Revised Radio New Zealand DRM Schedule

Radio New Zealand International is broadcasting as follows
in DRM from June 7:
0459 – 0658 UTC: 9440 kHz: All Pacific
0659 - 1300 UTC: 6095 kHz: All Pacific
1300 – 1650 UTC: 6095 kHz: All Pacific, Fiji, Niue, Samoa, Cook Islands
1651 – 1850 UTC: 7145 kHz: All Pacific, Fiji, Niue, Samoa, Cook Islands
1851 – 1950 UTC: 9440 kHz: All Pacific
1951 - 2235 UTC: 13730 kHz: All Pacific
2236 - 0458 UTC: 15720 kHz: All Pacific
Source: FH/SC,RNZI via Chris Mackerell, DRM Software Radio Forum)

New radio station for Liberia

United Methodist Church building new radio station in Liberia
The United Methodist Church says it's close to launching a new radio station in Liberia. The Liberia Annual Conference has been dreaming of a radio station for the last two years. Funding for a community radio station in Liberia will make that dream come true soon. Contributors to the radio station include the Illinois Great Rivers Annual (regional) Conference, Memorial United Methodist Church in White Plains, NY, and Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, said Elizabeth Hunter, executive director of the United Methodist Communications Foundation.

"Communication needs have been hampered by war," said the Rev Konah Parker, communications director for the Liberia Conference. "For a long time, Liberia lost contact with the outside world." Communication infrastructure in Liberia was severely damaged by the 14 year civil war that ended in 2003. The Liberia Broadcasting System, ELWA and all other radio stations were looted and destroyed during the war. He noted however that cell phone companies and radio stations are starting to come back. "Liberia needs nationwide radio coverage," he said. "Most of the stations do not cover Liberia’s 43,000 square miles."

Construction of the station has started. Isaiah Mbuga, a radio expert from Uganda, was invited to assess and advice the conference on establishing their own station. Mbuga emphasized the need to do research on audience needs and trends and decide exactly what the church wants to accomplish with a radio station.

"The transmitter you have is very small, but it can do well," he said. "Use what you have, use high gain antenna, get a receiver and add another transmitter — (signals) will go up to the end of the country."

(Source: United Methodist Church/Radio Netherlands)

Finland to Axe SW & Medium Wave

New plan for Finnish broadcaster YLE: shortwave to be dropped
At its meeting on 6th June 2006, the Administrative Council of Finnish public broadcaster YLE decided to adjust the company's channel structure and profiles and new services. This move relates to the ongoing YLE strategy reform, founded on a customer- and content-based operating model. YLE's strategic objectives were approved by the company's Administrative Council already earlier in the spring

Services to be axed

The following existing channels will be phased out as a consequence of the changes in channel output:
1. The pilot digital radio service YleQ will be closed down at the latest on 31st December 2006.
2. The digital television channel YLE24, comprising mainly news and currentaffairs programmes, will be shut down on 31st May 2007. Capacity released from the channel in digital television's public service multiplex will be used for transmitting the new YLE Extra channel.
3. YLE will focus in future on serving Finns abroad through satellite, mobile and Internet distribution. The company will therefore be discontinuing mediumwave and shortwave broadcasts from Pori in 2007. However, mediumwave broadcasts will still continue on the Santahamina (Helsinki) transmitters in the Baltic Sea area.
(Source: YLE via EBU/R. Netherlands)

Radio Japan's World Interactive Program June 10-12

Radio Japan's popular World Interactive program, will air from June 10-12. The 50 minute program airs eight times, scheduled for every second weekend of the month.
This month's 50-minute program will focus on Ecuador's HCJB and Radio St. Helena Day Revival, scheduled for the first weekend in November. News of this project will include an interview with Mr. Robert Kipp. For more information on the St. Helena revival project, consult www.dswci.org
To correspond with the show via email, consult their new address at: interactive@nhk.jp
To hear a partial broadcast time for Radio Japan's English service try:
0100-0200 (UTC) 5960, 11720, 11935, 15325,17685, 17810, 17825, 17845 kHz
A complete Radio Japan English schedule is available in Monitoring Times magazine Shortwave Guide
(DX Window)

Central American Country's Adjust Time

In case you've noticed a difference in broadcast hours from three Central American countries, here's an update. Honduras has joined Guatemala and Nicaragua in adjusting their time.
Effective May 2, the government of Honduras approved a decree by which the country's official time to move forward by 60 minutes, implementing a summer time or daylight time regime, as in other countries. This means the day in Honduras begins an hour early. The local time is now adjusted to UTC-5, from previously as UTC-6.
The Honduran government has expressed this change will be "indefinitely", however DXers predict this adjustment will likely be until September 30.
This might just improve your chances of hearing new stations from Central America.

Desecho Island Project QSL

From amateur radio, here's one to share with MT and online readers. A great catch and colorful QSL card. Congratulations to Ken Reitz, our Beginners Corner columnist.

Desecho Island Project-N3KS/KP5 (IOTA NA-095) 20 meters SSB. Full data color four sided QSL for a SASE. QSL address: John F. King- W3ADC, P.O. Box 64, Hampstead, MD 21074.

Radio Netherlands New Dutch Extra

Looking for a way to broaden your knowledge about the Netherlands ? You're in luck...Radio Netherlands has begun a new program, broadcasting on Sundays, immediately after Amsterdam Forum. The program offers a selection of cultural and arts news, a Radio Netherlands columnist casts a critical eye over Dutch society, plus a weekly Dutch recipe. Most importantly, Dutch Extra features your reactions to the program and answers the questions you've asked.
English SW broadcast times UTC w/targeted areas, freqs kHz
0040 Eastern North America 9845
0140 Central North America 9845
0440 Western North America 6165, 9590
0640 New Zealand 9700
0740 Australia 9700
1045 Australia/Asia/12065, 13710, 13820
1145 Eastern North America 11675
1545 South Asia 9345, 9890, 11835
1845 Africa 6020, 7120, 11655
2045 Africa 15315, 17735, 17660
(Radio Netherlands Programming)

Radio Polonia Podcast Competition

From Radio Polonia comes word of their latest competition for hobbyist.
Since May 1, 2006, Radio Polonia's partner network World Radio Network, has launched a weekly pilot podast service of selected Radio Polonia programs in English.
Radio Polonia broadcast in seven languages, including Polish, and it's
possible to win a bagful of their FM pocket radios. By clicking on
their listen icon, and answer the statements of which
program is in Polish ? Is it A, B or C ?
If you know the answer or can make an educated guess,
email your reply to: english.section@radio.com.pl
In case you listen to their program via a podcast, let them know that too!
Prizes are on a first come basis.
English programming broadcast from: 1200-1259 (UTC) on 9525 and 11850 kHz and 1700-1759 (UTC) on 7220 and 7265 kHz
Good luck !
(Radio Polonia)

Voice of Turkey Essay Contests For DXers

The English Service of Voice of Turkey, has announced an essay contest, open to their listening audience. This year's essay topic is: Can Religions Play a Guiding and Constructive Role in Dialogue Between Civilizations.
Contestants should limit their essay to three pages, and the deadline is June 15. Email your entry to: englishdesk@trt.net.tr or address your entry to:
Voice of Turkey
TRT External Services Dept.
P.K. 333
Yenişehir
06443 Ankara, Turkey
The Voice of Turkey in English, may be heard daily on the following schedule: All times UTC, frequencies kHz
Targeted areas: va - various regions: eu - Europe: as - Asia
0300-0350 5975va 7270va
1230-1300 15450eu 15535va
1300-1320 15420eu 15535va
1830-1900 9785eu
1900-2000 9785eu
2030-2100 7170as
2100-2120 7170as
2200-2300 9830eu
To follow more from the Voice of Turkey refer to website: www.trt.net/tr
(HCDX/VOT English Service)

World Cup Amateur Radio Special Event Station

German radio amateurs plan to celebrate the 2006 Football World Cup being held in their country by putting on a number of special event stations.
From now until 16 July, no less than 26 special district stations (with callsigns in the DQ2006A to DQ2006Z range) will be on the air. There will also be 12 special stadium stations with callsigns DR2006B, DR2006C, etc. The special callsign WFC06 will also be in operation throughout the World Cup.Amateurs or short wave listeners who log these special event stations could be eligible for a series of awards sponsored by the Deutsche Amateur Radio Club.
There will be three awards available: bronze, silver and gold. To achieve the bronze award, an amateur must log four stadium special event stations, six district stations and 25 DL stations. The silver award requires the operator to log 10 stadium stations, 20 district stations and 100 DL stations. For the gold award, an amateur or short wave listener must log 12 stadium stations, 24 district stations and 200 DL stations.All the logs must take place between 1 May and 31 July. There are no band limitations. Participants can use any mode of operation except packet radio or Echo Link.
For further information about the awards, contact Otto Cecetka at e-mail address DK6CQ@darc.de
Southgate Amateur Radio Club www.southgatearc.org/news/june2006/world_cup_stations.htm

World Cup To Air on FM in Los Angeles

Entravision Communications Corporation has announced that it will broadcast World Cup soccer games for the very first time on an FM radio frequency in Los Angeles, California, the largest Hispanic market in the US, on its radio station KLYY OYE! 97.5 FM.
The company also said that it will air World Cup games on its radio stations KQRT La Tricolor 105.1 FM serving Las Vegas, Nevada, KZMP La Tricolor 104.9 FM serving Dallas, Texas and KSVE ESPN Deportes 1150 AM serving El Paso, Texas. Coverage begins airing June 9 and will continue through the final game on July 9.
Broadcasting rights were made available through Futbol de Primera on an exclusive basis in each market. Terms of the broadcastings rights were not disclosed.
Entravision Communications Corporation is a diversified Spanish-language media company utilizing a combination of television, radio and outdoor operations to reach approximately 75% of Hispanic consumers across the United States, as well as the border markets of Mexico.
Entravision owns and operates one of the nation's largest groups of primarily Spanish-language radio stations, consisting of 52 owned and operated radio stations in 20 US markets.
Southgate Amateur Radio Club www.southgatearc.org/news/june2006/world_cup_la_radio.htm

Blog Logs

The following by-frequency listings, are from contributor logging's that were cut from my SWBC Logging column due to space. Thank you to all the contributors who share their monitoring with the magazine. Have you sent yours in yet?
Gayle
All times UTC, English unless otherwise indicated, // parallel frequency. * sign-on, sign-off*
3250.06 Honduras, R Luz y Vida 1029 Spanish (DV, PA)
3266 Indonesia, RRI-Gorontalo 1102-1129 Indonesian (TB, TX)
3340 Honduras, HRMI 0142-0202 Spanish (SB, NH)
3345 Papua New Guinea, R Northern 0917-1010 (DV, PA)
3976 Indonesia, RRI-Pontianak 1205 Indonesian (TB, TX)
4386.57 Peru, R Imperio/R Vision 0922-0936 Spanish (SB, NH)
4620 Peru, R Espacial 0957-1005 Spanish (DV, PA)
4716.82 Bolivia, R Yura 0111-0140 Spanish (SB, NH)
4760 Liberia, ELWA 2240-2300* (SB, NH)
4770 Nigeria, Radio Nigeria-Kaduna 2243-2301* (SB, NH)
4780 Djibouti, RTD *0259-0316 Arabic (SB, NH)
4780 Guatemala, R Cultural 0118-0130+ (HF, MI) 1030-1035 Spanish (AS, ARG)
4790.26 Peru, R Vision 0931 Spanish, DV, PA)
4826 Peru, R Sicuani 1040-1046 Quechua (AS, ARG)
4895 Brazil, R Novo Tempo 1020-1029 Portuguese (AS, ARG)
4909.3 Ecuador, R Chaskis 0315-0335 Spanish (JE, TN)
4910 Australia, VL8T 1210-1350 (TB, TX)
4915 Brazil, R Anhanguera 0104-0113+ Portuguese (HF, MI) 0027-0038+ (HF, MI)
4950 Peru, R Madre de Dios 0032-0102 Spanish (SB, NH)
4985 Brazil, R Brazil Central 0004-0018 Portuguese (SB, NH)
5005 Eqt. Guinea, R Nacional de Guinea-Bata 2216-2222 Spanish (AS, ARG)
5025 Cuba, R Rebelde 5025 Spanish (JW, TN)
5030 Burkina Faso, R Burkina 0018-0042 French (SB, NH)

T. Banks, TX
S. Barbour, NH
J. Evans, TN
H Frodge, MI
A. Slaen, ARG
D. Valko, PA/Cumbre
J. Woods, TN

Middle East Monitoring Source

Here’s another source you can add to your listening post from The British DX Club. The near and Middle East, continues to be an area to watch and monitor. BDXC, at their website link to Articles Index, provides free for download, a comprehensive guide to shortwave stations in the near and Middle East. In country order, and PDF format, the guide provides station information, programming schedules and transmitter site listings. Bravo to BDXC for this guide to keep listener’s up to date on the hot spots from the Middle East. www.bdxc.org.uk/

MV Baltic Radio to Broadcast Sun June 4

MV (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) Baltic Radio, another European that broadcast once a month, is scheduled to be on the air Sunday June 4, on 6045 kHz, 1200-1300 UTC. The station formerly known as Stör-Sender, transmits via T-Systems International, Jülich, Germany
German or English reports with one IRC or $ 1.00 are confirmed via:
R&R Medienservice
Roland Rohde
Seestrasse 17
D-19089 Göhren, Germany
Web: www.mvbalticradio.de/

Scandinavian Weekend Radio On the Air June 2-3

If it's the first Saturday of the month, it must be time for Scandinavian Weekend Radio. SWR broadcast for 24 hours once a month, and is Scandinavia's first private shortwave station. Studios and transmitters are located in Virrat, western Finland.
This month they plan to broadcast June 2-3 on the following schedules:

Medium Wave - 24 hours on 1602 kHz

Shortwave: all times UTC
48 Meter Band
2100-2200 6170 kHz
2200-0300 5980
0300-1600 6170
1600-1800 5980
1800-2100 6170

25 Meter Band
2100-0600 11720 kHz
0600-1100 11690
1100-1800 11720
1800-2100 11690

Reception reports with return postage (2 IRC's, $2.00 US or 2 Euros) should be sent to:
SWR Reports
P.O. Box 99
FI-34801 Virrat, Finland
The station does not send out their printed QSL cards without return postage. For more information about the station and programming, check out their website at: www.swradio.net/index2.htm
Good luck this weekend!!

Revised Radio New Zealand Int'l English Service + DRM

This is the revised Radio New Zealand English schedule, plus the new DRM schedule, effective until September 3. Good luck and best of DX. Thanks to HCDX!
Gayle

RADIO NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL
P O Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand
Phone:+(64 4) 4741 437 Facsimile +(64 4) 4741 433
E-mail address: info@rnzi.com
Web Address: www.rnzi.com

04 June 2006 - 03 September 2006
UTC NZ Time kHz Mode Primary Target
1300 - 1650 0100 - 0450 7145 AM Pacific
1650 - 1850 0450 - 0650 6095 AM All Pacific
1851 - 1950 0651 - 0750 9630 AM All Pacific
1951 - 0658 0751 - 1035 15720 AM All Pacific
2236 - 0458 1036 - 1658 13730 AM All Pacific
0459 - 0658 1659 - 1858 9615 AM All Pacific
0659 - 1059 1859 - 2259 6095 AM All Pacific
1100 - 1259 2300 - 0000 9870 AM Solomon Islands, PNG, Timor

Please note: A DRM Capable Receiver is required to hear these digital
transmissions
04 June 2006 - 03 September 2006
UTC NZ Time kHz Mode Primary Target
1300 - 1650 0100 - 0450 6095 DRM All Pacific, Fiji,
Niue, Samoa, Cook Islands
1651 - 1850 0451 - 0650 7145 DRM All Pacific, Fiji,
Niue, Samoa, Cook Islands
1851 - 2250 0651 - 1035 13730 DRM All Pacific
2251 - 0458 1036 - 1658 15720 DRM All Pacific
0459 - 0658 1659 - 1858 9440 DRM All Pacific
0659 - 1300 1859 - 0059 7145 DRM All Pacific

Propagation Forecast Published

Tom Giella (KN4LF) has posted his latest propagation forecast at KN4LF Daily LF/MF/HF Radio Propagation Outlook #2006-005. If you are really interested in HF props, then this is a must visit.



Three other prop websites worthy of mention:

William Hepburn's VHF/UHF Tropospheric Ducting Forecast A definite five star site for sure for the VHF/UHF/TV/FM DX enthuiast.

A place to keep an eye out for VHF/UHF openings in a variety of modes:
V-UHF QSO Real Time Maps

And last but not least, Monitoring Times Prop expert, Tomas Hood (NW7US) website at:
Propagation Resource Center :: NW7US :: HFRadio.org

73 and good hunting,
Larry

VOA's New Program Guide Online

The latest edition of the Voice of America shortwave Program Guide is available on line. The new edition, includes links for English to Africa, Bringing the World to China, VOA’s new Studio Tour information, VOA News.Com Goes in Depth and Amerika Icmali, with a focus on Creating a Connection to Azerbaijan.
There’s plenty for the listener on the website. A Program Guide for your favorite sections is available in PDF format. Links include Africa, East Asia, English, Music Mix, Eurasia, Latin America, Near East and Central Asia and West and South Asia.
The VOA Program Guide is published twice a year, in November and May to cover the seasonal frequency changes. Check out the new programming guide for the latest from Voice of America. at www.voanews.com

VT Communications Launches Pioneering DRM 26 MHz Service in London

VT Communications continues to push the boundaries of digital radio broadcasting by launching its dual-channel Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) transmission service from Crystal Palace in South East London into Greater London. Partnering with Deutsche Welle and UBC Classic Gold VT Communications can now provide two discrete broadcast services over a single 20KHz transmission band centred at 25.7 MHz. This is the first time the double channel mode of DRM has been used for extensive field trials and further enhances VT Communications digital offering. The 26 MHz band is designated as an international broadcast band, but is under used and could also be used to provide local "FM" type coverage. Demand for both FM (88-108 MHz) and DAB (band III) spectrum in the UK is very high, and DRM could offer broadcasters access to additional spectrum in addition revitalising existing MF and LF frequencies with enhanced audio quality. The ability of the 26 MHz band to provide local and digital radio coverage adds to VT Communications existing regional and international DRM capability. In 1999 VT Communications started regular "ITU compliant" DRM tests from the Rampisham transmitter site in Dorset UK, to Europe. In 2003 a new high power MF transmitter was added to the portfolio, which now transmits the BBC World Service in digital quality to the Benelux countries. In March 2006, VT Communications announced a significant investment in a new high power HF transmitter at its Woofferton (Shropshire, UK) transmitter site. This will be operational by mid 2006. VT Communications are also investing in a new broadcast centre designed to distribute audio in a totally digital format from studio to listener, including distribution of DRM. This will eliminate audio degradation caused by repeated conversion between analogue and digital, a surprisingly common problem with digital transmissions. The broadcast centre will also be able to format & distribute audio via a number of different routes, including archiving, podcasting, content repurposing and audio on demand. The 26 MHz service in London will showcase the broadcast centre technology, as data channels, Electronic programme guides (EPG) and a 3rd audio service are all scheduled for test during the course of 2006. "VT Communications ongoing investment in DRM 26MHz and HF capability is part of our new Global Media Network" says Bryan Coombes, General Manager Broadcast at VT Communications. "This underlines our commitment to provide a digital service to satisfy all of our customers' broadcasting requirements, from local through to truly international coverage". (Md Azizul Alam Al-Amin 6/1/06)