Shortwave Blog "Bytes"

Today is Labor Day in the United States, a national holiday where we honor the hard working American folks for all they do. It's a "last chance" for summer bar-b-ques, picnics and family gatherings before autumn and winter set in.

Honestly, I should be on a beach somewhere enjoying the last days of summer - but alas, I'm here posting news bits, bites and the latest on everything else from the world of shortwave radio. Hope where ever you are, today (and everyday) is a good one!
Gayle Van Horn


All times UTC

Antarctica on 15476 kHz
15476, LRA 36, R Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Base Esperanza, *1759-1930, Aug 18, 20 and 31, multilingual ID in Spanish, German, English, Argentine songs, tangos, other Latin American songs, Spanish comments, ID: "Desde Base Esperanza, transmite LRA 36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel”, "Noticias Deportivas", "De Esperanza al Mundo", ann: "Temperatura en Base Esperanza -15º, viento Sur Oeste, 75 Km/hora, visibilidad, 8 Km.", "Música y cultura, de Esperanza al Mundo", "Desde Base Esperanza transmite LRA 36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, por la frecuencia de 15476 kHz", "Pueden ponerse en contacto con nosotros a través de nuestro teléfono..., nuestro correo electrónico lra36@infovia.com.ar o a través de nuestra dirección de correo postal: LRA 36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Base Esperanza, Código Postal 94100 Antártida Argentina, Argentina", 25322 - 34433. (D'Amico, Méndez and Robic). Please take a look at the excellent photo on page 12 in SWN. (Ed/DX Window # 584)

CBC Radio One autumn program update
Return to Afghanada

The multiple award-winning drama series Afghanada is back for a fourth spectacular season on CBC Radio One.

In the first of three episodes, series creators Greg Nelson and Adam Pettle tell the tale of a seasoned journalist headed to Afghanistan to chase the story of a lifetime.

Not long into her trek, she's abducted by insurgents. And her is life is in imminent danger of being cut short. Tune in this week to find out about her harrowing journey.

That's on the season premiere of Afghanada, Thursday, September 10 at 11:30 a.m. (12noon NT) on CBC Radio One.

***
Get Ready For A New Season of White Coat, Black Art

Slated for September 12th, the season premiere of White Coat, Black Art looks at the life of trainee doctors.

Medical residents in Canada are expected to work between 80 and 100 hours a week -- week after week, year after year. And while they're doing that, they're treating you and your loved ones.

For the season opener, physicians-in-training tell us about their chronic overwork. Find out how their sleep deprivation compromises the quality of patient care. And hear what the system is doing about the situation.

Don't miss this all-new episode of White Coat, Black Art on Saturday, September 12 at 10 a.m. (10:30 NT) and Monday, September 14 at 11:30 a.m. (12noon NT) on CBC Radio One.
***

Spark is back this fall with a new time and an hour-long show. Tune in to the season premiere, Sunday, September 13 at 1 p.m.
(1:30 NT)on CBC Radio One.
(via Fred Waterer-ODXA/CBC Radio One newsletter)

Chad heard on 4905 kHz
4905 Chad, Radiodiff. National Tchadienne, 1852. Talks in Arabic and text of Muslim names. Folk music and news in French at 1900. Short ID during the news to song at 1904. Signal S7, SINPO 34423. (Zacharias Liangas, Thesaloniki, Greece/HCDX)

Complete Arabic, French and Vernacular schedules are included in the Monitoring Times monthly MTXtra Shortwave Broadcast Guide - available only to MT Express subscribers.

China - new station name
5050, Beibu Bay R, 1312-1443, August 25, 26, 27 and 29. New name! Beibu Bay is more familiar to Americans as the Gulf of Tonkin. Multi-language IDs; mostly in Vietnamese with some ann in Chinese; light pop and indigenous songs; English words heard: “This is Beibu Bay Radio”, “BBR news”, “weather report”, “Top Music” and “Learn about the world, know China”; announcers often heard with background music; some AIR QRM. Sei-ichi Hasegawa of Japan comments: “I confirmed it at 5050 kHz at 1500 on Aug. 25. ID as ‘This is Beibu Bay Radio’ and ‘BBR News’. The name of Chinese is ”Bei-bu wan zhi sheng - Voice of Gulf of North”. Please note: http://news.gxradio.com/news/2009/0817/rdtj/190858.htm . As I understand it from the translations I have seen, Beibu Bay Radio (Voice of the Northern Gulf) is a joint project between Guangxi Foreign BS and China Radio International. So I do not know exactly what the organizational relationship is (or will be) between all three of them. I guess time will tell just what their relationships will be. (Howard/DX Window # 384)

China makes frequency adjustments
The Chinese authorities have made frequency adjustments midway during A09, affecting all transmissions which were previously operating in the new exclusive worldwide amateur radio service 7100-7200. These regional services are affected:

Xizang Peoples' Broadcasting Service - Lhasa
7255 (replacing 7125) Tibetan 2050-0200, 1000-1800
7450 (replacing 7170) Mandarin 2000-0300, 0900-1800

Xinjiang Peoples' Broadcasting Service - Urumqi
7205 (replacing 7195) Uighur 2330-0200, 1400-1800
7230 (replacing 7155) Mongolian 2330-0330 1230-1800, Kyrgyz 0330-0530, 1210-1230 Kyrgyz
11975 (replacing 7120) Kyrgyz 0330-0530 1030-1230. (Padula, Aug 18)
(DX Window # 584)

Norway releases new radio stamp
Part of the Norwegian Year of Cultural Heritage, is this summers release of the Kuré radio stamp.
A new icon saw the light of day in 1950 when Radionette launched its Kurér radio. The Kurér was the company's greatest success, and the red transistor model in imitation alligator skin was the undisputed winner. Radionette's history started in 1927 with 24-year old Jan Wessel, in a small rented room in Oslo. "Good, reasonably priced radios for everyone" was the motto of the company's self-taught founder, and with the Kurér he struck a gold mine. The radios sold like hot cakes, not only in Norway, but all over the world. They were exported to 60 countries and Radionette became a household name. Factories were set up in Iran, South Africa and Turkey.

After the golden 50s, Radionette found itself in difficulties. Sales fell at the end of the 60s and in 1972 the company was merged with Tandberg Radiofabrikk. In 1978 Tandberg closed Radionette down and went into liqui-dation itself later the same year. A major electrical retailer acquired the trade mark and the Radionette name still exists today. The radios are manufactured in Asia.
(Norway Post)

Peru's Radio Atlántida closes shortwave service
4790, Radio Atlántida, Iquitos has closed! A man who used to work at "La Nueva Atlantida" told me on Sep 02 that the station has ceased using SW and is now only licensed to use FM 106.5 MHz under the new name "Ribereña". (Rodriguez/DX Window # 584)

Peru's Pacifico Radio heard on 9675 kHz
9675, Pacifico Radio, Lima, 1558-1640, Aug 16, evangelistic talks and lectures: "...en Pacifico Radio 640 AM... esta es la hora exacta son las 11...si nos escuchas es por que nos prefieres, somos Pacifico Radio 640 amplitud modulada...", followed by a family programme. (Rodriguez/DX Window 584)

Pirates Week RSS Announcement
An audio test of the new computer and a warning to the subscribers that I am changeing the RSS feed settings and you may be down loading the last few shows next week, and everyone should be subscribed to the feedburner feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ PiratesWeek RD
Download the latest from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PiratesWeek/~5/650vzy25um0/PWRSS.mp3

Pirate log of Channel Z (?)
Presumed piate as Channel Z on 6925 kHz at 2357-0100.+ Music tunes from Cat Stevens, Moody Blues, Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead, Sergio Mendez and Brazil 66. Announcer with extensive comments on the music between the sets. (Joe Wood, TN).

Radio Bangladesh back on 4750 kHz
4750, Bangladesh Betar, Khabirpur, Dhaka, 2305-2355, Aug 15, Qu’ran, 2310 Bengali ann, popular songs, 2320 ID: “…Bangladesh Betar…”, talks and popular music, 25332. Also heard at 1334-1400*, Aug 15, 24 and 28, Bengali news; ID "Bangladesh Betar"; subcontinent music and singing at 1350. QRM from CNR-1 and RRI. (Howard, Jacob and Schulze/DX Window #384)

Russia - 1,000 Years of Music
Voice of Russia is launching a new series within a series, entitled Silver Age - a specific period in the Russian art of the early 20th century. This period was known to be incredibly talent-rich era, and a breakthrough into the future. The weekly program will include music of that time. Programming is on Thursday at 1530, 1830, 2330 and Friday at 0030,
0330 and 0930 UTC.

Voice of Russia English schedule
Target Areas: af (Africa) as (Asia) ca (Central America) sa (South America) me (Middle East) na (North America)
0000-0100 9665ca/sa 9480ca/sa
0100-0200 9480ca/sa 9665ca/sa
0200-0300 9480ca/sa 9665ca/sa 15425na
0300-0400 9665ca/sa 15425na 15585as 15755as
0300-0400 DRM 15735as
0400-0500 13775na 15585as 15755as
0400-0500 DRM 15735as
0500-0600 13755na
0600-0700 17635pa
0700-0800 17635as 21790as
0800-0900 17635as 21790as
0800-0900 DRM 12060eu
0900-1000 15470as 15610as 21790as
0900-1000 DRM 12060eu
1000-1100 15470as 15610as
1100-1200 12065as 15470as
1200-1300 7330as 12065as 15470as
1300-1400 7330as 12065as
1400-1500 6045as 7330as 9850as 15605as
1400-1500 DRM 9445as 9750eu
1500-1600 4975me 9625as 9660as 9735me 9850as
11985me 12040eu 15605as
1600-1700 4975me 11985af/me 13855af
1700-1800 4975me 11610me 11985af 13855af
1800-1900 4975me
2200-2300 9890na
2300-0000 9665na/sa 9890na
(Monitoring Times SW Guide)

Spaceweather article available online
There is a good article at NASA's http://www.spaceweather.com/ web page,
Solar Minimum Versus Global Warming
(Thomas F. Giella, NZ4O, Lakeland, FL)
nz4o@arrl.net

Thailand log on 15275 kHz
Radio Thailand World Service, *0000-0029*, Aug 22, sudden opening with ID (“This is Radio Thailand World Service broadcasting from Bangkok”) over time pips and instrumental music, news in English, tourist features, promotional ann and advs were noted. Off suddenly at 0029; antenna beam change? Poor to fair. (D'Angelo/DX Window # 584)

Voice of Vietnam begins new service
It seems Vietnam has now reacted to China’s new Beibu Bay Radio, with the establishment of VOV’s East Sea broadcasting service, per: http://en.vietnamplus.vn/ Home/Radio-VOV-launches-East-Sea-broadcasting-services/20098/2067.vnplus :
Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) on Aug 29 officially launched its broadcasting services to the East Sea with the presence of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. The launching of VOV radio-broadcasting services to the entire Vietnamese territorial waters is an important move, helping fishermen and soldiers working offshore get easier access to accurate, timely and round -the-clock information about political, economic, social and cultural affairs both in and outside Vietnam, especially forecasts about natural disasters as well as the research and rescue work at sea.

Speaking at the ceremony, PM Dung urged the VOV to make full advantage of infrastructure, equipment and staff to improve the quality of broadcasts on the East Sea. The project will effectively serve the dissemination of information, natural calamity prevention and control, as well as rescue efforts, thereby reducing losses in humans and property of offshore fishermen, the PM said. He asked the VOV to work closely with relevant ministries and agencies to receive and transmit timely and accurate information about fishing grounds, weather, and rescue work. The government leader asked the radio to quickly carry out the second phase of the project to provide high-quality news updates for Quang Ninh, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Kien Giang and central coastal provinces, especially at night. (Howard, Sep 03). No frequencies mentioned on website. (Ed/DX Window # 584)