ODXA Announcers New QSL Manager

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact: Harold Sellers, Ontario DX Association

QSL MANAGER FOR CKMX-1060 & CFVP-6030 CALGARY

December 20, 2011 — The Ontario DX Association (ODXA) has been appointed QSL Manager for radio stations CKMX Classic Country AM 1060 (1060 kHz) and CFVP Shortwave (6030 kHz), owned and operated by Astral Media, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Following on from over 20 years of serving as the QSL Manager for Astral Media’s Toronto CFRB (1010 kHz) and CFRX (6070 kHz), the ODXA is pleased to expand this volunteer service to DXers worldwide.

Serving as the QSL Manager will be Harold Sellers. Living in Vernon, British Columbia, Mr. Sellers has regular reception of both the mediumwave and shortwave signals from Calgary, providing familiarity with the programming content.

QSL cards have been printed and will be sent in response to accurate reports for either 1060 or 6030 kHz.

Reports may be sent by postal mail or e-mail to any one of the following:

Harold Sellers, 3211 Centennial Drive, Apt. 23, Vernon, British Columbia V1T 2T8, Canada
QSLCalgary@gmail.com
Director of Engineering, Astral Radio Calgary, 300 - 1110 Centre St N.E., Calgary, Alberta T2E 2R2, Canada

In the near future the Ontario DX Association website [www.odxa.on.ca] will also permit the submission of reception reports.

Photographs of the CKMX-CFVP transmitter site may be found at http://www.odxa.on.ca/broadcasting.html
(Harold Sellers, Canada/ODXA & Yimber Gaviria)

The DX Challenge is Back !

After a lengthy absence, the Shortwave DX Challenge is back and it runs for the month of January. Log as many countries as you can in the month. All loggings must be of at least five minutes in length with as much program detail as possible. Only shortwave broadcast and time signal stations count. Relay transmissions count as the country where the transmitter is located. All entries must be e-mailed in or postmarked by February 15th. NO HAND WRITTEN ENTRIES. I'm getting too old to decipher chicken scrawl. You can also send in entries as you log them and they will be tallied together at the end.

And there will be a nice prize for whoever logs the most countries over the month of January.

Use the NASWA country list available at:
http://www.naswa.net/images/NASWA_country_list.pdf to for your loggings. Use the snail/e-mail address below or see the January issue of my column, Your Reports, when it is posted to the ODXA website. All entries may be used in the column.
(Mark Coady/ODXA)

Radio Prague to close shortwave services

On the heels of this weeks' announcement that RAE Argentina and Radio Slovakia International will terminate shortwave at the end of the year, comes word from the Czech Republic on Radio Prague.
Gayle VH

The following has been posted on Radio Prague’s Facebook Page: Radio Prague will be terminating shortwave broadcasting as of January 31. The station’s financing for next year has been drastically reduced by the Foreign Ministry in line with government austerity measures aimed at cutting the state deficit. The details of the budget are still being discussed. At present, broadcasting will continue in all six languages via the internet, satellite and partner stations.
(Radio Prague via Mark Coady, Ontario DX Association)

ODXA switches to web-based newsletter

As we have promised in Listening In magazine over the past year, the Ontario DX Association has made the switch to web-based content.

Most of our Listening In columns are now posted on www.odxa.on.ca . A few, still remaining to be reformatted, will be added soon.

Our columns are now free downloads, as pdf documents.

Drop by for a visit. Send us your contributions...everyone is now welcome to do so. Send us your comments.

Harold Sellers
Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
Managing Editor, "Listening In"
Ontario DX Association
http://www.odxa.on.ca/

A closer look at Iran's VOIRI website

Iran

Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRIB)
www.irib.ir/worldservice or http://english.irib.ir/

The first link given above leads to a very clean, modern page which provides links to IRIB in 27 different languages, as well as several live audio streams in different languages. The live audio streams appear to be offered in both Real Media and Windows Media format. Clicking on English opens the second URL given above, “IRIB World Service – English Radio”. Across the top are links to Home, About Us, and Contact Us, which now includes postal, telephone, and fax information in addition to an email address (and online form). The left side of the page has a wide variety of headings and featurettes, primarily focused on a Main Menu (including a comprehensive Sitemap – good work!) and World Service area (language selector).

Most important for us is a link marked Frequency & Timetable, which also includes target areas and internet-/satellite-only broadcasts. On the right side of the page are more featurettes, while the centre consists of five primary news stories, around twenty supplementary news items, and Commentaries. IRIB’s content is not typical western fare, so it will appeal to some users more than others. For a less politically charged approach, take the time to discover the excellent musical and cultural offerings – IRIB provides numerous audio streams over the internet.

The site has benefited from several small changes since last year, and is an interesting spot to visit.
(Source: Click! ODXA-Listening-In, May 2008)

Voice of Israel expands their website

Kol Israel (The Voice of Israel): http://www.intkolisrael.com/ or http://www.iba.org.il/
In what has become a growing trend this month, IBA (parent of Kol Israel) announced that all shortwave broadcasts have been eliminated as of 31 March 2008, except for a one-hour-per-day transmission to Iran (in Persian). Kol Israel broadcasts are now available exclusively on the internet.

The first address given above is for the Kol Israel International website, which is elegantly laid out and features icons for streaming audio in 14 different languages (at various times, as listed on each button). Below these icons are numerous links in Hebrew. At the top of the page is an IBA Live Now area, followed by links to IBA Media Center (in Hebrew) and Kol Israel Foreign Languages – Reka (the news presented in English or Russian, apparently). Audio is now handled through a Flash interface at the top of the page (the IBA Live Now area), but didn’t work for me under various web browsers on various computers. So really, Kol is absent from shortwave and disfunctional on the internet. For a more detailed look at the Israeli scene, check out the second URL given, which is the home page for broadcaster IBA.
(Source: Click! ODXA-Listening-In, May 2008)