11775, Caribbean Beacon/University Network at 1930 with Pastor Melissa lecture. There was the "get on the telephone" bit, then a coupla words from Pastor Melissa, before the whole thing cut off at 2000. No closing announcements, no regular schedule. I have heard them on in pre-dawn darkness here, then going off at 9:30A local time (1630 UT), but now going off at 1:00 P local. There is always something confusing at the C.B. - VG Dec 8 (Rick Barton, AZ, WOR iog via DXLD)

Australia’s Labor Party wants to turn the Australian Broadcasting Corp.’s SW transmitters back on in the country’s remote Northern Territory

OTTAWA — Assuming it wins the next Australian federal election — due to be held by May 19, 2019 — the country’s Labor opposition party has pledged to restore shortwave radio service to Australia’s remote and sparsely-populated Northern Territory.

Ayers Rock/Uluru in the central Australian desert, Northern Territory; the rugged area that lost shortwave radio service two years ago. Credit: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) via Wiki Commons [caption]

At the time this was written, the Labor Party was leading the government’s Liberal/National multi-party coalition in voter preference by a margin of 4.5 percent; according to The Australian newspaper’s Nov. 25 Newspoll. . .

https://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/opposition-will-restore-shuttered-abc-shortwave-broadcasts (via Artie Bigley, DXLD)

Glenn, Audio link here and they discuss the international service:

Tech Head — encryption, restoring shortwave radio and Quora hacked
ABC News-7 hours ago  

Australia is set to pass world first laws that will allow police
agencies greater access to your smartphone messages, and there's
concern about what this means ...

https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/tech-head-%E2%80%94-encryption,-shortwave-radio-and-quora-hacked/10586390
(via Artie Bigley, DXLD) SW mentioned only in passing (gh) Viz.:  

    Listen now(Link will open in new window) Download audio
    Wednesday 5 December 2018 6:52PM (view [sic] full episode)

Image: Labor has pledged to restore shortwave radio service to remote
Australia, if it wins the next election.  
(ABC Rural: Daniel Fitzgerald) Link to larger image [caption]

Australia is set to pass world first laws that will allow police agencies greater access to your smartphone messages, and there's concern about what this means for privacy.

Meanwhile, Labor has announced that, if elected, it will restore funding for ABC short wave transmitters used by outback listeners.

And, the details of 100 million Quora users have been hacked, and many of those people didn't even know they had an account. Guest: Peter Marks, tech commentator; software developer; media chief, GovHack (via DXLD)

Our 1000 Saturday UT broadcast continues on 9265 through to 1230 with:
 1000 Sounds of your life - Hosted by Aussie Tim
 1100 Hobart Radio International - Hosted by Bob [sic] Wise
 1130 International Radio Report - Hosted by Sheldon Harvey,
      David Asselin with special features from Gilles Letourneau
 1200 World of Radio - Hosted by Glenn Hauser

Additional times:

Unique Radio on WINB 9265 UT Sun 0130-0200 (Sat 8:30-9 PM Eastern) will be carrying the International Radio Report with Sheldon Harvey, David Asselin, and Gilles Letourneau.

A mix of news, shortwave news about Unique Radio and some 
'Sounds of your life' UT Fri 0030-0100 (Thu 7:30-8 PM Eastern).  

Our domestic HF 5045 kHz (Australia) broadcast times are available at:
http://www.uniqueradio.biz  

Downloads and plays of broadcasts are available at
http://www.uniqueradio.podomatic.com  

Wishing you good listening
(Aussie Tim, Unique Radio, Gunnedah NSW,  Australia, WOR iog via DX
LISTENING DIGEST)

Main site has been updated  
https://www.uniqueradio.biz
Podcast:
http://www.uniqueradio.podomatic.com

Best regards 
(Aussie Tim, Unique Radio, Gunnedah NSW, Australia, Dec 8, 
WOR iog via DXLD) Viz.:  

Welcome to Northwest NSW Broadcaster Unique Radio 5045 kHz, 9265 via WINB Saturdays 1000 UT and coming soon 2368.5 kHz which will be our overnight frequency once activated.

NB - I'm aware of the interference problem emanating from 5040 to 5060 kHz. A very badly tuned transmitter coming either from Jeypore, India or perhaps Cuba. Lasted around 30 minutes December 8th 2018 and heard at various other times. Nothing I can do, sorry.

We are also in partnership with Hobart Radio International who provide programming and logistic site help to Unique Radio. You can find Hobart radio International at: http://www.hriradio.org

?We broadcast on the Australian HF domestic frequency of 5045 on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays (from December 7th) at 0900 UT (20:00 EADT) and on alternate Saturdays & Sundays from 0830 UT (19:30 EADT) using around 120 Watts into our inverted 'V' antenna to serve Gunnedah and approx a 500 or 600 KM radius. Anything past this distance would be regarded as fortuitous reception.

January 1st having a break then recommencing from January 14th 2019 with a more frequent schedule.

We also broadcast on 9265 from WINB Red Lion, Pennsylvania to North America and The Pacific, Saturdays from 1000 UT (9 PM EADT in Australia).

Programming from Unique Radio and partner producers can be viewed by pressing the 'click here for podcast' button below.

?Times below may run late from time to time!

Thanks also to Sheldon Harvey, David Asselin and Gilles Letourneau for providing International Radio Report from CKUT 90.3 Montreal Canada. From 0900 UT Monday, Wednesday and Friday on 5045 Gunnedah. Alternate Saturdays from 0830 on 5045 Gunnedah, 1130 on 9265 via WINB Red lion PN USA Beamed to Australia / NZ / South Pacific area.

I'm excited to add that there will be an additional time to hear International Radio report from Saturday nights 8:30 to 9 pm EST or 0130 to 0200 UT Sunday on 9265 Unique Radio via WINB.

Thanks also to Glenn Hauser for his help with disseminating news to the shortwave community and providing 'World of Radio' each week. From 0930 UT Monday, Wednesday and Friday on 5045. Alternate Saturdays from 0930 UT via 5045 Gunnedah. Saturdays 1200 UT Unique Radio via WINB 9265, Red lion PA USA Beamed to Australia / NZ / South Pacific area.

Thanks to Bob Wise from Hobart Radio international for his help with different things at Unique Radio and providing programming each week. From 1000 UT via 5045 Gunnedah Monday, Wednesday, Friday and 1100 UT Saturday Unique Radio via WINB 9265 Red Lion beamed to Australia / NZ / South Pacific area. Alternate Saturdays from 1000 UT on 5045 kHz.

Sounds of your life with Aussie Tim on 5045 from 1030 UT Monday, Wednesday & Friday and 1000 UT Saturday for an hour on 9265 beamed to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific.

Additionally Unique Radio will be on 9265, 730 to 8 pm EST Thursday being (0030-0100 Friday UT) with a mixed talk format and maybe a little music. Good listening, Aussie Tim (via WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DXLD)

Back last month, we presented a topic here in Wavescan that told the story of the invasion of Kangaroos into the suburban areas of Canberra, the national capital of Australia, during the current Great Australian Drought. Along with that interesting information, we also presented the story of the mediumwave stations in the national capital. Let’s take a look now at Canberra on shortwave.

On the shortwave scene, there has only ever been just one major shortwave station in Canberra, and that was a navy wireless station that was on the air worldwide with communication traffic. However, available evidence would suggest that there was a small temporary naval wireless station in the area in advance of the new high powered wireless station.

The callsign for this preliminary station was apparently VHK. Perhaps this station was located at what became the first receiver station for HMAS Harman at Belconnen. This first and somewhat temporary receiver station was installed in a hut at Red Hill, ¾ mile behind what became the main transmitting station.

Construction work for the big new transmitter station at Belconnen, near Canberra, began without publicity in 1938. Known in navy parlance as HMAS Harman, the wireless station at Belconnen was planned for usage in not only naval communications worldwide, but also as a wartime backup for the Rugby wireless station in England, if needed.

As the station was nearing completion during the following year (1939), and on subsequent occasions also, rumors suggested incorrectly that this station might also be used as the transmitter base for the planned shortwave service of Australia Calling/Radio Australia. The Belconnen station was officially opened on April 22 in that critical year 1939, and the first operational transmission as a navy communication station was made six months later.

The original transmitter was a high powered longwave unit, radiating from a very tall antenna system suspended from three towers 600 feet high and a quarter mile apart. As time went by, a cluster of shortwave transmitters was also installed, and a bevy of curtain and rhombic antennas was also erected.

At the height of its operation, the transmitter station at Belconnen contained 38 shortwave transmitters ranging in power from 10 kW to 40 kW, with 50 antenna systems, though most dominant in the skyline were the three tall longwave towers. Three receiver stations associated with the transmitter station were located progressively at three different sites nearby to Canberra; Red Hill, Fyshwick & Bonshaw.

This huge communication station was progressively decommissioned, withdrawn from service, finally closed in mid 2005, and then demolished, thus making way for a new housing development in suburban Canberra. The functions of the station were progressively transferred to a new navy communication station located further inland, near Albury, on the Murray River in New South Wales.

During its more than 66 years of service as a major communication
radio station, Belconnen was on the air under at least three different
communication callsigns, and these were:-  

VHP Navy communication
VIS Communication with commercial shipping
VIX Weather & shipping information  

In addition, the Belconnen station was also noted over a period of time with time signals on three different shortwave channels with a power of either 5 kW or 10 kW under the callsign AXM. These signals were provided from Melbourne and they were needed on shortwave as a fill in basis after the Australian chronohertz station VNG at Lyndhurst was closed in 1987. Station AXM was on the air for twelve years, stretching from 1987 - 1999, and they verified with a nice oversized QSL card.

The first known usage of the Belconnen radio station for the broadcast of radio programming occurred in the year 1956, and this was on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Melbourne Victoria. All available shortwave transmitter space in Australia was pressed into service to ensure that adequate radio coverage could be provided for all foreign radio media covering the sporting events in Melbourne. It is reported that the navy communication station at Belconnen in the Australian Capital Territory was also in use for the relay of radio news and commentaries to other overseas countries during these Olympic Games.

In 1991, a small temporary studio was installed in Canberra by the navy for the production of radio programming for broadcast to Australian service personnel on duty in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and at sea. Initially, this programming was on the air as the Gulf Link Service and it was relayed by Radio Australia Darwin to the Arabian Gulf area in May 1991.

Five months later however, the Belconnen transmitters began to carry this service, and the Darwin relay was subsequently discontinued, in May 1993. The Australian Defence Forces Radio programming was on the air consecutively under three different callsigns: 2AAFR, AAFR and ADFR.

For a short period of time during the year 1999, the Belconnen station was heard on air with a relay of the ABC programming service known as 2 Triple J, that is 2JJJ from their studios in Sydney.

It should also be noted that programming from the Canberra studio was relayed by the navy transmitting station located at North West Cape in Western Australia. On some occasions, the programming was separate, and sometimes it was in parallel with the Belconnen broadcasts. The broadcast of radio programming from Belconnen ended in 1999.

The large and powerful navy communication station at Belconnen in Australia’s Capital Territory made its last transmissions on May 31, 2005, and the entire facility was demolished in December 2006.

The station is now gone, and it has been replaced by suburban housing. However, many international radio monitors in many countries throughout the world hold historic memories of this station in their collection of QSL cards and letters. Cards have been issued over the years for the several callsigns in use at Belconnen, including VHP, VIX, VIS, AXM, 2JJJ and the navy broadcasting service itself (Adrian Peterson, IN, script for AWR Wavescan Nov 18, 2018 via DXLD)

6134.9, R. Santa Cruz, St.ª Cruz de la Sierra, 2208-2218, 01/12. Castelhano; programa acerca de música; 35433. Good DX & 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

[non] 6134.82, Dec 8 at 0049, no signal from R. Santa Cruz, despite Ron Howard`s reminder that the last two years at least on this date, they stayed on later than 0400 past usual 0230 closing, for some mass religious festival. See: http://lapatriaenlinea.com/?nota=91587 http://goo.gl/P96G9j But there is a JBA carrier on 6135.13 which would be its nemesis, R. Aparecida, BRAZIL.

At 0256 Dec 8 recheck, detect a JBA carrier circa 6134.8 even weaker than Aparecida, and vs stray Cuban pulse jamming to boot (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

3375, Rádio Municipal sai em notícia em rede nacional. ""Como a gente tem as ondas tropicais que atingem as comunidades, então, fica mais fácil delas ouvirem através da rádio as orientações, a data, o local e o horário da prova", afirma Claudia Ferraz, uma das coordenadoras da rede."

https://g1.globo.com/sp/campinas-regiao/noticia/2018/12/03/jovens-indigenas-organizam-rede-de-comunicadores-no-am-para-aproximar-aldeias-distantes.ghtml (Daniel Wyllyans, Brasil, Dec 5, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD)

4985 idem, 2201-2215, 30/11. Texto, programa musical; 35332.
  * Vide 4936 *

9818.6, R. 9 de Julho, São Paulo SP, 1858-1914, 29/11.
  Indicação da freq., anúncios comerciais, carrilhão, missa; 35443.
9818.8, idem, 1054-1150, 30/11. Texto, música; 14431,
  QRM da CHN, em 9820.
9818.8, idem, 2135-2146,03/12. Noticiário nacional
  A Voz do Brasil; 25432.

11815, R. Brasil Central, Goiânia GO, 1844-1905, 29/11.
  Texto, canções; 24442,, QRM adj., áudio fraco.

11855.7, R. Aparecida, Aparecida SP, 1845-1907, 29/11.
  Canções, informações várias; 34433, QRM adj. até às 1900.
11855.8, idem, 2207-..., 01/2.
  Portadora vazia; // 5035, 6135, 9630 fora do ar.
  Mesma situação em 02/12, 1745.

11895.1, R. Boa Vontade, Pt.º Alegre RS, 1846-1859, 29/11.
  Propaganda religiosa; 25442. Good DX & 73,
(Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

6180.09, Dec 8 at 0051, RNA is back on with Brazuguese talk, but heavy crackle on the modulation and breakup on the carrier, which is S9+25 and off-frequency+plus; unlistenable before the 0100 start of CRI/Cuba, after which the collision will be worse than ever (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

6180, Dec 9 at 0133, RNA is off again, nor on 11780, following last night`s broken signal. So CRI English via CUBA is in the clear (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

406, Dec 8 at 0756 UT, beacon YLJ and dash, 40 watts at Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan.

401, Dec 8 at 0758 UT, beacon YPO and dash, 500 watts from Peawanuck, Ontario. Got to be a new one: love these colourful placenames.

Wikipedia: ``Peawanuck is an isolated Cree community in the Kenora District, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the confluence of the Winisk and Shamattawa rivers, about 35 km from the Winisk River's end in Hudson Bay. Its population is 237.`` --- that does not mean it is anywhere near Kenora in the SW corner of the province! (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

940, QC, Montreal, CFNV: Back on the air after lengthy outage. Still playing continuous music, despite promising an autumn 2018 launch of a French language Health and Wellness format. While there is considerable doubt about the station’s future, they may well seize the opportunity for French language Sports now that CKLX-FM plans to drop the format (Jon Pearkins, Canadian News, IRCA DX Monitor Dec 1 via DXLD)

Checking now because Channel 292, Germany, was reported by Manuel
Méndez, Spain, to have ``eclipsed`` CFRX when it came on 6070 at 0625
Dec 2, and I wondered if there would be QRM over here, and is that
when 292 start every day? But nothing of it
(Glenn Hauser, OK, D LISTENING DIGEST)
O, Ch 292 probably off during week hiatus  

As the CBC has broadcast nearly every Christmas since 1979, CBC’s As it Happens presents a classic reading of Frederick Forsyth's The Shepherd by the late host "Fireside" Al Maitland. The year is 1957. An RAF pilot is heading home from Germany for Christmas. Fog sets in and all radio communication is lost (Sheldon Harvery, Dec CIDX Messenger via DXLD)

A must read for anyone interested in where international media is going. Compare China's efforts to other countries (Stephen Luce, Houston, Texas, Dec 8, WOR iog via DXLD)

My knee jerk reaction to this would be to demand strict reciprocity from the nations and nationals who would seek to use our media resources. But the money that is and could be made by all and from it probably makes that approach a dead letter. We’re doomed if the consumers of media insist on not getting any smarter (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, ibid.)

Mark, what is your basis for concluding that this on 9470 is CNR3 program, Voice of the Music? Current Aoki/NDXC says it`s CNR1. Maybe it is 3, but just because you may hear music does not mean it has to be 3 instead of 1, which also plays some music in a diverse `mainstream` format. To be sure, we need to know what the Chinese language ID is for CNR3, and then confirm hearing it. WRTH does not help with that. I expect the Japanese DXers Ron Howard knows could clear this up (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

9825, CNR3 (Voice of the Music) at 1320 // 7470 in Mandarin jamming the VOA in Mandarin via the Philippines with a woman with gentle talk and pop vocals – Fair to Good Dec 9.

11660, CNR3 (Voice of the Music) at 1337 // 7470 and 9825 in Mandarin jamming the VOA in Mandarin via the Philippines with a woman with gentle talk and pop vocals – Fair to Good Dec 9 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD)

Many Cuban MW frequencies have more than one station/network on them (gh, DXLD)

Does not work out to be a 2x or 3x harmonic; nor can I make it the A+B sum of any known RHC frequencies. Could be a mixture with a strong local signal or with a spy-numbers transmitter out of band, perhaps with open carrier. One of the mix frequencies would have to end in -5 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

15140, Radio Habana Cuba; 1347-1402+, 12/1; 
M&W in Spanish commentary & RHC ID; S20 + whine & muddy audio.  

+++ [same], 1745, 12/1; Muddy audio Spanish with spur/splash on; 14910, 14970, 15025, 15055, 15085, 15120, 15125, 15130, 15135, 15145, 15150, 15155, 15160, 15165, 15170, 15255, 15285, 15315, 15310 (Harold Frodge, DX-pedition somewhere in Michigan, Drake R8B + 500’ dogleg N-S/E-W unterminated bev, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time & without the aid of a computer! -----, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

5040, Dec 4 at 0649, RHC English hour is S9+20/30 but very suptorted --- wiggle that patchcord! The rest of The Cuban Five on 6 MHz band are OK at various modulation levels. Something`s always wrong at RHC.

5040, Dec 6 at 0637, RHC English is overmodulated, distorted and slightly wobbly; after checking the rest of The Cuban Five at 0636: 6060 strong and fully modulated: 6100 medium mod; 6165 weaker than 6000 but more modulation as 6000 is the quietest. Something`s always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

13563, 13633, 13767-13770, 13830, Dec 6 at 1358, approx. spans of filthy FM spurblobs out of RHC 13700-AM transmitter. They are all diffuse, and unreadable even with FM tuning. The least they could do would be to tune them up for clear FM reception. But instead by 1509 recheck they are gone, while both 13700 & 13780-AM remain on. Something`s always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

6000, Dec 7 at 0112, RHC English again on an hour early,
undermodulated, while 6165 is on but dead air. 
Something`s always wrong at RHC.  

5040, Dec 7 at 0126, RHC is S9+20 but JBM in Kriyol. 
Something`s always wrong at RHC.  

5040, Dec 8 at 0044, RHC is S9+30 but JBM and suptorted in presumed
English; wiggle that patchcord! 
Something`s always wrong at RHC.  

5025, Dec 7 circa 1700 UT (noon in Cuba), R. Rebelde is still poorly
audible on caradio over a more than 2 megameter fulldaypath. 
Now I need to start DXing midday skywave on MW.  

6165, 6100, 6060, 6000, 5040, Dec 7 at 0726, all RHC frequencies are
off by now; so is this wrong, or right?  

15140, Dec 8 at 1511, RHC is S9+10 but suptorted; wiggle that
patchcord! // 15230 sounds OK. 
Something`s always wrong at RHC
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)  

Radio Havana Cuba, December 9, 2018, 0339Z, 6000 kHz, 
extremely distorted signal uncopyable. S-9 + 10 dB
(Mike Newland, December 8 logs from Morgantown, KY, ICOM IC-706 and
G5RV antenna at 35 feet, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST)  

I am seldom monitoring in the 05-06 hour, but Dec 9 I discover even more anomalies from Radio Habana Cuba: 5040 is already in English at 0505, rather than starting at 0600. 6100 and 6060 are also already on and in English at 0507, along with 6165 and 6000. It does appear that RHC has reverted to summertime/DST scheduling. But wait, there`s more:

12000, Dec 9 at 0514, RHC English on unsked frequency, fair S9, matching synchronous 6000 and undermodulation level. So is this a harmonic? Or a fundamental, like 12000 is earlier in Spanish. 12000 is *still* going in English at 0637.

11840, Dec 9 at 0516, RHC English on another unsked frequency, supposedly only in Spanish much earlier. This one is blasting in at S9+30, and accompanied by the JBA spurs on 11830 & 11850 --- the only frequency behaving like this, tho the same transmitter must be used on some other frequency at other dayparts. At 0522 over to Arnie Coro, admittedly ``on the phone``, with `Breakthrough` talk about improving safety at Cuba`s 2000+ railroad crossings. Not rechecked until 0637 when it`s off.

11700, Dec 9 at 0518, RHC is S9/S9+20 in Spanish during `Sonido Cubano` music show. Since 5040 and 6060 are already in English and nothing heard on 31m, this is the only RHC Spanish frequency to be heard. 11760 has a JBA carrier at 0637, surely not RHC. Something`s always wrong at RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

5040, Dec 9 at 0149, RHC music has mix of RTTY? Some utesound, then clear. Not sure whether this was genuine QRM or yet more something wrong at RHC.

5025, Dec 9 at 0504, R. Rebelde music is overmodistorted. 
Something`s always wrong at RadioCuba
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)  

11840, Dec 10 at 0546, RHC is again on this frequency late and VG S9+20 as midnite MUF is holding up --- but is in Spanish unlike English last night. // 11700 S9+20 also Spanish with music, but distorted. Third 25mb transmitter also still going, 12000 in English, relatively weak S8 so maybe really a 2 x 6000 harmonic, benefiting from above normal propagation. 0632 recheck: 11840 & 11700 off; 12000 still on.

Also still on after 0546: 9535 Spanish S8; 6060 Spanish S9+20; 6100 carrier? 6165 English with music; 5040 Spanish. At 0659, 6165 & 6100 & 6060 are all off, with 6000 remaining to restart an English hour. 24 hours ago, 6060, 6165 and 5040 were all in English before 0600 Something`s always wrong at Radio Habana Cuba (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

5040, Dec 11 at 0029, RHC is JBM with hum during music, presumably the
English hour. Something`s always wrong at RHC
(And no longer on 9720 during this hour)
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)  

13635 & 13765 approx., Dec 10 at 1456, RHC 13700-AM transmitter is blooming with FM spurs including the F# tone, at S9+10, and progressively weaker ones further out at ~65 kHz multiples: 13571, 13505, 13441; 13830, 13896, 13960. You never know whether these will happen or not. A few days OK, since last batch heard Dec 6. Something`s always wrong at RHC --- if not the FM spurs, another thing (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Also 1627-1648 , 05-12, Spanish, news, mentioned “Guinea Ecuatorial”, 1647: “estamos en titulares”, song and close at 1648. Extremely weak, barely audible. 15311. (Méndez)

Also 0545-0605, 06-12, Spanish, news, comments, 0554: "Consejos para la familia, un espacio cultural a través de la Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial", African songs. "Estamos en conexión con Radio Malabo". 15321

Also 1725-1801*, 06-12, Spanish, comments, songs. 
Extremely weak, barely audible. 15311
(Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol and Reinante, Tecsun
S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, WOR iog via DXLD)  

17545 R [sic, only one letter in name column!] 1500-1600 12...67 Amharic 150 122 Issoudun F 4657N 00159E RMI Eritrea b18 Dec.1-

And EiBi:  
17545 1500-1600 F R.V. [sic, 2 letters!]. Eritrea Tig Issoudun 167

And HFCC:  
17545 1500 1600 48NW ISS 150 122 0 227 1267 011218 300319 D 17400 Mul
F RMI TDF 17058 Eritrea

So I ask Jeff White: ``Hi Jeff, Heard a signal on 17545 this morning (and nothing else on 16m then). It appears to be one of yours --- what is the real name of this station; contact info? Is the 4-day-a-week sked correct? Or 3 days as in EiBi. Tnx, Glenn``

He replies: ``Glenn: It’s Saturday only. It’s called Alsmood, but I don’t have a website or contact info. Jeff``

So I go a-Googling, disregarding sites about ALS:

https://www.facebook.com/alsmood.llaytam
with more than 5 megafollowers  

leading to this satellite broadcast:
https://www.facebook.com/elradio9090/  

and also linked to this on 88.1/88.7 FM:
https://www.facebook.com/88.7fmNews/?ref=py_c  

It`s apparently based in Cairo, but nothing much ``about``
https://www.facebook.com/alsmood.llaytam/about  

Nothing found about this SW broadcast, so no positive 17545 connexion with this disgraced FB info.

Regarding 17545, Sat at 15-16, I discovered Dec 9, and IDed by RMI broker as ``Alsmood``, which name I found on some disgraced FB pages, Kai Ludwig, Germany, replies to the WOR iog:

``At least at a first glance this seems to be entirely Egyptian staff. Looks like the Facebook profile of someone in Egypt, running a relief project which on its own Facebook profile https://www.facebook.com/pg/alsmodllaytamlltnmya does not show activities outside Egypt either, and just being a fan of these radio stations.

The reply from Jeff White raises another question: Who assumes the responsibility for the content of these broadcasts? It looks like it would indeed be his Radio Miami International. Pretty daring to put some stuff on air without even knowing what it is. Kai``

Meanwhile I forwarded the disgraced FB stuff to Jeff, and asked, ``Does this look like the same station to you, or not?``

He replied, ``Beats me. I'm not sure what Alsmood means in Tigrinya.``

Google translate does not include Tigrinya, but I try Alsmood in Amharic, and with some prodding it comes up with: Knowledge --- but pronounces the script as iwik`eti ?? (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

FRANCE.

New clandestine broadcast to Eritrea via TDF Issoudun from Dec 1  
1500-1600 on 17545 ISS 150 kW / 122 deg to EaAf Amharic/Tigrinya 
                                Sat R. Alsmood
https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/12/new-clandestine-broadcast-via-tdf.html
(Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

The inadequate so far identity of this must have been derived from our research, not acknowledged. Altho backdated Dec 7, this issue did not come out until Dec 9, after our ``Alsmood`` info (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Dear FRS & Radio Friends, Sunday December 30th FRS-Holland will be on air with its annual Holiday Season broadcast. The broadcast will be on 7700//58xx between 0852-1400 UT/09:52-15:00 CET. Similar to November 18th, the full broadcast will be repeated in the afternoon. More info follows later in December.

FRS-Holland offers you the opportunity to send in your December Greetings to radio friends and relatives. Your contributions are highly appreciated and will add something special to our programmes! You can easily produce a little (written) message and send it to [frs@frsholland.nl]. It only takes a few minutes of your spare time. We raffle a radio DVD among those who participate in our December broadcast with their Seasonal greetings. We'd like to ask you to do it as soon as possible as some shows will be recorded within 10 days. Don't hesitate but just do it! If you have the opportunity to send in an audio (mp3) clip you are more than welcome! Written messages are also welcome via POBox 2701, 6049 ZG Herten in the Netherlands.

Join us ringing out 2018. The FRS-Holland staff is looking forward to
hear from you. 73s, Peter Verbruggen on behalf of the staff
Posted by: "Radio Strike 
(via Mike Terry, Dec 7, WOR iog via DXLD)  

Por otra parte, en un PDF adjunto, envian "FRS Newsletter", participando una transmisión especial "FRS Holland's Holiday Season" para el día 30 de diciembre:

"NEXT FRS-HOLLAND BROADCAST --- It’s a long time tradition: FRS-Holland’s Holiday Season broadcast. On Sunday December 30th FRS-Holland will be on air with this annual festive broadcast. Note that the this broadcast will be on 7700 and a 5.8 MHz frequency (replacing 9300). Programmes are run twice between 0852-1405 UT/09:52-15:05 CET and 1405-1915 UT/15:05-20:15 UTC [sic: means CET]. We realize that part of the 2nd run will be in the dark hours, not favourable for Europe but on the other hand better chances for North America. Our 5.8 MHz frequency (5800 or 5810 hopefully) will do better than 9300 in the later part (less risk of long skip).

FRS-Holland offers you the opportunity to send in your December Greetings to radio friends and relatives. Your contributions are highly appreciated and will add something special to our programmes! You can easily produce a little (written) message and send it to [frs@frsholland.nl]. It only takes a few minutes of your spare time. We raffle a radio DVD among those who participate in our December broadcast with their Seasonal greetings. We'd like to ask you to do it as soon as possible as some shows will be recorded within 10 days. Don't hesitate but just do it! If you have the opportunity to send in an audio (mp3) clip you are more than welcome! Written messages are also welcome via P O Box 2701, 6049 ZG Herten in the Netherlands. Join us ringing out 2018; the FRS-Holland staff is looking forward to hear from you. I hope you will be tuning our way December 30th. Watch your mailbox as we always forward an e-mail prior to a proposed broadcast. And of course check our website. All info will be published at least 5 days before any broadcast.

REPORTS --- Reception reports sent by mail are consequently verified
with our e-QSL. For snail mail we offer a high quality printed A5 size
hard QSL copy - in full colour - which has a different (much better
looking) back and is of course much more desirable compared with the
e-QSL. Although we realize that an e-mail report is a quick and easy
way in reporting, we feel that a ‘letter’ report to our mailbox (POB
2702) is a more ‘charming’ and personal way. For only 3 euro/3 US
dollars we forward that desirable QSL along with a large A5 size color
sticker! If you are interested in our exciting, adventurous history,
you can obtain a hard-copy of our specially produced ‘30 Years of
FRS-Holland’ booklet (24 pages, in colour!). Send 5 euro/7 US dollars
to FRSH, POBox 2702, 6049 BE Herten, the Netherlands. A very
interesting read is guaranteed!! All the best & 73s, 
Peter V. (on behalf of Jan, Paul, Dave, Roger, Bert, Bobby & Brian)
 73s Peter V.  

"AUTUMN 2018 BROADCAST On Sunday November 18th FRS’ third 2018 broadcast took place. It was decided to put out the programme schedule twice: 09:52-14:05 CET followed by a second run 14:05-18:10 CET. The driving idea was to give listeners two chances tuning our way. In case someone would be prevented listening in the morning hours, there would be a 2nd chance in the afternoon. And of course vice versa! Additional advantage: propagation in the afternoon could be different (read: more favourable) compared with the morning hours. Frequencies were ‘good old’ 7700 in parallel with 9300 kHz. On Sunday Nov. 11th a few tests were successfully run on 9300. We were confident 9300 could do well.

Propagation that Sunday was fair/good and during most of the day signals on both frequencies were audible in wide areas of the European continent. 7700 was the strongest/loudest but there were areas in which 9300 was equal to 7700. FRS signals were received in at least 16 countries. Remarkably strong signals for instance in countries like Switzerland, Iceland, Italy & Norway. But also stable reception in Estonia and Kongsfjord (Arctic). Later in the evening 9300 faded out in most areas.

That also counts for 7700 but that was later and in a smaller area. All in all we at FRS were happy with the overall results. At 11:15 CET our TX engineer decided to make a move from 9300 to 9335 kHz. Reason was a very annoying Stanag/data signal causing a nasty heterodyne. Some listeners assumed the TX developed a fault; that was not the case as we moved to 9335 kHz where the 31 mb outlet successfully continued. Salient detail: not long after moving to another channel the data signal disappeared. Although we announced 9213 as a standby frequency, it was decided to continue on 9335.

Perhaps confusing for some listeners! A message was put on the website in which we informed about the 9300?9335 move. Please keep in mind: unforeseen circumstances can cause a necessary frequency change. In most cases FRS will move to an alternative nearby frequency. And: in most cases we’ll put a quick message on the FRS site http://www.frsholland.nl

Just after 14:00 CET when the full repeat of programmes started, FRS moved back to 9300. Minutes later an Asian station signed on on 9305 and stayed for the next 50 minutes or so. That affected the 9300 signal but: we decided not to move knowing the station would likely sign off within an hour.

And that happened! FRS signed off at approx. 18:20 CET. November shows were presented by almost our complete team; only Roger Davis couldn’t make it this time. For the first time since long, a 30 minute FRS Goes DX edition was part of the programme schedule. The show contained a wide variety of News from around the World and short wave news.

On Nov. 24th, 25th (twice!) and 27th the complete November broadcast was streamed on the Internet.

PRACTICAL TIP --- When receiving reports we notice again and again that there sometimes are huge differences in signal quality between listeners living not that far away from apart. No doubt SW signals can ‘act’ quite unpredictably but that’s not always the main cause. A good aerial is of vital importance! In particular when not using an expensive top receiver. A telescopic aerial isn’t as sensitive as an (outdoor) wire antenna. Even when not having enough space outside, you can try to connect a few metres of wire to your telescopic antenna inside the house; temporarily. Just try and test for the best results. Reception could certainly improve. It’s worth giving it a try…"

Free Radio Service Holland is an independent, non-religious/
non-political Short wave station broadcasting to Europe since 1980.
Mailing address: P.O.Box 2702, 6049 ZG Herten in The Netherlands.
E-mail: [frs@frsholland.nl] — Website: [frsholland.nl]  

A Balance between Music & Information joined to one Format, the FRS-Holland Sound tastes Different, Just a Bit Different (via Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, WOR iog via DXLD)

Next SWR transmission: 
from February 01 2019 2200 UTC to February 02 2019 2200 UTC.
http://www.swradio.net/index.htm
(Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, WOR iog via DXLD)  

“Successful rollout” sounds to me like a nice little white lie. The transmitter that is supposed to cover my area is located right in the middle of the city of Strasbourg and actually only provides a decent signal within the city limits. Reaching the 20% threshold seems to be just another instance of wishful thinking.

If you add to it that most stations are already available on FM and that none of the major networks are present in the three multiplexes, except two or three that chose DAB just because no FM frequencies were available any more, you'll see easily that, far from being a “successful rollout”, it is bound to be a major flop. 73, (Rémy Friess, France, Dec 6, WOR iog via DXLD)

So it was really on hiatus when I tried Dec 6 to hear it vs CFRX (gh)

Over a period of two or three centuries, many different countries and lands in Europe, and elsewhere also, have demonstrated an interest in establishing colonies in the islands of the Caribbean. Among those countries and lands of Europe that have demonstrated their interest in the Caribbean have been: England, Scotland, Denmark, Norway, France, Holland, Spain, Germany. Interestingly, German interest in the Caribbean, which has been evident for several centuries, was demonstrated quite positively around the turn from the 1800s to the 1900s when they made overtures to Holland in an attempt to buy the Dutch island of Curacao.

Then too, Canada has at times indicated an interest in buying an island group in the Caribbean; and the United States has also exerted its influence in Caribbean events, on several major occasions.

As far as the international shortwave radio scene is concerned, again, several countries have been involved in the Caribbean; including England, Holland, France, Canada, United States and Germany. In addition to these several western countries, two Asian countries have in earlier times also stated their interest in establishing a shortwave relay station somewhere in the Caribbean, and these were AIR All India Radio in Delhi and NHK Tokyo in Japan.

In our topic for the day, Wandering the Caribbean with Deutsche Welle, we see their tenacious attempts to install and maintain major shortwave coverage from somewhere in the Caribbean areas; attempts that stretch for more than half a century, and covered many countries in the Caribbean as well as mainland areas on the edge of the Caribbean. Let’s go back now more than half a century ago, to the middle of the 1960s.

The first tangible attempt at obtaining a suitable location for their Caribbean relay station was on the island of Bonaire. The Australian radio monthly, Radio & Hobbies, twice referred to this initial attempt by Deutsche Welle back during the early part of the year 1966.

In the January issue of this magazine, the noted Arthur Cushen in his monthly report stated that Deutsche Welle in Cologne announced that it plans to establish a shortwave station on the island of Bonaire for coverage of the Americas. The German station would be the third on Bonaire, in addition to Trans World Radio and Radio Netherlands.

Two months later, (March 1966) Arthur Cushen again stated that Deutsche Welle would soon begin construction of its new shortwave station on Bonaire. However, this station never eventuated, and we could guess that the island government and the Dutch home government in the Hague considered that three large shortwave stations on this one small island in the Caribbean was just one too many.

According to Deutsche Welle Chief Engineer Peter Senger, their second attempt for a large shortwave relay station in the region was in Guatemala in Central America. It is stated that the largest settlement of German migrants in Central America is found in Guatemala. However, this Central American venture too was unsuccessful, so they looked elsewhere, and the next attempt was in the neighboring country of El Salvador, still in Central America.

Again, we turn to Arthur Cushen in New Zealand and he tells us in the July 1967 issue of his “Listening Around the World” monthly pages in Radio and Hobbies that Deutsche Welle was planning to erect their American shortwave relay station in the small Central American country of El Salvador. This new station, Cushen stated, would contain three shortwave transmitters at 150 kW and 250 kW, and a mediumwave unit at 100 kW.

In anticipation of the installation for the station in El Salvador, Deutsche Welle went ahead and procured several major items of electronic equipment including the shortwave transmitters. However, fruition for Deutsche Welle at this location was not forthcoming either, and so the shortwave transmitters and other items of ancillary equipment were instead diverted to Portugal for their new station at Sines near the Atlantic coast. All we can say is that the government of El Salvador must have changed their mind about having the large shortwave station in their country.

So, what came next? That same Australian magazine, Radio and Hobbies, provides an answer. In their issue for September 1968, Arthur Cushen informed us that Deutsche Welle was negotiating with the government of Costa Rica for approval to install a superpower mediumwave station at 1,500 kW in that country. However, Cushen stated that the governments of both the United States and Canada would likely disapprove a superpower station in Central America that could be heard with strong signals further north.

The Christmas (1968) issue of the same magazine states that Deutsche Welle was still seeking a suitable home for its American shortwave relay station in Central America. It is understood that they gave serious consideration at this stage to the country of Belize; but that never happened either.

The next year (1969) the August issue of Radio and Hobbies again indicated that Deutsche Welle was in the process of installing a shortwave station in the Caribbean. But where?

In their next move (in 1970), they took out a relay via Radio Antilles with 200 kW on 930 kHz on the island of Montserrat. Then during the following year (1971), Deutsche Welle began a closer relationship with Radio Antilles, until ultimately they bought the station, and they then funded it and operated it.

They brought in equipment from what had been their projected station in El Salvador, and from Radio Africa in Tangier, Morocco North Africa, together with personnel from Radio Andorra. The Deutsche Welle usage of Radio Antilles was shared also with the BBC London.

However, in the meantime, Deutsche Welle was also looking for a permanent solution, and they conducted an intensive survey in the Leeward and Windward Islands on the eastern edge of the Caribbean during the year 1974, and they finally settled on the Island of Antigua. In co-operation with the BBC in London, a new station with four transmitters at 250 kW was constructed near Seaview Farm almost in the center of the island of Antigua, and this station was taken into service in 1976, some ten years after the Deutsche Welle search for a Caribbean relay location first began.

The BBC withdrew from Montserrat in 1981, and Deutsche Welle closed the Montserrat station eight years later, in 1989. After 29 years in service, the Antigua station was also closed sixteen years later, in 2005, and the station was dismantled soon afterwards. And so the saga of Deutsche Welle and its rugged tenacity for more than half a century in the Caribbean areas came to an end in 2005. But no, that was not quite the end.

This lengthy Deutsche Welle saga began with the island of Bonaire in the mid 1960s. After the Antigua station was closed in 2005, Deutsche Welle was already back on the air in Bonaire. On this occasion they were already being relayed, along with NHK Tokyo, China Radio International and Adventist World Radio, via the Radio Netherlands shortwave station. But that did come to an end also, when that station was closed in 2010.

And so, that was the story of Deutsche Welle and their 45 year saga in more than half a dozen different locations in the Caribbean and Central America stretching from 1965 to 2010 (Adrian Peterson, IN, script for AWR Wavescan Dec 2, 2018 via DXLD)

After 1512, I love to scan all the regional stations to see how many
I can hear in //.  Most, if not all, are //.

Noted the only one you didn't report was 4970 (AIR Shillong), which is an easy one to hear, but often with weak modulation. For me, one of the best is 5040 (AIR Jeypore). For some reason they are consistently fair-good on a daily basis.

Anyway, just wanted to pass this along for your consideration. For me, it's a fun AIR time at 1512 :)) (Ron Howard, California, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Are aliens behind mysterious radio bursts?  
Probably not, say scientists --- CBC Radio · November 30

Artist impression of a Fast Radio Burst (FRB) reaching Earth. The
colours represent the burst arriving at different radio wavelengths,
with long wavelengths (red) arriving several seconds after short
wavelengths (blue). This delay is called dispersion and occurs when
radio waves travel through cosmic plasma.
(Jingchuan Yu, Beijing Planetarium) [caption]  

Listen 9:06

Scientists have long been puzzled by what appears to be a strange phenomenon from space known as fast radio bursts (FRBs). These short, bright flashes of radio light appear to be coming from almost halfway across the universe. Our observatories can spot them, but until a new generation of telescopes comes online, scientists are furiously theorizing and compiling a catalogue of potential explanations. . .
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks/dec-1-2018-genetically-edited-babies-fast-radio-bursts-spinal-injury-patients-walk-again-and-more-1.4925916/mysterious-fast-radio-bursts-from-space-five-explanations-for-what-they-could-be-1.4925926 (via Gerald T Pollard, NC, Dec 4, DXLD)

Hi Alan, Good news as far as I am concerned, the signal is great on
7290 (except for the final few minutes when 7295 splatters over it),
and the signal on 6075 was very poor here. Their website seems to be
down for some reason though, so I wasn't able to see if there was any
mention of the change on there. 
I hope they stay on 7 MHz at any rate! :-)
(Alan Gale, England, bdxc-news iog via DXLD)  

Hi Alan, I agree - 7290 kHz is better for me also. IRRS seem to have
revamped their website and their frequency schedule is now at

https://www.nexus.org/member-services/radio-and-tv/schedules/b18-schedule/
- I just checked and it still shows 6075
(Alan Roe, ibid.)  

Thanks, Alan, it's working for me again now, must have just been a temporary outage. The signal used to be a bit variable on 7290, but it's been really good for most of this year, so I think someone must have been watering the antenna system or something. I'd missed it over the past couple of weeks when it was a real struggle to hear at times. Cheers for now, (Alan Gale, ibid.)

This is not a change from 1300-1400. There has been an additional Japanese-only relay of Furusato no Kaze via Seabreeze at 1405-1435; frequency for that keeps changing like for the regular Shiokaze transmissions (gh, DXLD) Viz.:

JAPAN, Frequency changes of JSR Shiokaze Sea Breeze & Furusato no Kaze
from Nov 29  
https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/12/frequency-changes-of-jsr-shiokaze-sea.html
(Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.:

1300-1400 NF  6085 YAM 300 kW / 280 deg to NEAs, ex 7245 as follows
1300-1330 Chinese Mon; Japanese Tue/Sat; Korean Wed/Fri/Sun; English
Thu
1330-1400 Korean Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat; Japanese Tue/Sun; English Thu
1600-1700 NF  6095 YAM 300 kW / 280 deg to NEAs, ex 6110 as follows
1600-1630 Chinese Mon; Japanese Tue/Sat; Korean Wed/Fri/Sun; English
Thu
1630-1700 Korean Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat; Japanese Tue/Sun; English Thu
Respectively new frequency of Furusato no Kaze via Shiokaze Sea Breeze:
1405-1435 NF  7245 YAM 300 kW / 280 deg to NEAs Japanese Daily, ex 6085
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7pkAwOgJ9E&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVb4wby9eS0&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KamknGmUqgM&feature=youtu.be
(??????????? ?? Observer ? 8:15 PM via WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DXLD)

7245, JAPAN, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze at 1405, opening W in Japanese, familiar piano music. As I suspected, they are now opening at five minutes past the hour and closing a little after the half. Closing announcements by M in Japanese, then gone at 1435 - Good Dec 5 (Rick Barton, AZ, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

JAPAN, Furusato no Kaze via JSR Shiokaze Sea Breeze, Dec.6
1405-1435 on  7245 YAM 300 kW / 280 deg to NEAs Japanese, fair &
co-ch on same 7245 DB  100 kW / non-dir to CeAs Tajik Voice of Tajik
https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/12/reception-of-furusato-no-kaze-via-jsr.html
(Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec. 5-6, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

6085, Dec 6 at 1348, Sea Breeze via JSR JAPAN, usual earnest YL in English but still hard to understand; stinger and another negative news item about KN I think attributed to VOA. Latest frequency change, but already has rapid click jamming on the hi side only, one peak circa 6087.6; evitable by LSB tuning (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

11531.001, Dec 4 at 1457, Dengê Welat is 1 kHz off-frequency! Per Ivo this is the PRIDNESTROVYE site. If there were any doubt about a very smooth siteswitch at 1500, it`s painfully obvious today. While music modulation continues clearly, at *1459:52 another carrier, from FRANCE cuts on 11530.00 making big het for a few seconds until the first one goes off at 1500:00*. Shortly into Kurdish talk, but no mis-timesignal. Both at S7-S5 levels (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

[non] 6135.000, Dec 7 at 1504 I check the other possible Mad channel, which also has a JBA carrier but right on-frequency. Likely the 500 kW, 200 degrees from Xian CRI English at 14-16; so we may forget about any Mad LP on 49m this season even if active (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

?? Why do you pick XEVX way down in Tabasco as most likely? Around here, the usual Mex on 570 is XEBJB, Monterrey NL, and KAZ agrees. In fact, XEVX is not even listed in WRTH 2018 tho it was in IRCA 2015. XEVX is also among the 150+ stations confirmed to have left MW, as in DXLD 18-35 & 18-45 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

The SPR's fourth- and fifth-wave TV transmitters might be coming soon.

In its 2019 budget request,
https://twitter.com/Com_Radio_TV/status/1070397413767241731
the agency asked for a total of 1.799 billion pesos. Nearly half of
that total, 860 million pesos, would go toward constructing and
equipping 14 new stations — the same number of TV stations from the
fourth and fifth wave. Some other technological updates for 16
stations (presumably the first 16 built) and radio equipment
(remember, the SPR also has four radio stations to build, two at
existing TV sites and two at new ones) are also items in the budget
proposal.  

As a reminder, the SPR has unbuilt UHF stations at Acapulco, La Paz, Cancún, Chetumal, San Luis Potosí, Torreón and Tepic, and unbuilt VHF stations (all RF 13) at Culiacán, Durango, Guaymas, Matías Romero (Oax.), Pachuca, Puerto Vallarta and Tehuacán. The SPR's four unbuilt radio stations are at Coatzacoalcos, Colima, Matías Romero and Tehuacán.

Also appearing before the Radio and Television Commission of the Chamber of Deputies were representatives from the IFT. The IFT is proposing to reduce its budget to 1.780 billion pesos — 14.8 percent less than in 2018 (Raymie Humbert, Phœnix AZ, Dec 6, WTFDA Forum via DXLD)

A couple of housekeeping matters...

First off, yes, this thread now has a proper name! And I'll be here on the WTFDA Forums through at least 2019. Sometime soon I will be making a new first post, a sort of mission statement for this informative endeavor and really its first proper, at-length introduction.

The other is something exciting that might be of use to the DXers here. REC Networks years ago began fccdata.org, a mirror of the FCC Query with an easier-to-use interface. REC later expanded the dataset to include searching databases of stations in Canada, Ireland, the UK, Australia and Japan.

Last month, REC began its first pass at adding Mexican information to this service. However, I would not have been comfortable recommending it as it was at the time. It was incomplete and did not take advantage of all the available resources, and I reached out to REC to guide them toward those. As of this week, however, it contains nearly full information on Mexico's AM, FM and TV stations, including:

    -Concession generic information from the RPC
    -Coverages and technical information from the Coverage Viewer
    -Cross-referencing to the IFT multiprogramming and VC lists

    (All of this is information that wasn't available
    just five years ago!)  

At this time, https://recnet.com/release-2018-12-05 what remains to be added are HD Radio designations, cross-references with the FCC's facility IDs, and information on nighttime AM stations (which the Coverage Viewer is weak on). It also does not reflect any Article 90 clears, as the Coverage Viewer does not have them yet, or the October 2018 Televisa concession reorganization. REC also did not include stations listed as terminated in the RPC, such as XEAD-FM.

REC's database includes entries for stations not in the Coverage Viewer, so you can search and get a very basic entry for new stations (e.g. XHXOX) that have no associated Coverage Viewer data.

If you find bugs, let me or REC know (Raymie, Dec 7, ibid.)

The latest change in Sonoran radio involves new-to-air second-wave migrants and the unusually cozy relationship between two of the state's broadcasters.

Radiovisa has come barreling into Nogales with two stations: https://www.facebook.com/RadioVisaNogales/

    XHCG-FM 89.5 "La Lupita, La de Nogales"
    (also now the local Carmen Aristegui affiliate)
    XHHN-FM 89.9 "La Que Manda",
    using the same imaging as Radiovisa's Caborca and Guaymas stations

In fact, this move alone doubles Radiovisa's commercial station count. It also leaves Nogales with just one more migrant to go, 90.3 XHXW-FM. That station will still be operated by Grupo Larsa Comunicaciones, which had operated XECG and XEHN.

Last edited by Raymie; 12-10-2018 at 05:59 PM.

[tagline:] Este programa es público, ajeno a cualquier partido político. Queda prohibido el uso para fines distintos a los establecidos en el programa (Raymie, Dec 10, ibid.)

Ciudad de México. Radio Educación, Servicio Nacional de Comunicación Cultural celebra el 30 de noviembre su aniversario 94 mediante el uso de la tecnológica en los servicios públicos de información y comunicación que se identifican con las tendencias mundiales de crecimiento y diversificación de la radio contemporánea.

En septiembre de este año se lanzó el proyecto Vox Libris, plataforma de contenidos digitales de descarga gratuita de esa radiodifusora educativa y cultural que trabajó en los últimos cinco años y se integra con 35 títulos en versión audio.

Para escuchar y descargar todos los audiolibros se necesita ingresar a la dirección electrónica: http://www.radioeducacion.edu.mx/voxlibris

"A la fecha se han registrado más de 25 mil descargas", explica para La Jornada Hilda Saray Gómez, directora de Producción y Planeación de esa institución radiofónica.

“Destaca una primera selección publicada por el Fondo de Cultura Económica (FCE) que se llamó 18 para los 18, de ella ponemos el audio de obras como Anónimo de Ignacio Solares, El sinore: un cuaderno de Salvador Elizondo, el Solitario atlántico de Jorge López Páez, entre otros”, indicó Hilda Saray.

Después de cuatro décadas, la emisora tiene presencia en la Frecuencia
Modulada por medio del 96.5, señal inaugurada el 11 de noviembre de
este año, que se suma a la señal 1060 AM; Cultura México Señal
Internacional, 6185 kilohertz de Onda Corta; a la Señal Kukulkán 
en el 107.9 FM.  

Las próximas señales son: señal Cultura Sonora, en el 104.1 de FM, en Hermosillo y la señal Cultura Michoacán, en el 95.3 de FM, en Morelia, las cuales iniciarán a transmisión en 2019.

Cuenta con el servicio en Línea, en donde ofrece una app gratuita para descarga desde smartphones, disponible en IOS y Android; donde se encuentra la señal en vivo del 1060 AM y próximamente la del 96.5 FM, desde la Ciudad de México; además de una selección de música mexicana en la que se puede acceder tanto a cantos tradicionales y música mestiza, hasta las más recientes expresiones de rock, hip-hop y rap en lenguas indígenas.

Con la aplicación se puede acceder a la Señal Kukulkán 107.9 FM, que transmite desde la ciudad de Mérida, Yucatán; y música mexicana de concierto de la segunda mitad del siglo XX y hasta nuestros días.

En la modalidad de Radio a la Carta ofrece varios portales para la escucha y descarga gratuitas de contenidos culturales sonoros, como el Sello discográfico Nimbeë, que cuenta 9 discos originales disponibles en el enlace https://www.radioeducacion.edu.mx/nimbee-albumes

Innovadora en contenidos, a la vanguardia en temáticas, ejemplo para la radio nacional e internacional, Radio Educación se fortalece en sus primeros 94 años, la engrandece su historia y la reafirma su trascendencia y papel como medio de comunicación, en su ejercicio como emisora de servicio público, que crea un carácter crítico (via Carlos J. V., radioescucha group via Juan Franco Crespo, DXLD)

5960, EAST GERMANY, The Mighty KBC (Nauen) at 0134 with oldies music and DJ Uncle Eric Van Willegen with the usual hijinks and KBC Imports ads – Fair at best with fading Dec 9 – As noted in my logging of the Mighty KBC via Bulgaria on 11600 on December 8th this frequency is nowhere near as good as that one. At one time they used to switch between 7375 and 9925 and both seemed to work during their respective international broadcasting seasons. Perhaps it is time that they reinvestigate that sort of an arrangement. After all, 5960 is not a good choice for Turkey at 2300 so what makes it a good choice for the Mighty KBC at solar minimum? The only frequency that never needed to be changed was Radio Australia's use of 9580 day in and day out and year in and year out (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DXLD)

NEW ZEALAND / ROMANIA, 9765.006 kHz, RNZi Rangitaiki and adjacent
RRI Tsiganeshti Romania German service 10.2 kHz wideband coverage,
latter in DRM digital mode block hit each other. At 0707 UT on Dec 7.
Heard on remote SDR unit at Cape Canaveral Florida state. 
See attached screenshot.  

I could improve the NZi signal to my ears, when switched to LSB
receiving mode selection on lower flank [selected SDR options, span
12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz]
(Wolfgang Bueschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Dec 7, DX LISENING
DIGEST) No problem for RNZI here (gh, OK)  

NICARÁGUA, 8989bls, El Pescador Predicador, QTH? 2201-.., 03/12.
Propag. relig., desta vez, com passagens bíblicas; 25342. 
Good DX & 73,
(Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST)  

Dandal Kura Radio International via MBR Issoudun, Dec.7
1800-1900 on  9770 ISS 100 kW / 167 deg to CeAf Kanuri, good, QRM 9765
1900-2000 on  7455 ISS 100 kW / 167 deg to CeAf Kanuri, is inactive
https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/12/reception-of-dandal-kura-radio_9.html
(Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

AM BCB TOTALS are now 2,141 Stations Heard.
RECEIVER is ELAD FDM-S2 SDR  
ANTENNA is WELLBROOK ALA-1530 LNP Imperium Loop

1710, Community Radio Network, PIRATE station, Dec/05/18 2125 EST [0325 UT Dec 6] poor-fair, English. Heard thanks to tip from Tim Tromp of Michigan! Best heard in USB mode but transmitting in AM Mode. Old time music selections and male DJ with talk between songs. In and out of the noise but some peaks were quite good. Played a Christmas song at 2138-2140 EST, “Lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you”. Male DJ gave a live time check as “It’s 9:40 - 20 minutes from 10 O’clock”. More nostalgic music, in/out 2140-2200. More old time music after 2201. Strong carrier on the ELAD Waterfall, but mostly in the noise. Tim heard an ID as “Community Radio Network”, but I was not able to pull that ID out. Unknown Location, NEW STN, Unknown Power. 73 (ROB VA3SW, Robert Ross, London, Ontario CANADA, ODXA iog via DXLD)

Yeah Man Radio. Sunday, December 2, 2018, 2024, 6920.06 am. Music by Steely Dan, "Deacon Blues." ID and call outs to listener reports at 2029. Into "Peg" by Steely Dan at 2030. Off at 0334. Fair to good signal, good AM sound, bothered by nearby utilities. (Will-MD)

Old time radio. Sunday, December 2, 2018, 2035, 6770 am. An old radio show with man and woman talking. 2038, sounds like an old Gunsmoke radio show starting. Fair but steady signal, s3. Occasional utility bursts and other various QRM nearby (Larry Will, Mount Airy, Maryland, radio@zappahead.net, Icom IC-R75, G5RV, PL-880, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

I hasten to notify the WOR iog, and when I get back at 0141, 3440-USB is already on with music. But much inferior here, only S8 and happens to confront blob from a local device. 0143 ``Happy Days Are Here Again`` as tonight`s theme is songs about ``Happy``. Many more logs:
https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,48787.0.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

RFA geht B18 folgende Ausweichwege  
(Zeitangaben in Mitteleuropaeischer Zeit, time CET, UTC +1hr):

Sender Biblis
0130-0230 CET  9510  Burmesisch
1300-1400 CET 11555  Tibetisch
1800-2100 CET  9455  Mandarin
2200-2300 CET  9410  Mandarin
2330-0030 CET  9390  Khmer

Sender Lampertheim
0000-0100 CET  9900  Mandarin
0200-0300 CET  9310  Uigurisch
0200-0300 CET 13795  Tibetisch
0400-0800 CET 15340  Mandarin
1100-1200 CET 15665  Tibetisch
1100-1200 CET 17 MHz (siehe unten)  Tibetisch
1300-1400 CET 12055  Tibetisch
1330-1430 CET 15155  Khmer
1430-1530 CET 12130  Burmesisch
2000-2200 CET  7520  Mandarin
2200-2300 CET  9455  Mandarin

Sender Kuwait
0000-0100 CET  7540, 9535  Tibetisch
0000-0100 CET  9860, 11775  Mandarin
0100-0200 CET  9910  Laotisch
0200-0300 CET  9450, 9700, 12065  Uigurisch
0200-0400 CET 11950  Tibetisch
0300-0400 CET  9455  Tibetisch
0300-0400 CET 11895  Tibetisch
0400-0500 CET 11980  Mandarin
1200-1300 CET 11550  Tibetisch
1400-1500 CET 12050, 13650  Tibetisch
1430-1530 CET 11795  Burmesisch
1600-1700 CET 11 MHz (siehe unten)  Mandarin
1600-1700 CET 11805  Tibetisch
1700-1800 CET  7565  Uigurisch
1700-1800 CET 11 MHz (siehe unten)  Uigurisch
2000-2200 CET  5890  Mandarin
2200-2300 CET  7520  Mandarin
2300-2400 CET  7480, 9790  Tibetisch
2330-0030 CET 11850  Khmer

Sender Abu Dhabi (Al-Dhabayya site)
0000-0100 CET  5970  Tibetisch
0700-0800 CET 21680  Tibetisch
1330-1430 CET 13735  Burmesisch

Sendeanlagen in Tadschikistan Orzu site
2300-0100 CET  7470  Tibetisch
0200-0300 CET  7560  Uigurisch
0200-0300 CET 11895  Tibetisch
0200-0400 CET  9670  Tibetisch
0500-0800 CET 11980  Mandarin
0700-0800 CET 17815  Tibetisch
1200-1400 CET  9315, 15745  Tibetisch
1300-1400 CET 15375  Tibetisch
1400-1500 CET  9315, 15375, 15745  Tibetisch
1600-1700 CET  7540  Tibetisch
1700-1800 CET  7545  Uigurisch

Die fuer China bestimmten Programme von RFA sind Ziel massiver Stoersendungen. Seit einigen Jahren wird versucht, diese Stoerung zu erschweren, indem einige Ausstrahlungen an jedem Wochentag auf einer anderen Frequenz laufen.

Der Erfolg ist sehr beschraenkt: Die chinesischen Senderbetreiber folgen den taeglichen Wechseln muehelos.

Trotzdem wird diese Strategie auch jetzt noch in drei Faellen beibehalten. Die Ausstrahlung um 1100 Uhr aus Lampertheim laeuft nacheinander, von Montag bis Sonntag, auf 17830, 17790, 17815, 17820, 17840, 17795 und 17855 kHz.

In Kuwait lautet diese Abfolge der Frequenzen in den Sendestunden ab 1600 Uhr 11765, 11725, 11765, 11725, 11765, 11590, 11590 kHz sowie ab 1700 Uhr 11800, 11775, 11805, 11780, 11885, 11890, 11775 kHz.

Vorerst eingestellt ist die Kurzwellenverbreitung der RFA-Programme in Kantonesisch und Koreanisch. Im Falle der koreanischen Sendungen ueberrascht diese Priorisierung nicht: Hier sind die inzwischen laufenden Mittelwellensendungen aus Suedkorea eindeutig von groesserer Bedeutung.

Nicht mit konkreten Frequenzen untersetzt ist zunaechst eine andere sendetechnische Angabe, die der Direktor von Radio/TV Marti, Tomas Regalado, am 14. November 2018 machte:

Von diesem Tage an sei man aus Greenville auch auf einer vierten Frequenz auf Sendung.

Wie Regalado weiter sagte, wuerden die neuen Sender der Station Greenville im kommenden Februar in Betrieb gehen. Gemeint sind die umgesetzten Geraete aus einer Sendestation in Sri Lanka, die wegen unbeherrschbarer Korrosion an den Antennen 2016 aufgegeben wurde.

Auch hier hatte Radio Free Asia keine Sendelizenz erhalten (Kai Ludwig-D, via Siegbert Gerhard-D, wwdxc Nov 5, via BC-DX Dec 6 via DXLD)

Ardmore 22 K22JQ Requests power increase to 15kw, 34-01-58/96-48-01
Ardmore 26 K19II From 19, 15kw, 34-00-18/96-48-57;
  amendment from ch. 29. Will not build until KTEN [Ada] moves 
  from ch. 26 to ch. 19 in mid-2020.
Durant 27 K27MV Moved from K46AI, 13kw.
Elk City 20 K20NJ Moved from K25LQ.
Oklahoma City 19 KAUT-TV Requests STA for 60kw/465m,
  35-33-37/97-29-08; interim post-repack antenna; granted.
Oklahoma City 21 KUOT-CD From 19, 15kw; granted
Oklahoma City 25 KWTV-DT From 39, 1000kw/331m; (aux) granted; modified
  to 819kw/331m
Strong City 25 K25PG Moved from K26IR.
Weatherford 28 K28OX Moved from K23IY.
Woodward 35 KUOK Returned to the air Nov. 28th at reduced power;
  (40%, 3.2kw) requests STA.
(Doug Smith, TV NEWS, Dec WTFDA VHF-UHF Digest via DXLD)

 97.7  KHRK is on the air, ``The Hawk``, classic rock
106.3  KWOF is on the air, ``The Wolf``, true country
These are siblings of Enid`s KNID 107.1, KXLS 95.7, KCRC 1390, and
probably programmed out of Enid HQ (gh, DXLD)

At 1530 Dec 5, I`m bandscanning UHF DTV to find at least Bad signals on these channels normally vacant: 10, 11, 19 (KAUT NF QRP?), 21, 22, 26, 28, 31, 34, 35, 36, 45. Most of these check out for OK such as Tulsa, maybe also Wichita area. The only decodees are 42 KBZC-LD OKC, confirming it still exist on the doomed band; 46 KOCM Norman not yet moved to 16; and RF 20 KQCW ``19`` Muskogee, 550 kW which BTW has applied to double power (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Former Destinations Latin America editor Don Moore has released a book entitled, Following Ghosts in Northern Peru. It is a 564 page book that is available as either a Kindle eBook or a large soft cover book (6x9 inches/15x23 centimeters).

Following Ghosts in Northern Peru is the story of the long-forgotten Moyobamba Route, once the main connection between Peru’s Pacific coast and the Amazon River. Among the adventurers who rode the old mule trails in the 19th and early 20th century were a Royal Navy lieutenant, a Swiss nobleman, a French reporter, an American professor, and a famous early British aviator. This volume weaves together stories from these and other historic travelers, characters from Peruvian history, and the author’s own adventures as he journeyed in the travelers' ghostly footsteps across northern Peru in 2017. The book is available through Amazon with Kindle eBook costing $4.99 and the softcover version costing $17.95. Although not a DX book, it will be of interest to radio listeners that enjoyed shortwave outlets from this part of Peru (Rich D`Angelo, Dec 5, NASWA yg via DXLD)

Hi Glenn, I logged Radio Exterior de España transmitter in Spain at 2230 GMT on 9690, good signal on Icom R75 with loop antenna. Spanish talk and music (Mike Stone, Arlington Heights IL, Dec 7? DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Good to fair signal of Voice of Africa Sudan Radio on Dec.3:
1630-1930 on  9505 ALF 100 kW / 210 deg to CeAf French/English/Hausa
https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/12/good-to-fair-signal-of-voice-of-africa.html
(Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec 4-5, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Voice of Africa on air now [sic], 9505 kHz --- Reviewing today's (3 December) automated recording using the U. Twente SDR receiver, the transmitter came on shortly after 1630 UT with the first couple of minutes in Arabic. "Huna Omdurman" ID clearly heard. Signal was fair to start with but deteriorated after about an hour. French started at about 1632:40 with English following at about 1716. Hard to tell when it exactly started (or ended) as reception was getting quite noisy by then. So, today at least, while the French program was listenable, the English one really wasn't (-- Richard Langley, 0343 [sic] UT Dec 4, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DXLD)

One afternoon with good propagation to Africa. My blog:
https://dxlogfreitas.blogspot.com/  

9505, 03 Dec, 1901, Voice of Africa in Hausa. Music and at 1902 OM talk. The signal is weak, the modulation is low, but little fading. 73 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana Bahia 12°14´S 38°58´W - Brasil, Tecsun PL-310ET, Antenna Delta Loop 8.5 meters, WOR iog via DXLD)

SUDAN, 9505, Voice of Africa, Al Atihab, 1720-1804, 04-12, English comments, “African Union”, “Voice of Africa, from Sudan”, ”9505 kHz”, East African songs, 1756: “The Voice of Africa from Radio Sudan, the forum for all Africans”, 1759: “Voice of Africa in Hausa language”, 1800 time signals and program in Hausa. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Lugo, WOR iog via DXLD)

Omdurman came up on 9505.002 kHz today, as noted using the U. Twente SDR receiver, just before 1600 UT in Arabic. Signal S7-S9. Time pips about 45 seconds late. Into French sometime after 1630; audio a bit difficult to make out (-- Richard Langley, Dec 5, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DXLD)

7205, Sudan Radio, Al Aitahab, 1637-1655, 02-12, Arabic comments. 24322. (Méndez)

9505, Voice of Africa, Sudan Radio, Al Aitahab, 1750-1906, 03-12, vernacular, comments, East African songs, some comments and id. in English, "Voice of Africa, Sudan Radio”, at 1901 Arabic comments. 23322.

Also 1720-1856*, 04-12, English comments, “African Union”, “Voice of Africa, from Sudan”,”9505 kHz”, East African songs, 1756: “The Voice of Africa from Radio Sudan, the forum for all Africans”, 1759: “Voice of Africa en Hausa language”, 1800 time signals, program in Hausa, comments and African songs. Close at 1856. 24322.

Also 1620-1835, 05-12, Vernacular comments, at 1730 French, news about Sudan and Africa, at 1825 English, “Voice of Africa, Sudan Radio”, “Welcome to our service”, “Voice of Africa, broadcasting to you from Sudan Radio, please stay tuned”, 24332.

Also 1650-1725 , 08-12, French, ID "La Voix de l'Afrique, Radio Sudan", comments, ID "Voice of Africa", East African songs. 25422 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol and Reinante, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DXLD)

9505 kHz, Voice of Africa, Al Aitahab, Hausa, 08/12 1850. OM: talk, African style songs. 35553 (RG). **Tx w/210º Az to Africa (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo SP, BRAZIL, http://dxways-br.blogspot.com YouTube Channel: GrimmSBC, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD)

I have to say again and again, why would this service for Darfur be in Juba dialect, which is spoken in SUDAN SOUTH? as on R. Tamazuj (gh)

FRANCE, Good signal of Eye Radio in Arabic via TDF Issoudun on Dec.5  
1600-1800 15410 ISS 250 kW / 139 deg EaAf Juba Arabic/English* Mon-Fri
*including other languages Dinka/Nuer/Shilluk/Bari/Zande/Lutoho
https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/12/good-signal-of-eye-radio-in-arabic-via.html
(Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec. 5-6, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

15410, Dec 6 at 1508, Arabic mentioning Argentina; it`s Eye Radio, M-F 15-16 via VATICAN, hardly any other TA signals audible on 19m now. HFCC says it continue at 16-18 via FRANCE, both at 139 degrees! Despite the Eurosites, both are brokered by Madagascar`s MGB, whence you would think these could emanate (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Scheduled transmission from Grimeton Radio / SAQ on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2018

In the morning of Christmas Eve, December 24, we will try to start the
old Alexanderson 200 kW transmitter, from 1924 and send out a
Christmas message on VLF 17.2 kHz CW. 
The transmitter will be tuned up from around 08:30 (0730 UT) 
and a message* will be transmitted at        09:00 (0800 UT).

Guests are welcome to attend the transmission at the radio station in Grimeton from 08:00 local time. The Alexander association will arrange Coffee and Christmas cookies, free of charge. No entrance fee.

For those of you who can not attend, we will broadcast the event live from Grimeton, Sweden on our YouTube Channel.

QSL-reports on the SAQ transmission are kindly received via:
- E-mail to: info@alexander.n.se
- or via: SM bureau
- or direct by mail to:
Alexander - Grimeton Veteranradios Vaenner,
Radiostationen Grimeton 72
SE-432 98 GRIMETON
S W E D E N  

The SK6SAQ amateur radio station will be QRV on the following
frequencies:
–  7035 kHz CW or
– 14035 kHz CW or
–  3755 kHz SSB

Two stations will be on the air most of the time.

*The world heritage site Grimeton is a living cultural heritage. 
All transmissions with the long-wave transmitter SAQ are therefore
preliminary and may be set at short notice  
(via Mike Terry, WOR iog via DXLD)

[and non]. 12035.695, Dec 6 at 1402, VOT English talk, 1404 over to music as this Emirler is the off-kilter transmitter today. Also QRM from pulse jamming, same rate and sound as on 11980, 11875, presumably strays out of the full-bore Cuban jammers on 11930, 11860.

11815.022, Dec 6 at 1408, S9/+10 VOT Turkish almost on-frequency, but distorting music when tuned to 11815.000 USB.

11815.711, Dec 7 at 1513, TRT Turkish talk is S9+10/20 and very off-frequency today unlike 25 hours ago. When logging any VOT broadcast be sure to check frequency for extravagance (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

6050, Voice of Turkey, 2015, 12/7/18, in English. Tuned here at 2015 and hoping for ELWA as Larry Yamron and Dave Valko had this the other day a little later, mixing with HCJB. At 2015, I've got something interesting. OM speaking in English, can only copy words and fragments so far, but a fairly decent signal and should fade in better, no QRM or het. At 2018 into music that is more Middle Eastern flavored than anything, YL singing with local stringed instruments, does not fit my expectation for a Christian broadcaster from Liberia. The good news is that HCJB isn't scheduled on the frequency until *2100 from schedules I've seen. Abrupt s/off -2025*. Fergie's list has it: VOICE OF TURKEY (for goodness' sake!) (Ralphus W Perry, Wheaton IL, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD)

9700, Dec 9 at 0639, Turkish music and talk, S9+10 fading to S6, as TRT is here at 04-07, 500 kW, 310 degrees for W Europe, but also USward. MUF unusually hi tonight also propagating GREECE on 9420 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

It was back in the decisive year 1939, right after the beginning of World War 2, that the BBC procured a large property of 189 acres that was located near the small village of Rampisham in the south of England. The small village of Rampisham in County Dorset, with its one hundred local citizens, is located just eight miles inland from the English Channel.

A huge new shortwave station was built up on the Rampisham property and initially it contained two transmitter halls separated by heavy blast proof walls, and a bevy of 15 towers supporting a total of 29 antenna arrays. A newly designed set of transmission lines was installed, each made up of two concentric feeders running from each transmitter out to a switching matrix.

The original shortwave transmitters at this new BBC shortwave station were 100 kW units Model SWB18 made by the Marconi company at Chelmsford. Two were installed in each of the two transmitter halls. In BBC parlance, these four transmitters were identified as Senders 31 to 34, and the station itself was identified as OSE3, Overseas Extension Service number 3. The early shortwave station at Daventry was identified as OSE1, and the new addition at Daventry was identified as OSE2.

Initially electric power for the Rampisham station was derived from two 750 bhp diesel generators that were originally designed and constructed for railway locomotives in an overseas country. However, an electrical connection with the national grid was subsequently achieved.

The new Rampisham station was built as a shadow station for Daventry, in case Daventry was damaged or disabled through an act of war. During the war, there were indeed several attempts to damage and destroy the BBC shortwave station at Rampisham by aerial bombardment, though very little damage was actually inflicted.

Rampisham OSE3 was taken into service on February 16, 1941, and propagation tests were conducted in May with the use of a receiver attached to a captive baloon.

After the war was over, the electrical generation and distribution system in England was ailing and electricity rationing was introduced on February 10, 1947. In accordance with that requirement, the four 100 kW transmitters were powered down and operated at half power each, at 50 kW. Two years later, on March 21, 1949, all four transmitters were returned to full power operation.

Beginning in May 1961, two of the original transmitters were removed and replaced with two additional units at the same power rating, 100 kW. Again, these new units were manufactured by the Marconi company, though they were now an updated design, Model BD253D.

The winter of 1963 proved to be severe with heavy snowfalls and there were occasions when BBC Rampisham was off the air during the months of January and February. Another severe winter occurred in 1979, and relief crews found it necessary to wade through heavy snow for four miles in order to reach the station.

Later in that same year 1963, a modernization project was implemented and the older transmitters were removed and replaced by four Marconi transmitters at 250 kW each, Model BD272, and two 100 kW transmitters with twin channel operation. Additionally, two SSB single sideband transmitters at 60 kW each were installed for use as feeder transmitters carrying a programming relay for BBC shortwave transmitters in overseas locations; and in particular, Ascension Island.

Then beginning in 1982, the BBC Rampisham was closed and gutted, with all electronic equipment removed and all antenna systems demolished. All four of the 250 kW Marconi transmitters were removed and reinstalled at the BBC sister station located at Skelton.

In this massive rebuilding project at Rampisham, a new transmitter hall was built up inside the shell of the existing building. Inside this massive hall covering 177 acres, a total of ten transmitters at 500 kW were installed; six Marconi Model B6127 and four AEG from Germany, Model S4005.

As time went by, the BBC privatized its shortwave stations and the Rampisham facility was sold off to Merlin Communications, which later became VT (Communications) and subsequently Babcock International. However, the end was near, and in 2011, the station was closed due mainly to budget cuts at the BBC.

The final broadcast from the BBC via Rampisham was their Arabic Service which ended on Saturday October 29 (2011) with two outlets at 2100 UTC on 5790 kHz and 11680 kHz. The very final broadcast from the Rampisham shortwave station was actually a relay from Deutsche Welle in German to Europe on Sender 48 and this transmission on 6075 kHz ended at 2159 UTC.

That was it! The huge Rampisham shortwave station was now off the air; closed, and gone forever.

Several attempts have been made to sell the station, or its property, and currently the disemboweled facility is available as a property for £2½ million. There was earlier a concept to install a huge solar power plant on the property, but that project was transferred to another location nearby. Some of the ground upon the current property is protected for specific forms of vegetation.

Very few QSL cards were issued by the BBC for their broadcasts from Rampisham, and the fortunate listeners who did receive a BBC card with QSL endorsements were generally BBC monitors in different parts of the world. However, Rampisham was also in use as a relay station for other international shortwave broadcasters who did indeed issue valid QSL cards for their broadcasts.

Among these other stations for whom relay transmissions were on the air from Rampisham, were Deutsche Welle in Germany, Radio Australia in Melbourne Victoria, NHK Tokyo Japan, KBS in Seoul Korea, RAI Rome Italy, RFI in Paris France, and FEBA that previously operated their own station in the Seychelles Islands. In addition, there were occasions when various clandestine stations were on the air via Rampisham, and also RNZI in Wellington New Zealand (Adrian Peterson, IN, script for AWR Wavescan Nov 4, 2018, via DXLD)

RFE/RL leadership transition announced --- December 6, 2018

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- John F. Lansing, CEO of the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's (RFE/RL) Board of Directors, today announced the appointment of Daisy Sindelar as Vice President and Acting President of RFE/RL, effective December 7, 2018. Ms. Sindelar will work closely with Vice President and Editor-in-Chief Nenad Pejic and Chief of Staff Christine Fetzko to ensure consistent operations and a smooth transition.

"Daisy has the full support of RFE/RL's Board and myself. She has shown remarkable dedication and leadership, and I have every confidence that she will maintain the current momentum and continue to deliver on the network's priorities," said Lansing. "I am also grateful for Nenad, who will remain our excellent Editor-in-Chief, and Christine's outstanding leadership and commitment to RFE/RL. Their ongoing support, especially during this transition, will be invaluable."

Ms. Sindelar, who joined RFE/RL in 2001, has extensive knowledge of RFE/RL's programming and operations. She is the Director of Current Time, a 24/7 Russian-language global network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with Voice of America, and played an integral part in launching and growing this flagship project. Ms Sindelar speaks Russian and worked as a reporter and editor in Russia prior to joining RFE/RL.

"It's a privilege to assume the role of Acting RFE/RL President at a time when our journalism is more vital than ever to audiences across the former Soviet space, Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan," said Sindelar. "I look forward to working with CEO Lansing and my colleagues at RFE/RL to ensure that we continue our strong tradition of delivering objective, impactful news and information to the people who need it most."

RFE/RL's Board, working closely with the USAGM CEO, continues the search for a new President of RFE/RL.

[boilerplate] The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is an independent federal agency, supervising all U.S. government-supported, civilian international media, whose mission is to inform, engage and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy. USAGM networks include the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Office of Cuba Broadcasting (Radio and TV Marti), Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (Alhurra TV and Radio Sawa). USAGM programming has a measured audience of 345 million in more than 100 countries and in 59 languages (USAGM PR via Hansjoerg Biener, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DXLD)

President Trump, who has frequently railed against the U.S. news media and reporters, tweeted last week there should be, as he put it, a "Worldwide Network to show the World the way we really are, GREAT!"

[interview with VOA Director Amanda Bennett, et al.:]
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/04/673002168/voice-of-america-vows-independence-as-trump-calls-for-worldwide-network (via Glenn Hauser, DXLD)

Dan Robinson comments on NPR report about VOA
 
BBG Watch --- BBGWatcher December 5, 2018 0 Comments
Featured News, Hot Tub Blog  
Amanda Bennett, BBG, Dan Robinson, Donald Trump, employee morale, John
F. Lansing, John Lansing, NPR, U.S. Congress, USAGM, VOA, VOA Charter

http://bbgwatch.com/bbgwatch/dan-robinson-comments-on-npr-report-about-voa/

NPR conveniently makes it quite difficult to post comments on its audio pieces. In fact, you can’t — you have to send a comment or email directly to the show involved.

NPR has unfortunately jumped on the same bandwagon as some other media since Trump was elected, suggesting that Trump somehow thinks he needs VOA and other USAGM outlets as his mouthpiece. That’s absurd — he already has Twitter and regular non-government coverage.

VOA is not “independent”. It and other broadcasters under USAGM are federal agencies. Some are designated as “grantees” but they’re all taxpayer funded and subject to direction and coordination of approach and content from higher levels in the U.S. foreign policy and national security structure.

Every president has had authority to make changes in federal agencies. Reagan did so, and ended up infusing VOA with large budget increases. Post-9/11, President George W. Bush did so. President Obama pushed the agency (and VOA) to step up their role in “countering” Russian disinformation and CVE (Counter Violent Extremism).

Obama-era appointees Amanda Bennett and John Lansing now resist Trump, and during their presence VOA reporting has been shown to contain unprecedented bias (see articles in http://bbgwatch.com/bbgwatch/ which is the only independent watchdog monitoring issues at the agency).

Bennett had to order reporters to take journalism training, and special training in avoiding political bias amid example after example of VOA “journalists” conducting advocacy journalism and using their social media channels to openly mock Trump.

USAGM also has a record of inflating audience claims — recently claiming to have increased 67 million from 2017 to 2018, and in 2016 by 50 million). As one former VOA reporter recently observed: “The numbers just keep on going up and up — doesn’t anyone question this?”

Just-published results of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) show USAGM still at or near the bottom of all federal agencies. The past few years have seen scandal after scandal.

Members of Congress called for an investigation into management’s suspension of Chinese broadcasters (one was recently fired but is pursuing legal action) involving a program with a Chinese dissident that VOA’s own managers cut short.

Another involves a program for Cuba that treated George Soros unfairly, forcing the USAGM CEO Lansing, who allegedly didn’t find out about the issue until months after the fact, to issue an apology to Soros.

VOA had to dismiss Hausa-speaking staff accused of accepting bribes from a Nigerian official.

Legislation added as a rider to the defense authorization bill by Senators Menendez and Corker aims to block Trump’s nominee (Pack).

Bennett and Lansing, who would love to just remain indefinitely in their jobs, and hope Trump just leaves them and the agency alone.

NPR obviously has time constraints in presenting stories, but there is much more to this story than you provided to listeners.

Daniel Robinson, Former VOA chief White House correspondent, foreign correspondent, and congressional correspondent, Potomac, MD (via Dan, DXLD)

Some Japanese DXers pointed out VOA is not the first. 
Lingala service of Radio Moscow is first noted in WRTH1965;
  2100-2130 41 31 25 19mb Tue/Fri/Sun. In WRTH1980, it is listed; 
  1900-1930  15520 12055 9630.
Radio Moscow terminated this Lingala broadcast on October 19, 1980.
So Radio Moscow seems to have had the Lingala service in 1964-1980.
(Takahito Akabayashi, Tokyo, Japan, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, 
DX LISTENING DIGEST)

0729 UT Saturday  HLR     6190-CUSB Germany to WSW
1200 UT Saturday  Unique *9265 via WINB to WSW
1531 UT Saturday  HLR     9485-CUSB Germany to WSW
1700 UT Saturday  WRN    *5950 via WRMI to WNW [unconfirmed]
2030vUT Saturday  WA0RCR  1860-AM non-direxional
0400vUT Sunday    WA0RCR  1860-AM [nominal 0415], ND
0830 UT Sunday    WRMI    5850 to NW, 5950 to WNW, 7730 to WNW [NEW]
1130 UT Sunday    HLR     7265-CUSB Germany to WSW
2130 UT Sunday    WRMI    7780 to NE
0230 UT Monday    WRMI    5950 to WNW, 9395 to NNW
0400vUT Monday    WBCQ   *5130v Area 51 to WSW
0430 UT Monday    WRMI   *9955 to SSE
* also webcast

WORLD OF RADIO 1959 monitoring: tnx to Richard
Lemke, Alberta for confirming an airing I missed checking:  

``Date heard in UTC:  December 5 UTC 2018
Program heard:   World of Radio,  #1959
Time in UTC:  2200 - 2229 UTC
Details:  Reception report --- 9955 kHz, 2200 - 2230 UTC. Reception
was fair in my area this afternoon before sunset ranging from S 7
signal, too changeable conditions, heard ID at 2214 UTC. Good
listening, Richard Lemke`` Next:

0729 UT Saturday  HLR     6190-CUSB Germany to WSW
1200 UT Saturday  Unique *9265 via WINB to WSW
1531 UT Saturday  HLR     9485-CUSB Germany to WSW
1700 UT Saturday  WRN    *5950 via WRMI to WNW [unconfirmed]
2030vUT Saturday  WA0RCR  1860-AM non-direxional
0400vUT Sunday    WA0RCR  1860-AM [nominal 0415], ND
0830 UT Sunday    WRMI    5850 to NW, 5950 to WNW, 7730 to WNW
1130 UT Sunday    HLR     7265-CUSB Germany to WSW
2130 UT Sunday    WRMI    7780 to NE
0230 UT Monday    WRMI    5950 to WNW, 9395 to NNW
0400vUT Monday    WBCQ   *5130v Area 51 to WSW
0430 UT Monday    WRMI   *9955 to SSE
* also webcast
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

6190, Hamburger LokalRadio, Goehren, 0730-0800, 08-12, English, Glenn Hauser's program "World of Radio". 15321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol and Reinante, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, WOR iog via DXLD)

Glenn Hauser wrote: WOR: 1200 UT Saturday Unique *9265 via WINB to WSW === Heard very weakly using the U. Twente SDR receiver today (8 December). So weak, couldn't make out edition # nor most other information. When WINB signal checked before leaving home at about 1200 UT, nothing could be heard. Propagation not supported to NB (-- Richard Langley, WOR iog via DXLD)

WORLD OF RADIO 1959 monitoring: confirmed Saturday December 8 at 1209 on Unique Radio via WINB, 9265, as I happen to awaken; VP S3-S4.

Saturday Dec 8 at 1531 on HLR 9485-CUSB: nothing audible via UTwente SDR, possibly a trace at 1558. (See also GERMANY)

I am also wanting to confirm WOR Saturday at 1700 on WRN via WRMI 5950, but keep missing it. Did check at 1747 and could hear JBA signal in English mentioning Chinese, so that fits for Guangdong Radio at 1730 on WRN. Next:

0400vUT Sunday    WA0RCR  1860-AM [nominal 0415], ND
0830 UT Sunday    WRMI    5850 to NW, 5950 to WNW, 7730 to WNW
1130 UT Sunday    HLR     7265-CUSB Germany to WSW
2130 UT Sunday    WRMI    7780 to NE
0230 UT Monday    WRMI    5950 to WNW, 9395 to NNW
0400vUT Monday    WBCQ   *5130v Area 51 to WSW
0430 UT Monday    WRMI   *9955 to SSE
* also webcast

WORLD OF RADIO 1959 monitoring: Hi Glenn, Just to confirm that I heard WOR on Sat Dec 8 on 6190 kHz - weak, but I couldn't mistake your voice! Also Media Network Plus heard from 0720 tune-in (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, WOR iog via DXLD)

6190, Hamburger LokalRadio, Goehren, 0730-0800, 08-12, English, Glenn Hauser's program "World of Radio". 15321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol and Reinante, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, WOR iog via DXLD)

WOR 1959 confirmed UT Sunday Dec 9 at 0425 on WA0RCR, 1860-AM, MO, about 12 minutes into show, so started circa 0413, S9+20. Next:

2130 UT Sunday    WRMI    7780 to NE
0230 UT Monday    WRMI    5950 to WNW, 9395 to NNW
0400vUT Monday    WBCQ   *5130v Area 51 to WSW
0430 UT Monday    WRMI   *9955 to SSE
* also webcast

WORLD OF RADIO 1959 monitoring: confirmed Sunday December 9 at 2130 on WRMI 7780, fair. Due to other activities, missed checking UT Monday Dec 10 at 0230 on WRMI 5950 & 9395: did anyone hear these? Confirmed UT Mon Dec 10 at 0401.5 on Area 51 webcast and at 0428 check on WBCQ 5130.43, fair-good. Also confirmed UT Mon Dec 10 at 0430 on WRMI 9955, G-VG S9+10.

WORLD OF RADIO 1960 contents: Australia and non, Brasil, Canada, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Egypt, Eritrea non, France non, India, Ireland non/Italy non, Japan/Korea North non, Kurdistan non, Madagascar, Netherlands non, Nigeria non, Sudan, Turkey, USA and non; and the propagation outlook

WOR 1960 ready for first airing UT Tuesday December 11 at 0030 on WRMI 7730: confirmed, VG. Missed checking next airing UT Tue Dec 11 at 0200 on WRMI 9955: did anyone hear that? Next:

2030 UT Tuesday   WRMI    7780
0930 UT Wednesday Unique  5045 low-power NSW Australia
1030 UT Wednesday WRMI    5950
2200 UT Wednesday WRMI    9955
2200 UT Wednesday WBCQ    7490v
0930 UT Friday    Unique  5045 low-power NSW Australia
0729 UT Saturday  HLR     6190-CUSB Germany to WSW
0930 UT Saturday  Unique  5045 low-power NSW Australia [alt.; Dec 22?]
1200 UT Saturday  Unique *9265 via WINB to WSW
1531 UT Saturday  HLR     9485-CUSB Germany to WSW
1700 UT Saturday  WRN    *5950 via WRMI to WNW [unconfirmed]
2030vUT Saturday  WA0RCR  1860-AM non-direxional
0400vUT Sunday    WA0RCR  1860-AM [nominal 0415], ND
0830 UT Sunday    WRMI    5850 to NW, 5950 to WNW, 7730 to WNW
1130 UT Sunday    HLR     7265-CUSB Germany to WSW
2130 UT Sunday    WRMI    7780 to NE
0230 UT Monday    WRMI    5950 to WNW, 9395 to NNW
0400vUT Monday    WBCQ   *5130v Area 51 to WSW
0430 UT Monday    WRMI   *9955 to SSE
0930 UT Monday    Unique  5045 low-power NSW Australia
* also webcast; direct linx to these and many others at:

Complete updated WOR sked, all affiliates, satellite, webcast, AM&FM: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Updated B18 shortwave schedule of World of Radio  
https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/12/updated-winter-b-18-shortwave-schedule.html
(Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Accurate, except Sun 2230 on ``YFR`` 9955 - that was canceled a few weeks ago; is it back? I have not kept checking for it (gh, DXLD)

9330.183 kHz, WBCQ Overcomer Ministry, 0634 UT Dec 7. Ute whistle
9328.568 kHz 73 wolfie  
(Wolfgang Bueschel, Cape Canaveral FL SDR, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

5130.48, UT Sat Dec 8 at 0035, three rising tones and a telephone intercept message; lost a live feed? But then talking about it. 0059 more of that, WBCQ quick boing ID and 0100 start another program, *not* Allan Weiner Worldwide any more on this frequency --- bad news for John Carver and many more who can`t get 7490v or 9330v well, or at all, on winter nights.

Meanwhile, Larry Will forwarded the latest 5130 schedule update,
which would soon be added to the website; so 
Sat 00-01 UT show is now `The Analog Telephone System`, followed by 
`Intelligence Report`, 
UT Tue-Sat 01-02. The sked in EST = UT -5 ---  

> Mon 8-9  
8-9 Intelligence Report
 
> Tues 8-10:30
8-9 Intelligence Report
9-10:30 Amateur Radio Roundtable
 
> Wed 8-11
8-9 Intelligence Report
9-11 Hal Turner
 
> Thurs 7-9
7-8 Hour of the Time
8-9 Intelligence Report
 
> Fri 7-10
7-8 The Analog Telephone System
8-9 Intelligence Report
9-10 Report of the Week
 
> Sat 7-midnite
Area 51
 
> Sun 7-midnite
Area 51
(Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

7490.19, UT Sat Dec 8 at 0100, after some silence, S9 but only fair vs
noise WBCQ starts ``William Tell Overture`` and Allan Weiner`s first
Worldwide interjexion is about an ``Inquisition``. 
Also JBA on // 9330.1, but no longer 5130v
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)  

John Carver`s report on this week`s `Allan Weiner Worldwide`, UT Sat Dec 8 at 01-02 on WBCQ, had not quite yet arrived in time for my last report, but now:

``Show started more or less on time on 7490 this evening after a bit of dead air. Allan and Angela in the studio. Allan had a small rant about special prosecutors, equating them with the Inquisition. Said it was a terrible waste of time and money, achieving nothing but the ruined lives of a few good people.

Allan stated they were also on 5130 and 9330 but there is another program on 5130 at this time. Phone caller at 0113 points out to Allan that there's another program on 5130 at that time. More talk between Allan and the caller about politics, social media, cellphones etc. Signal on 7490 starts to diminish around 0132.

Phone call at 0137 from an old listener and some talk about old shows in the archives. Some talk with Angela about "smart" speakers and how they can gather information on the owners.

Allan starts reading some old emails at 0148. Mr. Transistor Norm calls at 0151 and touches base with Allan as it's been awhile since they've talked. Back to the old emails at 0154. Prayer at 0158. Show was off the air at 0200 as was 7490. John, Mid-North Indiana`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

These people seem to be heavy into the Vegan life style, eating
animals should be against the law. 
WHO IS PAYING FOR ALL OF THIS? 
[I bet it is NOT the National Beef Council! --kvz] 
1755 to unknown language, WRMI ID at 1800, carrier off  
(Jack Amelar, DXing in Brighton MI, Kenwood R-1000 +Long wire, 
MARE Tipsheet via DXLD)

Jack adds that their website lists that they are on Galaxy 19 transponder 20 on 12.060 GHz Horizontal polarization, Symbol Rate of 22000 Msps. I'm gonna have to check that one out! (--kvz, ed., ibid.)

5850, WRMI didn't sign on at expected time, on suddenly at *0755 with what I presume was Broad Spectrum radio with only one rather fuzzy photo in MFSK32 making it: [illustrations]

At 0800 they went into SW Radiogram #76 from Kim Elliot. 
Topics today were about forecast for winter this year;  

Projected temperatures for Canada artist’s rendition plans for a sail powered vehicle carrier; the plans for reactivating domestic SW in Australia; and misc. images.:

Nigel Holmes retired R Aust-      Kennedy Center in Washington
ralia transmission manager        DC w/lights for the holidays

Then into World of Radio #1958 at the BoH but it cut out less than a minute into the broadcast, and was gone from 0831 to 0838, at which time, the carrier popped back and we rejoined it in progress. Hard to follow the program with the first 8 minutes missing (Glenn packs a LOT of info in after all!) but there were stories about RFI cut-backs with RFI repeating the oft claimed and never actually proven trope that listeners are just not there and they would be shifting to web articles and the like rather than 'breaking news'.

I repeat, that yes, if they don't broadcast, we won't listen, but that is not a justification to my mind that cutting broadcasts is a good idea! Mention of DW back on SW but only because of WRMI, and mention of my reporting an earlier edition of this show.

To answer that question from Glenn who assumed I taped this, yes, I do NOT stay up this late on a regular basis, but let the radio go, and I record it using either Audacity or "Audio In" two digital recording programs that allow for 'timed' recording, ala the old VCR set-up but for audio only.

In well, when it was in! 4+554+4+ with near perfect photo decodes as shown, *0755-0900* 2/Dec with break as noted above. SDRplay +SDRuno +ANC-4 +FLDigi for digi-bits +randomwire (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD)

Reception of Supreme Master TV via WRMI-09 on Dec.5  
1455-1500 15770 YFR 100 kW / 087 deg to NCAf Interval Signal of WRMI
1500-1505 15770 YFR 100 kW / 087 deg to NCAf open carrier/dead air
1505-1800 15770 YFR 100 kW / 087 deg to NCAf English, fair signal
https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/12/reception-of-supreme-master-tv-via-wrmi.html
(Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec. 5-6, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

It seems RMI will never shake its ex-YFR identity? (gh, DXLD)

9955, Thu Dec 6 at 1417, WRMI, DX news in Spanish with quite a Brazilian accent, mentions DX Clube sem Fronteiras. It`s a segment on `Frecuencia al Día`, as Dino Bloise then continues with a tribute to Carlos Arturo del Castillo, on the Nov 27 anniversary of his death, with clips as announcer at R. Austria; and IIRC this name was a pseudonym (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

This weekend, the final four minutes of Shortwave Radiogram will be devoted to an advertising campaign by Tecsun Radios Australia. Revenue from the advertising goes to WRMI to defray the considerable expense of transmitting, and helps keep shortwave alive......" ====>
http://swradiogram.net/post/180892322252/shortwave-radiogram-7-9-december-2018-digital

https://www.tecsunradios.com.au/store/about/ (via roger, WOR iog via DXLD)

http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/SW_Radiogram_2018-12-08.htm#voice
[HTML5-audio] autorun  
(roger, germany, ibid.) Radiogram: see also BULGARIA [and non]

9955, Dec 8 at 1453, this WRMI is off; on Saturdays is supposed to stay on even past 1500; 9395 in well enough (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

15770, Supreme Master TV (via WRMI) at 1738 with a possible radio drama with a girl and man talking with a woman who they call “Master” and “Supreme Master” - Very Good Dec 8 – This program promotes greener and healthier living. It must be the audio feed for a TV program. It is apparently the creation of Ching Hai who is a Vietnamese author, entrepreneur, and teacher of the Quan Yin Method of meditation (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD)

21525, Dec 8 at 1905, Radio Africa via WRMI with good signal, S9+10 even audiblizing some humbuzz like video mix, gospel huxter in English. Normally it`s a JBA carrier at best, as obviously getting a temporary winter sporadic E boost. [WORLD OF RADIO 1960]

21610 has VP signal from WHRI, now HFCC registered at 14-19,  
but Aoki/NDXC says 16-19 on weekdays, 14-19 on weekends.

Tnx to Es, I also explore the higher non-BC bands: a couple hams on ``15`` meters, 21335-USB and 21300-USB. I cannot copy their co-channel contacts, and despite some exchanges, no IDs uttered, geez. No activity on 12 or 10m. On 11m CB, only a hetty pileup on 27025, or rather dominated by someone on 27024-AM.

18157.5-USB, Dec 8 at 1914, bears a ham in NC contacting someone in HI, weaker but also audible. Quick ID from NC sounds like ``W1CP, QRT``. That fits the ARRL lookup, not in New England at all: PORTOUKALIAN, GEORGE, W1CP, FRANKLIN, NC 28734 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB WINB:

WINB has been suspected of experimenting with data via DRM, such as
``high-frequency`` stock trading info. It would be nice if Hans
Johnson would explain exactly what is going on beside yesterday`s
programming on the upper half
(Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)
WINB: See also AUSTRALIA [non]; WORLD OF RADIO  

OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHERSW OTHER:

15555/USB, WJHR Milton FL talx re how many times 'Tithing' appears in the Bible with the implication that must be important, so give me your money', but a BIT more circumspect than the 'prosperity gospel' scammers. Interesting bit of tid: the 'average' Christian gives 2.5% of income, but 50% give nothing at all, and 20% give 80% of all donations. He did not explain where these numbers come from or how 'Christian' is defined however, so take with the appropriate grain of salt. Also talk about Elvis impersonators. This was one WIDE RANGING sermon! ID at 1805 including call and email address, and mentioning they were 'near Pensacola FL'. They don't often ID so this was notable! 3+54+4+4 1801-1811 1/Dec SDRplay +SDRuno +500' randomwire (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Brighton MI DX-pedition, MARE Tipsheet Dec 7 via DXLD)

[and non]. 15550-USB, Dec 5 at 2029, gospel huxter as WJHR is here instead of 15555-USB! IIRC, 15550 was its original frequency, later shifted. Most of the time this 1 kW PEP station is inaudible on either frequency, often passed by in daytime bandscans. And maybe on air only sporadically; after all, deceased John Hill has nothing new to say.

Latest HFCC Dec 6 still has it on 15555 only: 14-22 UT, imaginary 50 kW at 5 degrees and in imaginary AM, while it has always been in USB.

Our FCC has not got around to posting any B18 sked, since A18!
https://www.fcc.gov/general/high-frequency-stations-seasonal-operating-frequency-schedules

HFCC has WJHR as the only station in the world on 15555, but on 15550 it will have some competition during its 8-hour span: notably FPU via VATICAN, FRANCE at 1500-1600. Fortunately the other listees, DHA UAE ADM are likely only imaginary woodens at 13-15, 1630-1820, 1920-2300.

So I`m rechecking Dec 6 at 1504: nothing on 15555, but 15550-AM indeed occupied by language talk with echo, still at 1532, which Aoki/NDXC identifies as R. Tamazuj for Sudan South, with the site switch at 1530. It remains to be heard whether WJHR have permanently moved back to 15550 or was it a test or a mistake?

15550-USB, Dec 7 at 1950, trace of talk from WJHR, again ex-15555 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

Frequency change of WJHR Radio in USB mode, Dec.7
1400-2200 NF 15550 JHR 050 kW / 005 deg to WNAm English, ex 15555

https://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.com/2018/12/frequency-change-of-wjhr-radio-in-usb.html
(Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST)  

15550-USB, Dec 8 at 1916, WJHR heard for third time here, ex-15555, now S9 tnx to sporadic E; 15610 WEWN & 15825 WWCR are also boosted. 15555 was exclusive, but 15550 must avoid 15-16 UT, Tamazuj.

I hasten out to the field and caradio to check for DX reaching FM, but none heard, so I mainly bandscan on MW which is possibly also affected by Es, but lowsun now also means non-sporadic night-like E-propagation is possible (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

5085, Dec 6 at 1354, WTWW-2 is (still?) on with Xmasmx, interrupted by hard-sell ham radio ads, S9+30 along with weak parasite spur carriers 5072.1, 5097.9. All still going and still S9+30 at 1530 check,

5830, Dec 9 at 0645, WTWW-1 is AWOL, while neighbor 5935 WWCR is VG (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

3185, Dec 9 from *0159:53, WWRB cuts on here (rather than 3195), clearly a different program than before the break, mentions `Message of the Cross` but unsure if that be the title, with Bob Martin.

Not checked further here, but Mike Newland in Morgantown KY on the WOR iog was still hearing it much later: (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

WWRB Morrison TN --- December 9, 2018, 0328Z, 3185 kHz, Strong signal S-9 + 30 dB. Religious commentary by male announcer. SINPO 55555 (Mike Newland, December 8 logs from Morgantown, KY, ICOM IC-706 and G5RV antenna at 35 feet, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST)

--- an example of how good the 90m band is for close-in coverage: only 193 km = 120 miles apart (but 259/161 if driving via I-24 thru Nashville, and I-65). Is WWRB still active UT Mon and even UT Tue? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1960, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

WWRB Morrison, TN 3185 kHz, 0225Z 12/10/2018 [UT Mon] --- Again very good signal tonight here in south central KY. S-9 plus 30 dB. Female with sermon quoting Hebrews chapter 12. Noted Glenn's comments earlier regarding the frequency move to 3185 kHz. Online resource http://short-wave.info shows the WWRB frequency at 3185 kHz. I wonder if this was updated recently? I do not recall if this resource previously had shown the 3195 kHz frequency (Mike Newland, KY, ICOM IC 706 & G5RV antenna at 35 feet, WOR iog via DXLD)

7505, Dec 9 at 0643, WRNO S9+30 in Chinese and splattering
plus/minus 12 kHz
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)  

0030-0100 on  7730 YFR 100 kW / 285 deg to WNAm English Sat
1200-1230 on  9955 YFR 100 kW / 160 deg to LaAm English Sat
1630-1700 on 17775 VOH 100 kW / 100 deg to CeAm English Sat
2130-2200 on  7780 YFR 100 kW / 044 deg to WeEu English Sat
2330-2400 on  9955 YFR 100 kW / 160 deg to LaAm English Sat
0000-0030 on  7730 YFR 100 kW / 285 deg to WNAm English Sun
0430-0500 on  4840 WCR 100 kW / 040 deg to ENAm English Sun
0930-1000 on  5950 YFR 100 kW / 285 deg to MEXI English Sun
1030-1100 on  5950 YFR 100 kW / 285 deg to MEXI English Sun
1200-1230 on  9680 LUV 100 kW / 000 deg to SoAf English Sun
1200-1230 on 13680 LUV 100 kW / 315 deg to WeAf English Sun
1400-1430 on  5950 YFR 100 kW / 285 deg to MEXI English Sun
1430-1500 on  9955 YFR 100 kW / 160 deg to LaAm English Sun
1530-1600 on 11985 TRM 125 kW / 015 deg to SoAs English Sun
1600-1630 on  9770 SCB 050 kW / 090 deg to SoAs English Sun
1600-1630 on 17730 MDC 250 kW / 035 deg to SoAs English Sun
2100-2130 on  7780 YFR 100 kW / 044 deg to WeEu English Sun
2300-2330 on  9955 YFR 100 kW / 160 deg to LaAm English Sun
0100-0130 on  7780 YFR 100 kW / 044 deg to WeEu English Mon
0230-0300 on  9955 YFR 100 kW / 160 deg to LaAm English Mon
1415-1445 on  9955 YFR 100 kW / 160 deg to LaAm English Mon
2300-2330 on  9955 YFR 100 kW / 160 deg to LaAm English Mon
0000-0030 on  7730 YFR 100 kW / 285 deg to WNAm English Tue
0130-0200 on  7780 YFR 100 kW / 044 deg to WeEu English Tue
0330-0400 on  5985 YFR 100 kW / 222 deg to CeAm English Tue
0430-0500 on  9955 YFR 100 kW / 160 deg to LaAm English Tue
0200-0230 on  9955 YFR 100 kW / 160 deg to LaAm English Wed
1000-1030 on  5950 YFR 100 kW / 285 deg to MEXI English Wed
0030-0100 on  7730 YFR 100 kW / 285 deg to WNAm English Thu
0100-0130 on  9955 YFR 100 kW / 160 deg to LaAm English Thu
0130-0200 on  7780 YFR 100 kW / 044 deg to WeEu English Thu
2230-2300 on  9955 YFR 100 kW / 160 deg to LaAm English Fri [NOT -gh]

??????????? ?? Observer ? 11:47 AM (via DXLD)

Back in the early 1920s, Westinghouse in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania established a temporary relay station in Cleveland Ohio with a program feed from KDKA via their shortwave station 8XS. The Cleveland station KDPM was installed in the second floor wooden attic of one of their foundry buildings at 1200 West 58th Street.

Radio station KDPM in Cleveland received the KDKA-8XS programming on a single wire square loop with a specially made shortwave receiver, the output of which was fed directly into the KDPM transmitter with its 250 watts on 1000 kHz. The first test broadcasts from station KDPM began in May 1921; and the first test broadcasts with a shortwave relay from Pittsburgh via KDKA-8XS began in September of the following year (1922).

Available evidence would suggest that two additional small stations in Cleveland, Westinghouse 8XO and Willard battery 8XG, also carried an experimental relay of the KDPM programming, on shortwave. The entire series of shortwave test broadcasts, Pittsburgh to Cleveland via KDKA-8XS to KDPM ended in January of the next year again, 1923.

The KDPM experiment with its program feed on shortwave took place over a period of some five months running from September 1922 into January 1923. This entire unique project was considered to be quite successful, despite the vagaries of shortwave reception and the associated problem of atmospheric noise QRN.

Thus the Cleveland project set the stage for a more ambitious project that began in mid 1923, the installation of a new shortwave relay station somewhere in the center of the continental United States. An intensive investigation for a suitable location, anywhere between St Louis in Missouri and Denver in Colorado, was based upon their observation of shortwave reception conditions at various potential locations. Ultimately Hastings in Nebraska was chosen, a location just 35 miles from the geographic center of the continental United States. In September 1923, a new Westinghouse mediumwave station in Hastings Nebraska was granted a license with 500 watts on 1050 kHz with the callsign KFKX. A shortwave counterpart was licensed at the beginning of the next month, on October 1 (1923) as 9XW with what was in those days a quite high power level of 10 kW.

The transmitters for the new KFKX-9XW were installed in a new wooden building in the northeast corner of City Park in Hastings. The receiver station was located a couple of miles north of the transmitter building with its associated antenna system.

The original antenna system for mediumwave transmission was supported on two wooden poles 100 feet apart, 75 feet tall, with cross arms ten feet across. Two wire cages with eight wires in each were suspended between the two cross arms, with a 1½ inch copper tube as the uplead to the twin wire cages.

In addition, there was a double counterpoise made up of two wire cages similar to the antenna system that were suspended above ground level underneath the aerial itself. At a lower level again, there was a fan shaped counterpoise one hundred feet long and one hundred feet wide. Over a period of time, local on air studios for KFKX were installed at four different locations in Hastings:-

   * Hotel Clarke, six storey building, 233 North Hastings Avenue,
     visited by both Presidents William H. Taft and John F. Kennedy.
   * Stitt Building, Corner St. Joseph Avenue and Third Street, with
     Chamber of Commerce and KFKX studio on the second floor.
   * Gaston Building, St Joseph Avenue and Second Street, three storey
     building, KFKX studio on top floor, building demolished in 1998, 
     now parking lot.
   * Euston Building 600 West Second Street, later known as the 
     Gray Building, now a modern shoe shop.

The first test broadcasts from mediumwave KFKX with 1 kW on 1050 kHz and from shortwave 9XW with 10 kW on 2885 kHz were made on Thursday November 15, 1923. The shortwave relay was received by mediumwave station KGO in San Diego California for local rebroadcast on the government mandated standard channel 360 m (833 kHz).

The inaugural opening program for the new KFKX-9XW in Hastings was a double integrated program, partly on relay from KDKA-8XS in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and partly as a local production in the studios in the Hotel Clarke in Hastings Nebraska. This inaugural event took place on Thursday November 22, 1923 and it was heard well at a distance in such places as New York City, Washington DC, and Salt Lake City Utah.

Early next year, on January 17, 1924, the twin mediumwave and shortwave stations in Hastings Nebraska, KFKX-9XW, relayed the now famous program from KDKA-8XS that contained a special message for James Watt in winter-covered Northern Canada. It became necessary for Maud Watt to travel from Fort Mackenzie in the north to a public hospital in North Bay Ontario, some 900 miles to the south in order to undergo an important operation.

At the conclusion of the successful operation, Maud Watt had some friends make contact with radio station KDKA, another 400 miles further to the south. They asked the radio station to broadcast a special message to her husband James Watt, an official with the Hudson Bay Company way up in the cold north at Fort McKenzie in Province Quebec, indicating that all was well.

During his evening Farm Service Broadcast, announcer Frank Mullen at KDKA in Pittsburgh kindly obliged with this special request and he included the good will message in his evening program. This program from Pittsburgh was also relayed by the mediumwave shortwave combination in Hastings Nebraska, and in those days, a 10 kW shortwave transmitter was considered high power. That radio event was the very earliest beginning of the Far Northern Service, first from KDKA, and then subsequently from the CBC in Canada.

As time went by during the mid 1920s, the Westinghouse radio stations in Hastings Nebraska continued to produce their own on air programming, as well as rebroadcasting regular and special relays on shortwave from the parent station KDKA in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.

Then on December 1, 1926, the Hastings stations were taken over by the NBC Network, and early in the New Year (1927), the shortwave relay service from KDKA was discontinued.

In June of that same year (1927), the government licensing agency FRC required station KFKX to move to 570 kHz. This was the same mediumwave channel that was occupied by KYW in Chicago (as it was at the time), and both stations, KFKX and KYW, carried the same programming.

Then in the Fall of that same year (1927), the FRC asked the Hastings station to close. The Hastings transmitter was then re-installed on the top of of the Congress Hotel at the corner of Michigan and Congress Avenues in Chicago, and soon afterwards the now historic KFKX in Hastings Nebraska was absorbed into KYW in Chicago Illinois.

QSL Booklet from KFKX Hastings Nebraska

During its short lifespan of less than four years, the mediumwave / shortwave combination KFKX/9XW in Hastings Nebraska issued a small twelve page booklet as their QSL response to listener reception reports. The total area of all of the pages in this QSL booklet was 63 square inches, by far not the largest QSL ever, but certainly an important historical item of early radio interest.

Included in the QSL booklet is a message from the station management together with lots of interesting facts about the Westinghouse stations KFKX/9XW, and also about their city of residence Hastings in Nebraska. Photos show the station and its personnel, as well as important buildings and people within the community (Adrian Peterson, IN, script for AWR Wavescan Nov 11, 2018 via DXLD)

BTW, WHB is correct in switching to 50 kW ND day pattern at 1330 UT 
in Dec and Jan
(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)  

Allan, I saw this on the radioinsight forum list and recognized it as Pirate Joe's station. What`s up with this?
https://radioinsight.com/community/topic/whvw-hyde-park-is-off-the-air/ (Artie Bigley, Dec 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

1480, Dec 8 at 1947, Spanish music from KBXD Dallas mixing/atop KQAM Wichita. 1480 also suffers from KCRC-1390 +90 kHz spur; see OKLAHOMA

1510, Dec 8 at 1948, quit-smoking PSA in strong, then fadeout. Got to be skywave, but what; 1958 Nabisco ad is atop the jumble. PSA for USNA.edu, pause 10 seconds for ID: ``ESPN Kansas City, KCTE Independence`` MO plus some FM translators, and back to an Army-Navy SBG. Also an intriguing LAH (low audible heterodyne) from algo (KCTE itself off-frequency? I think it used to be).

1560, Dec 8 at 1950 UT, Vietnamese atop CCI in English, i.e. KGOW Bellaire/Houston already skywaving almost 500 miles.

1600, Dec 8 at 1951 UT, more Vietnamese about equal level to 
semi-local KUSH Cushing OK, i.e. KRVA from The Metroplex TX. 
This language tends to stand out on the MW dial!  

1700, Dec 8 at 1952 UT, TexMexmx, i.e. KKLF Richardson TX inbooming.

1200, Dec 8 at 2004 UT, breaking news from WOAI.com, San Antonio already propagating, but was not a few minutes earlier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

1330, FLORIDA, WJNX, Fort Pierce. 0850 December 4, 2018. Spanish sports talk, bad automated timing with canned male "This is WJNX, Fort Pierce" at 0901 and dumped into CBS [English] News in progress. Said canned ID at pointless 0917 atop talk and commercials in this half-hour. Odd that they continue to pick up CBS English news in an otherwise Spanish format (Terry L Krueger, DX LISTENING DIGEST)

NPR CEO Jarl Mohn announced he will step aside next year to focus on a
newly created position to lead NPR's fundraising drive. 
Stephen Voss / NPR [caption]  

Listen [3:50 --- summary: not the same as the full text below]
https://ondemand.npr.org/npr-mp4/npr/me/2018/12/20181204_me_npr_chief_to_step_down.mp4?orgId=1&topicId=1020&d=229&p=3&story=673217532&ft=nprml&f=1001

Originally published on December 4, 2018 2:18 pm

NPR's chief executive, Jarl Mohn, announced Tuesday that he would step aside next June at the end of his five-year term to focus on a newly created position to lead the public radio network's fundraising drive ahead of its 50th anniversary in 2020.

Mohn announced that he and his wife, Pamela, would also contribute 
$10 million toward the effort.  

"I've had a chance to work at some great companies. But this has been the most important and rewarding thing I've done in my career," Mohn said in a telephone interview. "It really has been remarkable."

In taking the CEO job, Mohn arrived with decades of experience as a broadcast executive and digital media investor, with stints at MTV, VH1, E! and Liberty Media before becoming a private investor. He has been a relentless cheerleader of the durability of terrestrial broadcasting as a platform for public radio, and his tenure has been marked by significant growth in NPR's radio and digital audiences, though it has softened of late. That growth has been accompanied by notable financial gains.

The Mohn years at NPR have also been marred by a crisis sparked by sexual harassment allegations against NPR's former top news editor, Michael Oreskes. Some staffers said Mohn and his management team failed to register warning signs with sufficient speed in ways that allowed a toxic work environment to fester under Oreskes, whom Mohn hired in the spring 2015 and ousted in November 2017. NPR has subsequently put in place a series of far-reaching reforms to address workplace concerns.

"I've done a lot of soul-searching because of what happened," Mohn said Monday in the interview. "My last big screw-up of a hire was 31 years before that. The organization is the better for it now. We've learned from it. But I wish it had never happened."

The workplace changes have been led by NPR's then chief operating officer, Loren Mayor, who has since promoted to be president of operations. She is seen by many managers and executives inside NPR as a strong potential internal candidate to replace Mohn.

The decision by Mohn, who turns 67 later this month, cuts short speculation about his future and sets in motion a search for a fresh leader. Mohn said NPR's board of directors had offered him a second term, a characterization supported in interviews with two members of the board. "It was a very tough decision, because I am conflicted," Mohn said in the interview.

Mohn said that he had been commuting from Los Angeles, where he and his wife live, and that it has been taking its toll. The Mohns are active art patrons and collectors there as well as supporters of KPCC, a major NPR member station based in Pasadena. In addition, though he did not cite concerns about his health, Mohn suffered a near-fatal aorta rupture in March 2017 and had to take medical leave late last year to address high blood pressure even as the fallout of the sexual harassment scandal divided the newsroom.

Mohn arrived at the network in the summer of 2014 bursting with energy. He ousted NPR's chief content officer, Kinsey Wilson, a few months later, as part of a larger turnover in the network's top executive ranks. The two leaders clashed over whether to pursue growth in NPR's radio audiences. Wilson favored a more aggressive single-minded focus on digital for NPR, arguing that radio audiences had at best plateaued, and were most likely to fall.

"I don't believe flat is the new up," Mohn told staffers that fall. "Some people do."

Mohn stressed the primacy of news to what NPR offers and sought to give the network the resources it needed to cover an ever-expanding range of topics. He also put the network on sound financial footing for the first time in years: It had been in the red for five of the six preceding years. NPR has boasted surpluses every year since, with revenues from corporate sponsorship more than doubling in that time.

"His five years is up and we're thrilled that he's going to be able to continue, although not in the same CEO capacity," Paul Haaga, chairman of NPR's board of directors, said in an interview. "He's leaving us in fabulous shape, financially and newswise."

Haaga said the board had sought to persuade Mohn to continue. "Nothing lasts forever," Haaga said.

Audiences for NPR's newsmagazines are up more than 20 percent for listeners over the age of 12 from spring 2014, the last period before Mohn's appointment took effect, to this past spring, the most recent comparable stretch. And NPR is the nation's leading podcast publisher, with 18.9 million distinct users streaming and downloading 165 million episodes each month, the network said, citing figures from Podtrac, an industry monitoring service.

Mohn placed great emphasis on collaborative initiatives with member stations, for which station managers in interviews have expressed appreciation. One of his signature ventures involved to seeking to generate more awareness for the public radio system's programs, especially its mainstays, Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

Yet it is hard to disentangle that progress from its coinciding with the ascent of candidate and President Trump, which has caused a spike in interest for many major national news outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and cable news channels. That has softened for many such news organizations including NPR, a phenomenon associated with so-called "news fatigue."

NPR has opened new bureaus and added reporters to cover Washington politics in the Trump era. Even so, Mohn and his executive teams have encouraged experimentation in platforms, formats and content. The network now streams shows on smartphones and smart speakers. It has minted new hits such as the podcasts Hidden Brain, which explores the unconscious choices that drive human behavior, and How I Built This, which dissects entrepreneurial innovation.

Several podcasts have been backwards-engineered into becoming shows for conventional radio stations — a reversal of the typical path. There are many new players in the podcast industry, however, including startups and major media players such as CNN, The New Yorker and, notably, The New York Times, whose news podcast The Daily, a sensation produced by former NPR and public radio staffers, jolted NPR executives about the briskness of digital competition.

The scandal involving Oreskes inflicted perhaps the most grievous wound. Oreskes was hired in spring 2015 to lead NPR's newsroom after a long career in print journalism, with senior news jobs at The New York Times and The Associated Press. The year he arrived, NPR formally rebuked Oreskes after two female NPR journalists filed complaints against him. But that only became public in October 2017. The Washington Post reported that two women accused Oreskes of forcibly kissing them in separate incidents two decades earlier, while he was the Washington bureau chief of The New York Times and when they were considering whether to pursue jobs there.

Subsequently, multiple female journalists at NPR said Oreskes had left them deeply uncomfortable by embarking on intimate conversations over extended dinners or by engaging them repeatedly in exchanges via unsolicited private message. And four editors went to senior managers with concerns of a toxic work environment, even as they did not know of specifics.

Mohn later said that because NPR's corporate leadership had no knowledge of incidents of misconduct by Oreskes after he was formally rebuked in fall 2015, executives mistakenly believed they did not have cause to act. A review by an outside law firm issued in February 2018 found deep mistrust of management. "We can learn from it, and we will," Mohn said then. "While we cannot change the past, we can commit to not repeating it."

Women at the network expressed deep anger at the time, saying NPR's actions belie the legacy of female journalists there. The allegations were nowhere near as severe as those facing other prominent figures whose careers collapsed under the weight of accusations of more vile sexual harassment, including, in some cases, coercion or assault. Among the prominent journalists who were forced out are Fox News' Roger Ailes and Bill O'Reilly, NBC's Matt Lauer and CBS' Les Moonves and Charlie Rose.

Yet the Oreskes allegations, and the fact he was allowed to continue for another two years after complaints were first lodged, created a toxic climate, some female NPR journalists say. A senior news editor and a reporter also left NPR amid similar claims of inappropriate behavior. There were also complaints against an NPR board chairman. He abruptly announced he would not seek another term as chairman in November 2017 but served on the board for another year. He said it was his decision not to continue and said it was not based on any complaints. He also denied any misconduct.

"This cuts deeper," NPR Morning Edition host Rachel Martin said at the
time, in an interview. "We have thought of ourselves  
— perhaps naively — as exempt from something like this."

The network has worked to address concerns beyond the strict confines of harassment issues. Major steps taken by the network include a survey of the workplace climate and a pay equity audit, a clearer process for reporting complaints, stronger anti-harassment training, a morals clause in all contracts and the conversion of many temporary positions to permanent ones. The temporary employee corps made up a surprisingly large proportion of the newsroom workforce and is disproportionately female.

Relying on Mayor's leadership, and his own contrition, however, Mohn has weathered the storm. He says he is proud of the management team he has put together at NPR, including Mayor, whom he elevated from the network's chief strategist to be chief operating officer within a few months of his start.

Mohn's team also now includes a newly appointed chief of news, who started last week: Nancy Barnes, formerly the top news executive of the Houston Chronicle.

Mohn said Monday that the success his team has achieved left him confident he was making the right choice. And he said he would set his ambitions high: he wants to raise more than the roughly $225 million bequeathed to NPR by Joan Kroc — the largest gift in the network's history (via KGOU eNewsletter via DXLD)

However, not everyone thinks Radio Wales is a success; for an
alternative view take a peek here
http://www.welshnot.com/radio-wales-horror
(Dec Medium Wave News via DXLD)  

IIRC, VOH set up a control room at KVOH to remotely run Zambia,
right, Ray?
(Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)  

Chris Smolinski, of HF Underground replies: ``Hi Glenn, This is the UNID pirate from South America. Some suspect it is from Argentina, but no one knows for sure. There are logs of it on the HF Underground on the Latin American Pirate board: https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php?board=39.0 It doesn't get logged every time it is on as it is often heard on the east coast. Chris Smolinski, Black Cat Systems, Westminster, MD USA, http://www.blackcatsystems.com `` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)