Shortwave Blog "Bytes"

All times UTC

Australian DX Report available for download
The latest episode, No. 136, of the weekly Australian USTRALIAN DX Report audio shortwave news magazine contains detailed professional monitoring research from Melbourne, schedule changes, and news about international broadcasters.

It's 13 mins 19 secs, and may be downloaded from
http://airm.edxp.org/

The site allows you to listen to the ADXR and other audio features directly (streaming audio) via your MP3 player, or via the site's embedded mini-player. Podcasts, iTunes capability, full RSS/XML/Atom feeds, and free subscriptions are supported - full details are at the site.The ADXR is compiled from the resources of the Electronic DX Press Radio Monitoring Association.

Your comments and feedback are particularly important!

You can also hear the episodes on-air, via WWCR Nashville, every Sunday at 0300-0315 on 5070 and on Mondays 1245-1300 on 15825. The WWCR release is also available as streaming-audio, live, from http://wwcr.com/
Good listening to the Australian DX Report Episode No. 136!
(Bob Padula, Melbourne, Australia/Cumbre DX)

BOC 13 International DX Nights on You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZbJ0Wy1Q64
(Dario Monfieri/playdx2003)

Bolivia's Radiodifusoras Mineria update
Posted by: Henrik Klemetz

Radiodifusoras Minería left their SW frequency, 5927.1, "quite some time ago" due to the passing away of station owner and manager, Dr. José Carlos Gómez Espinoza. This information comes from Bolivian DXer Angel Oquendo, who lives in Sweden. - Gómez Espinoza, a medical doctor, was very friendly to DXers, and in the early 90´s the station was sporting a multilingual station ID in English, Italian, Swedish and Finnish. The tape was recorded in Sweden and sent to Dr. Gómez, who was delighted to use it on the air. The Italian voice was that of Dario Monferini, the Finnish voice that of Arto Mujunen, while yours truly recorded the Swedish and English language announcements. Henrik Klemetz
(Dario Monferini/playdx2003)

Brazilian shortwave station list
MW/SW brasilian radio stations update - Version 20090106.01
www.dxclube.com.br/arquivos_lista_br.html - Spreadsheets
www.dxclube.com.br/db/LISTA_COMPLETA_list.asp - DB On-line
(Marcelo Bedene/playdx2003)

Focus on Afghanistan
Short wave remains preferred radio medium

VTC offers extensive and powerful short wave services into Afghanistan. The value of short wave delivery of programmes to listeners in the country is underlined in a media survey which was carried out in January 2008. It found that short wave is still the predominant radio medium for listeners across the country, with 55% of those who ever use radio using short wave, 52% using FM, and 46% using medium wave (AM). The survey found that rural listeners were more likely to use short, medium, and long wave.
(NASB)

HCJB Global Transmitter Installed at TWR’s Site in Swaziland
News release from HCJB

A new 100,000-watt shortwave transmitter built at the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind., is on the air at the Trans World Radio (TWR) site in Swaziland, broadcasting a message of hope across Sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Through a cooperative effort between the two organizations, the HC100 transmitter began broadcasting about 12 hours a day on Oct. 23, replacing an outdated Continental unit and joining two other HC100s, also from Elkhart. “The results of the broadcasts from this transmitter are that people come to Christ and they are encouraged in their faith,” said Ray Alary, TWR’s director of operations in Africa. “For those with HIV/AIDS, we can encourage them in what seems a hopeless situation. Through Jesus we all have hope. The primary target areas are eastern and southern Africa, but our transmitters in Swaziland reach locations as far away as Pakistan. We broadcast in approximately 30 languages with our three HC100 transmitters.” Alary added that TWR’s partnership with HCJB Global “goes back a long way and has taken many different forms over the years . . . it is a model of a well-functioning partnership where each party gains from our ability to work together.”

The partnership includes having a number of TWR missionaries serving at the Technology Center in Elkhart. Among those is veteran engineer Larry McGuire who lived in Swaziland for 16 years before moving to Elkhart in 1990. He helped build and install all three HC100s at the Swaziland site, spending 2 weeks in Swaziland in October to put the new transmitter on the air.

“The new transmitter is much more efficient and has a clearer, more understandable signal than the one it replaced,” McGuire said. “The HC100 is also easier to maintain because it was designed by missionary engineers for that purpose.” Alary said that having “three identical transmitters at the same site makes our operation in Swaziland very efficient. In addition, we have purchased more than 20 suitcase transmitters through HCJB.”

Tom Lowell, chairman of TWR’s board of directors, said the new transmitter has many economic advantages. “For example, parts needed to keep the old equipment on the air were expensive. The Continental transmitter uses three large tubes, at $13,000 each, compared to the HC100’s single tube. That’s an immediate savings of $26,000 on parts alone! The HC100 also operates much more efficiently, saving us $12,000 per year on our electric bill in Swaziland.” McGuire added that the installation of the HC100 in Swaziland culminates years of work and planning dating back to about 2000.

Construction of this transmitter, the ninth of its type, was completed in 2008. After TWR agreed to purchase the unit, it was modified to, and tested for, Swaziland requirements, then packed and loaded onto a truck in Elkhart on July 31. It then traveled across the Atlantic Ocean by ship, arriving in Durban, South Africa, on Sept. 9. From there it went by train to Matsapha, Swaziland, where it cleared customs “almost immediately,” he said. Finally it went by truck to TWR’s transmitter site on a ranch 20 miles from Manzini along the White Mbuluzi River, arriving on Sept. 18. “The day it arrived, there ‘happened’ to be a work crew from a church in Elkhart that had been renovating the building,” McGuire continued. “They were way ahead of schedule, so they helped unload the transmitter from the container, got it in position and started putting up the heavy parts and then built the fascia—all before I started working on the installation on Oct. 6. I was very amazed. That’s never happened before!” McGuire said the entire installation process went smoothly. “The cooperation was great—very beneficial for both.”

David Russell, director of the HCJB Global Technology Center, calls it a “privilege to work closely with engineers of TWR Africa. During just the past year we have cooperated with TWR on projects in Benin, Kenya and Swaziland. We are presently refurbishing a used 50,000-watt AM transmitter that will be used at TWR’s Swaziland broadcast facilities. “It gives us a great sense of fulfillment to be able to support our fellow kingdom workers at TWR through the provision of technical consulting, equipment, installations and maintenance,” Russell added. “By pooling our strengths we are able to be more effective in the Lord’s harvest fields.”
(NASB/Jan 2009)

North Korea on 4450 kHz
4450, Korea,North, AINDF(pres.). January-28 KK 2229-2244 male talks, 2235 elation style music returning shortly male at 2239, elation female music. Stronger than usual tonight, het generated with presumed R. Santa Ana wich was unlistenable 23222 (Lucio Octavio Bobrowiec, Brazil/playdx2003)

QSL from 7P8FC DXpedition Lesotho 2008
The station 7P8FC, (DX pedition Lesotho 2008) confirm with nice QSL
folder in 20 days, QSL Manager Josè (ON4CJK).

Pictures available here:
http://blog.libero.it/radioascolto/6352765.html
(Francesco/playdx2003)

Radio Damascus followup
Here folllows some news about "Radio Damascus" I have to share with you. I made a (temporary) unofficial website for "Radio Damascus" pending an official website of "Radio Damascus" where listeners can get all the necessary information to tune in to "Radio Damascus" AND with a direct link to the daily audio recordings. As it is almost impossible for non-Arabic speaking where the listeners can directly click through to the audio recordings
Reminder : "Radio Damascus Listener Club"

Website: http://www.radio-damascus-listeners-club.tk/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/radio_damascus .
(Kris Janssen, Belgium/Cumbre DX)

Radio Ethiopia log
9704, Radio Ethiopia, Addis Ababa-Gedja. January-30 Amharic 1843-1858 OM and YL talks, short music. SINPO 23422 (Lucio Otavio Bobrowiec, Brazil/playdx2003)

Radio DX video
All times UTC
My Catalan friend Jordi Brunet came to Bocca di Magra (Liguria region,Italy) to listen the radio with Dario Monferini and me. I made a video,testing some radio, maybe you can enjoy yourself:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZbJ0Wy1Q64

(GiampieroGiampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italy/Cumbre DX)

Somalia
IRIN Radio is now broadcasting humanitarian news and information in Somali 0830-0930 on 17680. (Kimandrewelliott.com) Transmitter site is Al-Dhabbaya, UAE. (Wolfgang Bueschel)
(Mike Barraclough, UK/Contact-DX News/Feb 09)

Yemen radio news
The station was audible on both 6005 and 9780.1 at 1630 on January 2. Arabic music, announcements, identification in Arabic heard at 1633. Better here on 6005. (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, BDXC-UK) Also noted here January 2 on 9780.1 at 1845 to abrupt sign off 1903.
(Brian Alexander, Pennsylvania, Cumbre DX)
(Mike Barraclough, UK/Contact-DX News, Feb 09)