DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-161, October 28, 2001 edited by Glenn Hauser, wghauser@hotmail.com {Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. For restrixions and searchable 2001, 2000 contents archive see} http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Dxldmid.html [NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn] WORLD OF RADIO #1102: NEXT BROADCASTS on WWCR: UT Mon 0100 and 0600 on 3215, Tue 1200 on 15685 NEXT BROADCASTS on RFPI: Tue 1900, Wed 0100 on 15040, 21815-USB; 0700 on 15040; 1300 on 15040, 21815-USB (STREAM) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1102.ram (DOWNLOAD) http://www.worldofradio.com/wor1102.rm (SUMMARY) http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wor1102.html WORLD OF RADIO, CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL new schedules: http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/radioskd.html http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/wormast.html B-01: The new season is underway Oct 28, but HFCC still hasn`t posted the B-01 schedule. What are they waiting for? Keep checking for it here: http://www.hfcc.org/data/index.html (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SELECTED DX PROGRAMS has been updated for new season: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** AFGHANISTAN. Media round-up 28 October 2001 Balkh radio still heard by BBC Monitoring Radio Voice of Shari'ah of Balkh Province - the Taleban-controlled provincial radio station based in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif - continues to be observed on its usual frequency of 1584 kHz mediumwave. On Sunday 28 October the radio's morning broadcast commenced at 0250 gmt, some 20 minutes later than usual, and faded out a few minutes later, possibly because of poor reception conditions. The evening broadcast commenced at its schedule time of 1230 gmt. The 1330 gmt news bulletin in Pashto contained the following items: 1. The coordinator of the northern zone, governor of Balkh Province, attended a meeting of the clan and tribe council of the general department for borders affairs of the northern zone today. 2. At the proposal the department of mines and industries and with the approval of the esteemed body of northern zone, some new appointments have taken place in the general department of mines and industries of the northern zone. 3. The rector of Balkh Province has visited various departments of Balkh Province medical institute. 5. A meeting of the administrative and technical council of the fertilizer and electricity generating plant was held at the general department of mines and industries today. 6. Ulema and elders and people's representatives from various villages of Charbolak District held a meeting yesterday to condemn the attacks on our country by America and its allies. 7. Announcements 8. Songs Kabul radio still unheard by BBC Monitoring The Taleban radio station, Radio Voice of Shari'ah from Kabul, has remained unheard by BBC Monitoring since Monday 8 October. Radio Voice of Shari'ah from Kabul, which is usually on the air from 0130- 0400 and 1230-1800 gmt, has not been heard on any of its three frequencies - 657 kHz and 1107 kHz mediumwave and 7085 kHz (variable) shortwave - since 1610 gmt on 8 October. US PsyOps broadcasts to Afghanistan continue Information Radio continues to be observed by BBC Monitoring broadcasting in Pashto and Dari on 8700 kHz from 0030-0530 and 1230- 1730 gmt. On 28 October, the 1230 gmt broadcast was also heard in parallel on 864 kHz. The third announced frequency, 1107 kHz, has not yet been observed. US PsyOps radio warns Afghans not to confuse food drops, bombs US psychological operations Information Radio at 0030 gmt on 28 October broadcast a message warning Afghans of the danger of confusing food drops with cluster bombs, both of which are yellow. The message, broadcast in Dari and then in Pashto, said that cluster bombs would not be dropped in the same areas as food parcels and should in most cases explode on impact with the ground, but that people should still be aware of the difference in appearance. "Attention noble Afghan people. As you know the coalition countries have been air-dropping daily humanitarian rations for you," the message began. "The food ration is enclosed in yellow plastic bags. They come in the shape of rectangular or long squares. The food inside the bags is Halal and very nutritional," it added. It said that the cluster bombs, although the same colour, were cylindrical in shape. "In areas away from where food has been dropped, cluster bombs will also be dropped. The colour of these bombs is also yellow. All bombs will explode when they hit the ground, but in some special circumstances some of the bombs will not explode. The cluster bombs are 6 cm in diameter and 16 cm in length and they are cylindrical in shape." "Of course in future cluster bombs will not be dropped in areas where food is air dropped. However, we do not wish to see an innocent civilian mistakes the bombs for food bags and takes it away believing that it might contain food... "Therefore, we would like you to take extra care and do not touch yellow-coloured objects thinking that they might be food bags. "This issue is highly important especially in areas where bombs have been dropped. You should not forget and take additional care. Do not mix the cylinder-shaped bomb with the rectangular food bag," the message concluded. Spaniard working for Al-Jazeera TV "under surveillance" A Spanish national now working for Qatari Al-Jazeera television was under police surveillance when he worked in Spain because of his suspected links with radical Islamists, according to a report in the Madrid daily El País web site on 28 October. The report said that "Taysir Alluni, the Spanish journalist who is a correspondent for the Arabic television network Al-Jazeera, "was spied on by the Spanish police for over a year because of his suspected relations with men belonging to the Jihad, according to police sources. His telephone was tapped under a court warrant and executives of [the Spanish news agency] EFE, where he worked in Granada, were informed of the surveillance. Alluni complains that there is a desire to discredit his work as a journalist." "Alluni, 55, of Syrian origin and Spanish nationality, the only journalist who has managed to enter the impregnable news bunker of the Taliban regime, was the object of a thorough and probing police investigation during his time in Spain, up to February 2000, when he was working for the Arabic translation service of the EFE news agency in Granada, his adopted city, where Fatima, his wife, and his four children, all Spanish, live." "From his office in Kabul, the journalist responds to the report of police surveillance thus: "I don't care if they tapped my phone. I didn't care before and I don't care now either. The police are doing their job and I am grateful to them because they are working to keep the country safe. If they have tapped the phones of ministers and of the king, why wouldn't they tap mine? I am not concerned at all". The Al-Jazeera correspondent in Kabul stresses that he is only doing his job and he says: "Many are seeking to discredit us. They want to nullify our work, to discredit the war damage we show every day. What the police say about me as an assault and is defamation. We will study legal measures. All of this smells bad to me. Why is it being reported now?" he asks." Compiled by Foreign Media Unit, BBC Monitoring Telephone +44 118 948 6261 e-mail: fmu@mon.bbc.co.uk Source: BBC Monitoring research 28 Oct 01 (via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Besides out-of-date info about 7087v, Popular Communications has distributed this: ``Reporter Mike Miller of Washington State emailed the station a rather "strong" note after the September 11 tragedies and got this response: "Dear Friend: Aiming your justified anger at us and threatening with hate mail those who, like you, oppose it is not the right way to combat terror. We are with you and against those who committed the atrocities yesterday. Just because we run an Afghan radio does not mean that we are with the other side. We are Americans and have warned US officials for years than Ben Laden and the Taliban are a threat. We are opposed to them. Direct your anger at those who support the Taliban and Ben Laden. Afghanistan is a victim too, and its people are hostages of these terrorists . . . " By the way, it's probably news to most (as it was to us) that there are supposedly Americans working at Afghan Radio! On another front, several have noted they were unable to listen to the BBC World Service on the Internet during the height of the crisis due to the overwhelming demand for access. As Mike Miller noted "I wonder if the BBC still thinks it's a good idea to go to the Internet or satellite as opposed to HF to get their broadcasts, in light of recent events?`` (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) The e-mail address used is not specified but this sounds as if the reporter wrote to the Azadi service represented at http://www.afghanradio.com which is a longstanding Afghan site OUTSIDE Afghanistan, also on the air in Washington DC and the Bay Area, as a little inspection of it should surely reveal, besides it being called `Azadi` meaning free! This certainly does not mean there are Americans working at any Afghan Radio in Kabul, which by the way, has been known as V. of Shariah since the Tal`ban took over (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Hi: Was listening to WOR last night WWCR and noted you mentioned the possibility of being transmitted from Diego Garcia. Well, sounds great but Diego García has only been heard here once or twice and was difficult at best. [you mean the AFN relays? And why would those with different frequencies, transmitters and antennas necessarily correlate with 8700? -gh] Friday night I listened to the entire broadcast on one receiver and noted that the signal level dropped from 7.0 to 6.5 and then back to 7.0 ~ till off. No flutter, eliminates, areas such as Thailand or Sri Lanka or any Indo area. I think better chance from Germany than anywhere. I thought possible Russian xmtr but watched Geo Clock for sunrise and no change so that is out. Narrowed to Germany or Turkey but have a good idea it to be Germany (Bob Montgomery, PA, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Can you rule out Turkmenistan? That CRW theory seems to be widely ignored; how come? (gh, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non non non]. Subject : Clear Channel Buys anything Got this news item forwarded to me last Tuesday: In a move that surprised even the most savvy investment bankers and broadcasters, Clear Channel Communications (CCU) announced today that it had purchased the United States Air Force's EC-130E aircraft that broadcast to the Taliban forces still on the ground in Afghanistan. Since the conflict began, the aircraft, known in military parlance as 'Commando Solo', have been flying over war-torn Afghanistan broadcasting pro-American messages. While The Pentagon had no official comment, sources speaking off the record said; "Those idiots will buy anything. This operation ain't even cash-flowing and we got $6,000,000,000." In announcing the purchase, Clear Channel President, Randy Michaels said, "We plan no changes to the operation of Commando Solo at all. It's a great, heritage operation and that's why we're buying it." However, sources within Clear Channel say that pink slips have been issued to all Commando Solo employees and that the station will be voice-tracked immediately. Additionally, Reuters has learned that Premiere Radio Networks, a CCU subsidiary, sent a letter to long-time Rush Limbaugh affiliate KABUL-AM in Kabul, which read, in part; "Thanks for bringing us to the dance. Up Yours. We're moving Rush to Commando Solo. PS: How'd ya like to buy a Brown Bag library?" Meanwhile, the new Commando Solo General Manager instructed his sales manager to attempt to hire every rep at KABUL-FM and immediately announced a bounty of two sacks of wheat for every rep brought over to Clear Channel. Commander Azi Azzel of the Northern Alliance praised the move. "While I grant you that it is a harsh move to inflict Clear Channel programming even on Al-Qaida and the Taliban, I have no doubt that this radio equivalent of anthrax will drive them to their knees." A spokesmen for Osama Bin Laden commented, "Mr. Bin Laden appreciates Randy's offer for him to host 'an outrageous morning show in a country where killing pigs on-the-air is OK', but he is otherwise occupied at the moment and, besides, he can't get FM in his cave." (via Bill Frahm, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. The Only Show in Afghanistan http://www.wnyc.org/new/talk/onthemedia/otmindex.html 35 million listeners - that’s 70 percent of Afghanistan`s population - tune in to each 15-minute episode of "New Home, New Life." In a country where even music is banned, the BBC appears to have slipped through the cracks. Sharazuddin Siddiqi is the producer of the program produced in Peshawar, Pakistan and he talks to Brooke (via Larry Nebron, CA, Oct 28, swprograms via DXLD) ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. India, 4760, All India Radio, (Port Blair - presumed), 1135-1151 Oct 28, Noted typical music with comments from a woman. Audio was muffled and difficult to distinguish details of comments. Faded really bad by 1151 or off, can't decide (Chuck Bolland, Lake Worth, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGES) ** AUSTRIA. Glenn, Radio Austria Int. English sked 10/28/2001 - 03/30/2002 received via postal mail 10/27/2001. Some of the following may look odd, but I'm typing exactly as shown in the printed sked. Europe & Middle East 0632 UT Daily 6155, 13730 and 17870. Europe & Middle East 1230 UT Daily 6155 and 13730. Europe & Middle East 1430 UT Daily 6155 and 13730. Europe & Middle East 1930 UT Daily 6155 and 5945. Europe & Middle East 2230 UT So-Fr 6155 and 5945 (I believe So = Sonntag = Sunday) North America 0230 UT Daily 7325 North America 1630 UT Daily 17865 via RCI relay Africa as in Europe Asia & Australia 1330 UT Daily 17855. URL is http://roi.orf.at Email roi.service@orf.at 73, (-.. . Kraig, KG4LAC, VA, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. 17820, AWR Moosbrunn, English to Africa had QRM from DW IS on co-channel also. No AWR DX program carried here. 0855 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM [and non]. RVI lost its audio feed ... 5985 RVI Jülich in English expected at 0800-0830 with Frans Vossen's Radio World, but English program didn't appear; same happened on \\ MW 1512. There was only continuously fine Irish/Celtic music heard, interspersed by all[!] Dutch language closing announcements and English identification and frequency announcement audio pieces of the day, read out of the computer audio files. For example 1130 UT closing for 17670 Africa in Dutch, then followed by 9865 Petropavlovsk Kamchatskyi relay opening announcement in English (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST). RVI goes MAD!!! Well, Radio Vlaanderen International has stopped transmitting now in English, French and German from the Waver transmitter site [South of Brussels] as of 28th October. However they had some problems with the 0800 UT transmission this morning [28th October] both on shortwave 5985 from Jülich, Germany and medium wave 1512 kHz from Wolvertem, Belgium because the automated system played the opening announcements of all the transmission times for half an hour but no programmes! It suggests they didn't have any engineers in the radio building as the same problem occurred on both medium and shortwave. I wonder what will happen at 1230 UT when Wolvertem is again on 1512 kHz? (Nick Sharpe, UK, World DX Club via Mike Barraclough, DXLD) Duhh, if there is any time human beings should be on duty, overtime or not, it is on the last Sundays of October and March (gh, DXLD) After 0800 RVi was as always on 5985. Well, as always for the "ordinary" listener, because the connoisseur noted from the audio/ modulation characteristics that this is no longer Waver but Jülich now. Tbilisskaya 9925 is quite good here during the evening but after 2000 the signal strength noticeably deteriorated. Typical warm CIS audio style and one second behind Wolvertem 1512 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. Emisora Mallku, Uyuni, 4796, will celebrate their 5th anniversary on Dec 1 by organizing various events such as a local bicycle race. The station is in need of new studio equipment, including a CD player and a PC. A couple of mountain bikes would come in handy, too, says station manager Freddy Juárez Huarachi in a recent letter. A nice multicolored pennant and a paper cutting were enclosed (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CAMBODIA. 11940.34: Hello, thanks to a tip of Roland Schulze, Philippines, last month I tried to observe National Voice of Cambodia in Phnom Penh. Scheduled at 1200-1315 UT in English, French, Thai, Laotian, and Vietnamese. Also decided to check whether Bucharest occupied that window time slot in B-01 season. Heard Phnom Penh with lovely smooth South East Asian music between 1240 and 1314 UT, 22222. Very low modulation level. Frequency figured to the nearest 11940.34 on my AOR 7030. Thanks a lot, Bucharest uses 15245 and 17745 for German service this season, instead of 11940 powerhouse. Between 13.04:53 and 13.05:21 the Bucharest technician made a short on-air test carrying Arabic service (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) and see ROMANIA ** CANADA. Is RCI broadcasting on 13656.7 this morning instead of scheduled 13655 or is my radio broke? But then WWV is dead on... (snicker... snicker...) (Mark ---, 1415 UT Oct 28, swprograms via DXLD) You're right. They are definitely off frequency, for whatever reason. Gee, maybe to protest the laying off of technicians from the Sackville site??? (Sheldon Harvey, QB, Oct 28, swprograms via DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. RCI from 2100: Sackville 5995 propagates but is quite weak and now after 2130 has Warszawa-Leszczynka co-channel, knocking out Sackville completely. On 7235 I hear something else (sounds like RFE/RL but I am too tired to check further) with RCI Skelton deep underneath only. Tbilisskaya 7425 not detectable at all, I hope I have the frequency correct? [yes, but azimuth is 188 degrees -gh] Sackville 9805 has something co-channel, so is useless, too. Only 11600 and 13650 are not disturbed (yes, also 22 metres propagates) but certainly this signal quality with quite a lot of noise and fading can satisfy hardcore listeners only. Altogether the disaster I expected, and the clashes make the situation even worse (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 6100, R Bangui, 1857-1900 Oct 22. African music and s-off with national anthem without any ID. I presume this is Bangui, the anthem was from CAF and Bangui was recently logged as reactivated on this frequency. Heard also Oct 24 at 1745-1800 with talks (partly French) and Oct 25 at 1640-1656. But no ID heard. These times R. Yugoslavia was silent. Bad splatters from 6105. Also Iran is using this frequency at times. Without QRM the signal could be decent. 73 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, FINLAND, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. Not sure if this be new, but bandscanning for B-01 anomalies UT Oct 28 at 0255, heard R. Internacional de China (why don`t they call it China Radio Internacional??) closing Spanish on 9665 with lo-fi clipped audio and fairly strong signal indicating a relay site, unknown to me, Cuba? Mixes with VOA in English, which recently started using this channel too, from where? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. Thanks for the China correction; I bet the 558 Spectrum radio 2300 broadcast and the 1120 AM Washington area broadcast has shifted back too. The shortwave frequencies however do show a lot of changes so would hope for some degree of accuracy. There are a couple of Japanese DX sites that post monitored schedules of CRI so I will check those in a couple of weeks. You confirmed the Cuban relay on 17720; I checked 1605 same day and found Radio Canada International in English relayed from China, confused me for a while until I checked the A01 HFCC listings (Mike Barralcough, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 15440 CRI 8-9 in Mandarin, very! strong signal today, also strong CRI in English on 11730 and 15210. Massive test transmissions today Hello, thanks to a tip of Alan Davies in Malaysia I came across the MASSIVE test transmissions of - undoubtedly - CRI Beijing via a new?/old transmitter site: Same program format of continuous playing LOVELY Chinese instrumental folk music has been noted few years ago, when new 500 kW site at Urumqi-Xinjiang made final tests for 'taking over' procedure from Continental Texas company to the Chinese authorities. At that time 49 mb to 19 m bands were tested, and brought into regular service later (in Aug/Sept 1998?). Maybe in a second step extension, the Chinese now erected more transmitters and antennas - tentatively on same site - , even in 16 mb and 13 mb too. Between 1500 and 1700 observed on 9515 11815 11935 17800, and 21550 kHz. Later now from 1700 UT on 7470 9455 9515 9690 11850, and 13750 kHz. 73 de wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA. See SWITZERLAND ** CZECH REPUBLIC. Only a weak unID signal could be detected on 21745 Oct 28 at 1400, when R. Prague is again scheduled to NAm in English; 13m propagation was sub-par, but wasn`t this the station which previously did not get around to adopting new season schedule until Monday? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. HCJB`s morning frequency, 15115, now has severe co- channel QRM, checked at 1404 Oct 28, something Slavic-like, I think. Parallel 12005 toward Carib not much good either. Strangely, one version of HCJB`s B-01 schedule on it site omits Morning in the Mountains completely (except on 21455): http://www.hcjb.org/radio/schedB01.php?sched=english#sched while another one includes it at 1100-1430 only: http://www.hcjb.org/radio/schedB01.txt (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 25740, Deutsche Welle back on 11 mb, joined RFI 21820 there. 0830 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Until 1400, I believe, possiblizing NAm reception (gh) Subject: 25740 kHz Deutsche Welle. Glenn, GERMANY, 25740, Deutsche Welle, 1000 UT, German Programme. IDs and News bulletin. Excellent signal here in South Wales this morning (Oct 28th). Reactivation of this frequency. Heard with sign off at 1400 so schedule is 0800-1400 for this (Graham Powell, Webmaster for The Online DX Logbook and 21MHZ.COM. Full Details are available at http://www.shortwave.org.uk DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [and non]. At 0610 I found Deutsche Welle heavily disturbing Deutsche Welle on 6075: The regular German program was mixed with continuous interval signal, evidently from another carrier, I guess from Sines while Wertachtal had the proper feed, since 3995 was OK. Fault finally fixed at 0630 recheck. I really wonder how this could happen, perhaps the control system at Sines automatically inserts the interval signal loop when the feed circuit contains no audio? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 17510 (new? freq) and \\ 15770 AIR in Indonesian, strong on both at 0845-0945 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. The General Overseas Service of All India Radio in English was heard today in the Northern UK, Sunday 28 October 2001, at 1745 sign-on on 15155 and 7410 with a good signal (Harry, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. IRIB World Service in English: website was not accessible Oct 27, but Oct 28 we found an undated schedule unlike the A-01, so may well be he new B-01 schedule, at: http://www.irib.com/worldservice/time%20table/friquenci/english.htm 0030-0130 [blank] CAm, 6065 CAm/NSAm, 6135 NAm 1100-1230 15480 Pakistan, 15385 Persian Gulf & Oman Sea, 21470 SEAs/Au, 21730 SEAs/Nau, 15375 FE 1530-1630 9605 SAs, 11775 and 11870 SEAs/India, 9890 NWCEu 1930-2030 [blank] C&WEu, 6110 CEu, 11695 and 15140 S&EAf 2130-2230 11740 and 9780 SEAs/Au Note the 0030 frequencies, which are essentially inaudible in NAm, unlike the A-01 channels of 9835 and 11970; the blanks may well refer to 9022, traditional way-out-of-band frequency which was used previously on this and many other broadcasts, and which, as a law- abiding regime, Iran does not wish to acknowledge (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. 9765, looked out for AWR Forlì English Wavescan program 0830 UT, but heard poor signal S=1, seemingly Arabic?? IBID. (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. 7306-usb mode, Radio Europe, Pioltello, Italian DX Program at 0930, Suns only, played DX records, S=2 deep fading (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 13760 not coordinated well. Heard both KRE and an UNID US? religious broadcaster in English at 0915 UT, equal signal strength (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Current FCC schedule only has WHRI on 13760, but in the daytime (gh) ** KOREA NORTH. 13670, Jamming heard here underneath, seemingly against R Pyongyang which was heard in 'rough' modulation. Korean/ Russian combined language service at 8-9 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. My body clock, adjusted to 7 months of stupid DST, insisted on having me awake by 1200 UT Oct 28, so I checked 9650 for RKI via RCI. As expected, with the morning broadcast after aeons as a half hour now expanded to a full hour, Murtiwave Feedback appears half a UT hour later than before, at 1205. Included Bill Matthews` inexplicably enthusiastic review of PWBR 2002. 9650 still has co-channel QRM from distorted Chinese jammer, but on this occasion RKI was on top, despite a less than super signal from Sackville (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. Contrary to note in DXLD 1-160, checking 7325 early for Austria, was surprised to find Vilnius closing English here at 0100* Oct 28, ex-9875 (Joe Hanlon, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And Austria, q.v., confirmed indeed with English, clear at 0230 on 7325 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO VILNIUS B-01 SCHEDULE Starting October 28, Radio Vilnius (Lithuanian Radio's Foreign Service) has changed its frequency for daily broadcasts to North America at 0000-0100 UT. The new frequency is 7325 kHz (the old was 11690 kHz). Other frequencies remain unchanged, and the full B-01 schedule is as follows (times in UT): to Europe: 0900-1000 Lithuanian, English 9710 kHz 1900-1930 English 666 kHz to North America: 2300-2400 Lithuanian, English 9875 kHz 0000-0100 Lithuanian, English 7325 kHz All transmissions originate from the Sitkunai Transmitting Station in Lithuania http://www.geocities.com/ratekona/sit --- nothing is relayed via any other stations. The 1900 broadcast to Europe may also be heard worldwide via Internet at http://www.lrtv.lt/lr1.ram RADIO SANTEC (via LTU) B-01 SCHEDULE Radio Santec, with its German language program "Universelles Leben", is on the air via Sitkunai Transmitting Station one hour later in the B-01 season: 1300-1400 UTC German 9710 kHz to Europe Details at http://www.is.lt/ratekona/rtv/ltu/radio-am.htm 73 de (Sigitas Zilionis, Vilnius, Lithuania, Oct 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. And also two SPURS noted today: V of Malaysia Kajang on 15294.905 kHz produced two spurious signals on 13.635 kHz either side. Spurs observed symetrically on 15281.27 and 15308.54 kHz. (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see unID too ** MALTA [non]. 9840, surprisingly V. of Mediterranean heard here (registered 11770 via Rome-I tx site, but changed in late Sept to 9840), 0925 English S=9 +60 dB. 08 It, 09 En, 10 Maltese, 11 French, 12-13 German. Suns only (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. 12085 at 0920 UT Mongolia??, fluttery in Japanese language?? S=2-3 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. 21890.3v, Radio Omroep Zuid, 1230 Oct 27. This Dutch station was testing on Saturday. The song "Venus" (remake) @ 1230. "Testing modulation" then whistles. Techno music. Heard ID several times, but just couldn't understand it. "This is ?? from the Netherlands" ..."maybe we reach the USA"..."the power at the moment is 30 watts AM" Station went off @ 1250. Good strong modulation. The signal strength was fair, but I had terrible QRN from high voltage lines. Received e-QSL from operator, via my posting at the SW Pirates group. The station is called Radio Omroep Zuid, confimed power output, 30-40 watts (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORWAY. UKEradio´n, a.k.a. Studentradio´n, in Trondheim, is currently active on 7215.1. Their signal is harder to read than two years ago, which was when they were on the air last time. Daily program sked is posted at http://www.stud.ntnu.no/studorg/radion/ where there is also live audio, at least during the local evening hours. I have a QSL from 1957 and another one from 1999, so I am quite happy with their RealAudio facility (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PARAGUAY. 9736.2, Radio Nacional del Paraguay, Asunción. 1149- 1201. October 27. Romantic local music selection. Ann.: "Paz, justicia y libertad ...en las ondas de ZP1 amplitud modulada, ZPA1 onda corta y ZPB1 95.1 FM, juntamente con ZP12 Radio Carlos Antonio López, de la ciudad de Pilar, integran para usted las emisiones de Radio Nacional del Paraguay al servicio del estado paraguayo". Tops. Cheek time. [sic] Ann.: "Radio Nacional del Paraguay y su cotidiano mensaje de paraguayidad por los cielos del mundo por los 910 kilociclos y 9735, banda de 31 metros, onda corta internacional". Noticias locales. 44333 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. 21830, RDP Lisbon in Port, had another co-channel station underneath/ahead (equal level Rampisham? to SAs), 0845 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. Hi Glenn, Radio Romania International sked on their website posted below. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Radio Romania International October 28th, 2001 - March 30th, 2002 Reception Area Time (UT) Frequencies (kHz) North America 0200-0300 9550 11830 Japan 0200-0300 11740 15290 New Zealand 0200-0300 11940 15370 North America 0400-0500 9550 11830 India 0400-0500 15335 17735 North-West America 0600-0700 9530 11830 Western Europe 0636-0653 7145 9510 9570 11790 11940 North-East Africa 0700-0800 15335 17720 Western Europe 1400-1500 11940 15365 17790 Western Europe 1700-1800 11940 15245 Northern Europe 1700-1800 9625 11830 Western Europe 2100-2200 7105 9690 Northern Europe 2100-2200 5955 7215 Western Europe 2300-2400 7195 9570 North America 2300-2400 9510 11940 (Mike Barraclough, UK, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 17765 POWERful Dr. Gene Scott. This morning I heard what seems to be Dr. Gene Scott back on the air here, x17645. Audio quality well!!! Is this the Samara, Russia outlet? Announced "Voice of the Faith", strong signal compared to suffering 17645 some weeks ago (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Also noted during the European [TV DX] opening was a very strong signal on 33.07 MHz, peaking S7, which sounds like analog TV video. This is assumed to be a Russian over-the-horizon radar, heard during previous sunspot maxima. Todd Emslie in Sydney and Robert Copeman in Melbourne also received this strongly on 27/10. Remarkably it stayed on this frequency for over 2.5 hours. Usually it moves up or down, anywhere between 32 and 35 MHz, depending on the MUF. 73s, (Tony Mann. Perth, Australia 32S, 116E antenna: Hills 205/02 Band 1 (ch0/ch2) 7-element Yagi at 24 feet. rx: Icom R7000, plus PC (Mac) based audio spectrum analyser, vhf-skip list via Brock Whaley, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Voice of Russia via Grigoriopol` was noted at 0540 on usual winter channels 7125 and 7180. Radio Rossii was noted at 0700 on 12060, certainly Taldom (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Radio Gardarika on new 5920 kHz from 2000 UT today (Oct 28th). Reasonable signal at sign on but with extremely heavy splatter from Radio Slovakia in German on adjacent 5915 kHz. 73's (Graham Powell, Wales, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. The station with this name (Omega-Polis) is listed also in European FM Handbook on the frequencies they announce. I think I could hear clearly (and many times) the ID "Radio Omega Polis", pronounced in Russian like "Amega Polis" with stress on "e". I agree that "Megapolis" would be perhaps more logical. Somebody wrote here he did not hear this station on 17299 kHz (USB). I have not been listening to it now for three days, but my friend told me he has been hearing the station daily at around noon UTC. GOOD DX, (Karel Honzik, the Czech Republic (Czechia), Oct 28, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** SAINT HELENA [non]. In memoriam: this is the weekend, last Saturday or Sunday in October, when R. St. Helena used to do its special yearly broadcast on 11092.5 SSB. We might tune to the vacant frequency today for old time`s sake, and remember what fun we had before RSH cancelled. Meanwhile, I understand that most who sent for QSLs of the final RSH Day are *still* waiting for them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. I have English BBC on 5019.90 kHz at 1129 UT Oct 28. This might be a relay from the Solomon Islands, but haven't heard an ID yet. SIBC is scheduled up until 1100, right? (Chuck Bolland, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SIBC previously reported relaying BBCWS after local programming is over at 1100, and frequency slightly low; everything fits (gh, DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Hi, The new sched starting at 0200 UT on the 28 Oct 2001 can be viewed on my homepage. 73, Best wishes from South Africa, (André du Toit, Meyerton, Rep. of South Africa, hard-core-dx via DXLD) http://home.mweb.co.za/an/andre46 ** SPAIN. REE Madrid heard for the first time in 22 mb 13720, -- or the outlet occurred from an other foreign relay site?, at 0910 UT, and \\ 15585, 21590, 21610 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. 13720, REE in Spanish heard ?for the first time in 22 mb? \\ 15585 21540 and 21610. 0915 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWITZERLAND. SRI did not end its era of North American SW broadcasting Friday night, UT Sat, as someone reported; it was still on Saturday night, UT Sunday, on 9885 at 0116 pop music, SIO 555 (Joe Hanlon, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) However, yet another B-01/A-01 one- night clash, as Croatia via Germany was also on new 9885, at about equal level; lots of music, but going from English to Spanish news at 0213, and still clashing at 0252 recheck (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWITZERLAND. Re: DXLD 1-160 Oct 27 2001. Mr Ludwig, which satellite outlets do you mean? The B01 schedule at http://www.swissinfo.org/all/pdf%20files/SENDEPLA.pdf appears to indicate the English transmissions will continue (Harry, UK, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) He means, that satellite will also be closed down later, like 2004, as widely publicized earlier this year (gh, DXLD) ** TURKEY. VOT in Turkish 7300 (new) at 0122 Oct 28 with Turkish folk music, SIO 555 // 9460 which was SIO 555 (Joe Hanlon, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOT was coming in well enough at new English time of 1330 (checked at 1340) Oct 28, on 17815 talking about (what else?) Atatürk. The listed parallel, 17690, was totally blocked by something in Spanish, probably HCJB (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U A E. No sign of UAE Radio, Dubai, English at 1330 Oct 28 on previous distorted 21605. 13675 had two or three stations mixing, perhaps including Dubai. 13m propagation, however, seemed sub-par at the moment (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Re the Atomic Clock on http://www.bbc.co.uk/fivelive, appears to have gone already. My Apologies for the Mix up. The Freeware I mentioned can still be accessed on http://www.worldtimeserver.com (Ken Fletcher, 28th October 2001, 1534UTC/Clock, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Indeed BBCWS is NOT using 15220 any more from Antigua (nor 17840), but 15190; checked at 1359 UT Oct 28, signal was only fair, and suffering from RFE/RL adjacent on 15195 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {we have failed to point out that BBC could not use 15220 in the 1430-1630 period anyway because RN is using it via RCI Sackville -gh} Have been listening to BBCWS on 15190 on and off this morning. So far reception has been erratic here in New England. At times signal strong and clear, but its subject to sudden and serious fading out periodically. Earlier this morning it was fairly clear, but seemed to be competing with an underlying interference from another frequency. All in all, I'd say it's about the same as 15225 [sic] was. Audible usually, but not a pleasant experience, and not something that can be listened to very easily while doing other things (John Townes, Oct 28 1605 UT, swprograms via DXLD) Would it be too much to ask BBC to coordinate with itself and other broadcasters? What are they doing at the HFCC meetings, anyway? In the first hours of UT Oct 28, some sites had already started B-01 usage while others were still on A-01, resulting in severe clashes. BBC via WYFR on new 9525, but VOV via Sackville was still on old 9525! So we had both in a heavy clash for hours, e.g. 0249 both in English. By the following night, VOV should have moved to 6175. While the WYFR and Delano BBCWS evening relays to ``Mexico`` are considered to be a pair, one stopping as the other starts, and previously even on the same frequency, on UT Oct 28, as noted above, WYFR relay had already moved to new B-01 channel 9525 at 0100-0400 -- but Delano following at 0400- was still on old A-01 channel of 11835, which caused severe adjacent QRM to HCJB`s winter secondary frequency of 11840 in English to NAm. Again, this problem should be gone by the following evening with Delano/BBC on 6135 instead. Seasonal beginnings were once traditionally coördinated to start at 0100 UT of the day in question. But stations especially in the western hemisphere --- not including HCJB --- are apparently loath to do so before local midnight; RCI e.g. specifying 0900 UTC as the changeover time. If such clashes are to be avoided, everybody needs to switch to the new schedules not only on the same day, but the same hour. Why is this so difficult? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Checked WRMI, 15725, Sunday Oct 28 to investigate new schedule, presumably one-UT-hour-later timeshifted. At 1333, AWR Wavescan #353 was underway, but very heavy co-channel QRM from hymns, Chinese? talk. Whoever at the FCC thought this would be an acceptable frequency-share is living in a dream world. 15725.0 1100 1500 KSDA 100 315 43,44 15725.0 1300 2400 WRMI 50 317 2,3 Recheck at 1500 found the Berino NM preacher winding up, but not finished until 1502, so VOA Communications World, formerly at 1400, was joined in progress, taking the live feed from WRN. Evidently it would be too much trouble to record an earlier feed in case the preceding show be running late. Oct 28 at 1655 checked website http://wrmi.net/portfolio.html and see that WRMI posted a new schedule Oct 25, but it is already outdated as UT timeshifts have not been made! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WBCQ`s timeshifted schedule for B-01 was finally posted early Oct 28: http://wbcq.net/dailytime.html It no longer shows 7415 being used just before local noon, as in the previous version (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWCR 12.16 MHz Coverage Maps for Nov 2001 Available I have released a propagation forecast for WWCR on 12.16 MHz (14-23 UT) during the month of November 2001. The transmitting antenna was not exactly known, so I have tried to make my best guess on that; therefore, the forecast may not be accurate - but still indicative. URL: http://www.uwasa.fi/~jpe/wwcr/ DISCLAIMER: This propagation forecast is my personal view only, based on a statistical assessment. No guarantees whatsoever for suitability for any purpose. The effect of MUF is not considered. -- (Jari Perkiömäki, Vaasa, Finland, jpe@uwasa.fi hard-core-dx via DXLD) All WWCR antennas are rhombics. Do you not consider MUFs in your other maps either? (gh to Jari) Yes, as you can see from the coverage pattern I chose a rhombic antenna. I found some info on their antennas at the FCC site. The antenna info for WWCR which I found in an old ITU requirement file was also a rhombic but too different from the FCC-maintained info so I made up an antenna which was more in accordance with the info at the FCC site. And no, the other maps do not consider MUFs either but I feel it is not too much of a problem in those specific cases. The calculated signal-to-noise value tends then to drop to an unusable level. Actually there should always probably be two maps, one for the SNR and one for the MUF (although the whole issue of MUF is quite tricky). Perhaps I'll find a way to combine these two seamlessly (Jari, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KIPM: Heard USA pirate KIPM on 28 Oct at 0600 on new frequency of 6925 USB. I guess ute QRM on 6950 and 6955 is getting too severe. Cheers, (Bill Wilkins, Springfield, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YUGOSLAVIA. There was no sign of RY at 0200 in English UT Oct 28 on 7130, as scheduled for B-01; perhaps they will get around to it 24 hours later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. HELP - UNID 7485 noted at 1210-1220, EN US religious program, then later in Laotian/Cambodian like lang. Mentioned a Fort Lauderdale address, zip code like 32 ... ?_3302, High Adventure Ministry. May originate from KOR or RUS relay in the FE/Siberia (like Vladivostok, Komsomolsk, Irkutsk)? 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Just came across of a very terrible distorted signal of an UNID Arabic station on center 15302.4 kHz, signal is about 7.8 kHz wide, and no carrier could be detected. There is no similar signal 1 MHz above and down the 19 mb. No accompanied spurious could be noted. 73 de (wb df5sx 1945 UT Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED pirate: Heard what is presumably a pirate station on 15820 kHz (best in LSB) 28 Oct. at 0019 with very rapid talk. Sounded like a man, but not strong enough to ID lang. First heard on 14 Oct. at 0130 with music, but very poor reception (Bill Wilkins, Springfield, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. I heard 47.800 MHz Vietnamese at 1221 UT 24 Oct. and 1320 25 Oct. This signal is 8th harmonic of 5975 kHz. Radio Korea International is very strong at night, then 5975 Vietnamese is very very weak and intereferenced. There is no information on WRTH 2001 and Shortwave Guide to South East Asia (Padula books, 1999) about 5975 kHz Vietnamese. Does anyone know this station? Best Regards (Mituhiro Hukunaga, Japan, icdx yahoogroup Oct 28 via harmonics yahoogroup via DXLD) ###