DX LISTENING DIGEST 1-006, January 12, 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 archive contents see} http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/Dxldmid.html ** ALASKA. The following DX info may be useful for you. Station KNLS is now offering a free cassette "DX definitions" presented by veteran DX-er Carl Mann. This 62 minute very useful cassette contains definitions of different DX terms like ionosphere, UTC, heterodyne, interval signals, ssb, hertz, antenna, sensitivity, bip freq, radio spectrum, clandestine, harmonics, propagation, skywave, QSL, reception reports, utility stns, wavelength, etc etc. Write to Station KNLS, Anchor point, Alaska 99556, USA or via email knls@aol.com Kind regards, (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, 12/01/2001, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [non]. From Monday 15 January 2001 Radio Australia's Vietnamese service will be broadcast from a CBS (Central Broadcasting System) transmitter located in Taiwan. Program delivery will be from Melbourne MCR to Merlin Communications' Control Room in London via ISDN initially until a permanent digital circuit is established between MCR and Merlin. The Vietnamese schedule will run seven days per week as follows: TIME (UT) Freq. metre Power Bearing Local Local (kHz) band (kW) (deg.) Source Destination 2330-0030 15110 19 250 225 ST322 RA ISDN 3 In Eastern Daylight Time (UT+11) the broadcast times are 1030-1130 EDT. Therefore the first offshore Vietnamese transmission will occur at 2330-0030 UT Sunday 14 January. The current Vietnamese transmissions scheduled from Shepparton will cease from 15 January and in the interim the Shepparton transmissions will be replaced by the following RA English broadcasts. TIME (UT) Freq. metre Power Bearing Local Local (kHz) band (kW) (deg.) Source Destination 0000-0100 15415 19 100 329 NO5 line B 1230-1330 9475 31 100 329 NO5 line A 1230-1330 11880 25 100 329 NO5 line B The costs of leasing the CBS transmitter are funded by a grant from the Federal Government. Access to CBS transmission resources was brokered by Merlin Communications International. It is envisaged that this arrangement will be maintained for at least two years. Nigel Holmes, Transmission Manager, RADIO AUSTRALIA (via Richard Jary, Australian Radio DX Club via hard-core-dx via DXLD) RA Feedback Jan 12 UT 2105 had Holmes again about this, and he added phase three would start in late January, with Indonesian via ``a number of transmission sites across SE Asia and also English via two sites`` -- but no specific details (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELARUS`. 5970, Radio Minsk; 0312-0320+, 7-Jan; LL [sic --means unknown language??] vocal mx to M/EE ID @0315, EE nx to 0320 then new EE feature. SIO=422/use LSB to avoid 5975. // 7210 SIO=232, both tough copy (Harold Frodge, Ont, MARE via DXLD) ** BOUVET ISLAND. Bouvet 3Y0C update: Mac McIntire, WA4FFW, reports that a generator oil leak and bad weather have hampered the 3Y0C operation by Chuck Brady, N4BQW, on Bouvet. "The generator is usable, but it has to be limited," McIntire said. "Fortunately they can keep the batteries charged. He cannot operate the amp without the generator." WA4FFW says 3Y0C's absence from the bands the latter part of last week was because a storm blew down and broke up the vertical and beam. The beam is back up at 25 feet; the vertical has been repaired but not re-installed. Brady also has an 80-meter dipole at 20 feet that he`s using on 80 and 40 meters. Efforts to fix the generator continue. QSL 3Y0C via Mark McIntyre, WA4FFW, 2903 Maple Ave, Burlington, NC 27215. McIntire says he will not have any logs until Brady returns in late March. Cards will be processed after his return. --Mac McIntire, WA4FFW (ARRL January 11 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 3.325, Jan 8, 0205 Rádio Nacional, São Paulo, Brasil - programa 'Jornal Nacional', em rede com a equipe Radiobras, SINPO 55333 (Célio Romáis, Porto Alegre, DXCB, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non non]. Glenn, Ref. the comments about Burma v. Myanmar: The country name Burma is the one approved by the US Board on Geographic Names (BGN) and its British equivalent, the Permanent Committee on Geographic Names (PCGN). As you may know, the BGN is tasked by Act of Congress to determine correct usage. Its rulings are mandatory for usage by components of the US government (not that I`m suggesting that DXLD or WOR fall into that category). (Chris Greenway, UK, Jan 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. China Radio International: A few new frequencies observed for CRI at January 10th. 1800 utc Russian 6040 co-ch VOA //9365 & 9535 via France 2030 utc Polish 7180 2100 utc Serbian (Silvain Domen, Belgium, Jan 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Bob Padula also complains that CRI has shown up on VOA`s longtime 9760, but I forget the time. China apparently doesn`t give a damn about avoiding such clashes, even tho they attend coördination meetings (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. On 8, 10 and 11 January, CNR seems to use the following: 15390/10260/11915/11630/7935. From what I have heard these days the list is nearly as follows: 0600-0700 15390-10260-11915 MO 0700-0900 15390-10260-11915 CC 0900-1000 15390-10260-11915 KZ 1000-1200 15390-10260-11630 UI 1200- 15290-10260-11630 CC 1400 11630-10260-7935 during observations in the office (D 2935 and TV antenna with 35 m cable). Best signal was the 15390; others were nearly the same. The minority program consists handily as follows: 0x00-0x40 news and commentaries (talks mostly, some musical bridges sometimes) 0x40-0y00 songs/music Although it is a bit difficult to distinguish between these languages the music types can sometimes help. For example the Uighur music is totally different from the Kazakh (seems a little Russian) (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Contradicts the schedule in DXLD 1-005, e.g. 0600-0700 they say Uighur, not Mongolian. Altho some of the same frequencies may be used, the Chinese segments above would not be part of CNR-8 (gh) ** CHINA [non]. 9315, Falun Dafa Radio *2200-2301* Dec 11. Sign-on with short signature tune, YL speaker with brief anmts/ID and gave web site, then hit by jammer. Moved to 9320 at 2210 (with no jammer). Many mentions of Falun Dafa Radio, gave web site repeatedly; underneath WWFV. Switched to 9305 at 2230 continued with talks in Mandarin, with short segments of orchestra music, which also was played in the back ground. 2240 switched to 9310 in mid-sentence (still in the clear), 2252 jammed by jammer and another station in CC to 2301* with finally ID & signature orchestra tune. 9315 Dec 12 *2200-2240 transmitter on 2159, into signature orchestra tune, brief ID/anmts by YL/with web site, then hit by jammer. Switched to 9310 at 2210 and in the clear, with talks by female speaker in Mandarin, with short orchestra breaks (also played in the back ground). Many mentions of Falun Dafa Radio and for their web site. 2220 jammer appeared, but switched back to 9315. Here to 2240 but hit by jammer as the signal was switched. Jammer stayed on 9315 but couldn`t find where they had moved to (checked from 9305 to 9350). At times signal peaked a good S6+ level (Ed Kusalik, Alberta, Dec 16, 2000 for Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) ** CONGO DR. 6828.4, Jan 10th, 2001 at 1815 African mx and talks in local lang, many items about Congo and Rwanda. At recheck 1909 still there but weaker, now in French. Too weak for any positive ID. Haven't noticed this one for months. In the DX press this has been logged as Bunia, Congo (ZAI) operated by RCD rebels. At this time nothing heard on the old Bunia freqs V5066 and 3390. 73 (Jari Savoläinen, Kuusankoski, FINLAND, hard-core-dx Jan 11 via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. A crew is now working on raising the RFPI antenna for 7480 to its proper height, so look for a much stronger signal there by next week (Joe Bernard announced on RFPI at 2000 UT Jan 12, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. I`ll be hanging around 28.5 megaHertz when at my home QTH during the hours that 10 is open, and will start monitoring the 20 meter band 14.2 megaHertz frequency later in the evening, too... For six meter operators, the winter DX season is now almost over, but we may see some sporadic E openings (Arnie Coro, CO2KK, DXers Unlimited Script January 6 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). From: http://www.sea-launch.com/special/sea-launch/current_launch.htm Following a halt in the countdown within seconds of lift-off on Jan. 8, Sea Launch is now preparing to launch the XM-1 satellite on Feb. 28. Designed for a sesquidecade lifespan, the 10,324 lb. (4,682 kg.) XM-1 satellite is the first of two spacecraft that will transmit state-of-the-art digital audio radio programming directly to cars, homes and portable radios throughout the continental United States (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK, Jan 11 via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. CLANDESTINE FROM KAZAKHSTAN(?) TO IRAN, 3880.7, Voice of the Communist Party of Iran, Jan 11, 1655, musical bridge interval signal, Internationale, identification and talks in presumed Farsi interspersed with short musical bridges and longer pieces of local music. Drifted to 3880.6 by 1711, then jumped to 3890.9, drifted to 3890.6 1743, then jumped to 3895.1, identification and off 1800 when on 3895.0. Fair signal improving to good and no interference. Same pattern of opening on 3880v and jumping to 3890 after ten minutes noted previous day (Mike Barraclough, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ/IRAN/KURDISTAN. Hi, Bill. Over the last few days, I`ve satisfied myself that our report was in error. I am grateful to the SWL DX community for being the first to call the error to our attention, and we are working on a correction. I don`t mean to blame our erroneous report on the sunspot cycle; I am merely theorizing why our United States monitors have only recently begun to report this intrusion, while many SWL DXers have been hearing it for some time. Most hams don`t use optimal receiving antennas, while most serious SWL DXers do, if I understand correctly. Although, if this teaches me anything, it teaches me not to assume I understand correctly. Thank you for your membership in ARRL. 73, (Brennan Price, N4QX, Field and Regulatory Correspondent, American Radio Relay League, 860 594-0272 (work), reply to Bill Smith, W5USM, via DXLD) Who's Jamming Whom? Getting the Story Straight on the 40-Meter Jammers NEWINGTON, CT, Jan 11, 2001--It turns out that the 40-meter "wobble- and-buzz jammers" heard by many in the US over the past year or so are Iranian stations that are attempting to block Iraqi stations -- not the other way around as recently reported (see "Mother of All Jammers Continues to Plague 40 Meters" elsewhere on this page and in The ARRL Letter, Vol 20, No 1). Several members of the monitoring community had questioned the earlier ARRL report, which was based on information from typically reliable sources. "I began to doubt our information on January 8, when I received second-hand reports from SWL DXers that the jammer and jammee were backwards," said ARRL Monitoring System Coordinator Brennan Price, N4QX. "Further investigation confirms their reports--that the jamming signal is, indeed, from Iran, and the broadcast station is in Iraq." Larry Van Horn, N5FPW, the assistant editor of Monitoring Times, forwarded several SWL reports to ARRL that suggested the jamming signals definitely were coming from Iran and already were well-known within the monitoring community. SWL reports indicated that the signals typically operate in the range from 7020 to 7090 kHz. "That will teach me never to say, 'We know exactly what this is'," Price said. ARRL sources said this week that the object of the jamming is an Iraqi pirate [sic] station -- which several SWLs identified as The Voice of the Mojahadin -- broadcasting in Persian into Iran on various 40-meter frequencies as well as in the Aeronautical Band. The pirate station operates on a specific frequency -- or frequencies – until it`s spotted by the Iranians, who then attempt to jam the signal. The broadcaster then hops to another frequency to avoid the jamming, which explains why the jammer will suddenly pop up on a frequency for several minutes at a time and then disappear. "This will happen right in mid-sentence," one SWL reported. "There is also a long-term pattern of Iran jamming this one with a passion. I have heard several jammers in this range over the last few weeks." IARU Region 2 Monitoring System Coordinator Martin Potter, VE3OAT, concurs with the ARRL`s latest information. He says the Deutscher Amateur Radio Club in Germany also has followed and reported on the jamming activity. "It seems the SWLs are correct," he said. "Strangely, I have never heard the target broadcast from Iraq, except perhaps a weak carrier under the jammer -- but the jammer often puts a thundering great signal into my antenna." The jamming signals are broad and noisy. They typically land on multiples of 10 kHz and occupy some 10 kHz of bandwidth. The Iranian and the Iraqi governments are reported to have ignored complaints by the US and the United Kingdom. Price says that in light of the strained relations between the US and both Iran and Iraq, there's not much hope that the problem will be resolved anytime soon. "Even with the identity of the perpetrators reversed," Price said, "the same political dynamic remains. The intrusions are unlikely to go away until the political climate in the region changes." (ARRL via John Norfolk, DXLD) Fine, but just one thing -- the anonymous ``SWLs`` were clearly identified to N4QX, just as in DXLD, but hey, without alphanumerics after or instead of their names, they`re not worthy of identifying? ** ISRAEL. No broadcasts of Kol Israël in English on Jan 9, 10, 11, 12: 0500-0515 on 17545. Very good reception here in Bulgaria on // 6280 (55555) and 9435 (45544) Receiver: SONY ICF 2001 D Antenna: 35 m. long wire Best regards, (Ivo Ivanov, Radio Bulgaria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Website still shows at 0500-0515 17545, 9435, and currently 6280 instead of 11605. Chris Hambly in Victoria keeps complaining, with 17545 missing, 6280 is inaudible, and 9435 very poor (gh, DXLD) ** KASHMIR [non]. Voice of Jammu & Kashmir Freedom Movement, 5101.14, 1412-1432* Dec 21 Noted a female speaker with talks, many mentions about India, caught a couple of words in English such as 'withdraw of troops' & 'Pakistan will honor' with the rest of the transcript in Hindi. Programming had short bridges of instrumental music & violas. Noted at sign-off with a nice choral orchestra anthem. Signal gradually fade-up from the noise and was pretty decent at sign-off. Have been unsuccessful in a number of tries till today, when I last heard them tentatively back on Nov 26 (Ed Kusalik, Alberta, Dec 26, 2000 for Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. Voice of Iranian Kurdistan in Farsi noted on 24th December with this schedule: *0225-0503*, 1425-1532* on 3985 kHz. Voice of Iraqi Kurdistan heard in December in Kurdish and Arabic at the following times: *0328-0650, 1400-2002* on 4085, 7375 kHz. Note: the times reported recently by Observer 0200-0600v, 1400-1800v are uncorrect. Voice of the People of Kurdistan: Monitored schedule during December (heard programmes in Kurdish and Arabic): *0310-0717*, *1240-2110* on 4061, 6995 kHz (R. Petraitis, Lithuania, Dec 28, Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) Radio Station Freedom, Voice of the Communist Party of Iraqi Kurdistan heard on 3900v kHz at *1557-1653* on 25th December in Kurdish. Concerning Radio station Freedom: I think the word 'Iraqi' better insert into the station`s name (in Intel), because this word is in an identification of the station, also possible that there are some different Communist Parties in that region. The words "Radio Station Freedom" in an original ID in Kurdish (Era Ezgay Azadiya) are at the beginning of the name (sentence). Maybe better the same to do with English version? Could be: Radio Station Freedom, Voice of the Communist Party of Iraqi Kurdistan (R. Petraitis, Lithuania, Dec 28, Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) ** MALAWI. BBCM hasn`t heard 3380 since 18 December. It`s still being heard on MW (Chris Greenway, BBCM, Jan 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORWAY. This on the Medium Wave Circle list, refers to allocation of a Norwegian long wave frequency. Mike Only two companies have applied for a private radiolicence to operate on 216 kHz with up to 1200 kW of power. Northern Star International Broadcasters and an organisation of Tamils in Norway. NSIB started its work many years ago, and is responsible for the licence being advertised at all, through their intensive lobbying activities towards the government. The Tamils, organized in "Det Tamilske Samordningsutvalget i Norge" already operate an FM-station in Oslo (Radio Tamil Murasam 105.8 MHz) on a frequency shared with different organisations. They intend to put their proposed transmitter somewhere in the Oslo-area, airing programmes aimed at the Tamil residents all over Norway, while NSIB is working to establish their facilities somewhere in the southwestern coast area of Norway, aiming at a more international audience. The licencing body will now hold meeting with the two groups, hoping to issue a licence "in the near future". I would assume around this summer. The licence will be issued for 7 years only, and may not be prolonged should the government at that stage want to use the frequency for "other purposes", e.g. digital transmissions (Bernt Efjord, Norway, MWC via Mike Barraclough, Jan 11, DXLD) Looking at my WRTH it shows Oslo using this channel until after 1995 with 200 kW. I believe they closed it as they maintained that nobody was bothering to listen to LW. I presume now they realise they can make some money out of leasing it to another enterprise (Andy Cadier, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). Andy, you are partly right. NRK didn`t want to continue paying for the running of Oslo 216 kHz. The contract for the leasing of land was ending, and they didn`t want to renew it. And the tx was dating back to 1954, so it really couldn`t last too much longer without major investments. Originally according to the 1978 Geneva-plan Norway was issued an allocation for 1.2 Megawatts on 216 from a new location south of Oslo, actually on an island in the Oslo Fjord. (Plus similar high power tx's at Kvitsøy, Vigra and Tromsö). Only Kvitsøy (1314) was built, and NRK decided to not continue with the rest. Tromsö was eventually closed and not replaced (until this year when 153 was again made operational, if only with 100 kW, not the allocated 1.2 MW). Vigra remains at 100 kW, and Oslo/Klofta was closed January 2nd 1995 (Bernt Efjord, Norway, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. Jan 11 after around 7 pm Central, on the cable, KWTV-9 went into a fade, and up came the DTV snow from WFAA-9 DFW, heralding the first tropo around here in a long time. I`ll bet the number of Enidites who know the cause of this snow on our only CBS source is in the single digits. (That is, when KWTV isn`t pre- empting the network, like they did last night at 7:30 -- Welcome to New York, for a rodeo promotion). And, tonight at 7 it`s a Marlo- Thomas charity promotion instead of Diagnosis Murder. Tuesday night they bumped off 60 Minutes II. We really need a real CBS affiliate in OKC! It`s been foggy, and Bill Hepburn`s map here is blue, so something was to be expected. This encouraged me to check UHF, and besides some weak tropo, I find I have a new unwanted semi-local: Ch 30 with home shopping for gemstones, from ACN TV, which website http://www.acntv.com reveals means America`s Collectibles Network, specializing in loose gemstones. Gee, I wonder if that`s all they do 24 hours a day. And with 5 megawatts! I see in Doug Smith`s online TV database that this was an APP, and a CP, but now it is definitely on, no idea for how long. The only such affiliate on ch 30 is: KQOK Shawnee OK, 5000/255 kW, Z-offset, 35-17 N/97-20 W (rounded off). This is going to cause some trouble for the OETA translator in Alva. The new channel 30 shows remarkable diversity in programming, not just selling gems, but in the following hour, 8 pm switched to some gospel huxter, and at 9 pm a weight-loss infomercial. Oh, how we are blessed with quality programming!! In between, tho, at 8 pm was a nice big high-contrast ID slide with OK 30 in the middle, KQOK at the top, and Shawnee-Oklahoma City at the bottom. Local K32DZ Enid, I have noticed in the last few days running one of the old-movie networks, not sure which one yet, rather than The Box, when not doing their own agonizingly boring auxioning. But Friday morning is running MTV2 (bug in upper right). Then I found another brand new station, UPN on 36?? Yes, it`s KSCC Hutchinson-Wichita KS. This is another one that even after Doug`s Jan 7 update, still shows as a CP. Checking website http://www.upnkansas.com they say they came on the air (tho cable- casting earlier) Jan 4 at precisely 3:00:06 pm. Doug sez 36+, 3500/329 kW, 37-56 N/ 97-34 W. As I recall, this one is actually owned by another TV station in the same market, tho that is hardly obvious from the website. At first I thought 36 might be KOKT-LP Sulphur OK, which is UPN and also has a CP for 36 (Glenn Hauser, OK, OKLAHOMA BROADCASTING NEWS via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. Hello Friends, Sorry to see that no credit was given to "Globe DX Messenger", where the article on Radio Portugal DX Programme first appeared . 73's, (Globe Radio DX Club, Punjab, Jan 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Got it from Mike Terry who forwards a lot of stuff on the BDXC-UK list; I can`t check now whether he omitted the credit, or I did, but glad to set the record straight. So maybe you can tell us if any of this is supposed to be in English, or just Portuguese (gh, DXLD) Hello Mr Hauser, The program is in Portuguese only. 73 (Globe Radio DX Club, Punjab, Jan 13, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. DX Information from the British DX Club (BDXC-UK). Russia adopted its "new" national anthem on 1st January 2001, so Radio Russia has had to adopt a new top-of-the-hour interval signal, as the former one was based on the old anthem. Radio Russia plays an awful orchestral version of the new anthem, sounding more like the warm-up music for a bingo session than a national anthem, whilst Radio Mayak has a rather more stirring choral version. Hear both versions of the anthem and the new interval signal on the Interval Signals Archive at http://www.intervalsignals.com/russia.htm Regards, (Dave Kernick, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. I just checked Radio Radonezh 6245. At 1640 I found the transmitter already on with continuous 440 Hz tone; at 1650 recheck the well-known interrupted 800 Hz tone was aired instead. Finally the tone was cut off at 1658 and Radio Radonezh started with Moscow time announcement, ID and "children's hour"; isn't 8 PM a bit late for such a programme? The audio would need some adjustment prior to the point where the preceding 800 Hz tones are inserted. Its level is certainly too low while the tones are OK. I wonder from which site 6245 originates, perhaps from a Kurovskaya 100 kW transmitter? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I will try to specify it on Monday. By the way, 6245 reception was too strange here in St. Petersburg on Jan 10 and 11: strong signal at the beginning, but very weak then... (Mikhail Timofeyev, Russia, Jan 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA. When R. Banaadir was on 7020 it appeared that there was also an Iranian clandestine on the fqy, the fqy was being jammed. When Banaadir left the fqy, so did the clandestine, and the fqy is now free from jamming. On Nov 28 I hrd Banaadir on 7070, good reception, no other stn and no jamming. But the next day Banaadir was not good and there was frequent loss of audio; but still free of any other stn. On Nov 30 I observed the clandestine stn there again at 0005, also a few days later at 1600, but no trace of Banaadir. When Banaadir is heard, there is no trace of the clandestine. On Dec 11, 7070 was heavily jammed and an unID Somali stn was hrd on 6790, programming different from other Somali stns, and 1800* without Koran (usually hrd from Somali stns). Still there Dec 12, but on Dec 13 moved to 6850 with unusual program, lots of talk, many nx items about Palestine and Arafat; 1800*, but this time after a few words of Koran. On Dec 14, nothing on either 7070 or 6850 at 1400, but on 7070 the clandestine signed on at 1430 with anmt followed by religious program until 1630; however, heavily jammed. 6850 signed on around 1440 with ID of the Iranian clandestine, then continued with anmt by M&W; free of any jamming and no trace of the unID Somali there, but hrd at 1700-1800 on 6843; and Banaadir also has changed fqy to 7010. Not sure, but is the clandestine using Somalia (Banaadir) to avoid jamming? Later: Another example of the fast-moving Somali scene; 6900, R. Banaadir, hrd on this fqy; they usually went off at 2000. No jamming so far. Fqys hrd on Dec 18: 6845 ex-6750, R. Mogadishu, Voice of the People; 6985, R. Gaalkacyo; 7010 ex-7070, R. Banaadir; 7530, R. Hargeisa; and 6806v ex-6790/6795/6805/6843/6850, unID, perhaps "R. Kismaayo." (Mahendra Vaghjee, Mauritius, NU via Clandestine Radio Watch via DXLD) ** TURKEY. A few years ago, I got a Santa Claus QSL from Turkey. I read this year that the original St. Nicholas was based in Turkey. So that explains the card`s subject, but not the modern red Santa suit he's wearing. ;-) (Larry Russell, MI, MARE Jan 12, 2001 via DXLD) ** U K. BBC 4 Webcast: A World in Your Ear Sat, 13 Jan, BBC Radio 4, 2000-2100 UT. Emily Buchanan presents highlights from the best English language radio programmes from around the world. This Month: She samples experimental radio, from the magnetic sound of the northern lights to soundscapes of life in the South Pacific. This Spring, AWIYE reportedly goes from being a monthly to 18 times a year (Chet Copeland/NYC, Jan 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I am in the process of listening to my tape delay of the previous AWIYE whilst driving. Lots of good stuff there, including about CBC`s Basic Black sock exchange. 18 per year will make it even harder to keep track of which weeks it appear on BBC R4 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U K. Our picks this weekend on BBC Radio 2, 3, and 4 in the period after 1300 UT (all times GMT now!). Not all these are actual titles; Radio 3 is featuring composer Alfred Schnittke at every opportunity Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Webcast via: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2 http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3 http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4 Saturday January 13: 1300-1330 2 Comedian`s Comedian 1330-1400 2 It`s Been a Bad Week 1530-1600 4 The Lord Lieutenants 1815-1900 4 Loose Ends 1945-2010 3 Met Opera Interval: Opera Quiz 2000-2100 4 A World In Your Ear (see above) 2300-2330 4 Real History of Opera: Die Meistersinger 2330-2400 4 Poetry, Please Sunday January 14: 1630-1700 2 Sing Something Simple 1630-1700 4 Poetry, Please 1815-1900 4 Pick of the Week 1830-1915 3 Performing Verdi 1915-2000 4 Pillories of the State: science community 2000-2030 4 Feedback 2030-2100 4 Word of Mouth: to correct or not 2200-2300 2 Big Bands & Dance Bands of USA and UK 2200-2315 3 Life of Federico Garcia Lorca, featuring Dali 2315-2400 3 World Routes Kaustinen Music Festival Finland (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC World Service previews: *Sun Jan 14 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| WORLDPLAY Specially commissioned radio plays from stations around the world, featuring younger writers relatively new to radio Eu Sun 0001, 1701 Am Sun 0001, Mon 0630 Matthew Goes to Montreal, by Toby Manire, 1 x 60 min Jan 14-15 RNZ production. NZer migrates to Canada on a romantic quest *Sun Jan 14 ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| IN PRAISE OF GOD Eu Sun 0930 ONLY; Am Sun 1330 ONLY The Four Elements, 3 x 30 min from Sun Jan 14 Drawing on rich religious history and varied landscape of Northumberland, Rosemary Hartill explores the religious and spiritual significance of air, earth, fire and water – and in words and music discovers what meaning and value they have for different faiths *M-F Jan 15 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| OFF THE SHELF, abridged book readings Eu M-F 0845, 2245, Tu-Sa 0445 Am M-F 0845, 1345, 1845, Tu-Sa 0445 The Photographer`s Wife, by Robert Solé, 10 x 15 min from Mon 15 *Tue Jan 16 |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| OMNIBUS Eu Tue 0405, Thu 1430, Sat 2230 Am Tue 0405, Thu 2030, Fri 0630 Yoga: Head to Toe, 1 x 25/30 min from Jan 16 Mark Tully meets B K S Iyengar, one of yoga`s finest teachers (BBC On Air, via Chris Hambly, compiled by gh for DXLD) ** U S A. Terion Data Analysis [presumably the same 24 hour sample period UT May 30-31, 2000 -gh] Channel spacing is every 3.0 kHz 4,486.0 kHz to 4,489.0 kHz 2 Transmissions 4,931.0 kHz to 4,967.0 kHz 7 Transmissions 5,120.0 kHz to 5,228.0 kHz 79 Transmissions 5,745.0 kHz to 5,865.0 kHz 140 Transmissions 6,780.0 kHz to 6,840.0 kHz 616 Transmissions 7,540.0 kHz to 7,738.0 kHz 2153 Transmissions 9,105.0 kHz to 9,345.0 kHz 7642 Transmissions 10,165.0 kHz to 10,420.0 kHz 12116 Transmissions 11,415.0 kHz to 11,577.0 kHz 6921 Transmissions 12,170.0 kHz to 12,215.0 kHz 1590 Transmissions 13,431.0 kHz to 13,572.0 kHz 6503 Transmissions 14,365.0 kHz to 14,524.0 kHz 15100 Transmissions 15,815.0 kHz to 16,130.0 kHz 36906 Transmissions 17,425.0 kHz to 17,533.0 kHz 15019 Transmissions 18,045.0 kHz to 18,051.0 kHz 462 Transmissions 18,183.0 kHz to 18,336.0 kHz 4390 Transmissions 19,115.0 kHz to 19,310.0 kHz 6622 Transmissions 19,815.0 kHz to 19,863.0 kHz 599 Transmissions 20,025.0 kHz to 20,124.0 kHz 986 Transmissions 21,865.0 kHz 7 Transmissions 22,870.0 kHz to 22,906.0 kHz 80 Transmissions 23,365.0 kHz to 23,515.0 kHz 803 Transmissions 118,761 Total Transmissions Had a little fun with Excel... Enjoy! (Kirk Trummel, Jan 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. In case you haven`t heard, another EOSS (Edge of Space Sciences) balloon flight is scheduled for Saturday the 13th at 9 am MST (rain date: Sunday 14th), having been delayed from Dec 16 due to high winds. This has something to do with testing systems for later deployment on Mars, and ham radio is heavily involved, including an ATV transmitter on 426.25 MHz with 1 watt, but a very high altitude (100K feet or so). Launch site is near Windsor, Colorado, and it`s expected to come down not very far away after a two-hour up-and-down flight. As I recall this frequency can be tuned with regular consumer TVs, as it falls in a *cable* channel, so you put the TV in cable mode but input a UHF antenna aimed at the balloon. They estimate a 400-mile radius coverage area. Can`t seem to find my handy(?) reference of cable TV frequencies, so perhaps someone can tell us which one in the meantime. All the info about this and other flights of theirs can be found at http://www.eoss.org and I have also included a long posting from them toward the end (under USA) of DX Listening Digest 1-005, http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/dxld1005.txt (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Boy, if that tropo continues you should get some pictures from the balloon launch maybe, though there seems to be a snow event heading that way, which may ground it. The nearest Cable Channel (US) is channel 58 on 427.25 MHz; this is off 1 MHz but if your TV has AFT chances are it will lock in. The thing to listen for is the 2 meter beacon on your scanner; if you can hear it (and you will if the launch is successful) then you have a chance to catch some video. That beacon might get out to the Mississippi if it gets up to peak elevation, Good Luck (Jerry, KC2UT, Syracuse NY, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. FCC Chairman William Kennard Announces Resignation WASHINGTON, DC, Jan 12 -- FCC Chairman William E. Kennard has announced his resignation, effective next Friday, January 19. Kennard, a Democrat, said he leaves the office with great pride in the FCC`s accomplishments and with deep gratitude for having had an opportunity to serve the American public. Kennard`s resignation was expected, once the AOL-Time Warner mega- merger had received FCC approval. That happened yesterday. It's been widely speculated that President-Elect George W. Bush will name Republican FCC commissioner Michael Powell -- the son of Secretary of State-Designate Gen Colin Powell -- to replace Kennard as FCC chairman. The agency`s first African-American chairman, Kennard presided over the FCC during a period when the FCC implemented historic legislation to bring competition to communications markets. During his three-year tenure, Kennard promoted competition and consumer choice in the telecommunications marketplace, encouraged the rollout of broadband and digital technologies, expanded access to technology and streamlined and revamped the FCC. In implementing the 1996 Telecommunications Act, Kennard said he aimed to create a marketplace where "monopoly is ended, innovation and entrepreneurship are cherished, and consumers have competitive choice." In addition, Kennard made bridging the Digital Divide a top priority. During his tenure, the FCC successfully implemented the E-Rate program, which connected 95% of the nation's schools and over one million classrooms to the Internet. Kennard also worked to expand access to all Americans. "We must bring the benefits of the Digital Age to all Americans," said Kennard. "From the business districts to the barrios; from those with every advantage to those with disabilities; from the young to the old; from suburban enclaves to the rural heartland." His achievements include establishing a Disabilities Rights Office at the FCC, bringing telephone service to over one million new low- income Native Americans on tribal lands, and creating a new low-power radio service for school, church, and community use. In the letter of resignation to President Clinton, Kennard wrote, "I feel very privileged that I was able to serve as Chairman of the FCC at a time when communications technologies are so dramatically changing the way the American people live, work, and learn." For the next few months, Kennard will serve as a senior fellow of the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program in Washington, DC. There, he will advise on leadership, communications policy, and program activities and operations. He will also become the first chairman of the program's new advisory board.--FCC news release and press reports (ARRL January 12 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Press report says Kennard to leave FCC: A January 8 report in The Mercury News says that FCC Chairman William Kennard will resign once the FCC approves the $82-billion AOL-Time-Warner merger. The FCC is expected to okay the mega-deal perhaps as early as this week. Kennard is the first African-American to serve at the helm of the FCC. It`s considered likely that President-Elect George W. Bush will name FCC member Michael Powell, son of Secretary of State-designate Colin Powell, to replace Kennard. Using a "recess appointment," President Clinton has named Commissioner Susan Ness to continue on the five-member FCC. Her reappointment for the time being ensures a three to two margin in favor of the Democrats (ARRL January 11 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Radio talker Art Bell, W6OBB, to return to overnight airwaves: He's baaaack! Première Radio Networks has announced that Art Bell, W6OBB, has agreed to return to his overnight radio gig. Bell will again host Coast to Coast AM starting February 5. The program airs from 1 until 6 AM Eastern. Bell resigned last April citing legal and family issues that required his attention. "These have been resolved," Premiere Radio Networks said in a news release. Coast to Coast AM airs on more than 430 stations nationwide.--Premier Radio Networks news release (ARRL January 11 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Enforcement: Ham Radio vs. the VOA FCC Special Counsel for Enforcement, Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, may soon have to take on a giant. This as hams begin filing formal protests regarding interference to a long established net originating from the Voice of America. The first complaint comes from Ken Piletic, W9ZMR, of Streamwood Illinois. He says that over the past several weeks the Oldtime Radio Collectors And Traders Society or ORCATS net on 7.238 MHz has been disrupted by an extremely strong AM station broadcasting in a foreign language on 7.235 MHz. That the interference starts at 1300 UT and lasts an hour to 1400 UT. Piletic says that it took net members several weeks to realize that the offending station was the Korean language service of the Voice of America. He says that the Oldtime Radio Collectors And Traders Society, has been meeting on 7.238 MHz at this time since 1972, and the interference from The VOA began on October 29, 2000. In his letter to Hollingsworth, W9ZMR says that the VOA does not belong on this frequency for several reasons. Chief among them is the extreme unlikelihood of any non-English speaking person tuning to the SSB portion of the 40 meter amateur band looking for a station broadcasting in that language. He adds that the VOA may be authorized to use the spectrum but it`s also creating a lot of ill will among amateurs trying to use that portion of the band. Piletic concludes by noting the VOA program schedule lists another Korean language transmission on 7.110 MHz. This, says W9ZMR is also unacceptable to Amateur Radio operations in the 40 meter band (Newsline January 12 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)) This may be unacceptable to amateur radio operations but it does show that Philetic has absolutely no idea what the big picture is. He is apparently unaware that: a) the 7000-7300 kHz ham allocation is not world wide; b) 7100-7300 kHz is allocated to broadcasting outside of the Americas; c) the VOA uses relay sites outside of the USA and d) the VOA have been using frequencies in the 41 meter band for years, not just since October 29, 2000. So what if the ORCATS Net has been there since 1972? I find it hard to believe that they have suffered no interference from broadcast stations until now. After all, I have been trying to listen to this net (to verify its schedule) on and off for years and there has always been a broadcast station close by causing interference! Perhaps it`s the fact that it is the VOA now that they are getting in an uproar. I would like to see Hollingsworth`s response to this. He would no doubt tell them that the VOA transmissions are perfectly legal and if they interfere with the ORCATS Net, the amateurs would be the one who would have to move, or live with it (John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s telling `em -- oops, I`d better not say that, for the sake of fraternal relations. IBB schedule shows 37 out of the possible 39 frequencies 7105-7295 used at some time of the day by its outlets (7225, 7230 are free, but no doubt occupied by other broadcasters), from a variety of sites, all, of course, outside the Western Hemisphere. Korean, 1300-1400 on 7235 is Saipan beamed 325 degrees; 7110 is in Korean at 2130-2200, Udorn at 38 degrees. Why did it take them several weeks to realize it was VOA? No doubt it opens with an ID in English. Furthermore, the FCC has no jurisdiction over the VOA; don`t they know that? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. A long, excellent article on the conflict over KTRU at Rice University, Houston, which we have been able to mention only briefly on WOR and COM: http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2001-01-11/feature.html/page1.html (via Artie Bigley, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Family Radio in Chinese Jan 12th at 1455 on 6279.7 under heavy jamming. Jammer signed off around 1500 leaving freq free for FR. Not in parallel with 6300 neither with 1557. Strong signal. At 1600 into English program, while 6300 had some sentences of their Russian program before sign-off. The EE program on 6279.7 was not in parallel with the one starting at 1600 on 1557 AM. Another Taiwan outlet on SW? (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, FINLAND, hard-core-dx via DXLD) ** YEMEN. 9779.6, Voice of Yemen; W w/lite pop mx. 1826 drums & VoY ID -- don`t recall hearing this ID before. M w/TC & nx @1829. All in EE. SIO=322/het & clatter (Harold Frodge, Ont., MARE via DXLD) ** PROPAGATION. Solar Cycle 23 apparently peaked in 2000: ARRL propagation reporter Tad Cook, K7VVV, says it looks like the solar maximum for the current cycle occurred last year. The yearly average of daily sunspot numbers for 2000 was 174.4, and the yearly average of daily solar flux numbers for 2000 was 181.2. High points occurred on May 17, 2000, when the solar flux was 262 and the sunspot number was 342, and July 18-20, when sunspot numbers were 343, 342 and 401 and solar flux was 261.9, 249.9 and 252.9, respectively. Cook says there`s been a general drop in solar activity since July. The monthly averages of daily sunspot numbers for last January through December were 140.8, 161.9, 203.6, 193.4, 188.8, 190.3, 236.7, 166.7, 169.9, 138.9, 149.9 and 146.4. "The 236.7 number for July was the highest for the year," he said. The monthly Average of daily solar flux for the year was 159, 174.1, 208.2, 184.2, 184.5, 179.8, 200.5, 163.1, 201.7, 167.7, 178.8 and 173.6. "This gives us three peaks, in March, July and September," he said. The quarterly daily sunspot averages were 168.9, 190.8, 193.1 and 145, and quarterly solar flux was 180.5, 182.9, 188.3 and 173.3. "These suggest a maximum in the third quarter, July through September," Cook noted. "Ultimately the solar physicists who represent the real scientific expertise will come up with an approximate date for the peak using a smoothed moving average, but the data are not all in yet." (ARRL January 11 via John Norfolk, OKCOK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###