu-QC)
225 POLAND unID JAN 15 2231 - weak man talk, pretty much a threshold signal. Probably
Poland, as this is the only broadcaster heard on this channel by our dearly Sylvain Naud !
(Chiochiu-QC)
234 LUXEMBOURG RTL, Beidweler JAN 14 0549 - with a joke regarding the Barak Obama's
rise in status "il casse la baraque" which roughly translates to break the shadow between him
and his futur status as the president of the USA. Very good, way over NDB QRM, had
armchair copy for a couple of minutes, but then faded under the beacons ! Best ever reception
of this 2 MW powerhouse ! SINPO 43522 (Chiochiu-QC)
23 January
LW TAs are odd tonight, nothing on 162, 183 or 189, but 171 Morocco is fair and Ireland-252
(actually 253 in AM Narrow mode to avoid the UL beacon on 248 kHz) is at a decent level with
Irish-accented English talk show. I just wish I had a nice LW gear when Atlantic 252 was
active.
25 January
I am taping right now to Germany-177 Deutschlandradio Kultur with woman in GG, then
classical religious-sounding chorale ! NEW ! Huge splatter against Europe 1. Also France-162
is weakly audible barefoot and has a blackboster signal when the PK's Shielded Magnetic loop
is connected on my Sangean CST-818 !
153 unID JAN 25 2223 UTC - music and talk very weak and fluttery flashing S1 over S7 on
and off on the Sangean reading meter ! It's rare for me to hear audio down there, as the PK's
Shielded Magnetic LW loop doesn't show much gain below the France Inter frequency.
Germany, Algeria and Romania are equally possible ! (Chiochiu-QC)
162 FRANCE France Inter, Allouis JAN 25 0449 UTC - after French litterature chatter and
analysis, they did play "Rue de la Paix" by Zazie, one of the most uplifiting French alternative
rock diva, then the litterature program continued with a book dealing with wealthy Dutch man
("la bourgeoisi hollandaise") and how the narrator tried to fight against their socionarcisistic
attitude. Very good at times with no computer-related growl, though the computer-like noise did
comeback today. SINPO 45523. In France, this station is rumoured as being a favorite among
mothertoungue general culture teachers and among the students who manage to obtain
straight A on French, like a kind of general-service France Culture ! At times, this birdie was
audible on the Sangean CST-818 barefoot with no additional loop ! (Chiochiu-QC)
171 MOROCCO Medi Un, Nador JAN 24 0326 UTC - plaintive Arabic male vocals noted at a
fair level. +JAN 25 2258 - with a raï number followed by a newscast in Arabic with computerlike growl on and off popping on this channel and on several ones too ! (Chiochiu-QC)
177 GERMANY Deutschlandradio Kultur, Oranienburg, Zehlendorf JAN 25 0505 UTC Woman talking in German leading into classical choral music that was fairly reminiscent of
some dance-metal gothic artists such as Nightwish or Mylène Farmer ! Fairly annoying splatter
was noted against Europe 1 on 183 kHz and it were these guys and not usual blaster Iceland189 that were the source of this QRM trouble ! NEW ! Germany#2 on LW for me ! (ChiochiuQC)
183 GERMANY Europe 1, Felsberg, Saarlouis JAN 25 0446 UTC - playing "Comment Te
Dire Adieu" by Jane Birkin, then announcer sayed it was from 1968, then changed topic and
announced warmly Europe 1 was about to help the victims of the windstorm that did shake the
southern France from Grenoble to the Pyréennées areas. Huge signal that had slow, but deep
fadings and was sometimes splattered by Germany-177. SINPO 44332. (Chiochiu-QC)
189 ICELAND Rikisútvarpid, Gufaskalar JAN 25 2215 UTC - Icelandic talk that leaded to
music selections that sounded like a blend of Native American and African tribal music
with primitive melodic aspects, yet full of authenticity ! SINPO 45544 until some computer-like
noise moved up in frequency and rendered listenability more problematic. +JAN 25 2323
UTC - man talking in Icelandic with a dramatic voice, possibly reading an emotional full-filling
story or a poem ! (Chiochiu-QC)
198 UNITED KINGDOM BBC Radio 4, Droitwich JAN 25 0712 UTC - Talkshow regarding the
need to continue the BBC international coverage of the Gaza conflict and other issues
regarding the BBC's international coverage. Armchair copy ! SINPO 34543 with barely
noticeable QRM from a much weaker beacon and splatter from 201 kHz (Montreal) eliminated
with the receiver in AM Narrow Mode. (Chiochiu-QC)
207 MOROCCO RTM, Azilal JAN 25 0703 UTC - Very tentative ! Bits of talk and music that
sounded Arabic. Probably best audio I ever had on 207 kHz. SINPO 22222 (Chiochiu-QC)
216 FRANCE RMC Info, Romoules JAN 25 2230 UTC - French chatter, sports related,
regarding problems involved in the organisation of French soccer games; noted at a decent
level (pretty fair) with, surprisingly, no beacon interference at all. SIO 353. (Chiochiu-QC)
225 POLAND Polski Radio 1, Solec Kujawski JAN 25 2320 UTC - playing Polish rock music
fairly similar to the Croatian rock selections Croatia-1134 was having prior to the switch from
MW to FM and from the beginning of the Glas Hrvatska program which did replace the national
domestic service on mediumwave and Polish talk by a young lady that was apparentlt the host
of a talkshow as I heard Polish youngsters on the phone ! SINPO 34423. My furthest east
catch below SW, so on LW-MW ! +JAN 25 2342 - with a flute based polka ! Nice ! SIO 444
+JAN 25 2354 - The only longwave broadcaster to produce audio ! Unbelievable, but truth !
Iceland-189 and all the others killed by buzz... Poor-fair right now with woman host chatting
with her listeners on the phone ! This one gives real hope of hearing Romania-153 ! Sylvain
Naud, what are my chances of logging Romania-153 ? +JAN 25 2359 - time pips, then "Polski
Radio Mah program..." ID leading to news. Heard twice "Polski Radio" ! Is "Mah", "one" in
Polish ? Almost armchair copy and still the strongest voice presence on LW in Pierrefonds ! As
the short newscast ended, into an early 50s American number that was followed by the
Brazilian bosa nova number "Mais que nada" ! SINPO 34444 ! +JAN 26 0021 - Still the only
LW with audio right now with a falsetto Polish male vocal, then woman announcing in Polish
something. SIO 444 with minimal hugh-pithced QRM. S5out of S7 on the Sangean CST-818's
reading meter ! Best reception ever, though slowely but definitively faded down to SIO 222 at
0023 UTC during the course of just 2 minutes. At 0026 UTC, completly gone, SIO 000 ! LW is
amazing ! (Chiochiu-QC)
234 LUXEMBURG RTL, Beidweler JAN 15 2228 - playing "Steppin' Out" by Joe Jackson from
1983, then unreadable FF talk ! Forgot to submit that one earlier, though it is coming often, but
rarely really strong unlike 162 and 183 which are real blockbusters ! +JAN 25 2240 UTC Jazz-rock music selections and French male announcer talking about the music just played.
SINPO 33342 with limited readability due to medium-level beacon interference and the
understandibility was still little even in AM Narrow mode ! (Chiochiu-QC)
252 IRELAND RTE Radio 1, Clarkestown JAN 24 0329 UTC - Irish-accented English
talkshow noted at a decent level with receiver tuned to 253 kHz in AM Narrow Mode to dodge
the UL beacon on 248 kHz. Nothing readable, as tuning to 253 kHz reduce the UL-248 QRM,
but slightly increases QRM from a distant beacon around 254 kHz. SIO 322, probably my best
reception of Ireland-252 yet ! No sign of Algeria, so far, during the last couple of days ! +JAN
25 2308 - again tonight at SIO 332, so improved from SIO 322 with the signal slightly stronger
and the QRM very slightly weaker, almost readable ! +JAN 25 2312 UTC - imrpoved to a good
peak (almost huge hein ?) with end of an instrumental jingle, male announcer sayed
"Welcome" (so readable !) and leaded to a NOS female vocal likely from the 1930s. SIO 433,
best ever reception of Ireland-252 ! Reception made in AM Narrow mode on 253 kHz like
always ! (Chiochiu-QC)
162 FRANCE France Inter, Allouis JAN 31 0610 - Woman in French noted at a poor level,
though not representative at all of the REST OF THE LOGS (see below) ! (Chiochiu-QC)
171 MOROCCO Medi Un, Nador JAN 31 0130 - SINPO 24333 -> a Middle Eastern pop tune,
then a special request for the "Por Ella" salsa number of Victor Manuel which was followed by
"Tous les cris, les SOS" of Daniel Balavoine, someone who sadly passed away while travelling
for the Paris-Dakar contest in January of 1986. Seems like Morocco is the third spot after
Russia and Japan for non-English foreign music on the planet ! French Caribbean zouk is also
VERY popular in Morocco ! After the Daniel Balavoine recorded, heard raï vocals back-to-back
! Around 0230 UTC, they played an Amadou et Mariam track, so Morocco seems highly
devoted to World Music and foreign cultures ! Fair at this time, but the best was yet to come !
+JAN 31 0415 - Spanish romantic ballad, then Celine Dion, Robbie Williams, then Arabic
rhythmic contemporary vocals. Huge ! Peaking S6 out of S7 on the Sangean CST-818's
reading meter ! Probably my best-ever reception of Morocco-171 yet. SINPO 44544 (ChiochiuQC)
177 GERMANY Deutschlandradio Kultur, Oranienburg, Zehlendorf
183 GERMANY Europe 1, Felsberg (Saarlouis) JAN 31 0520 - Excellent level, almost locallike, with lengthy newscast. One of the items was about the strike of workers in Guadeloupe.
Terrific SINPO ! SINPO 54444 with barely noticeable splatter from Iceland-189 ! Best ever
reception of Europe 1 for me ! Of all the 4 French stations (France Inter, Europe 1, RMC Info
and RTL), Europe 1 is always the most reliable one, good enough even for a non-DXer to
enjoy ! (Chiochiu-QC)
189 ICELAND RUV, Gufuskalar JAN 31 0615 - at this time, switched from International pops
to classical piano music, then later, as I felt asleep, I was told Icelandic talk was coming out of
the bedroom ! Very good ! (Chiochiu-QC)
198 ENGLAND BBC Radio 4, Droitwich JAN 31 0526 - British Accended English talk
splattering into the local 201 kHz beacon in AM Wide mode ! The signal wasn't really strong
though, just the Sangean CST-818 isn't too selective in AM Wide Mode ! (Chiochiu-QC)
207 unID DEC 31 0510 - talk and music badly QRMed by beacons on nearby frequencies.
Nothing usable ! SIO 211 ! (Chiochiu-QC)
216 FRANCE RMC Info, Romoules JAN 31 0510 - French news noted in passing at a nice
level, over the beacon that is usually pestering this channel ! SIO 443 (Chiochiu-QC)
225 POLAND Polski Radio 1, Solec Kujawski JAN 31 0014 - first founding of the evening, as I
tuned to it, playing the "Lady In Red" smash hit of Chris de Bourg followed by man with
comments in Polish, as the Polish talk appeared, the signal started to fade. As usual, the
fadings on longwave are slow and deep, deeper than the fadings observed with MW signals !
SIO 353 - fair-good, but not quite good ! (Chiochiu-QC)
234 LUXEMBURG RTL, Beidweler JAN 31 0016 - female country-rock vocal (Fleetwood Mak
?), then man in French. Poor and hetted by beacons from both sides of the channel. SIO 222.
Should be better tonight as the past night condx on LW were spectacular especially toward
Ireland and Algeria on 252 kHz and the ionospheric conditions are improving really fast these
times around ! (Chiochiu-QC)
252 IRELAND RTE Radio One, Clarkestown JAN 31 0051 - playing an amazing blues-rock
English vocal that was fading over and under Algeria's French talk at almost armchair level.
SIO 423 ! Best on 253 kHz in AM Narrow Mode as usually, though it could be separed from the
pesky UL beacon on 248 kHz on 254 kHz in AM WIDE MODE ! (Chiochiu-QC)
252 ALGERIA Alger Chaîne 3, Tipaza JAN 31 0110 - discussion program about the best way
to resolve the Gaza conflict. Fair-good, over / under Ireland best ever reception of these guys !
First time readable ! SINPO 33523. Friday night was probably my best yet for LW DX !
(Chiochiu-QC)
Phil Rafuse – Stratford, PEI
Palstar R30A, Icom R71A, M601C
29 January
Lots of nice, clearly audible and listenable TAs every 9 KHz from 153 to 252 inclusive,
although a narrow filter and offset tuning is necessary to keep those annoying, s meter pinning
beacons at bay. 261, 270 and 279 are wiped out by noise.
234 Lux is especially strong. But yikes, at the moment they are playing the most horrific
version of 'knock, knock, knockin on Heaven's door' I've ever heard.
225 Poland is coming in quite well too.
Receivers used are the Palstar R30A on its 2.5 KHz mechanical filter and the Icom R71A on its
narrow crystal filter - both offset by 1 Khz to avoid beacons and enhance audio clarity.
Antenna is the M601C.
Jay Heyl – Orlando, FL
AR7030+/Quantum QX Pro/6Hz audio filter
Did some NDB listening last night for an event from another group. I noted early in the session
that I was getting decent reception on some of the Canadian beacons so I targeted a few of
the more powerful ones that I've not heard before. Picked up a couple new ones. Also snagged
my second Colombian (though actually on an island quite a ways north of Colombia) and a
couple other more local ones.
CLE/Session Report for Jay Heyl
Listening Location: Orlando, EL98gj (28°23'28"N
081°25'45"W)
Receiver(s): AR7030+
Antenna(s): Quantum QX Loop v2.0 customized for LW
Software:
Report Sorted by Date
------------------------------------------------------------------------YYYY-MM-DD UTC
kHz
Call mi
New Location
------------------------------------------------------------------------2009-01-02 02:33 350
DF
1915
Deer Lake, NL, CAN
2009-01-02 02:49 323
UWP
1971 Y
Argentia, NL, CAN
2009-01-02 03:01 360
PN
1732
Port-Menier / Ile Anticosti, QC, CAN
2009-01-02 03:11 273
ZV
1707 Y
Sept-Iles, QC, CAN
2009-01-02 06:46 424
RVJ
257
'Prison' Reidsville, GA, USA
2009-01-02 06:57 414
AZE
252
Hazlehurst, GA, USA
2009-01-02 07:00 412
JHH
371
Griffin, GA, USA
2009-01-02 07:08 409
TM
238
Tifton, GA, USA
2009-01-02 07:09 407
BZ
279
'Bullo' Statesboro, GA, USA
2009-01-02 07:11 404
CKI
380
Kingstree, SC, USA
2009-01-02 07:16 400
UWI
488
WHITFIELD, GA, USA
2009-01-02 07:26 395
CWV
264
CLAXTON, GA, USA
2009-01-02 07:32 390
OWC
227
COFFEE COUNTY, GA, USA
2009-01-02 07:33 391
DDP
1172
San Juan / Dorado / Luiz Munoz, PTR
2009-01-02 07:39 388
RNW
553
Y
Chocowinity, NC, USA
2009-01-02 08:05 387
SPP
1092 Y
SAN ANDRES, CLM
2009-01-02 08:15 385
EMR
352
Y
'Emory' Augusta, GA, USA
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Line of Sight and Beyond
Steven Wiseblood - Boca Chica Beach, TX
Roadmaster VRCD400-SDU AM/FM$ car stereo w/whip antenna atop my trailer!
1/11/2009
2125 92.3 WDVW LA New Orleans, 520 miles "The best of the 80's, the 90's and now, MIX 92.3"
1/22/2009
1953 92.3 WDVW LA New Orleans, "MIX 92.3" , ads, 520 miles “the best ribs in N'Orleans”,
w/mention of Mardi Gras parades; pop music mix
1/25/2009 Es
1441 94.1 PSA by W in SP, mention of Venezuela, EZ listening music
1710 92.3 KTAR-FM AZ Phoenix; "Newstalk 92-3 KTAR" talking about the state budget,
traffic "rollover on the 60-WEST blocking traffic"
1734 94.1 KQCH NE Omaha, mention of Omaha/Council Bluffs, ads, pop/dance mx "All HIT
MUSIC, channel 94-1"
1746 93.5 KKOT NE Columbus, wx "The Hawk 93.5-FM" , -PSA "Nebraska state patrol",
ad "Greiner's in Columbus", classic rock/oldies
1809 92.1 W in SP, mention of San Ysidro
1812 92.1 KREP KS Belleville; "the best in country KR-92" modern country
1815 92.3 KFTI KS Newton; "Classic Country 92.3" "nothing but country legends"
1818 92.3 KJYE CO Grand Junction; "The Vault 92-3" classic rock, "92-3 wx", mention of
Glenwood Springs
1835 92.3 K222AX KS Junction City; "Radio for life" in the Junction City-Fort Riley area on
92.3 , ads for Clay Center, Junction City and Manhattan
1856 97.3 KBCO CO Boulder; ID "97.3 KBCO Boulder", classic rock
1900 93.7 KRAI CO Craig; "Classic America Top-40 Extra" from 1972, "93-7 and 102-3 Craig
and Steamboat" ; "wx for NW Colorado this is KRAI", classic hits
1906 93.5 KZTL NE North Platte; "Wild Country -we got it, while others spit it out"
1/31/2009 Es
band full--Es to FM 107.7 TN, SC, GA & FL full listing comming up in a couple hours!
Ron Gitschier – Palm Coast, FL
DaySequerra Model M4 AM and FM HD Tuner (rack mount) and Rabbit Ears Antenna
WOCL Deland, FL, 105.9. sunny 105.9 on the HD-1 A Classic Hits/Oldies Format (ala CBS101), and On WOCL-HD2, I haven't heard any IDs yet in the 9 minutes I've tuned in, but I'd say
it's Active Rock, maybe like the previous 105.9 Format called O-Rock...
WMGF Mount Dora, FL; 107.7. Magic/Adult Contemporary on HD1 and "Cool Oldies" on HD2.
Jay Heyl – Orlando, FL
Sony XDR-F1 HD
Back in September I did a complete FM band scan here in Orlando with my Sony XDR-F1HD. I
haven't done much with it since then. It's actually been in the closet for much of the time.
Today I hooked it up, albeit with a slightly shorter antenna stand, and took another quick spin
through the dial. This was in no way as thorough a scan as last time. I didn't mess with
spinning the antenna around trying to get multiple signals. I thought I'd mention some of the
differences I found.
88.9, WQCS, Ft. Pierce. In Sept I got Christian contemporary mx on 88.9 and presumed it to
be WKTO. Tonight WQCS ID'ed itself. I was unable to get a HD signal, though their web site
says they're broadcasting two channels. Nice classical on the analog with just a slight bit of
hiss. Good signal considering Ft. Pierce is 100 miles away and I'm using a small dipole inside
the house.
89.9, WUCF, Orlando. I was unable to get a lock on either HD channel in Sept. Initially I
couldn't get a lock today either, but moving the antenna I finally got a lock. Jazz on HD1 and
some talk about French politics on HD2.
92.9, WIKX, Charlotte Harbor, in with a very strong signal playing country mx. No sign of it in
Sept.
94.1, WSJT, Lakeland, is now in HD, with jass on HD1 and classical on HD2. Funny promo on
HD2. "You're listening to the greatest hits of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries on WSJT-HD2."
94.5, WCFB, Daytona Beach, is now in HD with two channels. Rock on HD1. Soul on HD2
(might have just been the one song).
97.7, WTLQp, Punta Rassa, came in with a noisy, fringe signal of SS mx. No sign of anything
here in Sept.
100.3, WRUM, Orlando, is now in HD, with two channels of SS music.
101.1 WJRR, Cocoa Beach, is now in HD, offering two channels of rock.
104.1 WTKS, Cocoa Beach, is now in HD, offering two channels of rock.
105.1 WOMX, Orlando, is now in HD. They are broadcasting a HD-2 channel, but it's silent.
106.7 WXXL, Tavares. I got a full strength, very clear signal and there was no sign of HD. I got
two channels of HD in Sept.
Juan Gualda – Ft. Pierce, FL
Receiver, Antenna
1/25
I have also been getting SS on 100.9, central time zone time checks. Over modulated Techno,
mention of “Pharmacia Naranja”. It’s been in and out, hard to get an ID.
1/26
88.5 FM WYSA-Wauseon, OH. Mentions of Lima, “YES-FM”, then Legal ID for group of
stations @ 5:59 pm Eastern.
The Whole Earth
Jerry Lenamon - Waco, TX
Eton E-1 and sloper
France: Jan 18, RFI in English, 11615 @ 1600z.Best reception in months for this program to
Africa.
Spain: Jan 18, REE in Arabic, 11765 @1700z with significant longpath reverb. The beam from
Noblejas is 110° (350kw). My QTH is at 297° from Noblejas so the short path is almost exactly
off the back (110° + 180° = 290°) and the long path is just 7° off the front.
USA (non): Jan 18, VOA in Portugeuse, 11775 @1730z during dead air (with AC hum) from
DGSAnguilla. This is Sao Tome with 100kw @ 138°.
Taiwan (non): Jan 18, R Taiwan Intl in English,11850 @ 1735z to Africa via Issodun with
500kw @ 160°.
UK (non): Jan 18, BBC with football, 11860 @1740z via Seychelles with 250kw @ 270°. Into
Swahili at 17:45:30z.
Japan (non): Jan 18, R Japan in Japanese, 11945 @ 1750z via Issodun, 500kw @ 155°. Not
as strong as R Taiwan Intl on 11850 (above).
Kuwait: Jan 18, R Kuwait, in Arabic, 11990 @ 1755z before switching to English at 1800z.
Splash from VOA Greenville 11975 after 1800z sign on.
Equitorial Guinea: Jan 18, R Africa, 15190 @ 1925z, religious programming in English with
good modulation ! ! !
Mainland site (Bata) 50kw @ 164°. Similar signal and modulation to VOA Botswana on 15580.
Nigeria: Jan 18, V of Nigeria in English, 15120 @ 1935z. 250kw @ 7° to N Africa and on to W
Europe.
Rick Barton – Arizona
Hammarlund HQ 140
9580 AUSTRALIA Radio Australia 1715 with live coverage of swearing in
ceremony, music, closing prayer. Good signal here in late local AM
after interval signal just before TOH. Faded out and gone, tho, by
1805. (1/20 Barton,AZ)
Kevin Redding – Adamsville, TN
Eton E- 1 and 150 foot wire
1/20
You can listen to the Inauguration of Obama from CANADA on CFRX 6.070. They are carrying
it right now.
Peter Jernakoff - Wilmington, DE
RF Space SDR-IQ
1-Jan-09 // 2059 UTC // 17680 khz. // CVC, La Voz // 100 kw presumed //
Santiago, Chile // Female talk with reverb "Esta es CVC" followed by a bit
of music then male with reverb "CVC, La Voz." // Excellent signal strength.
1-Jan-09 // 2125 UTC // 13270 khz. (USB) // Volmet Gander Radio // Unknown
power // Gander, Newfoundland // Male with "This is Gander Radio." Into wx
report for Winnipeg. // Good signal strength.
1-Jan-09 // 2205 UTC // 3485 khz. (USB) // Volmet New York Radio // Unknown
power // New York, New York // male with "This is New York Radio, time
2-2-0-5 Zulu." Into wx report for NY Oceanic Flight Information Region. //
Excellent signal strength.
1-Jan-09 // 2244 UTC // 6240 khz. // Radio PMR // 500 kw presumed //
Grigoriopol, Moldova // Male with closing English broadcast comments
including address for "Radio PMR" in the Republic of Moldova. // Excellent
signal strength.
1-Jan-09 // 2257 UTC // 6200 khz. // Radio Bulgaria // 500 kw presumed //
Plovdiv, Bulgaria // Music then male with closing English broadcast
comments "This program has come your way in the English language service of
Radio Bulgaria." // Good signal strength.
Glenn Hauser – Enid, OK
Yaesu FRG 7
** CANADA. Believe it or not, RCI is on the air in English on 9755, but only fair signal here at
0053 Jan 3, interviewing a magazine publisher. I can see how this would be skipping over
points closer to Sackville (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. DentroCuban Jamming Command with heavy attack on 9785, Jan 3 at 0054, versus
nothing, since R. República quit this Sackville relay frequency a few weeks ago. At same time
big open carrier on 9820, presumably remnant of RHC Mesa Redonda service or more special
revolutionary programming. I see that CSPAN ran Raúl`s speech from last night, translated
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GERMANY [non]. If it`s DW, it can`t be from Germany: Jan 3 at 0055 found German talk on
9775 stronger than // 9655 except 9655 was running about three words, or two compound
words, ahead of 9775. 9655 is Rwanda, 9775 is Ascension (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA [non]. Voz da Rússia, 11605, Brazilian service with NY greetings to and from
listeners, UT Sat Jan 3 at 0040. The YL announcer`s accent sounded sort of mid-Atlantic, but
more Brazilian than Lusitanian; classical and big band music was constantly playing in
background, periodically brought up to full during pauses; concluded with ruvr.ru website, but
at 0047 plugged discredited `thief` URL, http://www.vor.ru in order to reach live webstream of
this during 00-01 UT hour. 0048 new program, Mundo da Ciência e da Tecnologia, and the
OM doing this was definitely Luso. G signal, best I`ve heard VOR in Portuguese in a long time,
but some fading.
That`s because it is the GUIANA FRENCH relay even tho I am getting it off the back/side of
the 181-degree azimuth. Off already at 0057 recheck. VOR still has another hour in
Portuguese to Europe at 2200, so they probably mix the accents in duplicated programming. I
assume the Brazilians and Portuguese are more tolerant of that than the Arabs (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Despite published Area 51 schedule for this date, first monitoring webcast, then
5110v, UT Sat Jan 3 from 0000, no WORLD OF RADIO but instead the WBCQ show with a
phone number for a title. 0051 faux record offer; I did not realize until 0057 during comedy skit
instead of International Radio Report, that this was running // 7415. Maybe that`s the default if
separate Area 51 programming isn`t arriving for some reason (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. I haven`t looked for it much lately, but some question whether WRNO has been
active. It was there on 7505, UT Jan 3 at 0156 open carrier, only fair with fades, 0200 some
modulation starting but I was distracted. Later in the hour, 0236 with music, some talk later, but
hard to copy with weak signal in the noise level. How is it doing at a longer skip distance, and
closer to the 20-degree azimuth, such as Michigan? Supposed to be on air only at 0200-0500.
That explains why Walt Salmaniw in the QCI was not hearing them at 0135 Jan 2; the *0100
UT start was DST timing
** AUSTRALIA. RA, 7240, Jan 3 at 1505:30 after news, reverting to ``Overnight on ABC Local
Radio``. We are hearing a lot of this instead of the usual RA/ABC feature programs before and
after this hour. That`s because RA gives up for several weeks each summer and just plugs into
a misnamed ABC network, which even without this SW relay, is still a national, not local
service, i.e. originating at each local station as you would be entitled to expect (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. CBC NQ, 9625 remained in whack, Jan 4 at 1415, but NHK relay on 11705 was
again splattering 11685-11725, especially during music, which is the Sunday subject (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. The day before, Firedrake vs Sound of Hope was on 8400, but Jan 3 at 1426 check
it was back on 9000 instead. Firedrake back on 8400, Jan 4 at 1406 check, ex-9000 the day
before, ex-8400 the day before that, no doubt mimicking the saults of Sound of Hope (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. Still no Aló, Presidente relay of RN Venezuela, Sunday Jan 4; however, one of the
frequencies which had been used for that on Sundays only, strong 13750, was on the air with
extended RHC programming. At 1520 with weekly Esperanto service supposedly on 11760
only, where // but much weaker and an echo ahead of 13750 feed. 1551 check, 13750 still on
with El Mundo de la Filatelia; audio cuts down but not completely out, periodically: wiggle that
patchcord! Shortly followed by Por Una Vida Mejor medical show about living to age 120 or
more, as if anyone would really want to do that in a police state full of privation; kept running
past 1600 but did not pay attention to content; 1701 check, starting replay of Cuba Campesina,
which originally airs at 1230. Perhaps they are keeping one transmitter warm for a return of the
Cold One. Still on with more music at last check 1800 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** GUAM. 9975, Sat Jan 3 at 1420, sounds like a vintage Billy Graham sermon, with his
peculiar accent, over a PA system. Trouble is, EiBi and Aoki say KTWR uses 9975 after 1400
on M-F only, but nothing else scheduled. WWCR 9980 was still weak before daily buildup to
super-strength.
9975 again with English preaching after hymn, Sunday Jan 4 at 1411, sounded like Rev. Victor
Bornay (sp?), something Gospel Hour, ref. Isaiah 55, about immigration. Like Sat, presumably
KTWR extended to daily from M-F only at this hour, and once again, ACI from WWCR 9980
weak at first, but then building steadily (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** LAOS [non]. 11785, WHRI, Sat Jan 3 at 1459 after rustic music from Hmong Lao Radio, no
break, no legal ID, and right into next program, Hmong World Christian Radio (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. Looking for XEQM, 6104.8, no trace of even a het Jan 3 before 1500 with strong
VOA Chinese on 6105, but after that went off at 1503, could barely detect het against
remaining pileup. Het was doing better Jan 4 after 1400. Julián Santiago says XEQM had been
off for more than a dekaday, but since Jan 3 he is hearing it in the daytime (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. REE, 17595, Sunday Jan 4 at 1435 ending one episode of Solo Canciones from
Radio Clásica network, with French interpretations of music about Spain, e.g. by Saint-Saëns;
and into another episode of same show, this with songs from Cabo Verde, and later Niger.
1459 just started something by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, only to be interrupted at 1500 for
time signal and immediate joining of live(?) Tablero [Deportivo] show. Most unprofessional and
disrespectful of the music show. I figured this was going to happen as they were starting a halfhour program at :35! Should have skipped the news at 1400 and started part 1 then (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Marion`s Attic on WBCQ, 7415, Sat Jan 3 at 2200 featured music boxes, and I
believe she said there would be more of that next week. I really enjoy their tinkles, but at 2258
something went very wrong as show was upwrapping, bits of audio of Marion looping over and
over, but progressing syllable by syllable. Fortunately, it was almost over anyway, unlike a few
weeks ago when this happened for some 15 minutes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** ASIA [non]. 9385, Jan 6 at 1516, Brother Scare on WWRB getting a run for his money from
strong co-channel QRM in Korean, also with a rippling SAH indicating perhaps 20 Hz
separation. This is R. Free Asia as scheduled; online references differ whether site is Sri
Lanka or Saipan, but the latter is more likely and more recent. If WWRB were not there, RFA
would have a fine signal even here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. Usual sloppy operation at Quivicán, Bejucal, and/or Bauta transmitter sites: Jan 6 on
13680, replay of 1100 UT RHC program Despertar con Cuba was underway until cut off at
1501*. RNV relay on 11680 was in English about FARC operations in Venezuela, when also
cut off the air at 1504* and still not on at 1515 recheck. RHC DCC meanwhile was continuing
on weaker 11760 until that too was cut off abruptly during a speech by Raúl himself, at 1514*
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRAN. 9575, VIRI Russian service is regular here, such as Jan 5 at 1430 after open carrier,
``Golos Irana``, anthem? 1431 into Qur`an; undermodulated and flutter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** MEXICO. XERF, 1570, dominating the channel at 2150 UT Jan 5, in show ``El Baúl de los
Recuerdos`` (The Trunk of Memories), presenting only female singers of the 60s. Ran late so
Big-Ben style hourtop 16 chimes did not appear until 2201, `4 en punto`, yeah, sure. Reception
was axually worse by then, still an hour before sunset, because other skywave was building up
from peanut-power US stations, but there are so many of them! Could not catch axual XERF
ID, maybe during fade, but did get `100,000 vatios` and an apparent toll-free 866- number,
mention of IMER, the Mexican government agency which runs it (and used to run XERMX);
after 2202 into news, ``Última Hora`` (Glenn Hauser, caradio, Enid OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** MOROCCO. 15345V, Jan 5 at 1513, Arabic talk and music, Allah al-akbar; slight
motorboating sound and with BFO on could tell transmitter was slightly unstable. Presumed
this as now scheduled per Aoki as RTV B08:
15340 RTV MAROCAINE 0900-1500 1234567 Arabic 250 110 Nador 00255W3502N
15345 RTV MAROCAINE 1500-2200 1234567 Arabic 250 110 Nador 00255W3502N
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** AUSTRIA [non]. Checking whether OE1 still has an English news segment on the CANADA
relay 16-17 on 13675: Jan 8 tuned in at 1619 and all in German except for a few sex of English
at 1651 in an axuality, quickly voiced-over in AustroGerman. Thought maybe English would
show at 1645, as there was a report of that happening at 0045, presumably on 7325, during a
formerly full English broadcast. Then at 1655 went to Blue Danube IS and multilingual IDs in
German, English, French and Spanish! just to fill up the hour until 1659*. That would have
been enough time to repeat the entire 4-minute English news segment from the previous
morning 0710 on 6155. Since these don`t appear on their schedule, we need people to note
the exact times and frequencies when English is still heard. Meanwhile an open carrier came
on 13680 around 1627 past 1630; Cuba for some reason? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** BRAZIL [and non]. BBCWS in English, via South Africa, 11765 at 335 degrees, Jan 8 at
0620 ruined by the wacky wailing preacher who speaks neither Portuguese nor Spanish but a
bastardized mixture of them, David Miranda who has occupied yet another Brazilian
transmitter, this one in Curitiba and supposedly renamed Súper-Rádio Deus é Amor; roughly
equal strength to BBC and with fast SAH of maybe 15 Hz. If God really loved us he would not
do this to us. Found to be // Curitiba on 9565, this one in the clear; where`s the DentroCuban
Jamming Command when we need them? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** COSTA RICA [and non]. As I was checking out RNZI`s other frequencies while 6170 was
missing (see NEW ZEALAND), I could not help but notice that the REE relay on 9765 was
nothing but a steady open carrier, Jan 8 at 1450. Same appeared to be the case on 15170, but
with the usual Romanian co-channel audio and SAH. The third frequency, 11815, was
modulating as usual, which means under-modulating, but at least it was audible during
Españoles en la Mar, while 17595 direct was weaker than usual (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. RHC discrepancy report: Jan 8 at 1430, the big signal on 15370 was missing. Other
frequencies confirmed as usual: 15360, 15120, 13760, 13720 (leapfrog 13760 over CRI relay
13740), 13680. At 1445 recheck, 15370 was back on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** INDIA [and non]. After some Indian music on 9870, the Vividh Bharati Service channel of
AIR, Jan 7, I was surprised to hear at 1400 an ID in English instead for the General Overseas
Service, then a program about Indian cinema. But the GOS in English at 1330-1500 is
supposed to be on 9690, where nothing was audible.
They are both listed as Bangalore/Bangaluru site, on 9870 500 kW at 335 degrees, 0845-1200
and 1230-1740 with VBS; On 9690 500 kW at 108 degrees, 1330-1500 only with GOS. 9870
had a good signal but with polar flutter, as usually the case with it. The other 31m frequency
audible here, National Channel on 9425, could be heard weaker in Hindi talk at 1419 check.
It`s 500 kW at 18 degrees, 1320 to 0040 UT.
9870 continued in English at 1420 with press review, negative about the Gaza situation; 1425
interviewing a Bengali poet, 1436 saying that had come from the AIR archives; 1437 into film
music from ``Dawn``. All this Indian film music primed me to go see another good movie in
current release, Slumdog Millionaire, which does not paint a pretty picture of Bharat, altho it
seems far-fetched that a quiz-show contestant would be tortured on suspicion of cheating. And
the following evening from 0500 UT Thursday, I had to listen to Spice Routes on KBCS
webcast.
Back to 9870: at 1456 with concluding news summary by YL. 1459 sign-off as the AIR GOS to
SE Asia but S/N ratio had decreased and could not copy frequencies; I strongly suspect the
9690 and 9870 feeds got switched by mistake. Or maybe 9690 was down so they deliberately
put GOS on 9870 transmitter as substitute? 1500:30 to tone test past 1502, and 1503 into
music, perhaps back to the correct VBS. I asked the DXLD yg to please check on January 8
whether this happens again or GOS is back on 9690; and what about // 13710, also Bangaluru
500 kW 108 degrees, and // 11620 Delhi.
So far no reports from elsewhere received, but I checked it again the next day, Jan 8: at 1400,
9690 was audible with music not // 9870 music. 1420, 9690 confirmed back in English with
another press review, while 9870 went on with VBS music. 11620 and 13710 were very weak
but seemed to be // 9690 as they should be, altho 11620 not in synch. 1425 into talk about
medical tourism by a correspondent of The Hindu newspaper. Unfortunately, her higherpitched voice and accent made it hard to understand. I also noticed that 9690`s usual hum had
also resumed.
Another India-related program I recommend is Extension 720 from WGN Chicago, which I was
listening to until 0415 UT Thursday, interviewing the author of a book about Gandhi and
Churchill. Unfortunately it`s missing from the Jan 7 schedule info at
http://wgnradio.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=167&Itemid=275
but maybe will show up in one of the podcasts or audio archives (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI missing from 6170, Jan 8 at 1403 and still missing at 1446 when I
also checked several other possible frequencies in case they got stuck on one of them: 7145,
9615, 9655, 9765, 11675, 11725, 13660, but those were either empty or occupied by other
stations. RA was audible poorly on 5995, 6080, 7240, so RNZI should have been detectable
on 6170 if on the air. Then I check the website and find this notice which almost accounts for
the absence:
``Transmitter Maintenance 07 Jan, 2009 20:49 UTC --- There may be interruptions to our
short-wave broadcasts on Thursday 8 January from 1045-1800 NZDT (2145-0500 UTC)``.
BTW, this also gives me a chance to point out an annoying matter of style I am frequently
correcting as I edit: if you write ``from`` before a pair of times, you should also write the word
``to`` between the times. If you are going to put a hyphen between them, you should write the
word ``at`` before them. I suspect people who mix the two are subvocalizing and convert the ```` into ``to`` without thinking of how it looks in print (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** CUBA. RHC which normally closes 6000 at 1400 UT, contrary to announcements,
presumably to move the transmitter to a higher frequency, on Jan 9 it was stlil going at 1411
during a Raúl speech; also still going with same later than usual at 1441 // 15370; 1443 backannouncement as something special for the 50th anniversary of the revolution; then
interviewing a like-minded broadcaster visiting from Uruguay; but 6000 finally off at 1446.
As I tuned by 15120, Jan 10 at 1427, heard the announcer mention matter-of-factly the
``genocidio bloqueo``. I take great offense at RHC`s characterization. Many Americans oppose
the blockade, as counter-productive, giving the regime an excuse for all its own defects, and
punishing only the poor oppressed Cuban people.
But it is NOT ``genocidal``, i.e. designed to kill great masses of people! Nor has it. It is merely
intended to undermine the unelected, dictatorial, human-rights-suppressing, DentroCuban
government. Lots of money, food and other aid still get into Cuba from the USA, and what they
cannot get from us they get from elsewhere. Additional US aid is offered and usually rejected,
after emergencies such as hurricanes. In this and so many other ways, RHC is totally lacking
in credibility (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. RRI Makassar missing from 4750, Jan 9 at 1421 check, while 4790 Fak2 was
fairly audible amid CODAR with pop music. No other 60m Indos heard either. Some 23 hours
later there was a weak signal on 4790, but still no 4750 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** IRAN. Another check of VIRI`s Russian service on 9575, Jan 9 at 1429 musical prélude,
1430 ID as Govorit Iran, Golos Isl. Resp. Iran, which almost saves me from trying to figure out
or mess up the Russian declensions. Mandatory Qur`an segment, where there is anything but
separation between mosque and state, lasted only 70 seconds from 1431:30, making it seem
quite perfunctory, even on a Friday, so some progress is being made. Good signal but with
flutter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH [non]. Shiokaze, 5910 via Japan, Jan 9 at 1417 with tearful tale by a YL in
Japanese, no doubt about a relative being kidnapped by the North Koreans, with constant
piano music undercurrent. So not English on this Friday as it has been mostly (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KURDISTAN [non]. 11530, Jan 9 at 1455 with traditional music, 1457 into modern music,
1458 clear ID as ``Denge Mezopotamya``, surprise early timesignal around 1459:40 and off. At
1503 checked 7540 and heard very poor signal, presumably its scheduled successor via
Ukraine (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** NEW ZEALAND. Missing the day before, RNZI was back on 6170, Jan 9 at 1411 check with
usual coastal weather details. Also heard Jan 10 after 1305 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** ROMANIA. RRI`s English broadcast at 1300-1400 is a loss lately, as 15105 nor propagating
Jan 10, and // 11970, covered by WYFR until its 1345*, when uncovered was quite weak
compared to the Romanian language channel 11940 which continues past 1400 (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** TURKEY. No reply received from VOT about using DXLD as source for all the info on DX
Corner, without any credit whatsoever; I had sent a copy of my complaint directly to their
English Desk. So I was listening carefully to the next edition, Saturday January 10 at 13481355 on 12035. No apology, no mention whatsoever, and no DX or media news either.
This time only read several reception reports, from Poland, India, New Zealand, Italy?,
Australia, and finally mentioned that the multilingual TRT TV6 is on the air, even in Kurdish,
available via webcast and Turksat 3A, 12685-H. So that evaded the question of stealing info
from DXLD, but periodically their so-called DX program degenerates into a mailbag, for which
they already have a separate show on Wednesdays, Letterbox.
BTW, reading reception reports on the air, by VOT or any other station, I find extremely poor
programming, basically a cop-out from having to come up with anything original. Who in the
world cares, except for the one individual who sent a report, to hear about the SINPO,
receiver, etc. So what will VOT do a fortnight hence on January 24? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. Another late run beyond scheduled 0700* for RHC in English: UT Sunday Jan 11,
still going at 0718 check on 6000, but not 6060. Oops, that`s when weekly Esperanto service is
supposed to be on.
RHC Esperanto service, weekly on Sundays at 1500-1530 on 11760, monitored Jan 11 at
1527, with what sounded like a long-path echo, audible periodically as the main signal faded a
bit. Trouble is, propagation was crummy and nothing much incoming on 25m from the other
worldside. I also noticed that 11760 had a SAH of 100 beats per minute, = 1.67 Hz, but no
other audio to account for it. Could RHC be running TWO transmitters with the same program
here?
BINGO. The stronger one cut off at 1529 before the program outro finished, uncovering the
much weaker one which continued RHC announcements, into Spanish with frequency list
including 9600 which quits at 1300 UT. I think this was the automatic replay of the morning
service starting at 1100, but it too cut off at 1533*
So if you hear an echo on an RHC frequency, this may explain it rather than long/short path,
as they have two or three transmitter sites and we already know there are different delays in
getting the program feed to them, which is normally obvious by comparing two different
frequencies on two receivers.
We are grateful to Arnie Coro for never discussing such interesting details of his own station,
even when queried, ceding to us the thrill of discovery. As an outlaw nation, Cuba does not
even tell HFCC what it is doing, but Aoki lists this transmission as of B-07 on a 20-degree
beam, only.
Many RHC broadcasts as listed on http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/frecuencia/frecuenciasespanol.htm
which one can never depend on being currently accurate, whatever the effective dates at the
top, are for North, Central and South America on a single frequency, including this one and the
1930 repeat. We had assumed they were either non-direxional or using bi-direxional antennas,
but in this case it`s two separate transmitters and two separate antennas.
So the same deal may apply to many other transmissions, including our previous log of 9550,
Dec 19 at 2306 in English which had the same echo during fades, so we assumed that was
long/shortpath. Of course, depending on circumstances, the latter could really be the case,
and/or two unsynchronized co-channel transmitters (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST) See also VENEZUELA [non]
** VENEZUELA [non]. ``Aló, Presidente`` is finally back after hiatus of about two
sesquimonths. Have been checking listed frequencies for this almost every Sunday morning;
as reported Jan 4, 13750 was on until 1810* but with RHC repeat programming. This Sunday,
Jan 11 at 1525 found 11875 on the air with RHC (I think) programming as warm-up, which is
standard procedure, and // 13750 with strongest signal.
At 1545 overheard Hugo Chávez Frías himself mention that this was A,P number 324, then
conversing with audience, extolling socialism as solution to all problems and saying the North
American empire is itching to get rid of him by any means possible.
Then looked for other frequencies: nothing on 11670 or 11680 and did not notice it on 11690
either, aside RTTY, altho I had forgotten that is now the listed channel; something on 17750
but very weak and unseemed //, maybe out of synch, as nothing else is scheduled there. At
1606 also found // 13680 but very poor, much weaker than 13750 and under skirts of Sackville
13675. Recheck 13750 at 1658, still running. Recheck at 1728, 13750 was still on with
someone other than HCF speaking about Venezuelan matters, but the other frequencies had
vanished.
In the past, A,P via Cuba had been heard beyond 1800, even 1900 UT and RHC sked does
not show any concluding time. Except for the RNV daily relay at 1900, plenty of transmitters
remain available until RHC`s own programming revs up at 2000. From press reports, I gather
that originally on Venezuelan TV, A,P often goes on for many more hours beyond that, at the
whim of the would-be president-for-life (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WWCR-1, 3215, absent UT Sunday Jan 11 at 0717 check, while the other
frequencies, 5070, 5890, 5935 were inbooming. I hope they got it back on by 0730 in time for
WORLD OF RADIO. Next check for that transmitter, at 1658 found 15825 weakly audible
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** AUSTRALIA. 15560, RA in English Jan 11 at 2318 in news interview. This is new for B-08,
70 degrees from Shepparton to Pacific; that means it is also aimed toward NAm, same as
9580 at 08-14, which has barely been making it lately (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** CANADA [and non]. After checking out Cuban jamming against VOA 9885, I noticed RCI
fairly good on 9880, UT Mon Jan 12 at 0024 with music, then Maple Leaf Mailbag and RCI ID.
This should have been // but 5 minutes ahead of 9755, which is Sackville to NAm with same
program, but instead 9755 checked at 0028 was in Brazilian Portuguese! And had a warble on
the carrier, not sure if Sackville-caused or from interference. Anyhow, 9880 was better here in
CNAm even tho it`s via Kunming, China, beamed 175 degrees, nowhere near our direxion and
from much further away!
Others have reported for months that 9755 is in Portuguese (UT Sun and Mon) one hour
earlier than the schedule shown at http://www.rciviva.ca/rci/PDF/2008Fall/RCI-TECH-B08ENG.pdf
and this still hasn`t been corrected. By 0105, when 9755 may have really been in English,
signal had just about vanished. Because azimuth changed? No, same 268 degrees is
supposedly in use for both English and Portuguese, not for Brasil, but for all the Portuguesespeaking immigrants in northern USA and western Canada, one of a few extreme-minority
language groups who are so fortunate to have SW broadcasts especially for them; but how
many of them are axually aware of and listen to Radio Canada Internal, if they can even get it?
Something is terribly wrong with RCI frequency management when a broadcast to SE Asia via
China is better heard here than one direct from Sackville; but those who really want to hear it
should try 9880 at 0000 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. CHU, 7850, 2348 UT Jan 11, noticed that has finally eliminated the futurely QSY
announcements which were running at :15 past every minute for many days following the Dec
31 transition. While I was there, with BFO on, compared frequency to 6850 Radio Cairo and
found they matched nicely. I wonder if CHU makes any claims for tight frequency accuracy on
this or the others, like WWV does on its (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See
also EGYPT
** CHINA. Firedrake is usually on 8400 or 9000 but not both. However, Jan 12 at 1457 it was
on both, perhaps to cover two bases even if Sound of Hope was on only one of them at a time
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. Re previous report Jan 11 of echo on 11760 during 1500 Sunday Esperanto
broadcast, and before that, echo on 9550 during the 2300 English: it happened again, Jan 11
at 2324 check, more obvious echo during brief fades of stronger signal. This time I looked for a
SAH as further proof that two transmitters are in use. There were fades amounting to about 36
times per minute, i.e. 0.6 Hz, but it was hard to be sure they were not just propagational fading.
RHC with weekly Esperanto broadcast, Sunday Jan 11 at 2339 with ID in passing on 6180.
This is now on the schedule at http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/frecuencia/frecuenciasespanol.htm
as 2330 for CAm, // 9600 for SAm, but in fact 9600 was not //, and was in Spanish when
checked a few minutes later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [and non]. Renconfirming whether the DentroCubans are still jamming not only R.
Martí but also Voice of America in Spanish: UT Mon Jan 12 at 0008 found VOA with innocuous
pop music program ``De Capital a Capital`` on 5890, 5940 and 9885, all from Greenville. 5940
was slightly stronger than 5890 while 9885 was much weaker, fighting the dropping MUF.
Jamming could be heard underneath 5890 and 5940, was at roughly equal level to VOA on
9885; and at 0022 recheck, jamming was way on top of VOA 9885. Have also noticed jamming
against nothing on 9885 at many other times of day.
According to http://www.voanews.com/spanish/programas_de_radio.cfm Ventana al Caribe is
at 0000 UT Tue, Thu, Fri and Sat, but that is not necessarily up-to-date, and does not make
clear what is on SW and what is only on satellite. VaC is the program which might include info
about Cuba since the cancellation of the previous Ventana a Cuba show, which got the
DentroCubans started jamming VOA; but changing the name has not mollified them.
BTW, don`t you believe PWBR `2009` which misses 5890 and 5940, and shows 9885 at the
wrong time, 0030-0200, and furthermore without the jamming wavylines, tho VOA Spanish has
been jammed for a long time by the Cubans who don`t give a damn whether they also impede
non-Cubans from hearing it. Meanwhile RHC broadcasts without any fear of payback from the
USA, too principled to jam, even in retaliation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EGYPT. R. Cairo, Jan 11 at 2340 on 6290 in Arabic, extremely overmodulated and distorted
as YL was reading news. 2344 was just as bad when mixed with music. Meanwhile, 6850 was
as usual undermodulated, slightly better during music than talk segments, which unseemed
English tho scheduled 2300-2430 to NAm. 6290 is supposed to change transmitter site at
0000, from ABZ to ABS, but at next check 0006 Jan 12, sounded exactly the same with
distortion, so no change any longer. When they did change as monitored several months ago,
the two overlapped with SAH, and the improvement in audio quality was painfully obvious
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. Found W`s final press conference in progress on 9480, Jan 12 at 1440; VOA
preëmpting normal programming. Kept an ear on it while firing up TV and finding it also on
ABC, CBS, NBC plus the usual cable news channels and C-SPAN 2. Figured that if he ran
past 1500, which he did by a few minutes, VOA would chop even the POTUS off at scheduled
closing time for that transmission, 14-15 only via Lampertheim, GERMANY. But it was already
missing at 1458 check. Since FEBC Manila comes in so well on 9430, one might have
assumed this VOA relay was coming TP rather than TA, but Germany is listed. However,
Poland still does well via Germany 9450 during the previous hour. The only other SW
frequency found with live coverage of this was AFN 12133.5-USB (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake on both 8400 and 9000, Jan 14 at 1436, but this time much stronger on
8400, barely audible on 9000 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ECUADOR. HCJB, 11960, Jan 13 at 1444:30 automated ID break between programs, with
another Einstein quotation, 9:45 am timecheck, preceded by inattentive announcer claiming to
be on ``11690, 21455 y 11690`` instead of 11960! Another mistake which has probably been
ongoing for sesquiyears, besides having closed down 21455 last year. There is no break at
this point every day of the week. I first noted this on January 9, but could hardly believe my
ears so made a point of listening closely at next opportunity. Ditto Jan 14 at exactly same time,
ad infinitum (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRAN. 9735, Jan 13 at 1423 open carrier, flutter; what could this be? Thailand 9725 was in,
not always the case; and BBC Singapore 9740. On 9735 at 1428 piano music starts; 1430
chimes and ``Govorit Iran`` ID, and yes, this is // 9575 which I have been hearing regularly at
this hour. Should have checked whether they are synchronized, as looked up later, I see that
9735 is Ahwaz, 250 kW at 26 degrees, while 9575 is Sirjan, 500 kW at 330 degrees. Sounded
about the same here. 9735 also heard 24 hours later, but much poorer (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** KURDISTAN [non]. Denge Mezopotamya, 11530 via Ukraine, 1449-1459:55* nothing but
OM vocalist mixing singing and shouting, barely avoiding choking, with lite accompaniment or
interludes by flute and other instruments. This is really exotic and a treat to hear; a Kurdish
thing, I guess. But how are the audience to know that they have to retune to 7540? Unless he
worked that info into his heartfelt performance (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN. REE, 17595, Wed Jan 14 with documentary on Cuban revolution including at 1518 a
clip of the original R. Rebelde, saying it was operating on the 20 and 40 meter bands (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ALBANIA. R. Tirana, 13720, Jan 15 at 1551 ending Focus on Albania talk, pop music;
somewhat undermodulated but listenable and not distorted (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Voices from Other Lands, the Thursday feature in the second half of CRI English
broadcasts, Jan 15 at 1430 on 13675 and 15230 via Canada, interviewing a China-lover from
Scotland, Brian Connolly, who spoke with great enthusiasm, a huge brogue but still
pronouncing lots of Chinese names with tones which I can only assume were correct. He
spoke of his travels around the country, bringing in tour groups, and apparently has now retired
in Beijing.
Despite my distaste for Chicom jamming, CRI overtaking countless more frequencies than
really needed, and control of the press, I must concede this is a program worth listening to,
even if you will never hear anything really critical of the current government. 13675 had the
usual ACI from Cuba 13680, Commies vs Commies, but 15230 clear (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** POLAND [non]. PRES, 9450 via Germany, Thu Jan 15 at 1330 with Multimedia show
including news items, such as Dell moving produxion from Ireland to Poland, and later mailbag
acknowledgments but no SW DX news. Host Slawek Szefs speaks in a very informal manner,
and I suspect he is translating items on the fly rather than working from a prepared script;
unfortunately, he does a lot of vocalized pausing, sometimes lasting several seconds, but I am
sure that is a habit hard to break.
He mentioned that North Americans should enjoy 9450 reception while it lasts; we do. As
usual, everything moves one UT hour earlier in the A-09 season, according to DST dates in
Europe, not N America. English will be at 12-13 tentatively on 7330 via Nauen, 9525 via
Wertachtal, where it is likely to collide with Indonesia again like last summer, unless VOI
moves unpredictably back to 11785v; and at 18-19 on 7140 Jülich, and 7260-7265-7270 DRM
Wertachtal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Proof that Brother Scare has got at least one Russian(?) to buy
into his wacky theology: Jan 16 at 0652 on WWRB 3185 was hearing announcement in
Russian, with a Moscow address for the Overcomer Ministry; trouble is, when it came to
numbers, those were pronounced in English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. Good signal in Russian talk on 11870, Jan 16 at 1525. What does PWBR
`2009` say? Nothing! Not a thing listed on 11870 during this hour except University Network,
Costa Rica, which has been gone for at least one or two sesquiyears from 11870v. 1529
mentions Svoboda, and Mosk. vrem., 1530 ``R. Svoboda, Novosti`` so it`s Radio Liberty.
WRTH 2009 has the answer: Woofferton; and EiBi, Aoki and HFCC all agree (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Not much propagating on 30m except Florida, Cuba, UT Jan 15 at 0620: WRMI 9955
with religious talk in Spanish constantly referring to Benedicto 16, ergo Vatican Radio; 0630
into new WORLD OF RADIO 1443 as scheduled. Jamming continued but underneath. Later,
on webcast, noticed that WOR was running again at 1630-1700 Thu instead of at 1530; Viva
Miami had been scheduled at 1630. Awaiting word whether this be an intentional change.
WRMI has an updated program schedule as of Dec 31 at
http://www.wrmi.net/program.php?id=94
but unfortunately as usual does not go into detail for ``repeats of DX and other programs`` blox
such as M-F 1530-1700; and it shows Vatican only at 0930-1000 UT Saturdays.
Just in from Jeff White: WORLD OF RADIO on WRMI --- on 9955 and webcast
http://68.142.10.147:8000/listen.pls
UT days and times, always subject to change without notice:
Wed 0600, 1630 [usually first airings]
Thu 0630, 1630
Fri 0200, 1230
Sat 0900
Sun 0900
Mon 0600
Tue 1200, 1630
So that should be easy to remember: 1630 on Tue, Wed and Thu.
This and other updates have been made to:
http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html
http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html
http://www.worldofradio.com/calendar.html
(Glenn Hauser, UT Jan 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VENEZUELA [non]. Hugo Chávez speaking on 11760, Jan 16 at 1520, but nothing on
11680, so apparently another anomaly from the flexible DentroCubans, putting RNV service at
15-16 on 11760 instead of usual 11680. Probably forgot to make the frequency change on the
RHC 11760 transmitter which is supposed to close at 1500. Except that sometimes runs
overtime past 1500, but nothing heard this date on other usual RHC frequencies on 19, 22 or
25m bands (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA [and non]. CFRX quite absent from 6070, Jan 17 at 0635, just continuous CVC
gospel-rock music via Chile. Not even a SAH on it. Propagation from northerly paths was even
worse than usual, with 9 and 7 MHz virtually dead; 6 MHz bore 5920 WBOH VG, but 5935 and
5890 WWCR were VP; nothing much from Austria on 6155 or Croatia on 6165, as are normally
incoming nightly. But CFRX was well audible as usual over day path at next check 1415. Same
situation UT Jan 18: no CFRX audible at 0630 but there OK at 1355 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** ECUADOR. HCJB, Aventura Diexista, Sat Jan 17 at 1448 on 11960, with Alen Grájam
reading DX news in first-person even tho I am sure it was written by someone else. Gave
postal address of RNV Antena Internacional as Apartado postal 3970, yes, repeated as 3970
instead of correct 3979, so both the writer and A.G. did not recognize this as an obvious typo.
BTW, WRTH 2009 page 489 does not even mention this address altho RNV keeps
announcing it; instead, a street address in Caracas and the QSL manager in Miami. There
have been reports of p-mail bouncing from the box anyway.
Don`t you believe more erroneous info which followed on HCJB: R. Sweden in English via
Sackville 6010 at 0230-0300 and 0300-0330, instead of the correct repeat time of 0330-0400!
Later had recordings of Galei Zahal 6973 and Bahamas 1540. Who wrote this? Credited to
Leonardo Santiago, of Mérida, Venezuela, who provides monthly DX reports for this program,
to return in February (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH [non]. Shiokaze, via Japan on new 5985, Jan 17 at 1417 in Japanese talk,
no piano undercurrent, and no QRM. I noticed Jan 14 that this was missing from 5910 where it
had been for some weeks. And Jan 15 at 1406 had a very poor signal in Korean or Japanese
on 5985 with a het, which I supposed was Myanmar, but other reports have Myanmar also on
5985.0 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SPAIN [and non]. REE with Sólo Canciones show I enjoy, Sunday Jan 18 at 1440 with Yves
Montand, later a segment on Lady in the Dark; 17595 direct not propagating well so had to
default to inferior audio on CR relay 15170, which was well atop Romania. 1455 cut away from
this show with 10 minutes to go, for PSA about voting in Galicia, and then QSY announcement
to 17850 which would come up in 3 minutes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. 9725, Jan 17 at 1536 with song in Vietnamese, for children? Then Vietnamese
announcement. Good reception, had not noticed before. Is VOA via Saipan at 15-16 (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VENEZUELA [non]. RNV CI, via CUBA, back on correct frequency 11680, Jan 17 at 1500
signing on in English, instead of 11760 where it was Jan 16. For incorrect mailing address see
ECUADOR. I see that WRTH 2009 says the RNV broadcasts at 11, 15 and 23 are in
Spanish/English, while all the others, 10, 12, 19, 20 and 22 UT are in Spanish only. Is this
correct: no English ever heard on the latter ones?
Since Aló, Presidente resumed last Sunday Jan 11, I checked for it this Sunday Jan 18: At
1405, 11875 was already on with separate programming about Venezuela, not // RHC
mainstream on 11760, 13760, etc. 13750, which is normally used only for the A,P service, was
on the air but with open carrier. By 1426 it was modulating // RHC 13760 but an echo apart,
rather than // 11875 as it should have been.
11690 was not heard at 1405, but at 1430 check found that also on the air with A,P service
making fast SAH with HCJB underneath, also with persistent RTTY QRM from 11687.5. As we
outpointed months ago during the hiatus, when 11690 first appeared on the RHC schedule for
this, there would be a collision with HCJB, which uses 11690 every day until 1500. And now
that has come to pass. Yet 11680 and 11670 are open!
At 1433, I could also hear some co-channel under 11875, singing; probably Lisboa which is
scheduled on this frequency Sat & Sun only until 1500. Also at 1433, could barely hear the A,P
service on 13680, underneath skirts of CRI/Sackville 13675.
Not expecting to hear A,P service on 17750, but checked at 1435, and there it was with good
signal during Mundo Siete week-in-review program produced by RHC, which is a standard
feature in the run-up to joining the feed from Venezuela. It was // 11690 but an echo apart.
13750 was still carrying the wrong feed at 1435, RHC mainstream, and still at 1453 // 13760.
Next check of 17750 at 1457 found it had vanished. At 1458, 13750 had finally split from
13760, different programming, with 13750 now // 11875, 11690 and 13680 with A,P service. At
1501, 11760 switched from RHC Spanish to Esperanto as scheduled, this time not // extra
13760 which was off by 1502.
Suspended monitoring for breakfast, assuming that the Hugo show would soon be underway,
but at next check 1554, 11690 and 11875 were off, and 13750 had gone back to open carrier,
so evidently after all this trouble, he was a no-show. More lack of communication between
Caracas and Habana, or the mercurial mandator pulled out at the last minute?
If 1) Hugo really did his show every week at a certain time, and 2) RHC broadcast it on a
certain set of non-colliding frequencies, 3) not mixed up with other RHC mainstream service,
everything would be nominal and I would have nothing significant to report about this. But that
will never happen at the number one SNAFU station (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ANGUILLA. Caribbean Beacon missing again from 6090, Jan 21 at 0610 check; and also
from 11775 at 1402 recheck. Shux, have to listen to WWCR to get my PMS/DGS fix. Can it be
coincidental that the long-silent MW 1610 outlet was reported on the air again a few hours
earlier, by Juan Gualda, FL, in ABDX? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. At 1405 UT Jan 20 on 15370 in Spanish, the confused RHC announcer said
something about their providing live coverage of Pres. Obama`s inauguration today, on ``9826
in the 21 and 49 meter bands``. Didn`t catch the time but obviously starting well before 1700
UT B-hour. 9820 would be a good bet and maybe two others of their known frequencies on 6
and 13 MHz. I wonder if they will have a correspondent there or just pirate some TV coverage
and voice-over it in Habana.
[But later:] No sign of 9820 or anything on 6, 9, 11 or 13 MHz bands as late as 1630, and I
could not pull away from US TV coverage after that.
RHC running late for some reason, UT Wed Jan 21 at 0609 on 6000, just ending DXers
Unlimited; as a 17-minute show, must have started around 0552 rather than 0535 (Glenn
Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. VOI, 9526, nothing much audible at first check 1335 Jan 21, nor during the
1400 hour, but at 1500 recheck it was in with pop vocal music; finally at 1504 YL opening
English with perpetual mention of wrong frequency, 11785; and then cut off at 1505* as also
per custom in this SNAFUed station (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** OKLAHOMA. Off-again, on-again: KEOR, 1120, Catoosa/Sperry/Tulsa, was again being
heard at 2150 UT Jan 20, with the same limited playlist of oldies; already losing out to KMOX,
about 7 Hz away; pause at 2158 but no legal ID audible tho they have done so in the past.
Around 2210 it was the whistling ``Westminster Cathedral`` (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WBOH, 5920, just open carrier with het caused by its being off-frequency, Jan 19 at
1405; 9370 WTJC was modulated. Same thing Jan 20 at 1338 check; was WBOH silent all
that time? But Jan 21 at 0607, 5920 was hymning and preaching, het (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** ANGUILLA. The PMS station, a.k.a. Caribbean Beacon, but never giving any local IDs as
such, continues to be irregular on SW. Jan 22 at 0626 check, not heard on 6090 where it
normally inbooms; instead a couple weak signals SAHing, maybe including Nigeria. But it was
back the next night (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** AUSTRALIA. RA, 6020, good signal during discussion of poetry, UT Fri Jan 23 at 1352, but
chopped program off before it finished at 1358 for one minute of RA IS, and off at 1359*
Grrrrrr!!!! Standard rant about RA among other stations chopping off programs before they
finish. This was All in the Mind, which we are glad to see has survived the latest dumbingdown cuts at ABC Radio National, so we can still go back and get it via:
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/allinthemind/default.htm
Or did it? This and other recent shows turn out to be reruns from last year, like April; so are
any new ones being produced? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. Late UT Jan 22 tuned around the RHC frequencies to see what SNAFUs I could
report. Both colliders 11690 and 9600 were in middle of Spanish programming at 2314, on
much earlier than claimed; 11690 quite strong, and DW Rwanda somewhat audible
underneath; 9600 relatively weak and colliding with even weaker Vatican Radio IS, direct to
Vietnam. At 2322 found the RHC IS on 6000, except the transmitter was cutting off and on
every few seconds, never allowing a single iteration of the IS to play thru. A test? Still doing
that at 2328.
By 2330 that was done and instead we heard R. Praga in Spanish as usual on 6000. RHC`s
9820 was not on the air at first check 2322, but it was with OC at 2327, NA at 2329 and
opening just before 2330 introduced as a program about the new social security law in Cuba,
but then immediately into a 5-heroes promo. Claimed also to be on 6000. 9820 was not // the
RHC programming on 11690 and 9600. 9820 is designated as the Mesa Redonda (roundtable)
show, but that was not mentioned (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Rather surprised to hear Oprah on 9385, WWRB, Jan 22 at
1436, interviewing a Rev. Bacon who maintained that being gay is a gift from God. Is this really
the Overcomer Ministry? Yes, // WINB 9265v as usual. Ahá, she is chopped off at 1440 so that
Brother Scare can blast her and any such ideas as being Sodom-and-Gomorrah-ish, a major
abomination, says the know-it-all-even-the-future who was jailed for heterosexual misdeeds
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Not only does the jailed Tony Alámo continue broadcasting on R. Africa and WWCR,
but also on WINB, as heard Jan 22 at 2316 tuneby 9265v, when he conveniently referred to
himself in the third person, about visiting some guy running for president (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WRMI, 9955, Fri Jan 23 at 0600 with Frecuencia al Día DX program, starting off with
the Univisión/Televisa story; no jamming audible for a change. This time is not on the latest
publicity distributed by José Bueno, altho that has finally been updated.
It does appear on the latest WRMI sked revision dated Jan 17 at
http://www.wrmi.net/program.php?id=94 for Friday 1 am, which is in EST, UT-5.
This schedule now has more detail of the DX and other program content in several time blox,
but still not including M-F 1530-1700 UT (10:30 am - noon EST). On Fri Jan 23 I found
Frecuencia al Día again, ending at 1700 on webcast. I have compiled all the times shown for
the DX and some other programs in a separate item for next DXLD 9-007 (Glenn Hauser, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** IRAN. VIRI Russian, Jan 24 at 1519 had good signal on 9575, but low modulation also
cutting out occasionally; tho signal was weaker on // 9735, I could tell the modulation was
much better. Sites are Sirjan and Ahwaz, respectively. You may have a bunch of 500 kW
transmitters, but if you can`t modulate them properly, what`s the point? (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PHILIPPINES. Classical piano music on 9570, Sat Jan 24 at 1550, fair signal. PWBR says
it`s Radio Veritas Asia, in Russian, but at 1555 English ID and sign-off, IS and cut carrier at
1555:40. This is daily from 1500. RVA has no real English broadcasts on schedule, but uses
English as continuity language; that`s something (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** SERBIA [non]. Last summer we suggested that IRS should move to 6190 in order not to
collide with Mexico, and perhaps Brasil, on 6185. Dragan Lekic got them to do it and then IRS
was in the clear on 6190. Apparently that idea expired with 2008, or someone looked at their
online schedule, which was never updated, and figured ``gee, we are supposed to be on
6185``, so back they went!
Tnx to a tip from Kaj Bredahl Jørgensen, Denmark, DSWCI, that the NAm service was back on
6185 as of Jan 1: indeed at 0137 check Jan 24, I hear nice Mexican music on 6185 with
something barely audible underneath, and nothing on 6190. This would include English at
0100 and 0200, the former except UT Sundays. IRS must have a death-wish, but at least we
got it resurrected for a semiyear. You`re welcome (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** SLOVAKIA. 9445 with Spanish program about Christmas trees --- isn`t it a bit late for Xmas
programming, Jan 24 at 1553? What station is this? PWBR `2009` lists BOTH RSI and R.
Prague in Spanish at 1530-1600 on 9445, in the W season! But it`s really RSI as per 1556
sign-off, without ID but with IS, and off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. KJES, at The Lord`s Ranch near Vado NM, not heard in a long time, so one wonders
if they have been more or less inactive. But there it was Jan 24 at 1516, YL with religious
lesson in English, modulation very low on fair 11715 signal. I see in WRTH 2009 that besides
the main 50 kW transmitter, they have a 5 kW backup, so that may explain poor signals and/or
modulation at times. US SW stations are supposed to use 50 kW at least, but if you`re on the
backup of necessity, that is a legitimate excuse. This station has always stayed on-message,
never straying, never selling any airtime to outsiders in order to finance its own output or
obviously needed upkeep (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. As others have noted, the best chance to hear DXing With Cumbre has been deleted
by World Harvest Radio, replaced by yet another gospel huxter: Saturday 1530 on WHRI
11785, as happened again Jan 24, following the Hmong sesquihour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. For the past eight years there has been an ``Acting Presidential Radio Address``,
since Bush and his cronies stole two elexions. Now there is a real Presidential Radio Address,
so I am removing the `Acting` from entries in my Monitoring Reminders Calendar. Presumably
the original airing is still Saturdays at 1506 UT, availablized on many radio networks but
carriage depends on each station: it would have been interesting to compare which ones
added or subtracted it following The Transition. Even in Bush territory it was hard to find, with
most stations preoccupied with their own formats and why give away 4 valuable minutes of
airtime which could be crammed with commercials instead? There is no such thing as a public
service requirement.
The Address is also scheduled on AFRTS, so I reconfirmed that it is still running, with Pres.
Obama heard Saturday Jan 24 at 1730 on 12133.5-USB. Scheduled repeat is 0230 UT
Sundays, and presumably on most if not all the other AFRTS SSB frequencies from Florida
and other sites. And each followed by the Republican response, which I did not bother to keep
listening for.
The two are also scheduled each Saturday on C-SPAN 1, but that programming is so flexible,
that you can never depend on their following through. In the last few years there was a fairly
reliable slot around 2322 UT Saturdays, just before their quasi-DX program, The
Communicators, which almost always starts a few minutes before 2330; but that seems no
longer to be the case.
The online C-SPAN schedule for Jan 24 as consulted at 1740 UT, showed the Presidential
Radio Address (no, mention of Republican response, but surely that is understood) at: 1942
UT Saturday; 0048 and 0739 UT Sunday. Of course now there is video to go with Obama, tnx
to his use of YouTube, which already started months ago in the campaign; that also means it is
ondemand and you don`t have to try to catch it on scheduled AFRTS, C-SPAN or other
broadcasts (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ANGUILLA. Caribbean Beacon reactivated on 1610 kHz, as widely reported. There is also
speculation that some other gospel huxter in English is now on 1610, but I doubt it. At least
what I heard was Defunct Gene Scott, immediately parallelable to 6090, Jan 25 at 0716.
DGS/PMS, missing again from 11775, Jan 26 at 1528 check. This is getting more and more
irregular, even tho they have two SW transmitters on site, the original one and the ex-KTBN
one, and have restarted MW 1610 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CANADA. CBCNQ, 9625, in trouble again, Jan 25 at 1507 in Sunday Edition, distorted
modulation, but still on frequency and no upperside spurs audible yet.
9625, CBCNQ, still with problems, Jan 26 at 1510 with distorted modulation. By 1611 I was
also hearing clicking noises spreading 9645-9660 which I fear were also from this transmitter
as in previous breakdowns (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA [non]. CRI in English via Sackville, 6115, Jan 26 at 0655 with Chinese lesson about
numbers I was kinda getting into when it was chopped off incomplete at 0659* Geez!
Uncovering R. Nikkei in Japanese, with numbers too, but no doubt concerning stox (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. Amigos Net of yachters off the west coast of Mexico,
8122-SSB, Jan 26 at 1446. Altho I never heard Amigos Net mentioned by name; per previous
logs. Signals were weak and barely audible vs noise level. NCS was calling ``long-range
vessels``, and among those mentioned were ``Lovely Rita``, WDD9606 circa Acapulco; at
1450 WDB5505, R. Cappella --- it sounded more like R. than A. as you would expect, position
18-36 N, 103-42 W heading south. Mentioning flipping to ``4-bravo`` frequency on 4 MHz
band, presumably 4149 as before, but that was delayed; discussion of where to get fuel and
water at Zihuatanejo marina rather than Ixtapa. Net on 8122 seemed to close at 1456 but
some stations such as WDD5638 continued contacting and were still going at 1503; NCS
called sounded like ---7580. All calls and vessel names cited here are tentative! See DXLDs 7159 and 8-005 for my previous reports on this with more detail, over a year ago.
Have calls changed in the meantime? None then starting with WDD- or similar.
Perhaps if I had intuned earlier at 1415, I would have heard Don Anderson with his
comprehensive weather info; his participation in this and other nets, some of them ham, is
detailed here, tho almost two years old now: http://www.pacsea.org/n6hgradio.html
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** PALAU. 9965 had a gospel huxter in English around 1550 Jan 26, and at 1556 promo for
SW as a ministry avenue, phone number in South Bend, then full ID as ``T8WH Palau, the
international voice of LeSEA Broadcasting`` over Onward Christian Soldiers, until 1559* Fairly
good signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WRMI, 9955, amid Studio DX, in Italian, UT Mon Jan 26 at 0645 check, fair signal,
following WORLD OF RADIO at new time 0600. Next check at 1516, R. Prague relay in
English, good signal at S9+18; Frecuencia al Día, still repeating last week`s edition, started at
1530, and at 1554 signal had built up to S9+20, and steady with hardly any fading. Looks like
WRMI`s improvements to the NW antenna are working, as armchair copy even on the portable
receiver. 1600 DX Partyline Jan 24 edition; I dispute Allen Graham`s assertion that ``It`s
Saturday`` any more, and DXPL gets plenty of other non-Saturday airings. This one included
DX news from JSWC; the mandatory gospel-huxter who always tries to tie in ``hearing distant
voices`` with religionism --- o, I get it! And then logs of little interest from some Downunderite;
1616 Aventura Diexista. But at 1631 a full gospel-huxter show instead of WORLD OF RADIO
which temporarily occupied that semi-hour a week
before. No jamming noted except for some suspicious noises briefly at 1550 (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WEWN with music, Spanish on both 11520 // 11550, Jan 26 at 1607. A bit more
frequency diversity would seem to be prudent, but these two overlap for one hour only, 16001700. Also risks mixing products on 11490, 11580, but none audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. KJES, 11715, heard again Sunday Jan 25 at 1449, VG carrier level, but low
modulation, with hum and call-and-response in English. BTW, sporadic E was in play with
Mexico in on channel 3 around 1630 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A [non]. VOA, 9760 via Tinang, PHILIPPINES, Jan 26 at 1518 with continuous
Broadway/jazz music; 1524 suddenly cut to Business Dialogue in Spe-cial Eng-lish
transmission. Must have lost feed; don`t they have backups which could be switched to
instantaneously? This is aimed 21 degrees, also good for us, spelt U-S.
11765, other VOA programming at this hour, Border Crossings, 1527 Jan 26 DJ wrapping up
first half from the VOA Music Mix Network, about to pause for commercials on affiliates; good
signal but flutter. This is 96 degrees from Lampertheim, GERMANY, nowhere near usward
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VENEZUELA [non]. After sporadic appearances on previous January Sundays, no sign of
Aló, Presidente Jan 25: at 1447, nothing on usual frequencies 11690, 11875, 13750, 17750,
and the fifth one, 13680 was occupied by mainstream RHC programming // 12000, 11760,
while 13760 was open carrier; also RHC at 1452 check on 15370, 15360, missing from 15120;
after 1500, RHC Esperanto on anechoic 11760. Without embargo, the RNV CI service missing
during the 1500 UT hour from 11680, as necessary Sundays when there really is an A,P
program; despite plenty of transmitters being available on this occasion. One more check at
1719 in case of a late start for A,P? No (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ANGUILLA. PMS/DGS, still missing from daytime frequency 11775, at 1446 check Jan 27;
but night frequency 6090 was going as usual with constant hum, around 0700 Jan 27 (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake against Sound of Hope at 1351 Jan 27, much stronger on 8400 than
9000. At 1504, 9000 was in open carrier, but soon resumed at 1505 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA. RHC wasting its watts on 15370, Jan 27 at 1411 and still at 1417, open carrier with
no modulation, unlike 15120, stronger than // 15360, with stale Castro speech (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA: WRMI
** IRAN. Another check of VIRI Russian service on 31m at 1430-1530: Jan 27 at 1437, 9575
quite undermodulated in talk about Iran, almost synchronized with better-modulated 9735; both
had a lot of flutter on near-polar paths, but much better signal on 9575 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** RUSSIA. 12025, Jan 27 at 1448 song with a disco beat, lyrical language uncertain; 1450
announcement in S Asian language pronouncing website letters as in English: www.ruvr.ru.
1451 YL song with English lyrix; 1458 fading down, but still could make out the VOR IS. This is
VOR in Urdu at 14-15, 140 degrees from Moscow (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** U S A. WRMI, 9955 observations: Jan 27 at 0649, jamming pulses over AWR Wavescan, as
sked Tue 0630. Then was going to monitor switchover from S antenna to NW antenna at 1500
UT, but I was too late. Earlier in the hour, as usual, nothing audible except heavy DentroCuban
Jamming Command blockading R. Cuba Libre, but at tune-in 1459, R. Prague relay in English
was already started, mixing with jamming, but readable. By 1513 RP with S9+19 was well over
the jamming pulses; slight fading, and a constant het less than 1 kHz. By 1518 the jamming
was gone but the het continued, probably coming from YFR via Taiwan, which has a hard time
keeping to exact frequency: 1500-1700 in Russian as listed on 9955 in Aoki. WRMI also
broadcasts in French, i.e. nonsensically to fill the time after R. Prague English, 1526 with its IS,
schedule and web address announcements. 1529 another repeat of last week`s Frecuencia al
Día (what day of week do new shows start now?), 1600
DX Partyline; 1630 WORLD OF RADIO reconfirmed, Tuesday.
I see Aoki also attempts to show individual WORLD OF RADIO times on 9955 as well as
individual stations relayed from WRN: unfortunately this is mostly out of date in the file marked
January 27! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. Others have reported WWCR on second harmonic 6430, but now it has become a
fundamental! Jan 27 at 0703 I noticed that 3215 was missing, no trace of any signal, tho
WWRB 3185 was in, so not a propagation problem. WWCR doing maintenance on #1
transmitter? But then at 0706 I found a huge S9+20 signal on 6430 during InfoWars with Alex
Jones, GCN radio network as IDed at 0708. Some ute QRM; or rather, severe WWCR QRM to
whatever ute has a right to be there.
One must conclude that the WWCR transmitter was mistuned to the second harmonic of the
normal frequency 3215, so all its power was going out on 6430. Also must have had a pipeline
from TN, as the second harmonic of WWRB was also audible, but much weaker, only S9+10,
on 6370 with Brother Scare, // 3185. Once again, WWRB fails to measure up to WWCR ;-\
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. KJES, 11715, Jan 27 at 1404, G signal but undermodulated, child praying; still same
1444 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. The exclusive 31m SWBC band starts at 9400, but tell that to FEMA. SSB outstands
like a sore thumb when tuning across a broadcast band in AM, and Jan 27 at 1422 found some
sporadic transmissions on 9462.0. Mostly RTTY(? something digital) tests in between brief
voice contacts; at 1430 call caught as WGY911, with 908 just as 911 decided due to a het, to
QSY to ``channel 2-5``, wherever that is. Well, duh, of course there was a weak broadcast
signal audible here on 9460, most likely CRI English via Urumqi, per Aoki. [NOT ``Urumqui`` --get over the U-always-after-Q rule when dealing with Chinese! or Arabic.]
WGY911 gets 18,500 Google hits, quickly IDing it as FEMA HQ Telecommunications
Management in Washington DC, while WGY908 is in Denver. See my previous logs of FEMA
on other frequencies, and follow-up research in DXLDs 7-154 and 8-028, which showed there
is a lot of inter-agency communication involved, both federal and state.
Here`s a 7-year-old report with a bit more about FEMA Washington:
http://www.dxing.com/intrigue/intrg034.htm
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** VENEZUELA [non]. Tuning by 11680 via Cuba a couple times in the 15-16 UT hour Jan 26,
I noticed RNV is STILL announcing the totally outdated transmission schedule, and STILL
announcing the unreliable Apartado 3979 address; in between, segments both in broken
English and unbroken Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** AFGHANISTAN [non!]. Radio Solh has vanished! Jan 28 at 1423 check no trace of it on
13830 where it used to inboom via Rampisham. Not even a carrier; and 13840 YFR via
Wertachtal was well heard, so propagation OK. Nor was 13830 audible the day before, but I
was hoping it was just due to poor propagation then. Before 1500 looked around for Solh on
previously used frequencies, but not heard on 17700; something was on 15265 at 1450 but
talk unsounded like them, and R. Liberty, Georgian via Biblis is now using that. Nothing on
9875 either after 1506, but Solh was not usually heard there anyway.
We can only wonder if this PsyOp be a casualty of the new administration in Washington, altho
it seems unlikely that would be much of an Obama priority; but saving our taxpayer money is
called for. This was the most redundant service on earth, playing exactly the same content day
after day. Might cost less to give every Afghan a CD of it. Please check out the rest of its
previous schedule:
02-03 5925 UAE
03-12 11675 UAE
12-15 13830 Rampisham
15-18 9875 Rampisham
Never mind: VTC has deleted all these transmissions as of Jan 27 with no replacements!
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ANGUILLA. Caribbean Beacon daytime frequency 11775 still absent around 1415 Jan 28,
but still humming away on 6090 around 0700 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake, Jan 28 at 1351 good on 8400, much stronger than 9000 (Glenn Hauser,
OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [and non]. Several RHC frequencies were running with low modulation Jan 28 at
1413, which implies the studio feed wasn`t turned up to proper volume, too bad for those
itching to hear what Fidel had to proclaim in 2003. First noticed on 12000, much softer than
neighboring Chinese on 12005 aimed 67 degrees from well-modulated Romania. Then found
undermodulation also on RHC 11760, at 1425 13760, 13680, 15370, but somewhat louder on
weaker 15360, still inadequate (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [and non]. Interesting to hear two Japanese next to each other on 9750 and 9760,
Jan 28 at 0659; 9760 of course JOZ, R. Nikkei, so 9750 must be NHK. What does PWBR
`2009` show? Nothing at this hour, but instead V. of Malaysia in English, of which there was no
trace. 0700 on 9750, 3+1 timesignal, and more Japanese talk, seemingly from an arena,
sumo? In fact, NHK Yamata is currently registered on 9750 at 0700-1700, 300 kW, 290
degrees.
NHKWNRJ English at 1415 had severe pre-echo on 11705, first from Yamata, and then from
Sackville. I would say the proportion was about 35-65. Since E Asian signals were above
average this date, we could also hear NHK direct on 9875 without any echo; and on 11780 via
UK but that had Brasília QRM. BTW, in A-09, NHK plans to keep right on colliding with itself on
11705 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5985, Jan 28 at 1402 with YL speaking Mandarin slowly and
distinctly but did not really help my comprehension, over continuous piano music bed, i.e.
Shiokaze from Japan. At 1405 spelled something out in English letters including c-i-r-c-u-s, an
address? I seldom hear it in Chinese. Has anyone caught them in a French segment lately?
No QRM audible from jamming or Myanmar (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WWCR still transmitting by mistake on 6430 instead of 3215! 24 hours after first
heard, Jan 28 at 0704, VG except for ute QRM, and zero signal, not even a trace of a carrier
on 3215. I have not checked at other hours, but I suppose this is happening during the entire
span of the scheduled 3215 transmission, 0200-1000 UT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING
DIGEST)
** U S A. WRMI, 9955 still going well on NW antenna, Jan 28 after 1500 with Prague in
English; by 1559 I was monitoring the webcast instead to hear Frecuencia al Día ending, so fill
in another blank in the schedule, Wed at 1530; 1601 DX Partyline (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX
LISTENING DIGEST)
** VATICAN [non]. Surprised to hear Vatican Radio on 15595, VG Jan 28 at 1429 IS, 1430
Italian talking about Gesù, then Amazing Grace sung in English; 1503 had switched to
German, translating some guy in Italian, probably the current pope; 1525 recheck in Polish,
1530 back to Italian after IS, still loud & clear; 1555 operatic singing cut off with no goodbye at
1556:45. 15595 is a VR frequency at other times, so figured they had merely extended, maybe
one of their special broadcasts, altho nothing seemed special about the content.
Wait a minute! 15595 is supposed to be English to South Asia from Radio Netherlands via
Madagascar --- yes, that is still scheduled at 1359-1557 per
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/features/media/081026-rnw-shortwave-schedule
Therefore, this was a colossal feed mixup, no one noticing in Hilversum or Talata that they
were broadcasting VR instead of RNW. Current VR sked for the European service supposed to
be only on 5885, 7250, 9645 matches for 1500 German, 1515 Polish, 1530 music/Italian, but
shows Portuguese until 1500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** BIAFRA [non]. 15665, V. of Biafra International via WHRI, Friday Jan 30 at 2052 check,
insufficient, echoing with backscatter about equal to backlobe, but easily recognizable tones of
The Orator, so reconfirmed. This is mainly in English, not Ibo, despite DX Mix Bulgaria
schedule, and surely not more than weekly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CHINA. Firedrake check Jan 31 at 1432: both 8400 and 9000, much stronger on the former
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** CUBA [non]. Paused for a moment on R. Martí, 13820, since it was well atop the
DentroCuban Jamming Command, Sat Jan 31 at 1632 for program ``Sin Pedir Permiso`` with
Ernesto Betancourt. One of the guests interviewed by phone was Gen. Fernando Ochoa
Antich, from Venezuela, apparently now in the opposition. Hmmm, could be a relative of
Arnaldo Coro Antich of RHC thru his mother`s family. This is all a protracted family dispute
between the dentro- and fuera-Cubans, which the US has been unfortunate enough to get
pulled into (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** ECUADOR. HCJB, opening transmission on 12000, Jan 30 at 2059 and into automated ID
at 2059:30 in Spanish, claiming to be on 12000 to SAm, and 21455 to Europe, altho HCJB
closed down 21455 almost a year ago. The lesson is: HCJB should never make any real
frequency changes or close down any transmitters since they are unable or unwilling to update
their announcements to match reality --- what am I saying? HCJB isn`t about reality! (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** EGYPT. R. Cairo, 15080, Jan 31 at 1420 with ME music, Arabic mentions of Qahira,
somewhat distorted but not weak audio; considerable fading, for W Africa (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** FRANCE. RFI English is still on SW, 15605, Sat Jan 31 at 1619 with story about starting a
local radio station in Tanzania, with UNESCO help; American-accented narratrice Susan --referred to it as a ``50-kHz transmitter``; I assume she meant 50-watt! Segment was Africa
Media, and at 1622 onward to The Week in France, which started with Gaza. 1627 sports.
1630 ID plus Paris 1730 timecheck, and headlines including new president in Somalia,
Madagascar, Iraq, Aussie Open. 1631 Network Europe, which saves RFI from having to
produce a full hour of programming itself; sufficient reception tho aimed 170 degrees from
Issoudun across Africa. This is about as close as we get to a North American service from RFI,
which of course is not close at all, but enough of that 500 kW wanders over here (Glenn
Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** GERMANY [non]. The avant-garde music show on DW`s Russian service, Muzprosvet, has
not yet been cancelled. Glad to hear it again Sat Jan 31 at 1530 on 11720, 76 degrees via
Rampisham, but sufficient reception here, with wide variety of quasi-musical sounds from
didgeridoo, trumpet, jewsharp, voices, etc. Lasted until 1559:30 but at 1558:30 a 3 Hz SAH
started on the frequency, which turned out to be Radio Free Asia in Uighur as introduced in
English at 1600. That`s via Tinian, and Aoki says jammed, but no jamming audible.
I had tried several times without success to find a podcast of Muzprosvet on DW`s complicated
and unfriendly website. Here`s the program`s page:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,268970,00.html
Afterwards, this time I found it in the third category on the long list of DW Russian podcasts at
http://www.dw3d.de/dw/0,2142,4356,00.html
the exact link to this show audio being:
http://www.dw3d.de/popups/popup_multi_mediaplayer/0,,3736368_type_audio_struct_4356_fo
rmat_WMedia,00.html
So I listened to it again with `perfect reception` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** INDONESIA. RRI Fak2, 4790, the only Indo audible on 60m, with Makassar still missing
from 4750, Jan 31 as late as 1445 with continuous YL talking in Indonesian; a bit of music
around 1455 and gone, sign-off I suppose, but could have just outfaded (Glenn Hauser, OK,
DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** JAPAN [non]. It`s the last Saturday of the month, Jan 31, so NHKWNRJ`s English feature is
a classic story instead of World Interactive --- 1412 on 11705 via Canada, tale about
beheading, which I could easily do without, and so I did; at least there was no pre-echo this
time from Yamata direct (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. WWCR still with big harmonic problem: Jan 30 at 0723 check, VG signal on 6430,
S9+22 and splattering plus and minus 15 kHz approx., 6415-6445; unlike some previous
occasions, the fundamental also radiating on 3215, but only S9+19.
Also could hear second harmonix of 6 MHz frequencies: Jan 31 at 0622 on 11870, DGS 2 x
5935 mixing with WEWN Spanish fundamental; 11780, Pastor Pete Peters 2 x 5890, weak and
no Brasil on at the moment; these were weakly audible on the FRG-7, but much stronger on
the YB-400, i.e. the latter succumbing to receiver overload from the fundamentals. 0626, the
strong harmonic on 6430 from // 3215 was still going.
Checking WWCR-3 webcast, Sat Jan 31, the 1730 airing of WORLD OF RADIO did not start
until almost 1742, so on 12160 it may have been more than 5 minutes late. If you don`t hear
WOR at a scheduled time, don`t give up (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
** U S A. I just remarked that VOA`s Hausa service inbooms off the back from Greenville NC,
15185, M-F at 2030-2100 --- but not Jan 30 at 2050, when something unID was JBA. Perhaps
it was missing, or perhaps the skip zone was too broad; at same time, WHRI 15665 was
almost as weak from SC, which is not unusual for it on 19m, while more distant WBCQ was
incoming well on 15420, plus aimed usward (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
Jay Heyl – Orlando, FL
As Listed
1/1/09 0832Z 9580kHz Radio Australia Fair reception with a bit of fading. Just listened long
enough to get a positive ID.
Nothin’ But Net
(Editor – Martin Foltz)
Thanks to Kevin, Brian and Jay for the submissions this month.
Kevin Redding – Cosmic Crump, TN, Center of the Known Universe
Net radio listening
Posted by: Kevin Redding
Wed Jan 14, 2009 5:36 am (PST)
Now Flourishing on the Web: Old-Timey Radio
Posted at 7:32 AM PT on January 13, 2009
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The Web allows you to legally order up just about anything you want to hear, for free. So who on earth
wants to listen to conventional radio stations on the Internet?
I do, actually. I’m a big fan of The Current, the alternative but not-too abrasive (I’m old) public radio
station that broadcasts out of Minnesota, but apparently has lots of listeners in Brooklyn. And we’re not
the only ones listening to old-school radio on the Web. CBS Radio’s (CBS) network, which consists
primarily of news-and-talk outlets, is seeing big increases in online listeners. Mediapost:
CBS Radio’s network of radio station Web sites saw its total number of unique visitors increase 30% in
December 2008, compared to the same month in 2007, according to Web analytics service OneStat.com,
reaching an all-time high for CBS Radio. The online measurement company also noted that unique
visitors grew 7% between November and December 2008.
Among the biggest growth stations were KRLD-Dallas, which jumped 133% between December 2007
and 2008; KNX-Los Angeles, up 113%; and WBBM-Chicago, up 104%. Major increases were also seen
at WCBS-FM-New York and WPGC-Washington.”
So there’s a rare bit of good news for the radio business, which is losing listeners and ad dollars,
courtesy of competition from devices like Apple’s (AAPL) iPod and iPhone. And that’s also good for
enterprising companies like Targetspot, a New York-based start-up that’s dedicated to online radio
advertising.
There’s still not a whole lot of money in online radio ads; the entire “off air” ad category, of which the
Web is only a subset, makes up about nine percent of the radio ad market. And like the other media
industries being pummeled by digital, its unlikely that the new online markets will make up for the
decline in their existing businesses; that’s the now cliché-but-true “analog dollars to digital pennies”
adage. But better to have pennies than nothing at all.
Shortwave Radio Makes A Comeback Thanks To Internet
Posted by: Kevin Redding
Sat Jan 17, 2009 4:25 pm (PST)
Shortwave Radio Makes A Comeback Thanks To Internet
Since its introduction in the 1920s, shortwave radio has become mostly a hobby for radio enthusiasts,
however the advent of streaming Internet audio has resulted in global access to several shortwave
stations.
Sometimes referred to as “bootleg radio,” shortwave is primitive, but its affordability also makes it
enjoyable.
The Internet has presented new opportunities for shortwave radio enthusiasts. Whereas these operators
were once limited by a definable distance, the Internet allows them to transmit their content across the
globe.
Shortwave stations allow listeners to hear a variety of talk or music that many of them have never heard
before.
Shortwave radios can be purchased at several Web retail and auction sites. The devices range in cost
from $30 to $250. The more expensive models are more capable of discovering distant signals.
“You tune carefully, twist the radio from side to side, and there's still a bit of a 'Hey, I made this
happen!' sort of thing," said Harold Cones, retired chairman of the biology and chemistry department at
Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia.
Most shortwave enthusiasts swear by the enjoyment they get from broadcasting their own music, news
and information across the globe at will.
Naturally, the Internet overshadows shortwave devices in terms of audio quality, but it offers users and
operators a more connected experience than modern radio.
"It's more portable than a computer, especially if you ... don't have a laptop and you don't happen to have
a hot spot on your favorite beach," Ian McFarland, a former host and writer at Radio Canada
International told Reuters. “Batteries also keep them going a long time when the power goes out.”
Prime listening time is an hour before and after sunrise and sunset. It’s easier to pick up shortwave
stations in rural areas outside of cites because of atmospheric conditions.
--On the Net:
Newport University
Story from REDORBIT NEWS:
http://www.redorbit.com/news/display/?id=1623962
Published: 2009/01/15 14:53:05 CST
LA's Indie 103 going net only
Posted by: Kevin Redding
Fri Jan 16, 2009 5:53 pm (PST)
Los Angeles Rock Station Indie 103 Going Web-Only, Quits “Corporate Radio Game”
1/15/09, 2:04 pm EST
Los Angeles’ Indie 103, one of the nation’s most renowned alternative rock stations, announced on air
today that they’ll end their FM broadcast “effective immediately” and instead only exist on the Web.
“Because of changes in the radio industry and the way radio audiences are measured, stations in this
market are being forced to play too much Britney, Puffy and alternative music that is neither new nor
cutting edge,” the station said in a statement on their Website and an audio blast that aired several times
this morning. “Due to these challenges, Indie 103.1 was recently faced with only one option: to play the
corporate radio game. We have decided not to play that game any longer. Rather than changing the
sound, spirit and soul of what has made Indie 103.1 great Indie 103.1 will bid farewell to the terrestrial
airwaves and take an alternative course.”
By moving to the Internet, Indie 103 — which Rolling Stone named the nation’s best radio station —
promises to recapture the spirit they had when they first hit the airwaves on December 25th, 2003,
instead
of “the version of Indie 103.1 we are removing from the broadcast airwaves.” Today they played Frank
Sinatra’s “My Way”; several hours later, Sid Vicious’ version blared from radio speakers.
Though the station said they’re going off air immediately, they’re still playing music now, including a
pretty awesome block that included Lou Reed’s “Vicious” and Prince’s new “Wall of Berlin.” In fact,
Indie 103 made nationwide news recently when Prince deemed the station worthy enough to preview his
new songs. A countdown clock currently greets visitors to their Website, with roughly 29 days and 10
hours remaining until the “Indie Revolution” begins.
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/01/15/los-angeles-rock-station-indie-103-goingweb-only-quits-corporate-radio-game/
Re: LA's Indie 103 going net only
Posted by: Brian Leyton
Mon Jan 19, 2009 9:09 am (PST)
Isn't this the second time that 103.1 has gone "net only"? I seem to recall a AAA (Adult Album
Alternative) station on 103.1 a few years back which did the same thing. 103.1 doesn't get out all that
well, compared to the big guns on Mt. Wilson, so they are always at a big disadvantage in this market.
Brian
Re: LA's Indie 103 going net only
Posted by: Jay Heyl
Mon Jan 19, 2009 4:22 pm (PST)
On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 12:09 PM, Brian Leyton wrote:
> Isn't this the second time that 103.1 has gone "net only"? I seem to
> recall a AAA (Adult Album Alternative) station on 103.1 a few years back
> which did the same thing. 103.1 doesn't get out all that well, compared to
> the big guns on Mt. Wilson, so they are always at a big disadvantage in this
> market.
>
It's been so long I've forgotten the frequencies, but the station where Nicole Sandler was music director
went nothing-but-net with "World Class Rock" when Clear Channel sold the station. For whatever
reason, that effort didn't last very long.
-- Jay
And that’s another month on the Net. Thanks to the contributors this month.
73’s, Martin
You don’t Need a Weatherman…
No weather band DX this month
The Visible Universe
Steve Wiseblood – Boca Chica Beach, TX
Receiver, Antenna
1/22/2009 good duct to San Antonio, Austin & Corpus Christi!
0640 42 KEYE TX Austin ; CBS-42 morning news w/Fred Cantú
www.mexicoradiotv.com/
300miles
Juan Gualda – Ft. Pierce, FL
WinTV-D
1/25
As of late this morning, noticed on channels 2-5, with UNID SS on Channel 2 & 3.
Extra, Extra!
Kevin Redding – Adamsville, TN
As AM signal fades, Europe moves hesitantly to digital radio
By Eric Pfanner
Sunday, January 11, 2009
PARIS: During World War II, when Nazi propaganda ruled the airwaves in the Third Reich, the
215-meter radio tower near Beromünster in Switzerland was a beacon of independent
information to German speakers in Switzerland and beyond.
Radio Beromünster, the AM signal broadcast from the transmitter, may have defied the Nazis,
but it was unable to resist the march of technology. Last month, the Swiss public broadcasting
organization shut down the station and moved its last remaining program, a Swiss folk music
show, to a new channel on digital radio.
"We think it's an old technology," said Ernst Werder, digital project manager at the Swiss
broadcaster, referring to AM radio. "It is time for radio to be digital."
Radio has lagged behind television and even newspapers in making the jump from analog to
digital distribution. Now, in small steps like the one in Switzerland, the transition is gaining
momentum. But it has not always gone smoothly, and some analysts are questioning whether it
is even necessary.
Backers of digital radio point to a number of benefits. The sound quality is often clearer, without
the crackle and hiss of analog transmission. Digital broadcasts take up less of the airwaves,
allowing more channels to be broadcast. And the sets can be given nifty features like buttons
that "tag" music, so that listeners can buy it directly from digital music stores. Some digital
radios can pause and rewind programs, and broadcasters are working on adding still images like
weather maps.
Features like these, said Anthony Sethill, chief executive of Frontier Silicon, a London-based
designer of chips for digital radios, could make radio cool again. Young people, he said, "want a
multimedia experience" - so they often prefer their iPods, which Apple so far has refused to
equip with radio receivers of any kind.
Digital broadcasts are already available across many parts of Europe, the United States and
Japan. Australia plans a big rollout in May, and Germany is also expected to announce plans
soon. But so far only one country - Britain, where about eight million people have bought the
new receivers - has seen widespread consumer adoption. And even there, while the publicly
financed BBC has championed the new technology, some commercial broadcasters have
recently backed away from it, preferring to focus on FM transmission and the Internet.
Complicating matters is a battle over competing standards, with the United States, Britain,
Japan, France and Australia all adopting separate digital radio technologies.
"This should have been resolved by now," said Mark Mulligan, an analyst at Forrester Research.
Instead, "it will be another 5 or 10 years before it's even clear what the European standard will
be."
To try to restore the sheen in Britain, where digital radio has been broadcast alongside FM and
AM since 1995, a panel of experts recommended last month that the country begin switching off
the analog radio airwaves around 2017. If the government were to endorse such a target, radio
executives say, broadcasters and consumers alike would convert - as they have done with digital
television, as the days of analog have become numbered.
"There's no question digital radio is a transition that is going to happen," Hossein Yassaie, chief
executive of Imagination Technologies in Kings Langley, England, which makes digital radios
and broadcast equipment. "With the 2017 date suggested, it highlights that everyone needs to be
thinking about this."
While the shutdown of Beromünster leaves only one AM transmitter in Switzerland, serving
French-speaking parts of the country, several other European countries have gone further,
ending AM broadcasting entirely. Ireland did so last March; Austria followed suit at the end of
the year. But cutting off FM broadcasts is not an option anywhere, because too few consumers
and advertisers have made the switch.
Even in Britain, digital broadcasts account for only about 12 percent of radio listening,
according to Rajar, an audience measurement bureau. These broadcasts collect only 2 percent or
3 percent of radio advertising spending, said Howard Bareham, investment director for radio at
the British unit of Mindshare, a media-buying agency.
"It's very hard to make money from digital radio stations in the best of times," he said.
And these are not the best of times. Radio ad spending will fall 3.5 percent worldwide this year,
according to Group M, the parent of Mindshare. Considerably steeper declines are expected in
some markets, like the United States and Britain.
Still, interest in digital radio is on the rise again for several reasons - one of them a recent
investment by Apple in Imagination Technologies. Apple spent a mere £3 million, or about $4.5
million, to buy a 3.6 percent stake in the company. But the move prompted speculation that
Apple might decide someday to add digital radio capabilities to its iPods or iPhones. Apple,
which already uses Imagination Technologies chips for other purposes, declined to comment on
the investment.
Digital radio networks are also expanding. Australia, which has invested more than 400 million
Australian dollars, or about $285 million, in the development of digital radio, plans to start
broadcasting digitally to more than 60 percent of the country's population May 1, using a new
technology called DAB-Plus, an upgraded version of the system in use in Britain.
"This will be the biggest radio event, not just in Australia, but in the whole world, since the
introduction of analog radio," said Graeme Redman, managing director in Australia for PURE,
the name under which Imagination Technologies' radios are sold.
Supporters of other new radio technologies have made similar claims. Sirius XM Radio, which
delivers radio programming to North American subscribers by satellite, has attracted about 19
million paying customers. But it generates only tiny amounts of advertising and has never
delivered a profit.
Satellite radio has struggled even to get off the ground elsewhere. Worldspace, a U.S.-based
company that operates such a service in India and parts of Africa and the Middle East, has
announced plans to enter Europe. But those plans are at a "standstill," said Benoît Chéreau, chief
executive of Worldspace Europe, after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
in the United States in November.
Analysts say the appeal of paid-for radio might be undermined in Europe by the fact that free
radio contains less advertising than in the United States, where many subscribers signed up to
XM or Sirius to avoid the frequent commercial breaks on U.S. radio.
And European radio listeners looking for alternatives to their AM/FM sets already have other
options. Satellite television services like British Sky Broadcasting, for example, include a range
of radio channels in their subscription packages. Many radio stations are streamed over the
Internet. Listeners can also download podcasts to portable music players.
Now fans of DRS Musikwelle, the Swiss folk music channel formerly beamed out from
Beromünster, are weighing those alternatives against the purchase of a digital radio. To help
exlain the options, the Swiss public broadcaster organized a party at the transmitting station,
which is southwest of Zurich, last autumn. About 15,000 people attended.
"Many of them had their AM receivers for 50 years," said Andreas Notter, a spokesman for the
Swiss broadcaster. "Explaining to them that they suddenly had to go out and buy a DAB
receiver was difficult. It was an emotional issue."
http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=19245263
WGTO AM to increase to 6,000 watts
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 5:26 PM EST
CASSOPOLIS - On Jan. 29, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued
a Construction Permit that will allow WGTO AM (910Khz Cassopolis/Dowagiac) to
increase its transmitter power from 1,000 watts to 6,000 watts.
WGTO
originally went on the air as WLLJ in 1988 and has always operated with 1,000
watts daytime.
The relocation of WFDF radio which also operates on 910 from
Flint, to Detroit, along with improved techniques for measuring actual coverage,
allowed WGTO chief engineer and owner Larry Langford to show that a power
increase to 6,000 watts could be accomplished within the current regulations of
the FCC.
The engineering and application process was done over a period of
years. "A major part of the process is driving to remote areas and taking very
technical readings using very precise equipment to verify the current coverage of
the station to be able to better predict the new coverage with higher power. This
requires going to some very remote locations in Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin. In
the process you meet very interesting people who wonder who this is walking
around with headphones and meters," Langford said.
"As I walked in back
woods and open fields I on more than one occasion came face to face with
livestock, wildlife and an occasional "distillation operation of questionable legality."
But overall it was a rewarding road trip that covered a lot of territory and
people."
The FCC Construction Permit gives WGTO three years to install the
new equipment and provide documentation in the form of more field readings that
show it performs as expected.
Raising transmitter power to 6,000 watts will
make WGTO the highest power AM station in Southwest M ichigan. Other high
power stations in this area include WHFB AM 1060 Benton Harbor at 5000 Watts
and WKZO Kalamazoo at 590 with 5,000 watts.
The higher power will put a
much better signal into the South Bend area and will better compete with South
Bend market leader WSBT which operates at 960 with 5,000 watts.
Coverage in
Niles should show a drastic improvement.
Larry Langford hopes to have the
new equipment installed and ready for preliminary testing by summer 2009.
WGTO is seeking additional sales staff to handle the larger broadcast area.
The
substantial investment in new equipment underscores Langford Broadcasting's
commitment to serve this area with high quality local radio despite extremely hard
economic times and the resulting shrinking advertiser base.
"This is the last
local operation in this area and we feel that having local radio is a plus for our
area, in terms of economic development and public safety. We are banking on our
fellow business people to utilize WGTO and WDOW so that we may continue to
serve this area," he added. "Once local radio is lost in an area it rarely is able to
return."
WGTO and sister station WDOW are the only local radio stations
serving both Cass and Berrien counties.
http://www.cassopolisvigilant.com/articles/2009/02/04/news/vig1.txt
Norbert Ansay – Warwick, RI
Bargain Barn
Chris Black – Cape Cod
Before taking these items to the Deerfield radio flea market this Spring, thought I would run these up the
ABDX flag pole and see if anybody salutes.
1) APS 9B FM antenna, never outside in perfect condition. Cost new is $120 Will throw in radio shack
rotor control and 50 ft control wire. Selling for $100
2) BWD-90 (Barker-Williamson folded dipole HF antenna 1.8-54 Mhz) This antenna will transmit or
receive anywhere on the band without a tuner and is widely used by the Military. Used less that one
year. Cost new is $300 Selling for $200
3) SDR-IQ less than one year old in perfect condition. Cost new at Universal is $500 Selling for $350
4) Sherwood SE-3 Mk III synchroneous detector. This is a high quality product well respected in the
SW community. Only a few years old and rarely used. Cost to me was $575. Note that there is a recent
Mk IV on his web site for $675. The only difference I can find is: "the newer version has a modestly
increased lock range for the dual IF R-75" Selling for $400
All items purchased new by me. Will split cost of shipping for the antennas, otherwise you pay UPS
ground. PayPal OK.
Please reply off list with any questions. Thanks
Chris Black – n1cp@comcast.net
Show and Tell – New Toys
No new equipment this month…
Testing, Testing…
WOON Test 1/18
Eric Berger – Carleton, MI
GE Superadio III
Only heard the Morse code from WOON here in Carleton, Michigan. Enough
to count as a new catch, which makes it RI #2 here.
Ron Gitschier – Palm Coast, FL
DX-398
No Joy on the WOON Test in Palm Coast, FL, unfortunately. Tried until 2:36AM. Waaah!
Barry McLarnon – Ottawa, ON
Just checked my recording, and the slow code IDs appeared starting at just before 0203 EST.
The signal was good enough to copy the voice announcements at times: "WOON 1240,
Woonsocket, Rhode Island, USA, is broadcasting this hour for the benefit of distant radio
reception enthusiasts. This is a test broadcast." This announcement appeared to be
alternating with jingles between the code segments.
Not new here, but DX tests are always appreciated! I hope a test from WARL is in the offing,
as that one is on the wanted list here.
Bogdan Chiochiu – Pierrefonds, PQ – QC
I hear morse code clearly, new domestic DX log !
Probably my best graveyard catche !
Unbelievable !
It's even more entertaining than cuban Radio Reloj !
J. Neilsen – Ottawa, ON
I'm just west of you in Ottawa, I can hear the Morse code. It's not that clear but it's there. I'm
also hearing an ESPN radio affiliate very clearly at times.
Kevin Redding – Crump, TN
Tried but WOON not heard in Cosmic, Crump, TN, center of the known
universe.
Phil Rafuse – Stratford, PEI
Thanks to the SDR-IQ, I have a good 10 to 15 minute RF clip of 1215 to 1265 KHz, centred on
1240. I deliberately set my RF drift net narrow [50 KHz is as narrow as the net goes] to
conserve storage space.
Just a few minutes ago I listened - sure enough, I heard Morse code. At times weak, at times
quite plain and you could here a man's voice saying something and I even caught the word
"test". At such times, the morse code was very good.
Thanks to Chris Black's help, I was able to set the SDR-IQ up to make clips of a good length,
not the 20 second ones I was getting in December.
Now I'm pumped for more DX tests! I'd love to see another KEVA test - both my gear and my
techique has improved a lot since the last one and I can sleep soundly, knowing the SDR-IQ
will do its job.
I also tuned around the 50 KHz swath and found something interesting on 1220 with what
sounded like Reginald Dwight [EJ] singing :)
Call Sign Changes
No FCC Release This Month
I Got The Bird!
No Satellite this month.
ABDX consists of:
Editor/List Owner: Kevin Redding
Webmaster: Michael J. Richard
Moderators: Phil Rafuse
Powell E. Way III
LW Editor: Jay Heyl
NBN Editor: Martin Foltz
And 189 of the greatest DXing contributors on earth!
Please pass the ABDX Journal to all the DXers you know. The dues are free and all we would
like to do is see you contribute your logs on occasion.
To join the DXers at ABDX either go to this URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ABDX/
Or email dc2daylight at gmail.com