Retirement Announcement That’s right folks, the March ’98 edition of Mediumwave Notebook will be my last as I take an early retirement and collect the fat pension the ODXA offers us editors. (ha ha…I wish!) I had hoped to be doing this a lot longer than I have, but I’m making a few changes around here that include taking some courses, and in anticipation of having to learn things like basic mathematics all over again I’m reducing the number of extracurricular things I do…not DXing, just writing about DXing! There’s no one to fill the job right now, so if any of you are interested then by all means get in touch with Harold Sellers and let him know! A Bonus Gift For Christmas I hope everyone got a chance to take advantage of the fantastic propagation conditions we enjoyed over the Christmas break. I got my first hint of how good things were getting on December 22nd when I received e-mail messages from Werner Funkenhauser and Dan Greenall saying that they were hearing European stations fairly well. The good conditions seemed to last from December 22 until roughly December 30th and during that time every time I checked WWV the A and K indices were both zero indicating very quiet conditions and undisturbed passage of signals from Europe to North America I was too exhausted from spending every penny I had in the malls Christmas shopping to do any listening, but I did take everything with me when I went to spend part of the break with my folks in Ancaster. I started listening on Christmas Eve, and yes, it certainly was good! Over the next few days of DXing of in Ancaster and on the side of St John Sideroad in Aurora I was able to add a few new countries to my list and to hear some previously logged stations better than ever before. The highlight of the week had to be showing my father what Croatia- 1134, Norway-1314, and Saudi Arabia-1521 sounded like…on my Sony portable receiver…with the built in antenna! Conditions like that will undoubtedly repeat themselves over the winter, so keep an eye on WWV at 18 minutes after the hour and when they tell you the K Index is 0 or 1 then fire up those receivers, aim those loop antennas out across the Atlantic and listen on the three frequencies I mentioned above. They are probably three of the easiest Europeans to hear on mediumwave. Hearing Hawaii in Ontario A few months back, Walter Fisher asked if anyone had ever logged a Hawaiian MW from Ontario. Since then I’ve had responses from two lucky people who actually have! Wayne Plunkett called to say that he had, but back in the 60s when the band wasn’t nearly as crowded as it is now and when many stations still signed off nightly. We both agreed that nowadays hearing Hawaii in Ontario would be nearly impossible Peter Kerr from Downsview also wrote in to say that he had a tentative reception of Hawaii back in 1974 from his ninth floor apartment! Although the logging wasn’t positive, Peter included some copies of QSLs of stations he did receive from the same location with a Realistic DX-150A with a homebrew loop and preamp! n KUAM, 610 kHz from the island of Guam n Tonga Broadcasting Service on 1020 kHz (when KDKA had signed off) n VOA, Thailand on 1580 kHz n Southern Rhodesia Broadcasting Service on 980 kHz n Radio Swaziland on 881 kHz I don’t know about you, but I think I need to lie down and relax! Let’s move on and see what everyone’s been hearing. Domestic Loggings 540 WLUX, Islip, NY. 2342. Promo stating “…here on unforgettable WLUX”. Fair in CBEF null. Dec 21. (MS-B) 580 CKAP, Kapuskasing, ON. 0036. ID as "Today's Country, AM 58", program "Cryin', Lovin', or Leavin'" with female DJ. Fair to good. Dec 23 (DG) 590 CKRS, Jonquiere, PQ. 2144. In French with Christmas greetings from Jonquiere businesses. CKRS call letter ID. Good. Dec 23. (MS-B) 600 CKCL, Truro, NS. C&W music with announcements "AM 640 Your Country Music station!" and "Here's the CKCL forecast. periods of snow with a high of -4". Fair on Dec 28 (WRF-LL) 720 CHTN, Charlottetown, PEI. ID as "Good Time Oldies on CHTN", WMAQ phased at 0249 on Jan 5. (WRF-LL) 730 WPIT, Pittsburgh, PA. 2154. News, Christian message, program announcements mentioning “…here on Christian Radio 73, WPIT AM”. Fair to good in CKAC null. Dec 24. (MS- B) 880 KGHT, Sheridan, AR. Program called "Solid Gospel" with several C&W celebrity spots like "Hi! I'm Johnny Newborn (sp??) and you're listening to KGHT!". Poor w/WCBS from 2240 on Jan 10. (WRF-LL) 880 WMDB, Nashville, TN. Surprisingly briefly drifted atop WCBS/KGHT at 2257 also with gospel ending at 2258, into ID as "This is WMDB, Nashville Tennessee broadcasting on 880 kHz with 2.5 kW of power.... Good Night!" into US National Anthem. Fair on Jan 10. (WRF-LL) 930 CFBC, St John, NB. 2113. With oldies, southern New Brunswick weather. ID as “CFBC Oldies 93”. Sports results. Fair. Dec 23. (MS-B) 930 WFMD, Frederick, MD. 1314. News read by Rebecca Matthews, mentioned Frederick County Christmas tree recycling. Fair over WBEN. Dec 26 (DG) 940 WCPC, Houston, MS. Good signal with lots of local ads (Mission City Managed Care, Calumet City Funeral Home, Bruce Telephone Co.), clear WC as "This is WCPC in Houston with 63 degrees" and clear IDs as "WCPC AM 940 in Houston Mississippi". Good at 2304 on Jan 3. Excellent at 2233-2253 with local bands and singers in a down-home backwoods gospel program on Jan 4. (WRF-LL) 970 CBZ, Fredericton, NB. 2128. With promo for Christmas talk show where callers can send Christmas greetings to friends. ID as “CBC Radio One”, then into CBC New Brunswick News. Fair. Dec 23. (MS-B) 990 CBW, Winnipeg MN, w/possible CBY Corner Brook NF: Blah interview at 0335-two women, one Irish sounding, (bits of classical music program underneath this at various times, music was // 740 and 1550 at the time. Into a story reading then CBC news on the hour, W/C for NW Ontario and Manitoba regions. 740 already had another classical program going of which I thought still heard smatterings under 990 by 0506. (The earlier // music must surely have come from CBY but w/o more than // bits of music I'm not about to claim as more than a possible.) Poor signal mixing with several on Jan 3. (WRF-LL) 990 WZZD, Philadelphia, PA. From 2154 w/C&W, ad-string with quasi-ID as "WZZD is pleased to announce Harbor View Auto Mall as an advertising partner". Poor in a jumble on Jan 5. (WRF-LL) 990 WIVK, Knoxville, TN (presumed). From 2207 with Knoxville, Headland County and prominent Tennessians news items and local ad for an electrical supplier "largest in the Knoxville area". ID at 2213 as "W(?)OX in Knoxville on 99.1 probably WNOX!)" then live "Sportstalk, Newstalk from location past Peter Bluff by The Mayo Centre # 9620 just off I-94". Poor on Jan 5. 990 WHOO, Orlando, FL. Jazz concert with music by Al Ahrens & LA jazz Caravan, Jerry Mulligan and ID at 0437 as "Unforgettable music on WHOO 990 AM". Good with MFJ in invert position on Jan 7. (WRF-LL) 1000 CKBW, Bridgewater NS: YL host taking phone requests for C&W, mentioned "Great doings in Nova Scotia" at 0413 and IDed as "CKBW Weekend Weather Watch!" at 0416. Very good Jan 3 with WMVP phased and that took me to 990 in hope of hearing CBY. Again at 0727, very good on Jan 4. Good at 0225 with a "CKBW weather check -4 degrees" on Jan 5. (WRF- LL) 1000 WMVP, Chicago, IL. 0720. Rush Limbaugh talk show over top of CKBW, Bridgewater, NS which was playing country music by Pam Tillis. Splatter from CFPL on 980. Nov 7. (MY) 1020 KDKA, Pittsburgh, PA. 0730. Promoting a station contest with trip as prize. DJ Maryann. ID as Voice of the Steelers, KDKA and phone number as 333-KDKA. Good. Nov 7. (MY) 1030 WQSE, White Bluffs, TN: From 0712, C&W music and country DJ, ID at 0715 as "... here with today's top hits on WQSE". Fair to good on Jan 1. Last month I reported WSFZ here. (WRF-LL) 1030 WCTS, Maplewood, MN: Caught at 2300 under WQSE/WSFZ and WBZ background with ID as "You're listening to AM Stereo WCTS" into news. Very poor Jan 9. (WRF-LL) 1070 WDIA, Memphis, TN: Under CHOK with talk, faded up at 2336 in an ad/announce string mentioning "here on WDIA", into a telephone company ad with phone # as 547 8900 as it faded below CHOK again. Only briefly fair on Jan 10, (WRF-LL) 1100 WYKR, Wells River, VT. 1705. With WYKR Weather, ID as “…your official station for today’s hot new country”. Fair on daytime skywave. Dec 23. (MS-B) 1220 CFVM, Amqui, PQ. 2115. With French ads, CFVM ID by male. Good, obliterating local CJSS, Cornwall. Dec 22. (MS-B) 1260 CIHI, Fredericton, NB. 2120. Local weather, AST time check and ID as “Sea High AM & FM”. Christmas message from New Brunswick Crimestoppers. Fair. Dec 23. (MS-B) 1380 WSYB, Rutland, VT. 0200. On top briefly with mention of WSYB Radio Talk Line. Poor. Dec 27. (MS-B) 1600 WEUP, Huntsville, AL. 0043. Mention of 96.1, 92.1, and 95.5 FM (but not 1600 AM), "We got it goin'.....we're your WEUP." Fair then QSB. Dec 31 (DG) 1610 TIS - WNAQ514?, Virginia area, MN. 0709. With mentions of Iron Trail & Grand Canyon of the North. Poor-fair. Dec 23. (WH) 1620 TIS - WPJM404, Augusta County, VA. 1139. This TIS now dominates 1620 here, Man with ID, woman with mentions of Skyline Drive, etc. Fair. Dec 22. (WH) 1629 UNID: Someone playing old Jerry Lee Lewis piece followed by talk at 2129. Very weak with local noise Dec 24. (WRF-LL) 1630 Voice of ???, location unknown. 0422. Pirate with continuous oldies - no commercials, loud hum on audio, s/off 0528 as "The Voice Of ....?" in robotic voice. Very good. Dec 24. (WH) 1630 TIS - WPJR342, Detroit, MI. 1040, HAR with ID only. Good. Dec 24. (WH) 1630 TIS - WPJR341, Detroit, MI. 1040, HAR with ID only. Mixing w/WPJR342. Fair. Dec 24. (WH) 1640 KXBT, Vallejo, CA: Bits and pieces from 0515 -- OM DJ w/up-beat and black style vocals, excited OM talk at 0555 when I thought I heard "The soul... (obscured)... station", fanfare & jingle at 0600 and probable ID (none of which I could make out) and straight into another vocal. Very poor, w/weak signal, rising atop TIS and noise only infrequently after long fades on Dec17. (WRF-KL) Again, same soul format, 0535-0542, poor with TIS QRM and fluttery-fading signals on Dec 18. (WRF-LL) 1650 KGXL, Costa Mesa, CA: At 0652 with an oldie vocal, spots at 0656 mentions of Ethel Merman Concert and ID with at least 3 KGXL mentions and KGIL 1260 giving a PO Box (missed) into West Side Story soundtrack at 0658 w/out further ID at 0700. Weak and deep in noise but understandable at times. Dec 30 1729 UTC. (WRF-LL) Also identifying as KGIL, Costa Mesa, CA. 2359. Playing a tune from Cabaret, then ID as KGIL and into more show tunes. Faded from poor to good. Dec 29. (KA-R) Station News Montreal’s ethnic station CFMB has moved from 1410 to 1280 kHz. Good signal in Brockville during the days with Italian and Greek programming. (MS-B) International Loggings 189 ICELAND, RUV, Gufuskalar. 0455. With French song then Scandinavian (assumed Icelandic) talk. New station. Fair, S-8 signal on NRD 535D. Dec 23. (WH) 198 ALGERIA, ENRS, Ouargla. 0006. First time reception of this station, at first weak under BBC Droitwich. Playing a strange sounding wind instrument under BBC News just after 0000. Singing by male interspersed with talk by male and female announcers. Poor, faded to fair. Dec 29. (KA-R) 530 TURKS & CAICOS IS, R. Vision Christiana. 0327. Presumed to be the station heard in Spanish with mention of various locations, e.g., Tampa, FL, Colombia, etc. Lots of Hallelujahs. Good in CIAO null. Oct 11. (MS-B) 567 IRELAND, RTE Tullamore. 0440. Woman singing easy listening tune at 0438 then announcements by male at 0439. Another easy listening song by woman at 0441 and song sung by male at 0446. Fair. Dec 25. (KA-A) Also poor to fair on Dec 29 with instrumental rendition of Guantanamera at 0055. (KA-R) 600 CUBA, CMHV, R. Rebelde, Urbano Noris. 0317. Patriotic sounding Spanish talk with meny mentions of “commandante” interspersed with ballad-type music. Probably references to Che Guevera. Good. Oct 11. (MS-B) 640 CUBA, R. Progresso, Guanobacoq. 0339. Cuban style middle of the road and light dance music. // Progresso outlet on 890 which seems to be a powerhouse these days. Fair. Oct 11. (MS-B) 675 FRANCE, R. France, Marseille (tentative). 0045. With male DJ in un'ID language, pop music including Art Garfunkel's "My Little Town". Poor to fair. Dec 23. (DG) 690 COLOMBIA, HJCZ, R. Deportes, Bogota. 0235. ID and mentioned “musica de Colombia…” at 0235. Two commercials after 0238. Fair to good with QRM from other Latin Americans. Nov 30. (KA-P) 693 UNITED KINGDOM, BBC synchros (likely Droitwich): EE, OM in interview with YL asking questions. Poor on Dec 26. (WRF-LL) Also fair to good with woman talking at 0420 then telephone interview by male at 0448. Dec 26. (KA-A) 710 CUBA, R. Rebelde (multiple sites). 0323. Patriotic talk and ballads. // Rebelde on 600. Fair. Oct 11. (MS-B) 730 MEXICO, XEX, Mexico City. 0335. With music into talk by man with mentions of Mexico and La Republica Mexicana, then into ranchero music. Good, replacing usually dominant CKAC Montreal. Oct 11. (MS-B) 740 PUERTO RICO, WIAC, S. Juan (tentative): Too late for CMKP (Progresso) at 0615. Phased CBL to almost equal level and heard hot salsa with a wimpy sounding SS announcer (like I remember him!) and ads between selections. (WRF-LL) 810 COLOMBIA, HJCY, Bogota: Almost at equal level with // 5076.8, possible // also on 700. Very good at 0606 on Jan 12. (WRF-LL) 840 HAITI, 4VEF, R. 4VEH, Cap-Haitienne (tentative): From 2322 with French-sounding gospel song, OM w/inspirational talk in FF or Creole or Patois (all sounded FF to me!), into another gospel song as it faded to a hot Latin probably CMHW, Santa Clara). Taped the session and reviewed it, but did not reappear, nor could I hear the distinctive "Amazing Grace" hand-bells IS on my tape at 0000. Poor w/SS and WHAS QRM on Dec 31. (WRF-LL) 855 SPAIN, RNE-1 synchros, (likely 300 kW Murcia): Fast talking SS OM first noted 0058. Weak signal, only poor w/CJBC slop & long fades on Dec 20. (WRF-LL) 864 EGYPT, Egyptian Radio & TV Union, Santah. Woman singing at 0113 followed by announcements then man singing at 0126. Weak under splatter. Dec 29. (KA-R) 880 ECUADOR, HCRP1, R. Catolica Nacional, Quito (tentative): From 0145 OM speaking in quiet tones between several inspirational songs that were not what I would call gospel songs (one had a YL lead w/childrens chorus). OM w/mentions of "Catolica" and "Ecuador" at 0154, directly into martial music sounding like Ecuadorian Anthem in a fade. Carrier seemed abruptly cut at 0155 (listed s/off at 0200). Only very poor with WCBS/& likely R. Progreso on Dec 31 but I'm pretty certain of this one. Long time since I last heard it! Possibly again at 0155, I thought I heard the Ecuadorian National Anthem again ending -- only the last few bars heard u/WCBS and the pesky Cubano on Jan 1 with indications also in same time frame on Jan 2 at 0150.(WRF-LL) 890 CUBA, R. Progresso, Santiago de Cuba. 0245. Latin music then R. Progresso ID at 0245, followed by a ‘70s English pop tune. Good, only station on the frequency at that time. Nov 30. (KA-P) 900, MEXICO, XEW, Mexico City: From 0632 Jackie Gleason Show big-band theme, SS, 2 YLS & OM w/discussion between music selections mentioning "nino" and "Jesu Cristo", also frequent mentions of Mexico & California (maybe talk wasn't just of Christmas "nino" but "el Nino"). Partly obscured ID at 0144 w/ mentions of Mexico & Distrito Federal & also in ad-string that followed. Faded to a Canadian FF station by 0648 & mostly a weak second u/CHML on Dec 20. (WRF-LL) 950 CUBA, Radio Reloj, Sancti-Spiritus. 0037. New is Spanish by man and woman, time check and ID including morse code "RR" every minute. Fair with QSB. Dec 31. (DG) 1000 COLOMBIA, HJAQ, Radio Cadena Nacional, Cartagena. 0300. Several IDs, then time pips on the hour followed by ID as “RCN, la radio de Colombia”. News followed the ID. Good. Nov 30. (KA-P) 1044 MOROCCO, R. Meditarranee Int., Sebaa-Aioun. 2340. Song by male in Arabic, accompanied by strings. Poor. Dec 29. (KA-R) 1060 MEXICO, XEEP, R. Educacion, Mexico City: From 0523 with a bluesy harmonica then into EE funky black gospel song (they do this here!), brief SS talk by OM/YL then OM at 0531 with clear ID as "Radio Educacion" and a kids jingle. Fair w/KYW on Jan 4. (WRF-LL) 1062 DENMARK: From 0400, OM in heavily slopped signal -- sounded Scandinavian. Music from 0404 w/YL announcer, pop songs including Abba. Poor on Dec 26. Again from 0350-0403, pop music, beep on the hour, YL w/news, OM talk at 0403 and into lively vocal music. Poor Dec 28. Again at 0357 carrier on, 0359 obscured YL talk (presumed ID), beep @ 0400, OM into news. Still there at 0501 OM/YL talk (news-dua?). Poor on Dec 30 (last night of good TA conditions). (WRF-LL) 1089 UNITED KINGDOM, Talk Radio UK, Brookmans Park. 0430. Male caller on the phone at the time. Sorry Niel, it wasn’t Nigel from Birmingham this time. Weak to fair. Dec 25. (KA-A) 1107 SPAIN, RNE-5 synchros: Bits of audio during 0058-0139 period, SS talk, most likely news or talk radio, OM & YL talk and laughs, maybe sharing a joke. Very poor-to poor on Dec 20 with 1110 slop somewhat removed via MFJ 1025. (WRF-LL) 1134 CROATIA, HR1, Zadar. 0058. With unknown Slavic language talk then lively Mediterranean music. Some QRM from WBBR/WDFN 1130. Poor on JVC R-X330V. Dec 24. (WH) 1179 SWEDEN (tentative): YL in Scandinavian sounding news at 0601 fading quickly on Dec. 28. Snatches of YL/OM speaking in conversation. Poor at 0646 on Dec 29. (WRF-LL) 1314 NORWAY, NRK, Kvitsoy (presumed). 0235. With program of pop music. Fair. Dec 28 (DG) Also fair with instrumental version of Call Me Irresponsible at 0208. Dec 26. (KA-A) Also fair on Dec 22 with Norwegian OM speaker, into "Little Town of Bethlehem", 2 men in commentary at 0240, still there at 0401 (WRF-LL) 1314 SPAIN, RNE-5 synchros with Unid TA(s): OM/YL alternating in talk with a possible other station playing martial music at 2100, one definitely with Spanish talk by 2131. Poor on Dec 23. (WRF-LL) 1386 RUSSIA (tentative): OM with measured talk severely slopped, Christmas Carol or gospel song at 2150. I saw a report that TWR or somebody had hired air-time here. Couldn't get more out of this poor one on Dec 23. (WRF-LL) 1394.9 ALBANIA, Fllake: From 2120, CROATIAN gospel talk & music bursts, full song at 2126 to mark segment end at 2128 w/OM in obscured announcement. Horns IS at 2130 (not the old Albanian IS) then a presumed ID as it faded. Years back, they had a monster signal here; this time poor to only fair w/long fades on Dec 16. (WRF-LL) Dec 19. Heard from 2116, good at times to final fadeout at 2153, first with a Croatian gospel program, OM/YL w/program end sequence & probable request for listeners to write, mentioning Tirana in program end at 2228. Theme music ended segment in a fade so 2130 ID was missed. Resurfaced at 2131 with British-accented EE preacher then an American-south-accented one at 2134 topic, relationships and God. Good to excellent (S7+) a couple of times, w/long fades & slop in weak periods Dec 19. (WRF-LL) TWR leases the old commie voice w/schedule listed under Monaco showing Croatian at 2115-2130 & EE from 2130-2200. 1467 FRANCE, Trans World Radio, Roumoules. 2350. Religious talk by male then address to order booklets…”and now on behalf of the staff here at Trans World Radio, have a good evening”. One repeat of their interval signal then abruptly signed off. Fair to good. Dec 29. (KA-R) 1521 SAUDI ARABIA, Broadcasting Service of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Duba. 0400. Man singing in Arabic accompanied by stringed instrument, then woman singing at 0358 accompanied by flute. Faded to good by 0400, better than Buffalo on 1520! Six time pips at 0400, the sixth pip being longer. Brief announcement by male then reading by male with marching music in the background. Man reading presumed news at 0405, mentioned Arabia several times. Strong, dominating the frequency. Dec 26. (KA-A) 1620 ARGENTINA: Good signal at 0619 in very short intervals. Briefly atop TIS stuff w/SS OM gospel speaker mentioning "La Vida Cristo" and "Navidad" with gospel music bridges and songs on Dec 20 (WRF-LL) Thanks go out to this month’s contributors DG Dan Greenall, Thamesford, ON. Panasonic RF-3100 with 100’ wire antenna with LIM. MS-B Morris Sorensen, DXing in Brockville, ON. Grundig Yacht Boy 400 with built-in antenna. WH William Hepburn, Brampton, ON. JVC RX-707V with built-in loop, modified JVC R-X330V with built-in antenna, and JRC NRD-535D using house’s eavestrough as an antenna. WRF-K Werner Funkenhauser, Guelph, ON. Modified Icom R71A equipped with ESKAB PLAM, Kiwa Loop WRF-KL Werner Funkenhauser, Guelph, ON. Modified Icom R71A equipped with ESKAB PLAM, Kiwa Loop/one 50 ft wire with MFJ 1025 WRF-LL Werner Funkenhauser, Guelph, ON. Modified Icom R71A equipped with ESKAB PLAM, two 50 ft wires strung opposite both NE/SW with MFJ 1025 Werner’s other equipment: Al Merriman modified (per Mark Connelly) MFJ 1025 used as a wire/loop & wire/wire phasing and noise reduction unit, S.E.M. QRM eliminator sometimes used like the MFJ. KA-A Ken Alexander DXing in Ancaster, ON. Kenwood R-5000, Sony SW-55, with 90’ wire terminated with LIM and Quantum Loop in various combinations. KA-P Ken Alexander and Dan Greenall DXing on the side of Putnam Road (near London). Kenwood R-5000 and 1000’ wire laid out on the roadside. KA-R Ken Alexander DXing with Niel Wolfish on the side of St John Sideroad. Kenwood R- 5000, 500’ wire laid out on the side of the road.