NEWFOUNDLAND DXPEDITION IX

NEWFOUNDLAND DXPEDITION IX

20 to 30 October, 2000

A report assembled by Jean Burnell

Introduction

It is getting difficult to come up with new introductory angles for these Newfoundland DXpeditions! This was the ninth event at Cappahayden, and, although it might same like all the same again, it is evident that the Newfoundland DXpedition always seems to yield some of the very best Trans-Atlantic and Pan-American DX of the season. I think that every DXer who participated this year would agree with me that conditions during the 2000 DXpedition were far from the best we have seen. Nevertheless, we logged 100 countries, not counting some short-wave DX and beacons! This year's crew consisted of five DXers, all veterans of Newfoundland DXpeditions.

John Fisher [JF] Calgary, AB Drake R8A 20 Oct – 25 Oct

Neil Kazaross [NK] Barrington, IL AOR AR-7030 Plus 21 Oct – 29 Oct

Jim Renfrew [JR] Rochester, NY Drake R8 23 Oct – 30 Oct

Mark Connelly [MC] Billerica, MA Drake R8A 26 Oct – 29 Oct

Jean Burnell [JB] St. John's, NL Drake R8A & Icom R-71A 20 Oct – 29 Oct

The antenna configuration was almost the same as in the previous few years:

Brazilian Beverage: 1 km aimed at eastern Brazil. Unlike in previous years, this one was never terminated. On some evenings, this signal was amplified through a Kiwa broadband amplifier

African Beverage: 400 m unterminated wire towards southern Africa. Whereas this was a productive antenna in 1999, this year this one was almost useless.

European Beverage: 500 m terminated wire towards northern Europe. The signal from this antenna was amplified.

K9AY Loops: My K9AY system was set up not far from the building. The beams were roughly north-east/south-west and north-west/south-east. Signals were amplified with Kiwa broadband amplifiers, and the two loops were fed into either side of an MFJ-1026 phasing unit. In contrast with last year, the signals from the loops were not usually as strong as those from any of the Beverages; however, the loops were generally quieter than the Beverages, which picked up stray RF from the big Loran C navigational station at Cape Race.

Beverage antennas were connected through noise-reducing transformers to coaxial cables that brought the signals into the "shack." Inside the "shack" each Beverage was split four ways using ICE splitters. Neil, and, especially, Mark were using phasing units from time to time. Often, however, attempts to phase were pointless as the signals from the two premier Beverages (Brazilian and European) were so different. Even phasing the K9AY loops was unnecessary. For instance, one evening I noticed that on 1260 kHz the north-east beam was providing a mixture of British signals, and in the opposite direction (south-west) on the same loop CKHJ from Fredericton NB was almost alone; from the south-east direction Spanish signals were dominant, and from the north-west only a low-level jumble of signals (CKHJ mainly) was evident. Everyone used a cassette recorder. Minidisks have yet to debut in Cappahayden!

These DXpedition reports seem to require some meteorological horror stories. This year Nature served up some items that require no embellishment. As John mentions in his account, the tail-end of a hurricane came through Newfoundland hours before he arrived. In St. John's there was no significant damage, but trees were knocked down in central Newfoundland. It was still pretty breezy when John and I set up the Beverages on the afternoon of October 20th. The wind was still too strong (over 100 km/h) to put up the K9AY until a few days after the DXpedition began. In the middle of the DXpedition, the night-time temperatures were going below freezing, so there was ice on the puddles as I drove back to St. John's in the mornings. Fortunately, we did not get any snow, but then towards the end of the DXpedition, we had torrential rain. In fact, we had record rainfall. Apart from making tricky driving for Mark, who had to drive back to St. John's during the deluge, it complicated bringing in the Beverages. The European wire normally crosses a stream, but at the end of the DXpedition it crossed a fast-moving river. The first 100 meters of the Brazilian Beverage normally crosses a field. At the end of the DXpedition it crossed a shallow pond. However, in spite of my getting an unusual amount of exercise in the process, I was able to retrieve all of the wires intact, and, unlike in some earlier DXpeditions, no lengths of wire were irretrievably caught by the surf along the beach.

The others have provided fairly extensive DX travelogues, so I will just deal with the DX that was especially pleasing to me. DX to Europe was only so-so generally, but on the first evening I was happy to net many of the smaller Romanian outlets that had eluded me for some time. I did not hear any previously unlogged stations from the UK, but the United Christian Broadcasters outlets in Ireland on 549 and 1593 kHz were first-time logs. One evening Neil found the long-wave outlet for Turkmenistan coming in on 279 kHz, which was a "new" country from Newfoundland (not counting SW!). African DX was a bit of a disappointment, with few "new" stations audible. We did note Libyan stations on 675 and 972 kHz that must now be running with sizeable power. Also newsworthy is a station on 1305 kHz that we presume is Sénégal, and Benin seems to have moved to the conventional 9-kHz frequency of 1476 kHz. The Togo station that we used to hear regularly near 1502 kHz has disappeared. I am always very interested in South American DX, so I was pleased to add a number of previously unheard Brazilians to my log book. Just as thrilling was logging a couple of new "unlicensed" Argentineans: Radio Folklorisimo on 1410 kHz (a tough frequency with much Brazilian QRM), and Radio Capital on 1530 kHz. Radio Uno (650 kHz) was a first-time log from Paraguay. Jim bagged two previously unheard stations from the "Deep South," Radio Fenix (Montevideo, Uruguay) on 1330 kHz and, even better, Radio Difusora Patagonia (Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina) on 630 kHz. The sensation of the 1999 DXpedition was Falkland Islands on 530 kHz. This time it was gone. Stations from the Pacific coast of South America were not heard, and even the Colombians were strangely muted.

Before presenting the extensive logs, it remains for me to thank John, Jim, Neil and Mark for trekking to this isolated spot to share some memorable DX. Also, I would like to thank Rocco Cotroneo in Brazil, Bjarne Mjelde in Norway, Bruce Conti in the USA, and Jarmo Patala in Finland for their interest and encouragement. Rocco mounted a parallel DXpedition in Bahia, the results of which are summarized (with his permission) at the end of this article. Jarmo provided me with up-to-date African DX tips. Henrik Klemetz in Sweden has been of considerable assistance to me in skillfully ID'ing stations from South America. Herman Boel in Belgium is saluted for assembling his excellent European Medium Wave Guide (EMWG), which was our primary reference for European and Mediterranean stations.

Trans-Atlantic DX

153 ALGERIA Chaîne 1, Béchar, 25 Oct, 0138 - Arabic music; good [JF]. 27 Oct, 1943 - Arabic violins; dominant [MC].

153 NORWAY NRK, Ingøy, 23 Oct, 2106 - Instrumental piano and music by Kool and The Gang, announcements in Norwegian // 1314; poor with QRM from Loran and Algeria [JF/JR].

153 ROMANIA România Actualitata, Brasov Bod, 21 Oct, 0221 - Lively instrumental music and Romanian talk behind Algeria, // 855 and 1179; SIO 222 [JB/JF].

162 FRANCE France-Inter, Allouis, 25 Oct, 0138 - French talk; poor [JF]. 27 Oct, 1944 - French talk about events this evening; loud [MC].

171 MOROCCO R. Méditerranée Internationale, Nador, 24 Oct, 0008 - // 9575 [JR]. 25 Oct, 0139 - Arabic music; fair [JF]. 27 Oct, 1945 - Woman in Arabic; over Russia [MC].

171 RUSSIA R. Moscow / R. Rossii, synchros, 27 Oct, 1945 - Slavic talk; under Morocco [MC].

177 GERMANY DeutschlandRadio Berlin, Oranienburg, 27 Oct, 1946 - Classical violin music [MC].

180 TURKEY TRT, Polatli, 27 Oct, 0118 - Tentative; weak audio [JR].

183 GERMANY Europe No. 1, Felsberg, 27 Oct, 1947 - Huge with French talk about a women's store [MC].

189 ICELAND Ríkisútvarpid, Gufuskalar, 23 Oct, 2012 - Rock music with Icelandic announcements audible all day long; good with Loran QRM [JF]. 24 Oct, 0010 - Heard all day long, talk & music [JR]. 27 Oct, 1948 - Two men in Icelandic; very good [MC].

198 ENGLAND BBC R. 4, Droitwich et al., 25 Oct, 0140 - World Service program // 1413; good [JF]. 27 Oct, 1949 - Discussion on Senator John McCain's role in the 2000 US presidential election [MC].

207 GERMANY DLF, Aholming, 28 Oct, 2219 - // 1422 [JR].

207 MOROCCO RTM, Azilal, 25 Oct, 0140 - Arabic music; good [JF]. 27 Oct, 0225 - // 612 with Arabic female vocal [MC]. 27 Oct, 1950 - Woman in Arabic, then string music; over 1 or 2 others [MC].

216 FRANCE / MONACO R. Monte Carlo, Roumoules, 27 Oct, 1950 - French telephone chat, then dance-club music; excellent [MC].

225 POLAND Polskie R., Konstantynow, 25 Oct, 0250 - Polish Newsmagazine program, ID; good [JF]. 27 Oct, 1951 - Slavic phone interview; to fair peak [MC].

234 LUXEMBOURG R. Luxembourg, Junglinster, 25 Oct, 0142 - Rock music; good [JF]. 27 Oct, 1953 - Rock song "A Reason to Be Here"; good [MC].

243 UNID 27 Oct, 1955 - Drumming, unID language talk; poor [MC].

252 IRELAND Atlantic 252, Clarkestown, 25 Oct, 0143 - Rap music; good [JF].

261 RUSSIA R. Rossii, Taldom, 28 Oct, 2300 - Five-plus-one pips, then woman with news [JR].

270 CZECH REP. Cesky Rozhlas, Uherské-Hradisté, 27 Oct, 2020 - Czech talk; under "O" beacon [MC].

279 TURKMENISTAN Turkmen R., Asgabat, 27 Oct, 0000-0005, 0022 - Interval signal, male announcer the choral anthem at 0001, distinctive local music at 0022 recheck, // 5015; bravo Neil for finding this! SIO 252 [JB/JF/JR/MC/NK].

527 VATICAN CITY R. Vaticana, Vatican, 23 Oct, 0040 - Very tentative; it sounded like I managed to pull some bits of their soft music atop the bad low-band slop here; it's unclear why this isn't heard here as I heard them a few times in Maine in the early 1980's, and they're heard well when I am in the French Riviera [NK].

531 UNID 28 Oct, 2100 - German program with news mentioning hackers breaking into Microsoft's corporate computer system; over/under Switzerland. Is MDF-Info not on the air? [MC].

531 SPAIN RNE R. 5 synchros, 27 Oct, 0327 - Spanish group discussion; over Arabic & classical music stations [MC]. 27 Oct, 2033 - Spanish talk mentioning "Estados Unidos" [MC]. 29 Oct, 0130 - // 684 with classical music; over Algeria [MC].

531 SWITZERLAND DRS1, Beromünster, 28 Oct, 2100 - Religious-sounding choral vocal followed by Swiss-dialect German; mixed with station in German [MC]. 28 Oct, 2105 - Tentative; accordion music, no ID announcements heard [JR].

540 BELGIUM R. Twee, Wavre, 24 Oct, 2338 - Music by Bob Dylan // 1188; poor [JF/JR].

540 HUNGARY Kossuth R., Solt, 25 Oct, 0338 - Huge, just blowing away CBT [NK]. 25 Oct, 0354 - Presumed; woman talking, mentioning "Budapest" often; SIO 322 mixed with Spain and CBT [JB].

540 SPAIN Onda Cero, Barcelona, 29 Oct, 2328 - Interview // 1080/1341 [JR].

549 ALGERIA Chaîne 1, Les Trembles, 29 Oct, 0116 - // 891 with Arabic rock vocal with energetic drumming; loud [MC].

549 IRELAND United Christian Broadcasters, Monaghan, 20 Oct, 2056 - Modern gospel song; SIO 222 under Algeria [JB]. 21 Oct, 0057-0104 - Religious pop music until 0102, then woman spoke about Revelations, music again a few minutes later; SIO 333 [JB]. 24 Oct, 0718-0727 - Easy-listening religious vocals, female announcer with Irish accent; fading down by 0725; fair to good [JF]. 26 Oct, 2255 - ID and announcements at end of music program, announcer keeps saying "God is in control" [JR]. 26 Oct, 2304 - EE Christian music; excellent [MC].

558 SPAIN RNE R. 5 synchros, 25 Oct, 0332 - Spanish Radio call-in // 576-Barcelona; 603-Palencia; 657-Madrid; poor [JF]. 29 Oct, 0115 - // 774 with Moorish music (Arabic-sounding, but with a full classical orchestra); fair [MC].

567 IRELAND RTE R. 1, Tullamore, 29 Oct, 0112 - Good with jazz saxophone version of "Makin' Whoopie" [MC].

576 GERMANY Mega R., Wöbbelin, 26 Oct, 2321 - Presumed; non-stop dance music, // 1575; SIO 332 [JB]. 26 Oct, 2325 - "Mega" ID, dance music, // 1575 [JR/MC].

585 SPAIN RNE R. 1, Madrid, 29 Oct, 0130 - // 684 with classical music; poor, in VOCM-590 slop [MC].

594 PORTUGAL R. Renascença, Muge, 29 Oct, 0150 - // 963 with emotional Portuguese vocal; poor to fair through VOCM slop [MC].

603 ROMANIA România Actualitata, Botoshani, 21 Oct, 0253 - Romanian music, // 1152; SIO 232 with QRM from Spain [JB].

603 SPAIN RNE R. 5 synchros, 29 Oct, 0132 - // 684 et al. with classical music; very good [MC].

612 IRELAND RTE 2FM, Athlone, 27 Oct, 0349 - "Rescue Me" (the old Fontella Bass hit) new version with rapping; excellent [MC].

612 MOROCCO RTM, Sebaa-Aioun, 22 Oct, 2048 - Arabic talk by man; fair [JF]. 27 Oct, 0225 - // 207 with Arabic female vocal [MC]. 29 Oct, 0107 - // 819 with talk about Arabic culture; loud [MC].

621 BELGIUM RTV Belge Communauté Française, Wavre, 27 Oct, 0348 - French talk, pop music [MC].

621 CANARY IS. RNE R. 1, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 25 Oct, 0337 - Flamenco music // RNE 5 and other RNE 1 stations; poor [JF]. 29 Oct, 0108 - Spanish talk about Broadway musicals, segments of "America" and "Maria" from "West Side Story;" huge signal, // 684 [MC].

630 NORWAY NRK, Vigra, 25 Oct, 0115 - Pop music and Norwegian announcements // 1314; poor [JF/JR].

630 PORTUGAL RDP, Santa Isabel, 29 Oct, 2059 - // 666 [JR].

630 TUNISIA ERTT, Tunis, 23 Oct, 2207 - Presumed; Arabic music and talks; poor [JF]. 26 Oct, 2328 - Arabic music; briefly over CFCY [MC].

648 ENGLAND BBC European Service, Orfordness, 25 Oct, 0358 - Woman in English, BBC ID at 0400; SIO 332. This is a garbage log to say that frequent monitoring of this frequency failed to unearth any hint of Gambia [JB].

666 PORTUGAL RDP Antena 1, Lisboa & Vila Real, 27 Oct, 0347 - Man in Portuguese, then piano music [MC].

675 LIBYA Libyan Jamahiriya BC, Benghazi, 23 Oct, 2226-2242* - Arabic music and talks, gongs and full ID at 2229, talk by a man, Koranic recitations at 2234, seemed to be // 972 although 972 was slightly behind 675, anthem at 2241; SIO 333 [JB/JF/JR].

675 NETHERLANDS R. 10, Lopik, 26 Oct, 2330 - Excellent with Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" [MC].

684 SPAIN RNE R. 1, Sevilla, 29 Oct, 0108 - // 621 with Spanish talk about Broadway musicals, segments of songs from "West Side Story" were played; good signal [MC].

693 ENGLAND BBC R. 5, Droitwich et al., 27 Oct, 0346 - Talk about on-line "dot com" businesses [MC].

693 SPAIN RNE R. 1 synchros, 29 Oct, 2039 - // 684 with sports [JR].

693.7 AZORES Centro Regional da RDP, Terceira, 27 Oct, 0415 - // 836 with soft vocal [MC]. 29 Oct, 0101 - Portuguese news by man; good [MC].

702 GERMANY Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Flensburg, 27 Oct, 2308 - Man in German; over Slovakia [MC].

702 MOROCCO RTM, Sebaa-Aioun, 29 Oct, 0121 - Woman in Arabic; fair [MC].

702 SLOVAKIA Slovensky Rozhlas, Banská Bystrica & Presov, 22 Oct, 0224 - Easy-listening pop music // 1098; fair to good [JF]. 27 Oct, 0222 - // (huge) 1098 with "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen; good [MC]. 27 Oct, 0345 - Pips, Slavic talk, woman mentioned "slovensko" [MC].

711 FRANCE R. Bleu, Rennes, 27 Oct, 0220 - // 1206 with male folk-rock vocal; good [MC].

711.06 WESTERN SAHARA / MOROCCO RTM, Laayoune, 28 Oct, 2352 - Teletalk, then music at 2349, not // 207, anthem heard at 0058 [JR].

720 GERMANY Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Langenberg, 25 Oct, 0505 - Report from Wuppertal, orchestral music; SIO 322 with QRM from Spain and CHTN [JB].

720 NORTHERN IRELAND BBC R. 4, Lisnagarvey, 21 Oct, 0304 - World Service news, "Brain of Britain 2000" show; fair [JF].

720 PORTUGAL RDP1, São Salvador, 24 Oct, 0010 - Portuguese talk, best on the European wire so likely not Brazil; fair [JF].

738 ISRAEL Kol Israel Network D, Tel Aviv, 28 Oct, 2013-2016, 2035-2101 - Likely; Arabic program (the announcers'accents consistent with Israel Program D); at 2013 Arabic music; at 2035 woman with news (without obvious bias in the reports), male introduced more music at 2044, but no ID discerned since it faded far under Spain at 2100; peaking at SIO 333. This station had been off the air due to alleged problems with the electromagnetic radiation levels. "The Israeli newspaper 'Ha'aretz' reported on Aug 21 that an agreement had been reached to resume transmission from the Zoran station for a three month period with one seventh of the station's usual power of 1200 kW. (BBC M via DXLD in BC-DX via ARC)" [JB/JR/MC].

756 GERMANY DeutschlandRadio, Braunschweig & Ravensburg, 27 Oct, 0351 - Man and woman in German; over/under Spain [MC].

756 SPAIN R. Euskadi, Bilbao, 27 Oct, 0351 - Spanish talk mixed with Germany [MC].

760 YEMEN Yemen R., Mukalla, 26 Oct, 2049 - Tentative; woman singer, but not ID'ed [JR]. 27 Oct, 2038 - Female Arabic vocal; poor, only audible on Euro-Bev; Brazil won on the other Bev's [MC].

764.97 SÉNÉGAL RT Sénégal, Dakar, 25 Oct, 2028 - Poor (low power) with French talk [JR]. 27 Oct, 2035 - Arabic talk by man; over Switzerland on Afro-Bev [MC].

765 ENGLAND BBC R. Essex, Chelmsford, 26 Oct, 0229 - // 882, except for 0233 local break-out [JR]. 27 Oct, 2100 - BBC news evident as RSR stopped music and went into news; SIO 222-1 [JB]. 26 Oct, 2305 - Over the Swiss (!!!) with local weather, then into "5 Live" [NK].

765 SAUDI ARABIA BSKSA, Qurayyat or Khamasin, 26 Oct, 0320 - Running same audio as 1521 but slightly offset; this was not Turkey; I suspect they have raised power [NK].

765 SWITZERLAND RSR, Sottens, 24 Oct, 2258 - Soft pop music, French news at 2300; good [JF]. 26 Oct, 2203 - Swiss news and weather, into pop music before the station underneath playing pop music could be identified; SIO 444 [JB]. 27 Oct, 0352 - "Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix; excellent [MC]. 27 Oct, 2035 - "Baby I Love You" by the Supremes; huge signal on Euro-Bev [MC].

765 TURKEY TRT-1, Gaziantep, 28 Oct, 1942-1948 - // 954 etc. with music and then women in Turkish mixed in growl with other stations; during a huge fade by the Swiss [NK].

774 EGYPT Middle East Commercial Service, Tanta, 28 Oct, 0100 - Tentative; under RNE, Jean identifies Jon Anderson and Vangelis music "Friends of Mr. Cairo," chime heard after RNE pips and ID [JR]. 29 Oct, 1925 - English lesson, then Egyptian pop [JR].

783 MAURITANIA ORTM, Nouakchott, 20 Oct, 2042 - Local language talk // 4845; fair to good [JF]. 23 Oct, 2317 - Strong with music, // 4845 [JR].

783 PORTUGAL R. Comercial, Miramar, 26 Oct, 2332 - Man in Portuguese; over others [MC]. 27 Oct, 0404 - // 1035 with soul-influenced mellow Portuguese vocal [MC].

783 SYRIA Syrian Arab Republic BC, Tartus, 27 Oct, 0015 - // 831.5 with Koran [MC].

792 FRANCE R. Bleu, Limoges, 26 Oct, 2332 - // 1206 with '70s "bubblegum" influenced French pops [MC].

810 MACEDONIA R. Macedonia, Skopje, 20 Oct, 2057-2100 - Folk music briefly above Spain than back down; fair [JF].

810 SCOTLAND BBC R. Scotland synchros, 26 Oct, 2335 - // 882 with talk about a reporter and a musician living in Nigeria; good [MC].

810 SPAIN SER R. Madrid, Madrid, 20 Oct, 2054 - Man with Spanish talk over Macedonia; fair [JF].

819 EGYPT General Programme, Batra, 20 Oct, 2017 - Talk in Arabic // 12050; fair [JF]. 27 Oct, 0217 - // 9754.4 with Koran; huge [MC]. 29 Oct, 1916 - // 12050 news talk [JR].

819 MOROCCO RTM, Rabat, 29 Oct, 0107 - // 612 with talk about Arabic culture; loud [MC].

819 SPAIN R. Euskadi, San Sebastián, 29 Oct, 2053 - // 756 & 963 with sports [JR].

828 NETHERLANDS Arrow Classic Rock, Rotterdam, 21 Oct, 2016 - Ads; fair [JF]. 26 Oct, 0507 - ID during music program [JR]. 28 Oct, 0255 - Dutch talk, then "Hot Blooded" by Foreigner [MC].

830.6 SYRIA ORT Arab Syrienne, Deir el Zawr, 25 Oct, 2254 - Poor to fair in peaks, Arabic chants, // 783; this was drifting all around 831 the whole DXpedition [NK].

831.5 SYRIA ORT Arab Syrienne, Deir el Zawr, 27 Oct, 0015 - // 783 with Koran [MC].

836 AZORES Centro Regional da RDP, Barrosa, 27 Oct, 0415 - // 693.7 with soft vocal [MC]. 27 Oct, 2210 - Huge with portion of a speech; not // Madeira-1125 at this time [MC].

837 CROATIA Hrvatski R., Gospic, 24 Oct, 2255 - Old pop standards // 1125 & 1134; poor [JF/JR].

837 ENGLAND BBC Asian Network, Freeman's Common, 27 Oct, 0214 - Presumed; in subcontinental language, with talk that mentioned "Pakistan" a few times; SIO 322 under Spain [JB].

837 FRANCE R. Bleu, Nancy, 20 Oct, 2021 - This station and its numerous channels were almost a pest due to their strong signals showing up all over the dials; fair with French oldies and announcements; also heard on 1206 Bordeaux – fair; 864 Paris – good; 945 Toulouse – fair; 1242 Marseille – poor; 1404 synchros – fair; 1494 synchros – poor; 1557 Nice – poor [JF].

846 ITALY RAI R. Due, Roma, 20 Oct, 2019-2048 - Old pop tunes such as "Respect," Italian announcements; good [JF]. 28 Oct, 0104 - English talk about an Italian-American dinner in Washington; good, // 900 [MC].

846 SOUTH AFRICA R. Xhosa, Komga, 25 Oct, 2225 - Xhosa talk, losing it slowly to Italy on the K9AY; SIO 222 [JB]. 25 Oct, 2225 - Up to very good peaks on the African Beverage, with Xhosa tele-talk; the best heard of the trip [NK].

855 ROMANIA România Actualitata, Bucuresti, 26 Oct, 2353 - // 1179 with choral vocal; under Spain [MC]. 27 Oct, 0156 - // 1404 & 1530 with news [JR].

864 ARMENIA Trans-World R., Kamo, 27 Oct, 0029 - Sign-on with TWR interval signal then music; over France & Egypt, SIO 322 [JB/JR/MC].

864 EGYPT Holy Koran R., Santah, 27 Oct, 2051 - Arabic vocal // 9754.4; atop France [MC]. 29 Oct, 2000 - Koran reading, pips 40 seconds late, "Qoran" heard during tape replay [JR].

873 BOTSWANA R. Botswana, Ghanzi, 24 Oct, 2110 - African dance music and male announcer taking cell-phone call-ins // 4820 & 972; poor [JF/JR].

873 MOLDOVA R. Moldova, Chisinau, 26 Oct, 0258 - 1-kHz tone at 0252, then man and woman with news, // 1494 [JR].

873 NORTHERN IRELAND BBC R. Ulster, Enniskillen, 21 Oct, 2225 - Irish tunes // 1341; SIO 322 [JB]. 27 Oct, 0300 - BBC World Service ID, news; SIO 222 under Spain and eastern European [JB].

882 CANARY IS. & SPAIN COPE synchros, 27 Oct, 2048 - Man & woman in Spanish; huge, way over UK [MC].

882 ENGLAND BBC R. Wales, Washford, 26 Oct, 2302 - News about Zimbabwe parliament voting on impeachment of President Mugabe [MC].

882 SPAIN COM R., Sabadell, 23 Oct, 2121 - ID, ads; SIO 333 over other Spanish signal [JB]. 29 Oct, 1947 - ID heard during talk [JR].

882 SPAIN COPE synchros, 29 Oct, 1915 - Sports // 837 [JR].

882 YUGOSLAVIA R. Podgorica synchros, 28 Oct, 2008 - Woman with news, ID at 2010; SIO 322 with distorted audio and QRM from BBC R. Wales [JB].

891 ALGERIA Chaîne 1, Alger, 29 Oct, 0116 - // 549 with hard-rock Arabic music; fair over rumble [MC].

891 LESOTHO R. Lesotho, Maseru, 22 Oct, 1942 - Choral music, // 4800; SIO 232 under Portugal and Algeria [JB]. 24 Oct, 2046-2102 - Talks in local language, pop music, time pips over the music at 2100; poor with QRM from Algeria and Portugal, // 4800 [JF/JR].

891 NETHERLANDS NOS R. 5, Hulsberg, 24 Oct, 2009-2025 - Man talking about artists, music. // 1008; good [JF/JR].

891 PORTUGAL R. Renascença, Vila Moura, 24 Oct, 2100 - Portuguese ID over Lesotho on Brazilian wire to eliminate Algeria; fair [JF]. 27 Oct, 2047 - Portuguese teletalk; over Algeria [MC]. 29 Oct, 2039 - Football play-by-play, // 1251 [JR].

891 TURKEY TRT-1, Antalya, 28 Oct, 1933 - // 1017, 954 with Middle East female vocal; over growl from other signals [MC].

900 ITALY RAI R. Uno, Milano, 28 Oct, 0104 - // 846 with English talk about an Italian-American dinner in Washington; over Canadians and Latin Americans [MC].

900 SAUDI ARABIA BSKSA, Qurayyat, 27 Oct, 0325 - // 1521 with bits of Koran; under presumed Italy & CKDH [MC].

900 SPAIN COPE synchros, 29 Oct, 1915 - Sports // 837 [JR].

907.81 GAMBIA R. Syd, Banjul, 21 Oct, 2121 - News report, then ad or jingle; SIO 232-1 with big fades [JB]. 27 Oct, 2041 - African music with a man talking over it [MC].

909 BOTSWANA VOA Relay, Selebi-Phikwe, 21 Oct, 2119-2130* - "VOA News Now" with sports news, movie review, at 2128 there was an announcement that many affiliates would take a 2 minute break, news headlines then off; SIO 433 [JB/JF]. 24 Oct, 2042 - VOA program, // 1530 [JR]. 27 Oct, 2058 - // São Tomé - 1530 with US dance-rock music; over others [MC].

909 MOROCCO RTM, Safi, 25 Oct, 2007 - Over and under BBC with music, // 1044 & 774 [NK].

909 ROMANIA România Actualitata, Jucu, 21 Oct, 0251 - Romanian music getting pulverized by BBC but // 1152; SIO 222 [JB]. 21 Oct, 0247-0250 - Violin folk music // 1152 & 1530; poor under BBC [JF].

945 ANGOLA R. Nacional, Cazenga, 25 Oct, 2052 - French program with ID; QRM from R. Bleu, SIO 233 [JB]. 25 Oct, 2100 - French program, interval signal, 3 pips, English ID "broadcasting from Luanda" [JR].

945 LATVIA Latvijas R., Riga, 26 Oct, 2154 - VOA Special English "Visions of a Nation" faded up briefly over France, // 1350 and 1422; SIO 333-2 [JB/JF].

954 TURKEY TRT, Trabzon, 21 Oct, 2222-2302 - Stringed instrumental music, brief announcement at 2233 and then more music, time pips, ID and news at 2300, // 1062 good [JF]. 21 Oct, 2227 - Turkish music, talk, // 1062.08; SIO 333 [JB]. 27 Oct, 2305 - // 1017 & 1062 with Turkish anthem at sign-off; excellent, over Spain [MC]. 28 Oct, 2240 - Turkish vocal; loud, over Spain [MC].

963 ENGLAND R. Liberty, Lee Bridge Road/London, 24 Oct, 2025 - // 972 [JR]. 24 Oct, 2028-2037 - Man describing unusual foreign holidays, ad for "RAF Recruiting," jingle ID and music by Don McLean and Whitney Houston // 972; poor [JF].

963 PORTUGAL R. Renascença, Seixal, 23 Oct, 2257 - Tentative; pop music and time pips, talk by a woman in Portuguese at 2300; fair [JF]. 25 Oct, 0100 - ID, news; SIO 433 [JB]. 27 Oct, 2349 - Portuguese teletalk, then speech [MC]. 29 Oct, 0150 - // 594 with emotional Portuguese vocal; good [MC].

963 SPAIN R. Euskadi, Vitória, 27 Oct, 2301 - Spanish news; dominant [MC]. 29 Oct, 2053 - // 756 & 819 sport [JR].

963 TUNISIA RTV Tunisienne, Tunis, 24 Oct, 2232 - Tentative; French news (RTVT listed here with French as part of its International Service); fair with QRM from R. Euskadi and Portugal [JF].

963 UNID 22 Oct, 2035 - Seemed like religious talk in Portuguese, so sign of Renascença on other frequencies; SIO 332 on Brazilian Beverage [JB]. 22 Oct, 2101 - News in French (over another station in French), then, with big fanfare, began in Portuguese with news, pop music at 2105, Mozambique suspected; SIO 332 on Brazilian Beverage [JB].

972 BOTSWANA R. Botswana, Sebele, 24 Oct, 2110 - African dance music and male announcer taking cell-phone call-ins // 4820 and 873; very poor [JF].

972 ENGLAND R. Liberty, Southall/London, 24 Oct, 2028-2037 - Man describing unusual foreign holidays, ad for "RAF Recruiting," jingle ID and music by Don McLean and Whitney Houston // 963; fair [JF/JR].

972 GERMANY Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Hamburg, 20 Oct, 2110-2202 - Program of Spanish music, ID and brief news at 2130; SIO 333 [JB]. 20 Oct, 2130-2203 - ID, long German talk by man and woman with many mentions of North Korea, ads and program announcements at 2158, news at 2200, by 2203 a co-channel Arabic station dominated the frequency; good [JF]. 27 Oct, 0302 - German news mentioning 'untergrund' Arab organizations; excellent [MC].

972 LIBYA Libyan Jamahiriya BC, Sirte, 20 Oct, 2110-2202 - Telephone interviews, poetry, Arabic music, talk through the top of the hour; initially poor under Germany but occasionally dominant; SIO 322 [JB]. 20 Oct, 2234, 2243 - Koran at 2234, Libyan anthem in progress at retune at 2243; SIO 343 [JB]. 23 Oct, 2230 - News, ID, into Koran at 2233, anthem from 2241, and off by 2243; SIO 232 [JB/JF]. 28 Oct, 2238 - Koranic vocal; excellent [MC].

972 SPAIN RNE R. 1 synchros, 29 Oct, 2050 - Sports, // 684 [JR].

981 GREECE ERA, Athens, 23 Oct, 0315-0324 - Tentative; disco music with announcements in what sounded like Greek; fair [JF].

990 WALES BBC R. 5, Tywyn, Oct 24, 0231 - Radio 5 sports // 909; poor [JF].

999 SPAIN COPE Madrid, Madrid, 29 Oct, 0153 - Man & woman in Spanish talking about municipal government; good [MC].

1008 CANARY IS. Onda Cero, Las Palmas, 24 Oct, 0034-0106 - Spanish documentary over music, ads and talks, mentioned "Onda Cero" at 0059, time pips and time check, news by woman at 0100; not // SER stations on 1575; good [JF]. 29 Oct, 0154 - Spanish teletalk (not // SER-1044); a short segment of light classical music was inserted, then more teletalk; excellent signal [MC].

1008 NETHERLANDS NOS R. 5, Flevoland, 24 Oct, 2009-2025 - Man talking about artists, music; good [JF]. 28 Oct, 2253 - Ethnic programming; Arabic at this time (don't mistake this for Yemen) [MC].

1017 ENGLAND Classic Gold WABC, Shrewsbury, 23 Oct, 0336 - ID, weather; SIO 332 with German QRM [JB].

1017 GERMANY SWR-1, Wolfsheim, 22 Oct, 2057-2104 - Music by Santana, ID as "Sudwest Radio Einz", time pips, news; good [JF].

1017 TURKEY TRT-1, Mundanya, 24 Oct, 2004 - Football, // 9460 [JR]. 27 Oct, 2305 - // 954 & 1062 with Turkish anthem at sign-off; under Germany & Spain [MC]. 28 Oct, 1932 - // 891 & 954 with female vocal; huge [MC].

1026 CHANNEL IS. BBC R. Jersey, Trinity, 23 Oct, 0121 - Tentative; discussion of US politics // 1548; listed as either Cambridgeshire or Jersey (which has higher power); poor to fair [JF].

1026 IRAN IRIB, Tabriz, 23 Oct, 0113 - Koran, then Pachelbel's "Canon," // 15084.45; SIO 222-1 with Spain and Brits dominating [JB]. 26 Oct, 0200 - Call to Prayer? // 1467 [JR].

1026 RUSSIA R. Mayak small synchros, 28 Oct, 2045 - // 1143, but no interval signal at 2100 [JR]. 28 Oct, 2047 - Jazz piano piece, // 1143; SIO 222 [JB]. 28 Oct, 2055 - // 1143 with jazz / cocktail oldies including "Just One of Those Things" by Louis Armstrong; over/under Spain [MC].

1026 SPAIN SER synchros, 29 Oct, 1915 - Sports, echoes [JR].

1035 PORTUGAL R. Comercial, Lisboa, 27 Oct, 0404 - // 783 with soul-influenced mellow Portuguese vocal [MC].

1044 GERMANY MDR Info, Dresden, 26 Oct, 2323 - German news over Spain; SIO 333 [JB/MC].

1044 SPAIN SER synchros, 26 Oct, 0439 - Two stations, distinct echo [JR].

1053 ENGLAND TalkSport synchros, 28 Oct, 1927 - Phone number 878-405060 used, then a phone-in from Bognor Beach about stormy conditions: wind picked up a caravan and tipped it over [MC].

1053 ROMANIA R. România, Iasi, 27 Oct, 0256 - Romanian anthem at equal strength as TalkSport; SIO 422 [JB/JR]. 27 Oct, 1817 - Romanian talk about Constanca and other cities; atop UK [MC].

1053 SPAIN COPE synchros, 29 Oct, 1840 - Sports play-by-play, under TalkSport [JR].

1062 DENMARK Danmarks R., Kalundborg, 23 Oct, 2004-2012 - English news and weather read by Anders Koch, Arabic news at 2005, news in an unID language at 2010; good [JF]. 27 Oct, 1816 - Danish talk, then "I'm So Excited" by the Pointer Sisters [MC]. 27 Oct, 2205 - News in English [JR]. 28 Oct, 1929 - English talk by French-accented man, then a disco instrumental [MC].

1062 NIGERIA Enugu State Broadcasting Service, Onitsha, 22 Oct, 2015-2021 - English commentary on "Night Travel and Road Accidents," announcer said that this was the last newscast of the day, jingle ID "Radio ?" program of pop music which the female announcer said was her favorite program; fair with usual poor modulation [JF]. 22 Oct, 2018 - Woman DJ in English introduced rap music; SIO 343 [JB]. 25 Oct, 2219 - Male DJ introduced soul and reggae music; SIO 343 [JB]. 25 Oct, 2231 - Tentative; music, female DJ, poor [JR]. 27 Oct, 2139 - R&B, disco and dance music, announcement at 2159 "studio ... eleven o'clock" (male DJ), song "I Love You" follows [JR].

1062.07 TURKEY TRT-1, Diyarbakir, 21 Oct, 2222-2302 - Stringed instrumental music, brief announcement at 2233 and then more music, time pips, ID and news at 2300, // 954; good [JF]. 27 Oct, 2305 - // 954 & 1017 with Turkish anthem at sign-off; dominant [MC]. 28 Oct, 2233 - Over growl with Turkish talk [MC].

1071 ENGLAND TalkSport synchros, 26 Oct, 0431 - // 1089 & 1107 [JR].

1071 SPAIN Euskadi Irratia, Bilbao, 28 Oct, 1847 - Two men in Spanish; alone on channel [MC].

1080 SPAIN Onda Cero, Toledo, 29 Oct, 2328 - Interview // 540 & 1341 [JR].

1080 SPAIN SER synchros, 27 Oct, 0205 - "Radio SER" ID; over WTIC [MC].

1088 ANGOLA R. Nacional, Mulenvas, 27 Oct, 2136 - Music, romantic Portuguese vocal; very low audio level on S8 carrier [MC].

1089 ENGLAND TalkSport synchros, 27 Oct, 1815 - Announcer: "Listen to TalkSport without static and re-tuning: go to 'ukdigitalradio.com' " [MC].

1089 RUSSIA R.Chechnya Svobodnaya, Krasnodar, 28 Oct, 0200 - Enormous signalafter test tones ended with sign-on and ID in Russian [MC/NK].

1098 SLOVAKIA R. Slovensko, Velké Záluzie, 24 Oct, 2242 - Man taking call-ins from listeners, // 702; good [JF]. 27 Oct, 0222 - // 702 with "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen; excellent [MC]. 27 Oct, 1813 - Folk song, Slavic talk by woman; very good [MC].

1098 SPAIN RNE R. 5 synchros, 29 Oct, 1910 - // RNE5 sports [JR].

1107 ENGLAND TalkSport synchros, 22 Oct, 0320 - Call-in show, // 1053, 1089; poor [JF]. 23 Oct, 0000 - ID, sports talk, of course; SIO 333 [JB]. 26 Oct, 0426 - ID, news about Microsoft [JR]. 28 Oct, 0145 - Ad for personal dating service; over Spain [MC].

1107 ENGLAND unID station, 22 Oct, 2317-0005 - Soft pop music such as Carpenters, Mariah Carey with a very mellow male announcer, time pips at 0100 and into news and weather, // 1089 after 0000, but was not // before 0000 so not certain that this was TalkSport. Do they run separate programs at times? Fair [JF].

1107 GERMANY AFN synchros, 22 Oct, 2355 - Promo for ESPN baseball, but faded under TalkSport and Spain within a few minutes; SIO 333 [JB].

1107 SCOTLAND Moray Firth R., Inverness, 23 Oct, 0056-0104 - Oldies music, ID as "Good Times and Great Music on Classic Gold," news at 0100, ID and Bee Gees music; note that Moray Firth picks up Classic Gold overnight; poor to fair with TalkSport R. QRM [JF].

1116 CHANNEL IS. & ENGLAND BBC R. 5, Guernsey & Derby, 24 Oct, 0243-0306 - Both stations heard with BBC R. 5 with 1 station about 1 second out of phase with the other causing a delay effect, program was "Up All Night," a newsmagazine show, news and sports at 0300; poor to fair [JF].

1125 BELGIUM RTBF R. Trafic Plus, Houdeng, 28 Oct, 0127 - Tentative; back-to-back pop music, but no announcements heard, // 1233; SIO 242 [JB/JR/MC].

1125 CROATIA Hvratski R., Deanovec, 21 Oct, 2325 - Easy-listening music, // 1134; fair to good [JF]. 27 Oct, 0203 - // 1134 with talk, then folk guitar [MC].

1125 MADEIRA Centro Regional da RDP, Ponta do Pargo, 24 Oct, 2200 - Portuguese news mentioning Funchal; poor [JF]. 27 Oct, 2207 - Portuguese news [MC]. 29 Oct, 0118 - // 666, 693.7, & 836 with Simon & Garfunkel's "Old Friends," some Portuguese talk, then Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years;" fair signal [MC].

1134 CROATIA Hrvatski R., Zadar, 27 Oct, 0203 - Slavic talk about the UN's Kofi Annan; way over Spain [MC].

1134 SPAIN COPE synchros, 29 Oct, 1843 - Sports play-by-play [JR].

1143 GERMANY AFN synchros, 23 Oct, 2054-2102 - "NPR Worldwide on the Armed Forces Network," at 2100 went into "All Things Considered," the NPR Newsmagazine; poor to fair with co-channel QRM from Croatia [JF]. 25 Oct, 2058 - "This is NPR" and English talk; under Spain, SIO 222 [JB].

1143 KALININGRAD / RUSSIA R. Mayak, Bolshakovo, 28 Oct, 2045 - // 1026, interval signal at 2100, American jazz standards [JR]. 28 Oct, 2055 - // 1026 with jazz / cocktail oldies including "Just One of Those Things" by Louis Armstrong; huge. (I don't know why this isn't heard in the US more often.) [MC]. 28 Oct, 2203 - Slavic news by woman mentioning Macedonia, Bosnia, then into music; superloud [MC].

1143 SPAIN COPE Orense, Orense, 28 Oct, 2101 - "COPE Orense" ID; SIO 333 [JB].

1143 SPAIN COPE Oviedo, Oviedo, 25 Oct, 2058 - Local announcements, back to network program at 2100; SIO 322 [JB].

1143 SPAIN COPE synchros, 29 Oct, 1843 - Sports play-by-play [JR].

1152 IRAN IRIB, Tabriz, 28 Oct, 2130 - Farsi talk, possible news, // 1503; SIO 322 [JB]. 28 Oct, 2134 - // 1566 & 1503 [JR].

1152 ROMANIA R. România, Cluj, 21 Oct, 0252-0303 - Lively folk music with lots of violins, nice ID at 0259, time pips, fanfare and news; good until another station signed on at 0300 [JF]. 27 Oct, 0156 - // 855, 1404 & 1530 [JR]. 27 Oct, 0200 - "Aici Bucuresti", then jazz-rock; not quite as loud as // 1179, but better audio; over Glasgow [MC].

1152 SCOTLAND Clyde 2, Glasgow, 20 Oct, 2325 - Pop tunes, male DJ with strong Scottish accent; SIO 333 [JB]. 27 Oct, 0202 - Glasgow mention, then "Through the night, the night shift's choice .." into Duran Duran "Hungry Like the Wolf;" mixed with Romania [MC]. 28 Oct, 2130 - Scottish-accented announcer, into ads and promo for soccer on Clyde 2; SIO 322 [JB].

1152 SPAIN RNE R. 5 synchros, 29 Oct, 1823 - Strong echoes [JR].

1161 EGYPT Mid-Delta R., Tanta, 26 Oct, 2018 - Tentative; strong with music, talker mentions Mubarak and Jerusalem [JR]. 28 Oct, 2142 - Arabic program over/under R. Tay and others [MC].

1161 SCOTLAND Tay AM, Dundee, 21 Oct, 0100 - News and ID; fair to good [JF]. 26 Oct, 2305 - ID in mess [JR]. 28 Oct, 2140 - Ads for windows, "Tay AM" jingle; SIO 333 but lost to Egypt a bit later [JB]. 28 Oct, 2142 - "Radio Tay AM" jingle, then a Diana Ross song; mixed with Egypt and second UK station [MC].

1161 SPAIN Euskadi Irratia, San Sebastián, 29 Oct, 1845 - Sports play-by-play, // 1197 [JR].

1170 ENGLAND Magic 1170, Stockton, 23 Oct, 2251 - ID as "Hits on Magic," music "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell; poor [JF]. 28 Oct, 2137 - Ad for Tom Jones at the Newcastle Arena, for which "Magic 11-70" is a co-host; SIO 232 with QRM from Russia [JB/JR/MC].

1170 NIGERIA Ogun State BC, Abeokuta, 22 Oct, 2025 - African language talk into tribal sounding-chanting; fair-good [NK].

1170 RUSSIA Ibra R., Tbilisskaya, 28 Oct, 2129 - Religious program in Arabic; over/under UK station [JR/MC].

1170 SLOVENIA R.Capodistria, Beli Kriz, 25 Oct, 1925 - Taking out Swansea Sound with Amercan music and Italian talk [NK].\

1179 ROMANIA România Actualitata, Galbeni-Bacau, 21 Oct, 0240 - Local music, // 1152; SIO 343 [JB]. 26 Oct, 2353 - // 855 with choral vocal; dominant [MC]. 27 Oct, 0156 - // 855, 1404 & 1530 [JR]. 27 Oct, 0200 - // 1152 with ID "Aici Bucuresti", then jazz-rock; loud [MC].

1179 SWEDEN R. Sweden, Sölvesbörg, 23 Oct, 0432 - Swedish ID and sports news; fair [JF].

1188 BELGIUM R. Twee, Kuurne, 24 Oct, 0141 - Pop music [JR].

1188 HUNGARY VOA/RFE Relay, Marcali, 21 Oct, 2142 - Slavic talk, seemed to be weather for Balkans; SIO 333 over Belgium [JB]. 22 Oct, 1958-2002 - Pop music and announcement that program has come from the VOA, Washington; ID for RFE at 2000 and into news in an unID language; good [JF]. 23 Oct, 2049 - "Radio Svoboda Europa" [JR]. 26 Oct, 2300 - Eastern European talk about Serbia, Vladimir Putin; excellent [MC].

1197 ENGLAND Virgin R. synchros, 27 Oct, 0309 - // 1215 & 1242 with "Man on the Moon" by R.E.M.; very good [MC].

1197 GERMANY RFE, Munich, 30 Oct, 0023 - "R. Swoboda" // 1188 & 1593 at this time [JR].

1197 SPAIN Euskadi Irratia, Vitoria, 29 Oct, 1845 - Sports play-by-play, // 1161 [JR].

1206 ISRAEL Kol Israel, Haifa, 26 Oct, 0128 - // 11585 [JR].

1215 ENGLAND Virgin R. synchros, 27 Oct, 0309 - // 1197 & 1242 with "Man on the Moon" by R.E.M.; huge [MC]. 27 Oct, 1813 - "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham!, then "Virgin Radio" ID; good [MC]. 28 Oct, 1926 - Local strength with the B52's "Rock Lobster;" I had to crank up the volume and party with that [MC]!

1215 KALININGRAD / RUSSIA V. of Russia, Bolshakovo, 28 Oct, 1800 - Presumed; German program over/under Virgin R. [NK].

1224 NETHERLANDS Q The Beat, Lopik, 24 Oct, 1840 - World music, few ID's [JR]. 28 Oct, 1925 - Backstreet Boys and other "kid" dance-rock; over Spain/Bulgaria [MC].

1224 SPAIN COPE synchros, 29 Oct, 2045 - Sports, // 837 [JR].

1233 BELGIUM RTBF R. Trafic Plus, Rocourt, 28 Oct, 0127 - Tentative; back-to-back pop music, but no announcements heard, // 1125; SIO 232-1 [JB/JR/MC].

1233 CZECH REP. Cesky Rozhlas synchros, 25 Oct, 0410 - Slavic talk; SIO 333 [JB]. 28 Oct, 2151 - // 1287, woman with Czech talk about Russia; excellent [MC].

1242 ENGLAND & SCOTLAND Virgin R. synchros, 27 Oct, 0309 - // 1197 & 1215 with "Man on the Moon" by R.E.M.; fair, dominant [MC].

1242 FRANCE R. Bleu, Marseille, 28 Oct, 1923 - // 1206 with French male folk ballad; good [MC].

1251 ENGLAND Classic Gold Amber, Gt. Barton, 22 Oct, 2001 - News, "Classic Gold Amber weather," "Sugar, Sugar" by the Archies; SIO 232 [JB/JF]. 26 Oct, 0356 - Bond theme, ID, news [JR]. 27 Oct, 0157 - Tentative; probably this with British announcer, "Classic Gold" ID [MC].

1251 LIBYA Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting, Tripoli, 28 Oct, 1922 - Group vocal, strings; compressed "telco" type audio [MC].

1251 PORTUGAL R. Renascença synchros, 29 Oct, 2039 - Football play-by-play, // 891 [JR].

1260 ENGLAND Classic Gold 12-60, Mangotsfield, 24 Oct, 1949 - Music program [JR].

1260 ENGLAND Virgin R., Guildford, 24 Oct, 2023 - Music by REM, // 1197 & 1215; poor [JF/JR].

1260 SPAIN SER synchros, 27 Oct, 2259 - // 1044 with Spanish public speech; over CKHJ [MC]. 28 Oct, 1921 - Sports-related shouting // 1044; good [MC].

1269 GERMANY DeutschlandRadio, Neumünster, 27 Oct, 1812 - Man in German; fair, getting past CJCB [MC]. 28 Oct, 1856 - // 1422 with woman with German political speech in echoey room [MC].

1278 IRELAND RTE R. 2 FM, Cork and Dublin, 23 Oct, 0119 - Ad mentioning Bank Holiday weekend, ID; SIO 232 [JB]. 27 Oct, 0310 - // 612 with "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson; excellent [MC].

1287 CZECH REP. Cesky Rozhlas synchros, 23 Oct, 2155 - Talk in Czech, new program of either RFE, BBC or VOA (couldn't tell which) at 2200, // 1233; good [JF]. 28 Oct, 2151 - // 1233, woman with Czech talk about Russia; huge [MC].

1287 ISRAEL Galei Zahal, Tel Aviv, 21 Oct, 2329 - Hebrew talk, other Galei Zahal frequencies inaudible, SIO 333 [JB].

1287 SPAIN SER synchros, 27 Oct, 1900 - // 1584 [JR].

1296 ENGLAND BBC European Service, Orfordness, 24 Oct, 2002 - "News Hour" [JR].

1296 ENGLAND R. XL, Langley Mill, 27 Oct, 0312 - Jingle "Your Favourite Asian Music and More, 1296 AM," then Indian music [MC].

1296 SPAIN COPE Valencia, Valencia, 27 Oct, 2256 - Spanish phone-in contest; good, over R. XL [MC].

1305 ENGLAND Premier R., Enfield & Ewell, 24 Oct, 1848 - Presumed; English religious talk; poor [JF]. 24 Oct, 1912 - Tentative; US preacher [JR].

1305 SÉNÉGAL RT Sénégal, Rufisque, 21 Oct, 2018-2107, 2115, 2151, 2158-2202 - Tentative–probable; African station in native language, but lots of French words were used...the similarity of this language to what used to be heard on 765 kHz makes Senegal very likely...African drums, newsmagazine from about 2020 with lots of coverage of the "election" in the Ivory Coast, possible ID's as "Rurale" at 2052 and 2055, pretty definite "Radio Rurale" at 2201 (but my tape had stopped working for the last one!), commercial African music noted at 2158 recheck and through the top of the hour; mostly SIO 333 with Spanish QRM but peaking at SIO 444 [JB]. 21 Oct, 2107-2102 - Presumed; African drum music, announcements which seemed to vary between French and Arabic, news (?) at 2035 with many mentions of Abidjan (where an uprising was occurring), local stringed music; no clear ID heard even though signal was quite strong [JF]. 25 Oct, 2028 - African music [JR].

1305 SPAIN RNE R. 5 synchros, 23 Oct, 2003 - distinct echo from three stations! [JR]. 27 Oct, 0313 - // 855 with male Spanish vocal; almost a one-second delay noted between "earliest" and "latest" synchro [MC].

1314 NORWAY NRK, Kvitsøy, 27 Oct, 0314 - Norwegian talk about stocks, then a synthesizer-heavy re-mix of the '80s hit "Take on Me" by A-Ha; local-like [MC]. 28 Oct, 1710 - Norwegian talk, US pops; early fade-in [MC].

1314 SPAIN RNE R. 5 synchros, 29 Oct, 2035 - Echoey [JR].

1314 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UAE R., Dabiya, 20 Oct, 2002-2008 - Arabic news gradually fading under co-channel Norway; poor [JF]. 22 Oct, 1859 - Arabic talk, bit of pop music and sound effects before pips at 1900, then an ID and news; SIO 333 with Spanish QRM since Norway was not a threat this early [JB]. 27 Oct, 1908 - Pop style Arabic music; killing Norway [JR/MC].

1323 ENGLAND BBC Somerset Sound, Taunton, 25 Oct, 0320 - Sports talk // Five Live on 909; SIO 322 [JB/JF].

1323 ENGLAND Capital Gold 1323, Southwick, 25 Oct, 0325 - Pop music under BBC and an Eastern European, but peaked through with an ID at 0325; SIO 222 [JB].

1323 GERMANY V. of Russia Relay, Wachenbrunn, 23 Oct, 1910 - Instrumental music, French ID; fair [JF]. 23 Oct, 2140 - Unidentified language, Balkan music, two definite ID's; SIO 443 [JB]. 28 Oct, 1916 - Woman in French; fair [MC].

1323 ROMANIA R. Tîrgu Mures, Tîrgu Mures, 25 Oct, 0320 - Tentative; Eastern European music, woman speaking Romanian atop Capital Gold and another Brit [NK].

1332 ENGLAND Classic Gold 1332, Gunthorpe, 21 Oct, 0011 - John Denver tune, ID, then other oldies; SIO 333-2 [JB]. 24 Oct, 0141 - "Classic Gold" ID's, oldies music; poor [JF]. 25 Oct, 0058 - Music program [JR].

1332 ENGLAND Premier R., Battersea, 23 Oct, 0041 - Chat about pets, religious talk; SIO 222 [JB].

1332 ITALY RAI R. Uno, Roma, 27 Oct, 1911 - Italian talk about petroleum, political issues; over UK local [MC]. 28 Oct, 1914 - Italian talk mentioning Calabria and other cities [MC].

1332 NETHERLANDS R. Nationaal, Lopikerkapel, 23 Oct, 0025 - Tentative; Dutch folk tunes, but no ID; SIO 332 [JB].

1341 CANARY IS. & SPAIN SER synchros, 28 Oct, 1901 - Spanish shouting; over/under N. Ireland [MC].

1341 NORTHERN IRELAND BBC R. Ulster, Lisnagarvey, 21 Oct, 0017 - Literary Book Reviews; good [JF]. 27 Oct, 0316 - // BBC-5975 with Afro-pop music [MC]. 27 Oct, 1811 - Woman with Gaelic teletalk show [MC].

1341 SPAIN Onda Cero, Almería & Ciudad Real, 29 Oct, 2328 - Interview // 540 & 1080 [JR].

1341 SPAIN SER R. León, León, 28 Oct, 1902 - // 1584 sports [JR].

1350 LATVIA Latvijas R., Kuldiga & Cesvaine, 26 Oct, 2120-2159 - ID, news by woman, VOA Special English program from 2135; SIO 433 [JB]. 26 Oct, 2153 - VOA program "Visions of a Nation" (Special English), // 945 & 1422 [JR]. 28 Oct, 1859 - // 1422 with female Latvian vocal; over unID and growl [MC].

1359 ENGLAND The Breeze, Baker's Wood, 24 Oct, 1850 - Slogan heard in mess [JR].

1368 ISLE OF MAN Manx R., Douglas, 24 Oct, 2224 - Music-of-Your-Life oldies format with music like Vera Lynn, male English announcer; fair [JF]. 25 Oct, 2001 - "Manx weather" then jingle ID; SIO 242 [JB].

1385.92 GUINEA R. Rurale, Labé, 21 Oct, 2042-2047 - West African stringed music; good with het [JF]. 27 Oct, 2127 - African language talk by man; loud [MC].

1386 KALININGRAD / RUSSIA LBH Radio, Bolshakovo, 20 Oct, 2210-2222 - British dance music, British DJs with ID at 2211 and politically incorrect ad for Red Devil (beer?); SIO 555 [JB]. 20 Oct, 2213-2225 - European dance music with ID's as "The Scene" and "The Scene is LBH Radio," phone number for dedications 087-00-77-1386; very good [JF]. 26 Oct, 0021 - English pop program [JR].

1386 KALININGRAD / RUSSIA V. of Russia, Bolshakovo, 27 Oct, 1755 - Dance club hits, German talk; loud [MC]. 28 Oct, 1713 - Woman in German, then classical orchestra playing in a Spanish flamenco style [MC].

1386 KENYA V. of Kenya, Maralal, 21 Oct, 0314 - Talk by a man in an unID language and crowd noises // 4935; poor [JF].

1394.8 ALBANIA TWR, Fllake, 22 Oct, 1938-1947 - Religious music and programming in unID language, interval signal and fanfare at 1944, ID and into Hungarian program; good [JF]. 25 Oct, 1840 - TWR interval signal, sign-on [JR].

1395 NETHERLANDS Business News 1395, Ijsselstein, 24 Oct, 1759 - Talk, sudden sign-off 1800 [JR]. 27 Oct, 1752-1800* - Business news, many ID's, ad for "All Office" ended at 1800 then abruptly off; SIO 243 [JB/MC].

1404 ROMANIA România Actualitata, Sighet, 27 Oct, 0156 - // 855 & 1530 [JR].

1413 ENGLAND BBC R. Gloucestershire, 2 sites, 22 Oct, 2139 - "Slow Boat To China" by Bing Crosby and other oldies, // 1548 BBC5 Overnight relay; fair to good [JF]. 26 Oct, 0527 - Local info and ads [JR].

1413 OMAN BBC Relay, Masirah Is., 22 Oct, 1936 - English program talking about the situation in Yugoslavia, but fading down quickly; poor [JF]. 26 Oct, 1856 - Persian program, English ID [JR].

1422 GERMANY DeutschlandRadio, Heusweiler, 21 Oct, 2204 - German ID and Edith Piaf singing Jacques Brel; good [JF]. 27 Oct, 1800 - German news [MC]. 28 Oct, 1843 - Talk, then German speech in echoey hall; over Latvia [MC].

1422 LATVIA Latvijas R., Rezekne & Valmiera, 26 Oct, 2135 - VOA Special English announcement, // 1350; SIO 322 under Germany [JB]. 26 Oct, 2153 - "Visions of a Nation" (Special English), under Germany, // 945 & 1350 [JR]. 28 Oct, 1859 - // 1350 with female Latvian vocal; under Germany [MC].

1422 ROMANIA România Actualitata, Olanesti, 21 Oct, 0243 - Just fragments of music, but definitely // 1152, however would have been unidentifiable without the parallel; SIO 221 [JB].

1430 IRAN IRIB, Esfahan, 28 Oct, 1831 - Dead-on this odd channel, // 15084 with news by woman; 1-kHz het against 1431 Euro's; WXKS blended in a bit later [JR/MC]. 28 Oct, 2024 - Middle Eastern music, at 2027 anthem then ID, some talk, nationalistic music, // 15084.18; SIO 343 [JB].

1431 ENGLAND Breeze AM, Rayleigh, 24 Oct, 1855 - Slogan noted [JR]. 28 Oct, 1825 - "Breeze AM" ID; over Italy and Arabic station [MC].

1431 ENGLAND Classic Gold, Manor Farm, 24 Oct, 1952 - Music program [JR].

1431 ITALY RAI R. Due synchros, 28 Oct, 1835 - // 846, echoey [JR].

1440 LUXEMBOURG R. Luxembourg, Marnach, 27 Oct, 0321 - Woman in German with religious talk mentioning Heilige Geist (Holy Ghost); over Saudi Arabia [MC]. 27 Oct, 1801 - German talk mentioning Arabs [MC]. 28 Oct, 1822 - "You Are So Beautiful" by Joe Cocker; local-like [MC].

1440 LUXEMBOURG R. Nederland, Marnach, 24 Oct, 1801 - Super Oldies Show [JR].

1440 SAUDI ARABIA BSKSA, Damman, 21 Oct, 2149 - Arabic talk over co-channel Luxembourg // 1521; fair [JF]. 27 Oct, 0321 - // 1521 with Koran; under Luxembourg [MC]. 27 Oct, 2221 - // 9870 with pop Arabic music; over WJAE [MC].

1448.13 UNID 25 Oct, 1833 - Possibly very weak audio; not Libya they wereheard // 972 and right on 1449 kHz [NK].

1449 IRAN IRIB, Bandar-e-Torkaman, 25 Oct, 1830 - Good with Koran, then sign-off with anthem; this was not // anything else we can hear from Iran, and is almost always heard in decent TA conditions [NK]. 28 Oct, 1755 - Talks across the top of the hour, mentions "Palestiniya" and "Jerushalem;" not // 15084 [JR]. 28 Oct, 1821 - Koranic male vocal; huge [MC].

1449 LIBYA VO Greater Arab Homeland, Misurata, 25 Oct, 1910 - // 972 [JR].

1458 ALBANIA VOA Relay, Fllake, 25 Oct, 1840 - VOA program [JR].

1458 ENGLAND BBC Asian Network, Langley Mill, 27 Oct, 1902 - Presumed; Hindi news heard under Sunrise R. then faded up to dominate until 1905; SIO 222 [JB].

1458 ENGLAND Big 14-58 AM, Ashton Moss, 20 Oct, 2300 - On top of a pile of signals with ID before Independent Radio News; SIO 322 [JB]. 23 Oct, 1926 - "Big" slogan, local ads [JR]. 23 Oct, 1939 - Ad for Malvern Windows, Learn Direct, ID as "The Big," announcer gave soccer update saying that there was a goal in the Southampton vs Manchester match, music by the Knack; fair with QRM from Sunrise R. [JF].

1458 ENGLAND Sunrise R., Brookmans Park, 24 Oct, 1910 - Indian talk and music [JR]. 27 Oct, 1902 - Independent Radio News ended then ID before it faded below Big 14-58 and BBC Asian Net; SIO 222 [JB].

1467 FRANCE / MONACO RMC, Roumoules, 25 Oct, 1857 - Sign-on [JR].

1467 FRANCE / MONACO TWR, Roumoules, 21 Oct, 2134 - Program in Arabic translated into English (or vice-versa) describing people who deceive and destroy; good [JF].

1467 IRAN IRIB, unknown site, 25 Oct, 2358 - Weak but basically alone with Call to Prayer, // 15084, bad modulation [JR/NK].

1476 AUSTRIA Österreichischer Rundfunk, Bisamberg, 21 Oct, 2134 - Easy listening music with a very laid-back English announcer, German and English ID's at 2143 and into German program; good [JF]. 25 Oct, 2002 - English announcer under UAE [JR]. 27 Oct, 2144 - Woman in English mentioned Austria, finance ministers' meeting; dominant on Euro-Bev [MC]. 28 Oct, 1815 - Woman in German, "Wien" mentions [MC].

1476 AZERBAIJAN Azerbaijani R., 2 sites, 27 Oct, 0100 - Woman mentions "Azerbaijan" during news, strong signal [JR].

1476 BENIN ORT du Benin, Cotonou, 27 Oct, 2141- Tentative–probable (no sign of any signal whatsoever on 1475 even though this used to be a fairly routine catch); highlife music and French pop songs, rap; no ID as Austria became too powerful around 2200; best on Brazil-Bev, SIO 322 [JB/MC].

1476 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES U.A.E. R., Dubai, 21 Oct, 0224-0250 - Stringed instrumental music, ID at 0226 ad into anthem, sign-on announcement with frequencies; covered by another station (Azerbaijan?) at 0228, Call to Prayer at 0230; // 13675; fair [JF]. 21 Oct, 0227 - Anthem, announcements in Arabic; SIO 343 [JB]. 27 Oct, 0246 - // 13675 with a cappella Arabic vocal; very good [MC]. 28 Oct, 1805 - Man in Arabic // 13675 [MC].

1484.55 ANGOLA EP do Kuanza-Sul, Sumbe, 22 Oct, 2310-2312* - Angolan anthem and off; SIO 332 [JB/JF]. 27 Oct, 2103 - Clear Portuguese speaker, words heard include "pais", "todo", "musica"; high life music begins at 2113, five short and one long pips heard at 2130, then more music; tough Spain-1485.0 QRM [JR/MC].

1485 ASCENSION IS. BBC Relay, English Bay, 22 Oct, 0133-0209 - BBC World Service program // 5975, "Reporting Religion," news headlines, "Letter From America," time pips and "The World Today" at 0200; tended to fade up briefly for a few minutes at a time then drop down; great signal considering listed at 500 watts; poor [JF].

1485 ENGLAND BBC unID station, 28 Oct, 1804 - BBC news; over Spain [MC].

1485 ENGLAND Classic Gold, Newbury, 24 Oct, 1952 - Oldies program [JR].

1494 FRANCE R. Bleu synchros, 28 Oct, 1800 - French talk over/under Moldova [MC].

1494 JORDAN R. Jordan, Al Karanah, 24 Oct, 1910 - Good peaks above France with Arabic news, // 9830 [NK].

1494 MOLDOVA R. Moldova, Cahul & Edinet, 26 Oct, 0258 - // 873 [JR]. 28 Oct, 1800 - Chimes, then talk in Romanian or Moldovan; mixed with France [MC].

1502.77 UNID 27 Oct, 2150 - Het against Azores; probably of African origin [MC].

1503 AZORES AFN, Lajes, 23 Oct, 2013 - C&W music program, USA Radio Network Sports News, PSA's; fair [JF]. 27 Oct, 2150 - American-accented news about the attack on the USS Cole; loud [MC].

1503 EGYPT North Sinai R., El Arish, 29 Oct, 2005 - News items with the short intro to "Charge!" (used at American sports events) between items, "El Arish" said clearly at end of news, then music [JR].

1503 IRAN IRIB, Bushehr, 26 Oct, 0221 - // 1026 [JR]. 26 Oct, 1958 - Western orchestral music, // 15084.45; SIO 343 [JB]. 28 Oct, 1808 - Middle East female vocal // 15084 [MC].

1503.68 UNID 28 Oct, 2316 - Het, maybe African [MC].

1512 BELGIUM R. Netherlands, Wolvertem, 20 Oct, 2111 - ID and eclectic program of music; good [JF].

1512 BELGIUM R. Vlaanderen International, Wolvertem, 27 Oct, 1802 - Flemish news-talk; good [MC]. 27 Oct, 1858 - Interval signal, "Radio Vlaanderen International" ID by woman [MC].

1512 CRETE / GREECE ERA, Chania, 24 Oct, 0100 - Greek interval signal over Koran (presumably Saudi Arabia); SIO 232 [JB].

1512 SAUDI ARABIA BSKSA, Jeddah, 28 Oct, 0112 - Koran; over others [MC]. 28 Oct, 2212 - Koranic vocal; under Belgium [MC].

1521 IRAN IRIB, Kiashahr, 26 Oct, 0221 - // 1026 [JR].

1521 SAUDI ARABIA BSKSA, Duba, 27 Oct, 1803 - Arabic talk about Saudi Arabian government; loud [MC].

1521 SPAIN SER R. Castellón, Castellón, 24 Oct, 0222 - // 990 with talk [JR].

1530 ENGLAND unID station, 27 Oct, 1852 - "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House; briefly over Vatican [MC].

1530 ROMANIA România Actualitata, Mhaileni, 21 Oct, 0246 - Violin folk music, man and woman in Romanian, // 1152; SIO 333 with Vatican QRM [JB/JF].

1530 SÃO TOMÉ E PRINCÍPE VOA Relay, Pinheira, 21 Oct, 0300 - Yankee Doodle, VOA News with African emphasis; SIO 343 [JB]. 21 Oct, 2107 - "VOA News Now" with report on Mid-East situation; good with Vatican QRM [JF]. 24 Oct, 2042 - VOA program // 909 [JR]. 27 Oct, 2058 - // Botswana-909 with US dance-rock music; loud on Afro-Bev [MC]. 28 Oct, 1757 - Female pop dance vocal; over Vatican [MC].

1530 VATICAN CITY R. Vaticana, Vatican, 27 Oct, 1850 - Holy Rosary in Latin "Ave Maria, gratia plena..." with woman and children; local-like [MC].

1539 GERMANY Evangeliums Rundfunk, Mainflingen, 23 Oct, 2026 - German religious talk by woman and man, up-tempo religious music until 2039 fade out; good [JF]. 25 Oct, 1959 - "ERF" ID's, religious music [JR]. 27 Oct, 1906 - German religious talk by woman [MC].

1539 SPAIN SER synchros, 29 Oct, 1829 - // 1584 sports [JR].

1539.07 IRAN / CLANDESTINE?...R. Jihad, 27 Oct, 1830 - Male vocal, no ID heard, but in almost every day as a "big blob" on this frequency; Medium Wave News (UK) says this is the "Voice of the Iraqi Islamic Movement" with the transmitter believed to be in Iran (MWN, July 2000) [JR/MC]. 28 Oct, 2021 - Koran faded up; SIO 222 [JB]. 28 Oct, 2206 - Arabic talk, mentioned Iraq twice, but soon lost to Spain; SIO 222 [JB]. 28 Oct, 2209 - Good with Koran [MC]. 28 Oct, 2258 - Nice peak with religious talk, then Koran but no ID before it submerged below Spain; SIO 333 [JB].

1548 ENGLAND BBC R. Bristol, Mangotsfield, 22 Oct, 2026-2042 - Older rock music such as Bob Dylan, Boz Scaggs and Rita Coolidge, interview with a woman from the Bristol area; poor to fair with fades [JF]. 27 Oct, 1904 - Presumed; traffic report mentioning Weston Super Mare and Tiverton [MC].

1548 KUWAIT VOA Relay, Kabt, 20 Oct, 2106 - English news as part of "VOA News Now;" good [JF]. 23 Oct, 2200 - ID, well over all the British stations; SIO 433 [JB]. 24 Oct, 2222 - VOA sports [JR].

1550 ALGERIA / CLANDESTINE R Nacional Rep. Arabe Saharaui Democr., Tindouf, 26 Oct, 2028 - Under strong bubble jammer [JR]. 28 Oct, 1756 - Man in Arabic; poor [MC].

1557 CROATIA Hvratski R., Osijek, 30 Oct, 0023 - // 1134 [JR].

1557 FRANCE R. Bleu, Nice, 27 Oct, 1902 - French news mentioning lecture in Provence about 'sida' (AIDS) [MC].

1566 ENGLAND County Sound R., Peasmarsh, 21 Oct, 0000-0005 - Independent Radio News // 1458, jingle ID at 0002 "County Sound Radio," music until fade out; fair [JF]. 28 Oct, 1943 - ID "County Sound Radio, 1566 Medium Wave" [MC]. 29 Oct, 1827 - Frequently heard all week [JR].

1566 INDIA All India R., Nagpur, 26 Oct, 0037 - English news // 5010 [JR].

1566 IRAN IRIB, Bandar Abbas, 26 Oct, 0210 - // 1026 [JR].

1575 GERMANY Mega R., Burg, 26 Oct, 2325 - "Mega" ID, // 576 [JR]. 26 Oct, 2327 - Presumed; non-stop dance music briefly noted beneath Spain, // 576; SIO 322 [JB/MC].

1575 ITALY RAI R. Uno synchros, 20 Oct, 2030 - Italian ads and news items faded up over the SER stations; SIO 333 [JB]. 27 Oct, 1847 - Italian political talk; atop Spain [MC].

1575 KUWAIT / CLANDESTINE Al Mustaqbal, 28 Oct, 2302 - Tentative; Arabic; no ID heard, but Mark says this is them! Kuwait has been reported here [JR]. 28 Oct, 2303 - Shrill Arabic vocal; well over Spain/Italy/Germany [MC].

1583.65 SPANISH MOROCCO / CEUTA RadiOlé, Costa del Estrecho, 24 Oct, 2206-2217 - Spanish talk by laid-back man over soft flamenco music, no ID, but their usual slightly off-channel frequency indicates that it was them; fair with het [JF]. 27 Oct, 2108 - Excited Spanish shouting; good [MC].

1584 SPAIN SER R. Zamora, Zamora, 22 Oct, 2127 - SER sports split to local, ad for "Super Nova en el centro de Zamora," back to network at 2130; SIO 433 [JB/JF]. 28 Oct, 2159 - Local ads, "Radio Zamora, Cadena SER;" SIO 444 [JB].

1593 GERMANY R. Free Europe, Holzkirchen, 20 Oct, 2353 - Presumed; Serbo-Croatian talk by male; good [JF]. 27 Oct, 1901 - Slavic talk mentioning Bosnia-Hercegovina; good [MC]. 29 Oct, 1900 - "Radio Swoboda" ID [JR].

1593 IRELAND Cross Rhythms, Monaghan, 20 Oct, 2023 - Brit-accented DJ playing Christian pop music; SIO 222 under R. Free Europe [JB]. 21 Oct, 0019-0100 - Rap and pop music, PSA mentioning the meaning of life and quoting the scriptures at 0042, ID at 0056; faded by 0100, good [JF]. 21 Oct, 0056 - ID and program hype; SIO 343 [JB]. 29 Oct, 1859 - Tentative; Hindi music, English talk, no ID heard [JR].

1593 ROMANIA R. Cluj, Cluj, 30 Oct, 0012 - "Radio Cluj" slogan heard [JR].

1602 SPAIN Euskadi Irratia, Vitória, 27 Oct, 1859 - ID, four short, one long pips [JR]. 28 Oct, 2257 - Romantic piano music, then man in Spanish; over SER synchros [MC].

1602 SPAIN SER synchros, 27 Oct, 1846 - Spanish talk // other SER's; over/under Vitória [MC].

1602.8 UNID 28 Oct, 0150 - Het [MC].

1611 VATICAN CITY R. Vaticana, Vatican, 28 Oct, 1749 - Slavic talk by woman; fair [MC].

1634.90 GREECE / PIRATE unID station, 25 Oct, 0128 - Greek music; but faded out without ID; SIO 241 [JB/JR].

1635.54 NETHERLANDS / PIRATE R. Nordzee, 20 Oct, 2226-2301 - Easy-listening Dutch pop music with few announcements, ID at 2238, music "Hello Mary Lou" (not the Rick Nelson version); numerous other Dutch pirates were also heard in this frequency area; usually they were only heard for a few minutes before they went off or changed frequency; good [JF]. 20 Oct, 2227-2240 - Dutch folk tunes, ID and a few words in Dutch at 2240; SIO 353-1 with deep fades [JB].

1635.89 NETHERLANDS / PIRATE Rona Leiza, 28 Oct, 2244-2358 - Dutch polkas, all Dutch talk with regards to many dozens of Dutch "amateurs" and a number of ID's with the cell phone number; SIO 333 [JB/JR].

1636.00 NETHERLANDS / PIRATE unID station, 21 Oct, 2207 - Probably a QSO, lots of stations mentioned (Toulouse, Nordzee, Electron...) but not sure which one this was! Dutch polka; SIO 333 [JB]. 21 Oct, 2234 - Same polka as before, more Dutch talk mentioning same stations; SIO 433 [JB].

1639.48 GREECE/PIRATE unID station, 20 Oct, 2328-2351 - Unstable carrier, drifting up to 1639.60 kHz by 2343; Greek music, no announcements between tunes, just long pauses; SIO 353 at peak [JB/JF].

1645.00 NETHERLANDS / PIRATE unID station, 22 Oct, 2238 - Just caught bits of the mail-drop address in Preston, then went off; SIO 252 [JB].

1646.05 NETHERLANDS / PIRATE R. Santa Fe, 21 Oct, 2206 - Quick ID then lively Dutch music; SIO 322 with het [JB/JF].

Pan-American DX

530 TURKS & CAICOS IS. R. Visión Cristiana Internacional, South Caicos, 21 Oct, 0954 - Spanish ID giving program address in Dominican Republic; fair to good [JF]. 27 Oct, 0326 - Spanish religion; good on southern Beverage [MC].

555 ST. KITTS & NEVIS R. ZIZ, Basseterre, St. Kitts, 29 Oct, 0113 - Upbeat soca-reggae vocal; fair with CHVO-560 phased [MC].

610 BRAZIL R. Itatiaia (ZYL268), Belo Horizonte, 29 Oct, 2345 - Auto ad, ID [JR].

610 TRINIDAD NBS, Port of Spain, 24 Oct, 0750-0802 - Tentative; a BBC newsmagzine program. BBC World Service ID and time pips at 0800, BBC news; best on Brazilian wire; fair [JF].

630 ARGENTINA R. Difusora Patagonia (LU4), Comodoro Rivadavia, 29 Oct, 0149 - Heard with ID under strong domestic [JR].

630 ARGENTINA R. Rivadavia (LS5), Buenos Aires, 29 Oct, 0300 - Dominant with "Radio Rivadavia" ID [NK].

650 BRAZIL R. Clube (ZYH462), Valença, 25 Oct, 2132-2200 - Mainly talk, mentioned "Bahia" a number of times, ID at 2136; SIO 322 under CKGA [JB].

650 PARAGUAY R. Uno, Asunción, 26 Oct, 0701 - Slogan and "Asunción" [JR]. 27 Oct, 0802, 0847 - Emerging slightly from a tangle of signals, ID, apparent news; ID noted again at 0847; SIO 232 [JB].

650 URUGUAY S.O.D.R.E. (CX6), Montevideo, 22 Oct, 0230-0240 - Tentative; likely the classical music station here with CKGA phased, male announcer said, "Una produción Culgas...MonteFilme" likely a play on words for Montevideo; station soon lost to the Colombian pest [NK].

660 ST. LUCIA St. Lucia BC, Babonneau, 21 Oct, 0140 - Caribbean reggae music, male announcer in English mentioning Castries; fair [JF].

660 VENEZUELA Ondas de Los Médanos (YVNA), Coro, 27 Oct, 0935 - Weak under WFAN [JR].

680 PUERTO RICO R. Guapa (WAPA), San Juan, 23 Oct, 0905 - Ads, Spanish news talking about a governor, ID "Cadena Guapa Radio" at 0908; good [JF]. 24 Oct, 2330 - Very strong [JR].

680 VENEZUELA R. Cumaná (YVQR), Cumaná, 29 Oct, 0100 - "La Voz de Dios" religious program, mentions of Cumaná, Venezuela; briefly over WRKO/CKXG/other LA's [JR/MC].

690 ANGUILLA Caribbean Beacon, The Valley, 27 Oct, 0342 - // 6090 with gospel song "He's Got the Power" [MC].

690 BRAZIL R. Dragão do Mar (ZYH587), Fortaleza, 23 Oct, 0302 - Full Portuguese ID then off; fair [JF]. 27 Oct, 0811 - Crowing fowl, PSA item about police in Fortaleza; SIO 444 [JB]. 29 Oct, 0133 - Portuguese preaching; good [MC].

700 ARGENTINA R. Córdoba (LV3), Córdoba, 28 Oct, 0632 - Battling R. Sur, but jingle ID and "Córdoba para todo el paìs" slogan emerged at critical times, seemed to be the 50^th anniversary of the station; SIO 333 at peak [JB]. 29 Oct, 0356 - ID heard, and "La Radio de Argentina" [JR].

700 BRAZIL R. Nova Eldorado AM (ZYK686), São Paulo, 29 Oct, 0140 - ID "Eldorado AM, São Paulo;" good [MC].

700 UNID "R. Cinco Seis Cientos," 26 Oct, 0638 - Heard this odd ID, then a few minutes later something like "Maracay 27, Radio Nueve Cinco, hoy 229968 ...". at 0829 I also heard the same or another station in Spanish with an ID announcement that sounded like this: "Radio Punte de Pinto, Señal gigante en Calí" [JR].

700 VENEZUELA R. Sur (YVPQ), Puerto Ordaz, 26 Oct, 0840-0900 - Initially poor, but faded up with Venez. dance music, ID at 0858, promo for "Venezuelanidad" program, then slogan "La señal gigante de Guyana;" SIO 433 at 0858 [JB]. 29 Oct, 0358 - Venezuelan anthem [JR].

705 ST. VINCENT NBC 705 Radio, Kingstown, 27 Oct, 2314 - Noted weak in passing with mellow pop music; this one seems to be nowhere near as strong as a few years ago [NK].

720 BRAZIL R. Clube de Pernambuco (ZYI770), Recife, 27 Oct, 0506 - Very strong with slogan [JR].

720 BRAZIL R. Guaiba (ZYK276), Porto Alegre, 22 Oct, 0317 - Ads, ID and "Música da Guaiba"; poor [JF].

720 GREENLAND Kalallit Nunaata Radioa, Simiutaq, 22 Oct, 0035 - Slow-talking man in Greenland dialect; SIO 433 [JB]. 23 Oct, 1843-1902 - Surprisingly early signal with man and woman in Greenlandic, pop music tune, chimes interval signal at 1859, news at 1900; fair [JF]. 28 Oct, 1955 - Greenlandic talk by woman, then speech by man: probably a city council or town meeting: basement acoustics, paper shuffling and folding-chair noises evident [MC]. Faded in around 1720 every day that I checked [NK].

720 VENEZUELA R. Oriente (YVQE), Porlamar, 27 Oct, 2314 - Venezuelan political speech // 910 & 1020 [MC].

730 BRAZIL Emissora Rural (ZYI780), Petrolina, 27 Oct, 2359 - Nice ID over CKAC [JR].

730 COLOMBIA Cadena Melodía (HJCU), SF de Bogotá, 25 Oct, 0459 - Not sure if this was a sign-on, ascending bells sound-effect, long ID; SIO 322 [JB].

730 PARAGUAY R. Cardinal AM (ZP7), Asunción, 25 Oct, 0430-0501 - Talk about Spanish history, sounded like Cuban programming, until Supermercado Guaraní and beer ads then ID at 0500; SIO 322 [JB]. 26 Oct, 0643 - "Cardinal" ID [JR]. 29 Oct, 0849 - Presumed; nice harp music, male in Spanish and a local language, mentioned "Guaraní" a couple of times; SIO 333 [JB]. 30 Oct, 0830 - Suspect this one with a promo for "Canal 13" event in November; my last logging of the DXpedition ... zzzz [JR].

730 TRINIDAD R. Trinidad, Port of Spain, 23 Oct, 0916 - Call-in show with listeners complaining of their ailments and male preacher with Caribbean accent giving religious accounts; fair [JF]. 25 Oct, 0448-0502 - Tentative; only short fade-ups of British-accented (not Caribbean) announcer, mainly sports talk, not // BBC on 6175 [JB]. 29 Oct, 0843 - Tentative; British-accented talk; SIO 222 [JB].

740 BRAZIL R. Sociedad de Bahia (ZYH446), Salvador, 27 Oct, 0632 - "Bahia" shouted, cows moo [JR].

760 BRAZIL R. Record (ZYH588), Fortaleza, 24 Oct, 2150 - ID, all alone [JR]. 27 Oct, 0343 - Portuguese preacher; loud [MC].

760 GUYANA Guyana BC, Georgetown, 26 Oct, 0915 - "GBC" ID then country and western music; SIO 333 [JB/JF]. 29 Oct, 0855 - Interval signal, Hindi music at 0909 recheck; SIO 444 [JB].

770 UNID 30 Oct, 0724 - Seagulls/bird sounds, as on 890, also briefly noted on 1410 [JR].

770 URUGUAY R. Oriental (CX12), Montevideo, 29 Oct, 0142 - Strong, with slogan [JR].

780 BRAZIL R. Jornal do Comércio (ZYI771), Recife, 28 Oct, 2321 - Over CFDR with ads and ID; SIO 332 [JB].

780 PARAGUAY R. Primero de Marzo (ZP70), Asunción, 25 Oct, 0250-0302 - Pretty good with CFDR phased; calendar of events and clear ID at 0300 [NK]. 25 Oct, 0253 - Spanish talks, ID'ed by Neil; poor [JF]. 25 Oct, 0300 - ID heard on tape replay [JR]. 29 Oct, 0802 - Long ID that sounded like the sign-on; SIO 332, over a music station [JB].

790 ARGENTINA R. Mitre (LR6), Buenos Aires, 22 Oct, 0127 - ID in passing before EZL music under Barbados; poor [JF].

790 BARBADOS V. of Barbados, Bridgetown, 22 Oct, 0130 - Tentative; old soul music from the 60's, ads; fair [JF].

809.24 UNID 27 Oct, 0410 - Het [MC].

810 BRAZIL R. Verdes Mares (ZYH589), Fortaleza, 22 Oct, 2231 - Male talking with lots of mentions of Fortaleza; poor [JF].

820 BRAZIL R. Gazeta (ZYI212), Vitória, 29 Oct, 0140 - ID after music [JR].

820 VENEZUELA R. Guadalupana (YVXG), Coro, 26 Oct, 0940 - ID, last one standing from a mix of Latin stations, SIO 242 [JB]. 27 Oct, 0903 - Children reciting Rosary [JR].

830 BRAZIL unID station, 24 Oct, 2135-2137 - Well atop two other Brazilians with lots of Maranhão mentions and seemingly talking about coming events; perhaps a native speaker might have deciphered the tape but I couldn't pinpoint anything [NK].

830 CANADA CFJR, Brockville ON, 27 Oct, 1013 - Token Canadian log, but also first time heard…ad saying "no GST or PST in Brockville," but faded quickly leaving just WCCO; SIO 232 [JB].

830 CUBA R. Reloj, unknown site, 26 Oct, 0940 - Usual ticks and code ID's [JR].

830 ST. KITTS & NEVIS Trinity Broadcast Network, Charlestown, Nevis, 23 Oct, 0923 - Religious music request program for listeners on Caribbean islands; ID as "This is Radio Paradise, broadcasting 24 hours a day with 50,000 watts of awesome power;" good [JF]. 27 Oct, 0354 - // 7510 with prayer for forgiveness; excellent [MC].

840 ARGENTINA R. Salta (LV9), Salta, 24 Oct, 0853 - News program "El Paìs Hoy,"heard many times before; SIO 333 [JB/JF].

840 BRAZIL R. Bandeirantes (ZYK687), São Paulo, 24 Oct, 0028 - Ad, ID in Portuguese; poor [JF]. 27 Oct, 0515 - Pips at 0515, ID [JR].

840 BRAZIL R. Excelsior da Bahia (ZYH447), Salvador, 22 Oct, 0118 - Ads mentioning Bahia, music but faded out quickly; fair [JF].

840 CUBA CMHW, Santa Clara, 27 Oct, 1000 - "CMHW, Cadena Provincial de Radio Indigatura, en el corazón de Cuba" [JR]. 29 Oct, 0951 - Telephone number, "música cubana," news for Santa Clara province at 0957 bracketed by strident music; SIO 343 [JB].

840 HAITI 4VEH, Cap Haitien, 27 Oct, 1000 - Sign-on with "Amazing Grace" in bell tones, no spoken evidence, but also heard in 1996 at the same time; however, at the same time on 28 Oct no bells were heard [JR].

840 VENEZUELA R. Juventud (YVMY), Barquisimeto, 28 Oct, 0935 - ID while digging for WXEW Yabucoa, which is only tentative with English word "Engineers," and possible mention of Yabucoa [JR].

850 URUGUAY R. Carve (CX16), Montevideo, 27 Oct, 0830 - "Carve Ruta" about road conditions, ID; SIO 333 [JB]. 27 Oct, 2331 - Tentative; mentions of Juan Carlos Monoya, local ads and telephone numbers [JR].

850 VENEZUELA R. Fé y Alegría (YVZC), Maracaibo, 21 Oct, 0915 - Spanish ID by woman and LA music; poor [JF].

860 BRAZIL R. Cidade (ZYH592), Maracanau, 22 Oct, 2053 - In well with Fortaleza ads; this is too early for Rio, which was mixed in later and grew to dominance [NK].

860 BRAZIL R. CBN (ZYJ459), Rio de Janeiro, 25 Oct, 2300 - "CBN" ID, time; SIO 333 [JB]. 28 Oct, 0030 - "Rádio CBN" ID, Portuguese talk; loud [MC].

860 VENEZUELA R. Enlace 860 (YVYE), Valle de la Pascua, 21 Oct, *0859-0902 - National Anthem, nice ID and sign-on announcement, LA music; good [JF].

869.94 VENEZUELA CNB-870 (YVRU), Puerto La Cruz, 26 Oct, 0920 - ID after music [JR]. 27 Oct, 0356 - Atop with ads and "CNB" ID's [NK].

890 BRAZIL R. Gazeta (ZYK690), São Paulo, 28 Oct, 2353 - Over and under other Brazilians, mentioned location during religious talk at 2353, then jingle ID at 0006; SIO 222 [JB].

890 BRAZIL R. Planalto (ZYH706), Brasília, 28 Oct, 0600 - ID, mention of Brasília; shortly after this time a continuous sound of seagulls was heard...was this Planalto's morning background sound, or another station? [JR]. 28 Oct, 2331 - Number of Brazilians audible concurrently, this one had music, ID's at 2331 and 2340, audio seemed a bit muffled; SIO 332 [JB].

890 UNID 24 Oct, 0857-0905 - Easy-listening Spanish ballads mixing with another co-channel Spanish station which dominated by 0900; poor [JF].

890 URUGUAY R. Sarandí Sport (CX18), Montevideo, 28 Oct, 0702 - Ads, talk about Uruguayan soccer then car racing, Uruguayan government agency promo; SIO 322 with QRM from a station just broadcasting bird sounds [JB].

895 ST. KITTS & NEVIS V. of Nevis, Bath Village, Nevis, 27 Oct, 2200 - Ad for "Joseph's Stop-and-Shop and Quick Bargains," then slogan "Caribbean Powerhouse, Von Radio" [MC].

900 BARBADOS Caribbean Broadcasting Corp., Bridgetown, 27 Oct, 2157 - BBC Caribbean News; over others [MC].

910 ARGENTINA La Red (LR5), Buenos Aires, 27 Oct, 0815 - Schedule for televised soccer in Argentina, news, ID, time and weather; SIO 343 [JB].

910 SAN ANDRÉS / COLOMBIA RCN (HJMY), San Andrés, 25 Oct, 0621 - // 980 RCN [JR].

910 VENEZUELA RQ-910 (YVRQ), Caracas, 24 Oct, 2327 - Strong all week [JR]. 26 Oct, 0850 - LA ballads with very few announcements, // 1580; SIO 433 [JB]. 27 Oct, 2314 - Venezuelan political speech // 720, 1020 [MC].

930 BRAZIL unID station, 29 Oct, 2313 - Portuguese preacher, through CJYQ [JR].

940 BRAZIL LBV (ZYJ453), Rio de Janeiro, 28 Oct, 0719 - Network program [JR]. 29 Oct, 0041 - "LBV" network ID, Portuguese preaching // 1410 [MC].

950 ARGENTINA R. Libertad (LR3), Buenos Aires, 29 Oct, 0300 - ID's, and anti-drugs announcement; SIO 322 [JB].

950 BRAZIL R. Atalaia (ZYL212), Belo Horizonte, 29 Oct, 0259 - ID while briefly over R. Libertad; SIO 322 [JB]. 30 Oct, 0251 - "Rádio Atalaia AM" ID [JR].

970 BRAZIL R. Pampa (ZYK201), Porto Alegre, 25 Oct, 0151-0220 - Soccer coverage to 0204, jingle ID at 0204, program promo for "Tribuna Popular" at 0209, talked about events in Porto Alegre at 0211; SIO 433 at peak [JB]. 25 Oct, 0156 - Also used "Um Nova Onda" slogan, mentioned Vasco da Gama football team [JR]. 25 Oct, 0209 - Male in Portuguese mentioning "uma nova" (a new station – renamed Radio Caicara, Porto Alegre), program "Tribuna Popular;" poor [JF].

980 BRAZIL R. Nacional (ZYH707), Brasília, 21 Oct, 0159 - ID, news at 0200; SIO 333 over RCN [JB]. 25, 0236 - Music "In The Mood," Portuguese ID, music "Johnny B. Goode;" fair with QRM from Colombia [JF].

980 COLOMBIA RCN (HJES), Calí, 21 Oct, 0207 - Faded up over Brazil with political ad, ID and news; SIO 333 [JB]. 21 Oct, 0908 - Spanish talk with lots of mentions of Colombia, ads; good [JF]. 23 Oct, 0316 - Report from RCN Bucaramanga; SIO 343 [JB]. 25 Oct, 0231 - News and ID, also heard 27 Oct, 0925 [JR].

990 ARGENTINA R. Splendid (LR4), Buenos Aires, 21 Oct, 0022 - Presumed; tango music under co-channel CBY; poor [JF].

990 BRAZIL R. Rural (ZYJ596), Mossoró, 22 Oct, 2222 - Very loud peaks over and under CBY and then faded away; mellow Portuguese music and nice ID as "Rádio Rural em Mossoró" [NK]. 22 Oct, 2224 - Mellow pops, ID; SIO 222 under CBY [JB].

1010 BRAZIL R. Bahia (ZYH448), Salvador, 22 Oct, 2145 - Soccer, ads, ID with call at 2202; SIO 322 [JB/JF]. 25 Oct, 2105 - Station promos [JR].

1010 BRAZIL R. CBN (ZYH625), Fortaleza, 29 Oct, 0200 - Portuguese talk; in dogfight with CKXD and WINS [MC].

1010 BRAZIL R. Povo (ZYH635), Fortaleza, 22 Oct, 2145 - "Igreja Universal" programming, ID at 2202; SIO 322 [JB].

1020 VENEZUELA R. Margarita (YVRS), La Asunción, 27 Oct, 2314 - Venezuelan political speech // 720 & 910 [MC].

1020.08 PARAGUAY R. Ñandutí (ZP14), Asunción, 26 Oct, 0657 - Slogan, "ABC Color," "Cadena Farmacia," "50 años en Paraguay" [JR]. 29 Oct, 0757 - Presumed; woman announcer with names of contest winners, lively music; SIO 332 with deep fades [JB].

1030 BRAZIL R. Olinda (ZYI777), Olinda, 22 Oct, 2150 - Ads, pop music, ID at 2201; fair with fades [JF]. 27 Oct, 0647 - Slogan heard [JR].

1049.97 UNID 27 Oct, 2335 - Het [MC].

1050 URUGUAY S.O.D.R.E. (CX26), Montevideo, 27 Oct, 2331 - Tentative; sports schedule, no ID [JR]. 27 Oct, 2339-2344 - Tentative; schedule of motor sports in Uruguay, lots of news about Formula One racing; peaked at SIO 333 but lost to WEVD [JB].

1060 BRAZIL R. Tapuyo de Mossoró (ZYJ597), Mossoró, 26 Oct, 2057 - Guitar music, ID and more music at 2101; SIO 233 [JB]. 28 Oct, 2323 - ID noted in passing [JR].

1070 ARGENTINA R. El Mundo (LR1), Buenos Aires, 22 Oct, 0220 - Presumed; program about Cole Porter and Frank Sinatra; SIO 322 under CBA [JB].

1070 FRENCH GUYANA RFO, Cayenne, 25 Oct, 0247 - Noted in passing // 1375 over and under CBA and Spanish QRM [NK].

1080 BRAZIL "R. Jornal," unknown location, 22 Oct, 0056-0111 - Many "Rádio Jornal" promos, which sounded like ID's not just the radio news, but mainly talk; SIO 322 with QRM from Venezuela and a classical music station that was likely the university station in Porto Alegre [JB].

1080 VENEZUELA R. Barcelona (YVQJ), Barcelona, 21 Oct, 0132-0140 - ID "Alegría, Música, Radio Barcelona presenta …" lively Latin music; fair [JF]. 22 Oct, 0100 - ID as it faded up over the Brazilians, Venezuelan music from 0106; SIO 332 [JB].

1090 BRAZIL R. Catolica / R. Brasileno, 26 Oct, 0739 - These slogans were heard, but almost certainly a network of some kind [JR].

1100 ANTIGUA R. ZDK, St. John's, 24 Oct, 0822 - Tentative; religious music with male in English with a Caribbean accent; fair [JF]. 27 Oct, 2325 - Soca music; excellent [MC].

1100 BRAZIL R. Globo (ZYK694), São Paulo, 21 Oct, 0129-0134 - Talk in Portuguese, Brasopops at 0130, ID and program promos; fair to good [JF]. 27 Oct, 2330 - Man in Portuguese; loud, rolling in over ZDK-Antigua [MC].

1110 ARGENTINA R. Municipal (LS1), Buenos Aires, 22 Oct, 0108 - All talk about Buenos Aires, ID's; SIO 332 with deep fades [JB/JF].

1120 BRAZIL R. Rural Educadora (ZYK274), Porto Alegre, 27 Oct, 0451 - New ID in mess. [JR

1120 PUERTO RICO R. Once (WMSW), Arecibo, 24 Oct, 2359 - "Radio Once" ID [JR].

1130 BRAZIL R. Nacional (ZYJ460), Rio de Janeiro, 20 Oct, 2203 - Station hype, DJ gave location as Rio; SIO 333 [JB]. 21 Oct, 0119 - Presumed; remote report in Portuguese; good [JF]. 29 Oct, 0204 - Slogan "Rádio Nacional de Rio," way over WBBR and Venezuela [MC].

1160 ANTIGUA Caribbean Lighthouse, St. John's, 24 Oct, 2357-0001 - Spanish religious program with Florida address at the end, male announcer mentioned "La Hora de España" and that the next program would be in English, full ID at 0000; fair [JF].

1160 BERMUDA VSB3, Hamilton, 24 Oct, 0737 - In very briefly with a radio play // 5975; poor [JF].

1170 BRAZIL R. Difusora (ZYJ598), Mossoró, 22 Oct, 2221 - Tentative; soccer match São Paulo vs Guaraní, possible ID at 2230, time pips then back to soccer; fair [JF]. 25 Oct, 2103-2117 - Lots of "Mossoró" mentions but no ID until 2116; SIO 444 [JB]. 27 Oct, 2133 - Shoe ad, ID sung, mention of Mossorró [JR].

1180 BRAZIL R. Capital (ZYH889), São Luís, 21 Oct, 0401-0410 - Pretty clear after sign off of R. Maturín, ID with call letters, some music, and locally produced religious program from 0407; SIO 333 [JB]. 25 Oct, 0330 - ID, but no other clues [JR].

1180 CUBA R. Taíno (CMBT), Villa Maria, 27 Oct, 0855 - Chimes at 0900, "desde Habana" [JR].

1180 VENEZUELA R. Maturín (YVOR), Maturín, 21 Oct, 0400 - ID and sign-off announcing both MW and SW frequencies, although the latter has not been active for years; SIO 332 [JB].

1190 ARGENTINA R. América (LR9), Buenos Aires, 21 Oct, 0127 - Male talking with mentions of Argentina; fair [JF].

1200 VENEZUELA R. Tiempo (YVOZ), Caracas, 28 Oct, 0559 - Venezuelan music, "Tiempo AM" ID, lottery numbers; SIO 343 [JB].

1220 BRAZIL R. Globo (ZYJ258), Rio de Janeiro, 21 Oct, 0108-0119 - Portuguese talk, jingle ID, ads at 0109, remote interview at 0115; good [JF].

1230 BRAZIL R. Guararema (ZYJ816), São José, 22 Oct, 0130 - Frequent ID's, ads; SIO 343 [JB]. 25 Oct, 0358 - Heard all week [JR].

1230 PUERTO RICO R. Unica (WNIK), Arecibo, 27 Oct, 2222 - Ads mentioned addresses in Mayaguez, telephone chat, at 2239: "…12-30 AM de Radio Unica, su estación favorita;" SIO 332 [JB/JF].

1240 VENEZUELA R. Nacional (YVNV), Punta Tumatey, 29 Oct, 0448 - "Alo Presidente!" frequently heard in relation to visit of Cuban leader Fidel Castro to Venezuela, promo for "RNV Popular" [JR].

1250.04 BRAZIL R. CBN (ZYI218), Vitória, 25 Oct, 0402 - "CBN Madrugada" slogan, // 860 [JR].

1260 BRAZIL R. Morada do Sol (ZYK688), São Paulo, 25 Oct, 2159 - Clear ID heard, frequent [JR].

1270 ARGENTINA R. Provincia (LS11), La Plata, 28 Oct, 0827 - Nice ID on tape [JR].

1280 PUERTO RICO Noti-Uno (WCMN), Arecibo, 24 Oct, 0859 - Complete network station list; SIO 333 but lost ground fast to WADO [JB]. 28 Oct, 0851 - Noti-Uno network list [JR].

1290 VENEZUELA R. Puerto Cabello (YVLF), Puerto Cabello, 21 Oct - 0920-0924 - Cumbia music, possible ID at 0922, local news but fading quickly; fair [JF]. 25 Oct, 0430 - Heard all week [JR].

1300 BRAZIL R. Iracema AM (ZYH586), Fortaleza, 23 Oct, 0222 - Fire and brimstone Portuguese preacher // 1330; 1260 and 1060; fair [JF]. 23 Oct, 0400 - ID with call letters, into "A Voz da Libertaçao;"SIO 333 [JB].

1300 BRAZIL unknown slogan (ZYK535), São Bernardo do Campo, 23 Oct, 0345 - Tentative; this rose up atop the preaching pest from Fortaleza with Portuguese music then ID as" Rádio ???? 1300 kHz, São Paulo, Capital;" the presumed station is in a São Paulo suburb; I list this as tentative as I can't understand the slogan, which didn't sound like listed "Rádio Universo" [NK].

1320 VENEZUELA unID station, 27 Oct, 2222-2231 - Political-sounding speech, mentioning Venezuela; trading places with Noti-Uno and over a Brazilian with CKEC phased [NK].

1330 BRAZIL R. Liberal (ZYI533), Belém, 28 Oct, 0811 - Music // 4775 [JR].

1330 URUGUAY R. Fenix (CX40), Montevideo, 29 Oct, 2212 - Religious program, with speaker exhorting "hermanos de Paraguay y Argentina a Montevideo ... municipal edificio, nov. 9, 1 de la tarde," followed by prayer [JR].

1340 BRAZIL R. CBN, unknown site, 28 Oct, 0800 - Network ID [JR].

1340 BRAZIL unID station, 27 Oct, 0816 - Sports network feed from Brasília [JR].

1360 BRAZIL R. Bandeirantes / Super R. Guanabara (ZYJ464), Rio de Janeiro, 25 Oct, 0258 - Religion, R. Bandeirantes ID with call at 0300; SIO 322 with CKBC QRM [JB]. 27 Oct, 0327 - Heard with "Super Rádio Guanabara" slogan [JR].

1370 BRAZIL R. Atual (ZYK766), São Paulo, 23 Oct, 0259 - Talk, at 0300 song about how wonderful Rádio Atual is; SIO 333 [JB].

1370 BRAZIL R. Difusora (ZYI892), Teresina, 28 Oct, 0836 - ID, woman's voice [JR].

1375.02 ST. PIERRE & MIQUELON RFO, St. Pierre, 27 Oct, 1756 - '60s Las Vegas style lounge music with French vocal; semi-local [MC].

1380 BRAZIL R. Difusora (ZYK507), Lençóis Paulista, 28 Oct, 0620 - Likely; many, many ID's as "Difusora" (with very distinctive penny whistle sound), three R. Difusora's are listed in the WRTH, no cities were mentioned, except for an event in São Paulo and there was an ad for a business on Avenida 15 Novembro, which is the same street as this station in the WRTH [JR].

1380 BRAZIL Super Difusora, 29 Oct, 2218 - Different than the previous station (which was also heard around this time with the same penny whistle ID); possibly Campos [JR].

1380 VENEZUELA Ondas del Mar (YVNG), Puerto Cabello, 25 Oct, 0902 - Caught signing on, QRM from WMYF and a station in Portuguese (likely domestic at this time); SIO 333 [JB]. 26 Oct, 0911 - Slogan and "feliz navidad" [JR].

1380 UNID 27 Oct, 2315 - ID as "Trece-Ochenta AM" "La Primera" [NK].

1400 GRENADA Harbour Light of the Windwards, Carriacou, 27 Oct, 2248 - Caribbean-accented preaching; good with CBG phased [MC].

1400 UNID 27 Oct, 2201 - Anthem, then blank carrier [MC].

1410 ARGENTINA R. Folklorisimo, José Leon Suarez, 22 Oct, 0236-0402 - Over and under many stations, tango music, cruddy ID at 0317, but an unequivocal one at 0402, then more "música folklorica;" SIO 222 [JB].

1410 BRAZIL LBV Mundial network station, 22 Oct, 0315 - Heard throughout the evening, but a very clear network ID at this time; 333 [JB]. 27 Oct, 2250 - National network, unsure of this station's location [JR]. 27 Oct, 2254-2301 - Many "LBV Mundial" ID's, seemed to mention Minas Gerais location, but no station is listed in that state; SIO 333 [JB]. 29 Oct, 0041 - "LBV" network religious program // 940 [MC].

1410 BRAZIL R. Clube (ZYI382), Corumbá, 28 Oct, 0900 - Loud slogan, tape replay reveals "Corumbá" mention; this one is right across the river from Bolivia; this was the last Brazilian heard before sunrise, which fits with its western location in the country [JR].. 30 Oct, 0756 - Mention of Corumbá [JR].

1410 BRAZIL R. Cultura (ZYJ328), Cândido de Abreu, 27 Oct, 0903 - Tentative; "Bom dia" and ID heard, nothing else [JR].

1410 BRAZIL R. São Gonçalo (ZYH467), São Gonçalo dos Campos, 26 Oct, 2052-2101 - Promos about "rádio da familia," much talk, but clear ID at 2101; SIO 322 [JB}. 26 Oct, 2100 - ID [JR]. 27 Oct, 2250 - "Dos Campos AM 1410" slogan [JR].

1410 BRAZIL unID station, 27 Oct, 2045-2055 - Strange rustic folksie music, the same kind was heard later on 1570 [NK].

1410 COLOMBIA R. Guadalajara (HJEI), Buga, 22 Oct, 0254 - Sign-off announcement with full ID over clarinet music; SIO 222 [JB].

1430 BRAZIL R. Clube Paranaense (ZYJ200), Curitiba, 30 Oct, 0801 - Full ID heard [JR].

1430 BRAZIL R. Libertadora Mossoroense (ZYJ604), Mossoró, 25 Oct, 2121 - "Mossoró para Cristo" [JR].

1430 PUERTO RICO WNEL, Caguas, 29 Oct, 0456 - Noti-Uno network list includes WNEL [JR].

1460 BRAZIL unID station, 25 Oct, 2135-2140 - Taped many ads and a possible ID, "kHz" mentioned, etc...a Portuguese speaker might have ID'ed this [NK].

1460 BRAZIL unID station, 29 Oct, 2121 - "AM" non-ID [JR].

1480 BRAZIL R. A Voz do Sertão AM (ZYI790), Serra Talhada, 29 Oct, 2121 - Probable; "Zoom-zoom-zoom" ... SomZoom network; this station is the only one listed on this frequency on the Rede SomZoom Web-site [JR].

1500 VENEZUELA R. Dos Mil (YVRZ), Cumaná, 28 Oct, 2356 - "Radio Dos Mil" ID; huge [MC].

1520 BRAZIL R. Salinas (ZYJ610), Macau, 22 Oct, 2117 - Presumed; SomZoom net; two are on list but we've ID'ed this one several times before from here; at this early hour conditions were quite good to eastern Brazil, as is the norm here [NK].

1520 BRAZIL R. Bela Vista (ZYH530), Poções, 27 Oct, 0659 - ID as "Rádio Bela Vista, Poções, Bahia;" morning show with sounds of farm animals, listened to this for more than an hour without any ID, but on the tape replay the ID appeared in the first twenty seconds! [JR].

1520 VENEZUELA R. Musical Guapa (YVIC), Guatire, 24 Oct, 0301 -Over and under WWKB and Brazilian preaching; lively Venezuelan music and "Radio Musical Guapa" ID (NK)

1529.61 URUGUAY R. Independencia (CX50), Montevideo, 22 Oct, 0210 - Promo, old mellow pop music; SIO 342 [JB].

1530 ARGENTINA R. Capital, Buenos Aires, 22 Oct, 0148 - Mess of stations, this one up with time for Buenos Aires, seemed to be some sort of a call-in marathon, phone numbers frequently given; SIO 322 [JB].

1530 UNID La Voz de Liberación station, 27 Oct, 0835 - "Battle Hymn of the Republic" theme music: Jean says this is a syndicated program in Spanish and Portuguese [JR].

1540 BRAZIL R. Baixa Verda (ZYH611), João Camara, 25 Oct, 2100 - This is the one listed with the SomZoom network, // several others; this early hour features great signals from NE Brazil [NK].

1550 BRAZIL R. Gazeta d'Oeste (ZYJ606), Areia Branca, 25 Oct, 2103 - Atop the clandestine Algerian with lively Portuguese music and an ID as "Rádio Gazeta do Areia Branca" [NK].

1550 BRAZIL R. Guarujá Paulista (ZYK590), Guarujá, 27 Oct, 0737 - "Bom dia trabajadores," "madrugal," ID [JR].

1550 VENEZUELA unID station, 30 Oct, 0400 - Venezuelan anthem followed by a state anthem [JR].

1559.2 UNID 27 Oct, 0012 - Carrier, on south wire [MC].

1560 BRAZIL R. Cultura do Oeste (ZYJ608), Pau do Ferros, 22 Oct, 2115 - Presumed; over the R. Disney pest with Rede SomZoom network program [NK].

1570 BRAZIL R. Sertão Central (ZYH621), Senador Pompeu, 23 Oct, 2108 - "Sertão Central AM" ID, time check, then Portuguese music [NK].

1570 BRAZIL R. Cidade (2 possibilities), 25 Oct, 0602 - 4+1 pips at 0600 [JR].

1570 BRAZIL unID station, 27 Oct, 0404 - Singing ID, "Clube", "Hora de Brasil 1:04," singing ID, slogan (or ad) "el socohor, eso alegria ... Rádio Globo juventud, el soco ..." three possible slogans, so not sure who this is [JR].

1570 USA WBUG, Amsterdam NY, 30 Oct, 0558 - ID [JR].

1577.95 UNID 28 Oct, 2320 - Het, best on Brazil-Bev [MC].

1580 BRAZIL unID station, 27 Oct, 2102 - "Ave Maria," soft music, Jean heard "Ceará" mentioned [JR].

1580.02 VENEZUELA "RQ", Cumaná, 23 Oct, 2359 - // 910, "RQ" ID's [JR].

1580.35 UNID 28 Oct, 2320 - Het, best on Brazil-Bev [MC].

1590 BRAZIL R. Santa Cruz (ZYJ614), Santa Cruz, 22 Oct, 2115 - "Rede SomZoom" program, jingle at 2117; SIO 333 [JB]. 22 Oct, 2115-2121 - Brasopops as part of "Som Zoom" program, jingle ID's (sounded like Radio Santa Cruz but was somewhat muffled), male announcer talking to listener; fair [JF]. 23 Oct, 2114 - Full slogan ID heard; very good [JR/NK].

1590.9 BRAZIL unID station,25 Oct, 2109 - Brazilian suspected; het/carrier on the Brazilian Beverage [NK].

1590.95 UNID 28 Oct, 2320 - Het, best on Brazil-Bev [MC].

1600 BRAZIL R. Nove de Julho (ZYK779), São Paulo, 27 Oct, 0806 - Clear ID [JR].

1600 PUERTO RICO R. Luz (WLUZ), Bayamón, 27 Oct, 2113 - "Radio Luz" ID and "compleaños" (birthday) greetings to listener; atop WUNR and Brazil [MC].

1610 ANGUILLA Caribbean Beacon, The Valley, 23 Oct, 0239 - English religious program, weak [JF].

1620 ARGENTINA R. Tropicana, Buenos Aires, 21 Oct, 0206-0214 - Spanish religious talk, one word ID "Tropical" at 0207 and into a program of more upbeat music; poor to Fair [JF]. 27 Oct, 2316 - Frequently heard with music, finally an ID [JR].

1620 USA WTAW, College Station TX, 27 Oct, 0400 - ID while looking for Argentinean station [JR].

1630 ARGENTINA La Red 92, Buenos Aires, 23 Oct, 0138-0151 - Opera type music and Spanish announcements; poor [JF]. 26 Oct, 2353 - ID in heavy noise [JR]. 27 Oct, 0826 - "Canciones de Argentina" [JR].

1630 USA KCJK, Iowa City IA, 28 Oct, 0953 - Morning show [JR].

1630 USA WAWX, Augusta GA, 29 Oct, 0920 - New American X-bander now dominates this frequency making Argentina trickier; lots of ads, One-on-One Sports hype, "WRDW" ID at 0925; SIO 444 [JB].

1640 ARGENTINA R. Bolivia, Buenos Aires, 25 Oct, 0344-0401 - Tentative; Spanish DJ taking phone calls, brief LA music selections; poor with overmodulated audio [JF].

1640.03 UNID 27 Oct, 0150-0200 - Horrible modulation with what sounded like a woman preaching, in Spanish I think, then music from 0158 across the top of the hour; SIO 322-1 [JB].

1670 ARGENTINA BBC Relay, Buenos Aires, 21 Oct, 0143-0218 - ID "Transmitiendo ... BBC de Londres desde Buenos Aires, Argentina…", easy-listening instrumental piano music, another ID at 0157 then into more music through the top of the hour; fair with QRM from WRMC [JF]. 28 Oct, 0803 - Tentative; the weakest of the Argentine X-banders, with classical music, no ID's heard all week [JR].

1670 USA WRMC, Warner Robins GA, 28 Oct, 0110 - Sports [JR].

1700 USA WAFN, Miami Springs FL, 24 Oct, 2358 - Sports talk [JR].

Beacons (all by Jim Renfrew)
LONGWAVE NDB’s

212 CAN SJ NL St. John’s 10/24 0012 NDB

212 CAN YLB ??? 10/24 0012 NDB

217 CAN BX QC Blanc Sablon 10/24 0012 NDB

219 CAN Q NS Sydney 10/24 0012 NDB

225 CAN? 1M 10/23 1908 NDB

225 CAN QM NB Moncton 10/23 1908 NDB

229 CAN PD NS Port Hawksbury 10/24 1125 NDB

234 CAN 7H NL Winterland NL 10/23 1908 NDB

243 CAN YVB QC Bonaventure 10/23 1910 NDB

246 CAN S NL Logy Bay 10/24 1125 NDB

248 CAN YMH NL Mary’s Harbour 10/24 1125 NDB

252 CAN 5B PE Summerville 10/23 1911 NDB

261 CAN YT NL St. John’s 10/23 1911 NDB

263 CAN QY NS Sydney 10/24 0100 NDB

268 CAN O NL St. John’s 10/24 0100 NDB

270 CPV SAL Ilha do Sal 10/29 0020 NDB

276 CAN YHR QC Chevery 10/24 0100 NDB

279 ??? YA 10/24 0100 NDB

280 CAN QX NL Gander 10/24 0100 NDB

281 CAN CA NL Cartwright 10/29 0334 NDB

322 CAN UWP NL Argentia 10/24 0100 NDB

327 POR POR Porto 10/24 0100 NDB

335 MDR PST Porto Santo 10/24 0100 NDB

345 CAN 1D PE Charlottetown 10/24 0100 NDB

349 CAN DF NL Deer Lake 10/24 0123 NDB

356 CAN AY NL St. Anthony 10/24 0123 NDB

358 CAN NL NL St. John’s 10/24 0123 NDB

370 CAN 1A NL Williams Harbor 10/24 0125 NDB

378 CAN HO NL Hopedale 10/24 0125 NDB

378 ??? 6A 10/24 0125 NDB

390 CAN JT NL Stephenville 10/24 0125 NDB

390 PTO DDP San Juan 10/29 0336 NDB

392 CAN ML QC Charlevoix 10/29 0338 NDB

394 JY 10/29 0340 NDB

396 CAN JC NL Rigolet 10/24 0125 NDB

404 CAN YSL NB St. Leonard 10/28 2229 NDB

412 CAN BC QC Baie Comeau 10/24 0130 NDB

413 ??? C6 10/24 1125 NDB

450 DOM PPA Puerta Plata 10/29 0350 NDB

518 B BHZ Belo Horizonte 10/29 0345 NDB

520 CAN F9 NB Chatham 10/28 1005 NDB

X BAND BEACONS

1610 DEN OXZ Lyngby R. 10/26 2205 code ID

1620 ??? ZZ 10/27 0402 code ID

1645 ??? ZML 10/25 0242 code ID

1650 ??? SS53 Fishing Buoy? 10/27 0404 code ID

1650 F CROSS, Corsen 10/28 0006 weather for "La Manche"

1730 B FRA Fora 10/25 0613 code ID

Commentaries from the DXers
John Fisher

Once again, another Newfoundland DXpedition is in the books, and I am left with just the memories, the pictures, the tapes and the log reports to remind me of the fun that I enjoyed.

Like everyone else this year, I too had my tales of adverse weather to tell. About three hours before I was due to leave on my overnight flight from Calgary, I received an E-mail from Jean telling me of a hurricane that was currently sweeping through Central Newfoundland. Fortunately, the maximum 175 km/h winds were starting to subside by the time that my flight left, so that when I arrived the winds were down to only? 110 km/h. That made for a somewhat bumpy landing, but nowhere near as bad as some landings that I have had in much less wind. The pilots who fly into St. John's really know how to fly in rough weather.

At home, I am primarily a SW DXer, only occasionally venturing down to the MW band; the QRM from local MW stations and the lack of room for a good MW antenna limits decent MW reception. When I am Newfoundland, I shift to primarily to MW with only occasional forays (albeit, often good ones) into the SW bands. One SW catch that I finally made was to hear the new AFRTS station in Diego Garcia on 12579 kHz.

The key feature of MW reception in Newfoundland that I most enjoy is the long openings that exist. Mark Connelly's fine commentary [below] better describes the fade in and fade out patterns than I could, because of his experience from Cape Cod, but I continue to be impressed by the distance over which stations can be heard and the low transmitter power that will propagate across the Atlantic. From as early at 1830 UTC (4 p.m. local time) to as late as 1000 UTC (7:30 a.m. local) there is something exotic to be heard. In the early afternoon, reception opens up to the Middle East with good signals from stations such as Dubai 1314, Abu Dhabi 1476 and the many Saudi channels. As darkness passes over Europe, signals start to pick up from more Western regions. British private stations can appear briefly at any time, rising above co-channel stations before dropping down just as quickly. It was during one of these openings that I picked up Liberty Radio on 963 and 972 kHz. The 972 channel was especially nice as it uses only 200 watts of power.

Not all of the time was spent hunkered over radio dials. Faithfully every day, we journeyed out for lunch at one of the local establishments in Trepassey, Ferryland and Cape Broyle. Calling these restaurants "local," though, was a bit of a stretch as they were all between 30 and 45 minutes away by car. However, in the Southern Avalon peninsula the population is widely dispersed and restaurants are also.

This trip was my fourth to this site. I know that I am starting to become more of a regular by the reception that the local dogs give us. One of the features of the Cappahayden area is the number of black lab dogs (pets not wild) that wander through the area. On the first couple of trips the dogs would routinely bark at us while they protected what was their turf. But now, the dogs rarely barked out of anger but more to inform us that they wanted to play catch. "Bullet," the dog of the house, enjoyed playing catch with 6 foot 2-by-4's, fence posts, balls or anything else that could be thrown! The dogs would also accompany me on walks through bush, well away from the DX-Inn often bringing a ball along for entertainment on the way.

On these bush walks, I had to be alert to both hunters and moose. It was moose season. Occasionally we would hear shots and once I ran across some fresh dung, so there were some in the area. Fortunately, they did not decide to test out the strength of our antennas, a challenge that the moose would easily win. Mid October also represented what appeared to be the end of the berry season. Bushes still has a few wild blueberries, which tasted good in pancakes when I got back to Alberta. There is also a great abundance of a local ground berry called the partidgeberry, which grows amongst the moss and the grass. Imagine a berry about the size of a small cranberry with a slightly tart taste and a slightly more chalky texture than a cranberry. Quite good to nibble on.

But I digress, back to the results of the DX'ing…..

Overall, with what we felt was only so-so MW conditions, I personally was able to hear about 75 countries. From the comments of others in the group it appeared that later in the week, there were better openings into the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caribbean that did not exist when I was there. Some of my personal highlights were receptions of (presumed) Ascension on 1485 and Lesotho on 891 from Africa. I had never heard any of the new X-band Argentine stations so hearing 1620, 1630, 1640 and 1670 was a treat. While conditions to Brazil were generally only fair, I did spend more time listening to this area than I have done in the past, so I was able to make a number of new loggings. A number of Dutch and Greek pirates heard above 1600 kHz were also a new experience for me.

All in all, it was quite a productive DX session.

Jim Renfrew

I had a great time on this DXpedition, especially since my last visits were way back in 1995 and 1996. In spite of my intention to develop a detailed target list in advance, I gave almost no preparation to the endeavor. In fact, I left Rochester for the Toronto airport at midnight, doing most of my packing at the last minute. So on arrival, having had no sleep the previous night, we plugged in the antennas, and I just spun the dial to see what was what!

There were fewer amazing receptions for me this time, with only a few new countries heard: Austria (back on the air now), Isla San Andrés (counted as a separate country in some lists), Turkmenistan (longwave), Iceland (longwave), Latvia, Azerbaijan and Cape Verde Islands (longwave). This last one came about with my renewed interest in longwave beacons. I didn't have my NDB reference list, so I didn't realize I'd heard this until later. As far as I can tell, except for amateur operations, it's the only way to hear Cape Verde Islands. After three DXpeditions, the longwave and mediumwave total country count for me is 121, with three more tentative.

This must be a shortwave paradise, but I mostly ignored the opportunities in favor of Medium Wave, except in looking for shortwave parallel transmissions. One notable exception was tuning in Nepal on two shortwave frequencies, which I have not yet heard at home.

Lots of Brazilians were heard, but ID's were difficult to extract. It's a beautiful language, but in the noise it sounds like someone trying to speak with a mouth full of marshmallows! It also seemed like there are now more networks (e.g., no local ID's), which is frustrating! Making up for so many Brazilian "maybes," I cleaned up on low power Europeans, especially from Britain and Spain, mostly spotting low power parallels to the higher power stations. The X-Band Argentines were interesting targets. It was nice to see these stations coming in long after Brazil had dropped out in the morning, due to the angle of the terminator. In fact, this is my favorite time to DX, when the terminator appears to be racing across South America and the Caribbean, and stations rise and fall for only minutes at a time.

We had an interesting discussion about logging synchronous transmitters. How many stations can the DXer count when hearing these? In my own log book I enter "synchros" instead of a specific site, and list the power of the highest power outlet. There are times when distinct echoes reveal the presence of one or more additional outlets. Although this is somewhat akin to "list logging," I believe that additional sites can be entered into the log book. For example, I heard a double echo on Poland 1305 kHz in 1996, and there are three outlets listed in that year's WRTH, so I am claiming all three. This gets complicated when an echoey Spanish station is heard, with three distinct stations, but the WRTH or Boel's list shows six outlets there. So in my log book I enter Synchro A, Synchro B and Synchro C. Not as neat as I'd like, but it does show that more than one station was heard. In fact, Spanish stations were especially echoey this year.

Conditions varied from day to day, although not dramtically. One day we were going deep to the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. Another night it was all Iberia. We didn't find much from Africa this year, but there aren't a lot of stations to aim for there!

One night Neil announced his intention to log Turkmenistan on longwave at sign-on. Lo and behold, he did just that at the appointed time. We tried to encourage him to be equally anticipatory about some other rare stations, but he maintained his prophetic inscrutability, so all we can do is await another auspicious moment next year.

Thanks to the Lawlor family, as usual, thanks to Jean's family for letting me spend the night at his home in St. John's, and to Rev. Wendy Robinson and the people of Mount St. Dennis United Church in Toronto for allowing me to use their parking lot. We should also acknowledge our thanks to "Bullet," the neighborhood dog who made our outdoor antenna work more fun than usual. He is so good at playing "fetch," that we'd like to train him to retrieve the antenna wire at the end of the week!

Mark Connelly

From 26 to 29 October, 2000 I had the good fortune to attend the ninth Newfoundland DXpedition. This is the fifth one of these East Coast "DXtravaganzas" I've gone to; the previous ones were 1991, 1993, 1995, and 1998. The trip up there was routine: this was a good thing when you consider that on my last journey Air Canada had managed to lose important luggage for a day. The weather was occasionally rainy when I started my drive down Route 10 to Cappahayden around sundown. As things turned out, this was about as good as the weather would be. Normal en-route dial-scanning on the car radio revealed reasonably good conditions to northern Europe with "in your face" signals from Sweden, Norway, Russia-Kaliningrad, and others in the Baltic region. I was swapping between Trans-Atlantic DXing, checking easily-heard WCBS-880 for stock reports following the "Nortel plunge," and listening to the very enjoyable "Newfoundland music" format on CJYQ-930.

When I arrived at the DX Inn in Cappahayden that Thursday evening, I was greeted by local DXpedition host Jean Burnell and visiting US DXers Neil Kazaross and Jim Renfrew (our esteemed NRC IDXD editor). It was great to renew acquaintances with everyone and to be brought up to date on what had been heard so far. They mentioned that Canadian DXer John Fisher had been there earlier in the week. The "receiver shack" room was all set up with two long tables that provided four operating positions. It wasn't long before I set up my "junk" next to Jim Renfrew's position and started sweeping the band. The two main "workhorse" antennas, the 1 km-Brazil-Bev and the 500 m Euro-Bev were available, so I ran these to the inputs of my phasing unit. Sometimes I used a third Beverage, one of approximately 400 m that ran at a bearing 10 or 20 degrees more easterly of the Brazil-getter: this antenna could provide somewhat better African coverage than either of the other wires. Jean also had a K9AY antenna which he often had hooked to his receiving gear. Thursday evening's DX (going into Friday morning) included many huge TA's including a drifty Syrian on 831.5 and the new "Mega" Germans on 576 and 1575. Neil said "I'm going to get Turkmenistan on 279." This distant longwaver had not been previously logged. Right on time, Turkmenistan-279 showed up at sign-on, parallel to its 5015 kHz shortwave outlet. We then requested Neil to declare that he was going to hear several other signals of substantially greater difficulty (Nepal, Saturn, etc.) in the "belief" that he had some magical powers with the ionospheric gods.

On Friday morning, Neil and I went out to do a bit of repositioning of the African antenna. The Lawlor's black Labrador retriever had great fun playing fetch with us with some of the wooden stakes that we'd brought out there for attaching strings to guy the Beverage support poles. Jean and Jim joined us to take a ride down to Trepassey for lunch. The fish plate I had was excellent, as always. The lunch also provided for a lot of good conversation that covered many common interests in and out of the radio hobby. As I attend more of these DXpeditions, I find that the camaraderie is even more valuable than the sounds that come through the headphones from faraway stations. The whole Newfoundland DXpedition experience is much more fulfilling than any of the many solitary DX sessions I do while sitting out in the car at a beach or pier somewhere.

Radios were fired up Friday afternoon just before 1800 UTC. Back in Massachusetts, the Trans-Atlantic channels seldom have more than two stations competing for dominance. The openings there are usually strongly dominated by signals from Spain, Portugal, France, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, the Canaries, and the Azores. Sometimes a good run towards the Middle East develops. British/Irish stations and the other big northern Europeans (e.g. 1314, 1386, 1422) can be loud, but they're not consistent on a nightly basis. Eastern Europeans are usually poorly represented for the kind of power some of them are running. Something with 500 kW from Russia is, at best, on par with something with 5 kW from Spain on the same channel. Generally, the more northerly stuff doesn't compete with Iberia / North Africa until an hour or more after sunset.

In Newfoundland, DX is a bit different. The first signals that come in well before sunset are apt to be Norway-1314, Northern Ireland-1341, and Kaliningrad-1386 rather than the typical Saudi Arabia-1521 "band opener" noted pre-sunset at shore sites near home. At Cappahayden, once the big guns have been "in" for a while, the other channels fill up with stations. Rather than the typical one or two stations per channel noted at home, each channel can become a maelstrom of wildly-varying dominant stations. The pile-ups often consist of five or more stations and what's on top one minute can be hopelessly buried by something else the next. Central Europe and Russia can get "hot" and produce signals that blow away usual boomers like UK-1089. Expected "pests" from Spain and Morocco can often sound more like rare DX, deeply submerged below "killer" Russian, Hungarian, Czech, and Romanian stations. The Middle East can then come to life and drop Koranic chanting on top of the Europeans that had been "ruling the roost" moments earlier. The ebb and flow on the radio dial was much like the churning, crashing surf a short distance behind the "DX Inn". All of this dynamic vitality and unpredictability in reception conditions produces a level of excitement not likely to be duplicated by DXing elsewhere.

A few of that evening's highlights for me included the Iran clandestine on 1539.07, Botswana-909, and Angola-1484.55. These are all stations that I think may be audible back in MA on the right night. One that I doubt I'd ever hear is one we pulled up on 1233: a 200-watt Belgian normally used as a traffic information outlet. When noted at 0120 UTC, it was running an unlisted broadcast parallel to 1125. As at home, my main DX activity period was from two hours before sunset to two hours after sunset. The Trans-Atlantics were my main focus. Even with all the tea I drank, I still tended to want to go to sleep after 0430 UTC (2 a.m. local). Jim Renfrew turned out to be the "main man" for wee-hours DXing after 0600 UTC. This is when many of the best deep South American loggings were made: rare catches from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and elsewhere. Neil and Jean also got into serious South American hunting at times. High-band Eastern Brazilians came in a bit before sunset: the huge 1 km wire pointed right at them glided these signals in by greatly reducing the European splash heard on the other antennas. It was cool to hear Brazilians "doing a job on" some of the Newfoundland stations when the Brazil-Bev was connected.

The rain and wind had got worse by Saturday morning. By midday, Neil and I went north to a new seafood restaurant in Cape Broyle, near Ferryland. I was served a platter with a large and delectable piece of salmon. We joined Jim back at the Inn. Jean had to go up to St. John's for a few hours. A possible strike was looming at Memorial University, his place of employment. The ever-worsening weather made us cancel a proposed set-up and test of a Pennant antenna. Neil is interested in setting up an array of pennants or K9AY's at his home QTH in the suburbs of Chicago. I took some pictures to put on the Web.

Some DX signals were already rolling in at 1700 UTC. This was the first time I'd listened to Greenland on 720 with a decent signal. Hearing someone speaking Greenlandic was interesting, even though it sounded like some kind of a dull local meeting with the acoustics of the basement of a school or church. A heterodyne of a 1430 station against the 1431 kHz UK and Italian stations was noted at a time (1830 UTC) too early to be a domestic. In a few minutes it got loud and overwhelmed 1431. I had been looking on 1431 for Iran parallel to 15084 shortwave: it turned out that the 1430 station was this Iranian, precisely 1 kHz low of its nominal frequency - seemingly too accurate a separation to be an accidental drift. I then found a reference to this 1430 Iranian in a recent "Medium Wave News" that Jean had brought. A little later that evening, back-home local WXKS-1430 faded up. It was a memorable and "daft" sounding reception when Iran's Koran recitation and WXKS's "Music of Your Life" Sinatra nostalgia and Boston mentions were blending evenly in an incongruous mix on 1430. That evening we all enjoyed a good run of Turks with parallel signals on 765, 891, 954, 1017, and 1062. The new Libyan on 972 had a butt-kickin' signal that I'm sure would soon make it to one of my DXpedition sites on Cape Cod with little difficulty. Madeira-1125 came through well when I couldn't hear the other ones on 531 and 603. For music and for general "local flavour," it's hard to beat the lower-powered British locals. These came through in great abundance and spiced up the general entertainment value of the listening experience. At home, these little stations are at a far greater deficit to co-channel Spaniards of comparable power, so I don't get to enjoy them the way I can in Newfoundland. With domestic DX, I always have fun checking out how my home locals do at a long distance. WEEI-850 and WNRB-1510, along with a couple of Maine stations, were typically the earliest US stations to build up to a strong signal level about 2000 UTC: better than an hour before sunset on their end. This is comparable to the time that big-gun Trans-Atlantics would start to show at coastal sites in eastern Massachusetts. Before signing off, WMEX-1060 bombed in with a Boston-accented show that made me laugh when I heard the expression "people's republic of Cambridge" often used by conservative talk-show hosts and local politicians like Albert "Dapper" O'Neil. As always, the biggest US signals were from the Boston and New York City 50 kW blasters; that's also what I'd noted from Ireland back in 1977. My Saturday night activity wound down by about midnight local. I had to pack up my gear and get a few hours sleep so I could depart Cappahayden at 5 o'clock on Sunday morning.

I knew it was going to be a rough ride back to the airport that Sunday because a huge storm system in the sea south of Nova Scotia covered the entire area from Newfoundland and Labrador to New England and New York. Local broadcasters called it a cool weather version of the tempest that was featured in the "Perfect Storm" film. Heavy rain was moving horizontally on 110 km/h wind gusts. The normal 1 hour 45 minute ride took 2 hours 30 minutes. Some excellent Irish-Newfoundland tunes on CJYQ soothed me for what would have otherwise been a harrowing journey in hurricane-like weather from darkness into dim dawn light. Luckily, I reached the airport gate in St. John's on time. I'd read (from others' previous experiences) that pilots could negotiate these conditions ably, though I had my doubts. I walked to the airport door feeling like I was in a boxing match with the wind-driven rain and ice pellets. The airport, under renovation, had some serious roof leaks: Large plastic trash bins were strategically placed to catch the indoor cascades. Take-off at 8.40 a.m. local was remarkably smooth. Less than two hours later I was in Halifax: It was raining there as well. The second flight of that day got me back to Boston by noon. I was surprised to be greeted there by even colder temperatures and snow flurries. A few people figured I'd brought the "Great White North" back home with me.

Rocco Cotroneo's Parallel DXpedition

Dates: 20 October - 24 October, 2000

Location: Tinharè Island, few miles off Salvador da Bahia, Brazil.

Receiver: AOR 7030

Antennas: Two 100-meter longwires, N-S and E-W.

Conditions were excellent towards Africa (E-W), normal to Europe and the Middle East and poor to North America. On the 23^rd and 24^th of October a great opening brought in several new stations from Africa's East Coast, mainly Mozambique, and reached Mayotte Island and India on 1566, an amazing 13,000 km away. Ascension was heard only on 1485, not on 1602 this year. There was no Falklands on 530, so it is possibly still off. A new frequency from Egypt on 1103 was also booming in.

AFRICA

531 Algeria, Alger Chaîne 1, 23/10, 0135

567 South Africa, Talk Radio, 21/10, 0310

711.06 Morocco / Western Sahara, Arabic, Koran, 21/10, 2045

729 South Africa, Puntop // 1332, 21/10, 0315

783 Mauritania, //4845 never strong as expected here, 21/10, 2350

819 Morocco, RTM Rabat, strong, 21/10, 0030

864 Morocco, huge signal, 21/10, 0035

873 Mozambique, Emissora Prov de Supala, local ID (all Mozambique stations seem to carry extended programs on Saturday, well after 0100), 22/10, 0000

873 Botswana (again at 0335 // 4820), 21/10, 0040

891 UNID African, spirituals, local language, till 0200, does not seem to be Lesotho and no // with 4800, 21/10, 2310

945.02 Angola, R. Nacional in English; regular here, all night, 21/10, 2135

963 Mozambique, Emissora Prov de Tete, local id, 21/10, 2030

981 Algeria, Arabic vocals, 21/10, 0140

1026 Mozambique, Emissora Provincial de Manica, 21/10, 2100

1053 Morocco in Arabic, 21/10, 2310

1088 Angola, Radio Nacional at 02,00 still on, 21/10, 0010

1098 South Africa, Mmabatho, regular,not sure about the exact name, 22/10, 2100

1103 Egypt, Voice of the Arabs (thanks to Renato Bruni, Italy, for identifying this as a parallel to 612), very strong, 20/10, 2020

1134 UNID African, local language, Kenya?, 23/10, 0315

1206 Mozambique, Emissora Prov de Inhambane, ID after national news at 2130 in // 963 & 1224, 21/10, 2140

1224 Mozambique, Presumed Emissora Prov de Cabo Delgado), 21/10, 2115

1278 Angola, Cabinda, local program after national news at 2300 // 1088 & 1485, 23/10, 2320

1287 UNID African, local, phone calls, R. Swazi, South Africa?, 23/10, 2125

1377.04 African, English with music, then switching to Portuguese announcing "final" and national anthem with sign-off at 0010; likely Swazi Radio relaying R.Cidade from Mozambique, 23/10, 2330

1385.9 Guinea, R. Rurale, Labé, talk in French, 22/10, 2040

1386 Kenya, English news, 22/10, 0315

1458 Mayotte (presumed) RFO, few seconds in French, 23/10, 2350

1484.54 Angola, Radio Kuanza-Sul, IDs with echo, announcing 99.7 FM and 1485 onda media; at 2300 national news from Luanda, 21/10, 2215

1485 Ascension Island, BBC World Service, 21/10, 0115

ASIA

1233 TWR Cyprus (presumed), Arabic, 22/10, 2125

1404 UNID Koran, strong, Iran?, 23/10, 0015

1413 BBC Oman, Hindi, 22/10, 0120

1476 Dubai, UAE //13675, 23/10, 2035

1494 Jordan, Arabic //9830, 23/10, 2135

1521 Saudi Arabia, 22/10, 1940

1521 Saudi Arabia, fade in, well before local sunset, 22/10, 1930

1548 Kuwait, VOA, in Arabic, 22/10, 2015

1566 India, AIR Nagpur // 4920 with woman reading news. Whispers on 1071, too,under a strong carrier, 24/10, 0030

EUROPE

684 Spain, Sevilla strong, classical music, 23/10, 0000

846 Italy, RAI Rome, 22/10, 0255

855 Spain, RNE synchros, 23/10, 0000

873 Spain, SER synchros, 23/10, 0145

882 Spain & Canary Is., COPE synchros with QRM from (presumed) Sabadell, in Catalan, 23/10, 0145

945 France, Bleu Toulouse //1206//1377, 22/10, 2145

954 Spain, Madrid, 22/10, 2140

1044 Spain, SER, QRM from Morocco, 22/10, 2135

1089 England, TalkSport, synchros?, 22/10, 2130

1179 Sweden, in English, 22/10, 2155

1179 Spain, SER synchros, 22/10, 0325

1188 Hungary, R. Free Europe relaying VOA sports, ID at 0230 as Radio Svoboda, 22/10, 0220

1206 France, Bleu Bordeaux, mx //1377, 22/10, 0250

1295.96 Spain, Valencia COPE synchros, phone calls, 21/10, 0135

1314 Norway, early fade-in, 22/10, 2010

1377 France, Bleu Lille, 21/10, 0150

1557 France, Bleu Nice, 22/10, 0210

1602 Spain, Vitoria mixed with SER synchros, 21/10, 0105

NL DXpedition 2000 Photographs

Click on thumbnail for larger version of an image

All photographs by Mark Connelly (28 OCT 2000) using Agfa 1680 digital camera


DX Inn - Cappahayden, Newfoundland	Jim Renfrew: NRC IDXD Editor
DX Inn: view to south	Mark Connelly, WA1ION
K9AY Antenna	Jean Burnell and Neil Kazaross
Cappahayden south view #1	Neil Kazaross and Jean Burnell
Cappahayden south view #2	Neil Kazaross (picture 1)
Cappahayden northeast view	Neil Kazaross (picture 2)
Cappahayden north view	Drake R8A, cassette deck, Superphaser-2

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