Newfoundland 17 DXpedition Report

Jean Burnell - Chuck Hutton - Jim Renfrew

November 10-19, 2006

The seventeenth DXpedition at Cappahayden, Newfoundland, welcomed a first-time participant: Chuck Hutton from Seattle.

Happy first-timer

It was on the seventh DXpedition, back in 1998, when we had previously entertained a Newfoundland rookie! However, Chuck is far from a newcomer to the hobby, having served many years ago as the editor for the International DX Digest column in the National Radio Club's bulletin, and more recently he has been a frequent participant at the Grayland DXpeditions. The other two DXers were the perennials, Jim Renfrew

Whatever he's hearing must be perplexing. Or maybe he's not hearing anything?

from Byron, New York, and Jean Burnell

What? You guys are still doing SER local ID's?

from Halifax, Nova Scotia. DX headquarters was the Round Cove Bed & Breakfast,

Modern, totally intact B&B not resembling flotsam and jetsam a la the Lawlor Inn

which is operated by Ollie and Ken Perry.

It is regrettable that Chuck did not get a genuine Newfoundland DXpedition experience, so he may still be regarded as only partially initiated. That is because this time the weather was extraordinary,

Who needs Florida? How about Disneyland Newfoundland?

with temperatures reaching 15 °C, and there were even extended periods of sun. It did rain torrentially the first day, when Jean was putting up the antennas, but Chuck arrived after the drenching and the foul language were over. But perhaps Chuck did get a bit of the flavour of the place. He ate moose,

Moose Consumption Table

he had some blank moments in which he tried to decipher the Newfoundland accent,

Ollie, allegedly speaking English

and he witnessed the ease with which a complex technical problem was resolved in a St. John's electronics store. Jean needed an AC adapter for a piece of equipment, but was the adapter on sale compatible with the equipment? The sales representative declared he was able to assess this with certainty. Moments later he pronounced the AC adapter suitable. Because there was no smoke when he plugged the adapter into the equipment, this was obviously a perfect match.

It was disappointing that Chuck did not witness a glorious Cappahayden opening, when every 10-kHz frequency is dominated by a Brazilian, or when every Botswana station is audible, or when the Middle East stations include some from Iraq or Yemen. Nevertheless, in spite of the generally lacklustre conditions we did garner some very good logs, and it is testament to Chuck's experience that it was he who spotted what turned out to be the best log of the DXpedition.

Chuck left Newfoundland the next day, November 18th, but Jim and Jean stayed on until the 20th. Conditions did seem to be improving in the final couple of days, and it was unfortunate that the DXpedition had not coincided with generally conditions that were below par. Here is a night-by-night summary of the DXpedition.

Signals in the early evening of November 10th indicated some enhancement of eastern Europe, but this quickly dissolved leaving mainly the bigger stations in western Europe, all common catches, as essentially the only players from across the Atlantic. The only signal of note was the Dutch pirate Radio Tijbreker on 1644.94 kHz, but this station had been heard before, also. Signals from the south were all relatively short-haul. There were two "new" catches, Radio Senda de Vida (1680 kHz) from the Dominican Republic and Radio Litoral (1060 kHz) from Colombia. The latter was identified many months later by Henrik Klemetz in Sweden from an audio clip posted on the RealDX site. WSTX from the U.S. Virgin Islands (970 kHz) was identified unequivocally, following a tentative log in April.

On November 11th we noticed that some Iranians (1080, 1224, 1314, and 1584 kHz) were going quite well, and these stations, which had not previously been heard, reappeared almost every night. Some British locals were logged, and we parked on SER-network frequencies to catch the ID's at the times of the local announcements and ads. Reception is not very good when we resort to listening to the Iberians. It's like fishing for minnows when you really want to catch a salmon.

November 12th had the eastern Europeans appearing early, with a signal from Katolikus Radio in Hungary bearing logged on 810 kHz, but this would have been impossible without the stronger parallel signal on 1341 kHz as a guide. The highlight of the session was a 70-watt Access Radio outlet from London, Desi Radio, on 1602 kHz. John Fisher, a frequent Cappahayden DXpeditioner, is to be thanked for suggesting that we look for this one.

At 0025 UTC (November 13th) some time was taken to log the newer 60 metre-band All India Radio outlets on 4810 (Bhopal) and 4965 kHz (Shimla), and at 0059 UTC the Gangtok (Sikkim) station on 4835 kHz was heard weakly. DXing at sunrise revealed only common Cuban and Venezuelan signals.

Transatlantic signals were mainly from western Europe during the evening of November 13th, but signals from South America began showing up, although nothing really remarkable was heard. Some fairly common Brazilians were noted, and Radio del Plata (1030 kHz) from Buenos Aires could be heard behind WBZ. The only station of note logged in the early morning session was XEPE, Tijuana, on 1700 kHz.

Poor conditions persisted on November 14th. In the early evening a Arab station was noted under Sweden on 1179 kHz, but we were unable to identify it. Radio 2 from the Ukraine was heard very poorly behind France on 1377 kHz. Jim logged some more 60-m AIR stations at their sign-on.

November 15th was really more of the same, unexciting conditions and mainly routine catches. Local/regional ID's were logged for a number of Spanish stations, but that is symptomatic of our finding little of excitement. In the early morning hours a "new" Argentinean was finally heard, Radio Cuyo from Mendoza on 720 kHz. This was carrying mainly Radio Continental network programming.

The MW band was populated mainly by Iberian and western European signals on the evening of November 16th. Barcelona (Rock y Gol Radio) was noted on 783 kHz. This 50 kW station is difficult to log due to interference from Mauritania and Syria. Jim heard a long sought station on 1017 kHz, PEF from Madeira, in parallel with the outlet on 1530 kHz. Chuck claimed a longer-haul catch with Israel on 1026 kHz. During the evening we first noticed a station on 531 kHz that played popular music without any announcements or breaks. We suspect that this was the new Kringvarp Føroya transmission from the Faroe Islands.

One of the first stations logged on November 17th, while it was still broad daylight in Cappahayden, was Djibouti on 1539 kHz, in parallel with 4780 kHz, but then nothing exciting was heard until around 0026 UTC when Chuck noticed a weak station mixing with France Bleu on 1278 kHz. This turned out to be the best log of the DXpedition. The frequency was monitored for the next 90 minutes, and during the infrequent fade-ups we heard Portuguese telephone conversations, pop music and mentions of the "Programa Nacional." The station turned out to be parallel to 4950 kHz and 1484.52 kHz, so it was the Angolan. This was the first time that the station from Cabinda has been logged at Cappahayden, even thought we had checked this frequency many times during previous DXpeditions when signals from other Angolan stations had been moderate to strong. French talk faded up occasionally on 1062 kHz, which was probably Radio Livres Télérama from France. It is unfortunate that we were unable to ID this station because it ceased broadcasting shortly afterwards.

Transatlantic signals on November 18th was more lively than it had been for many days. Some previously heard, but less common, stations were logged, for instance Sud Radio on 819 kHz, Classic Gold from Luton on 828 kHz, and BBC Southern Counties Radio on 1368 kHz. Normally there is only one English station on 1413 kHz, BBC Radio Gloucestershire, but at 2032 UTC there were two. The weaker station IDed at 2033 UTC as "Fresh Radio." Reception of this 100-watt station did not last long as the BBC World Service from Oman faded up. Just after 0000 UTC we were surprised to hear the Russian-language broadcast from Urumqi, China, on 1521 kHz.

Signals began arriving very early on November 19th. All India Radio on 1566 kHz was audible at 1:10 p.m. local time. Radio Rossii (Saransk) was IDed 1710 UTC on 1080 UTC, and within ten minutes many British local stations could be heard. Capital Gold Kent was a "new" log on 1242 kHz. The Dutch pirate Weduwe was clearly audible on 1639.98 kHz at 1915 UTC. Later, at 0000 UTC, China was heard again on 1521 kHz, but this time interference from Classic Gold Digital was a more significant problem. Although little from the southern part of South America was coming through, signals from the Caribbean were fairly good. It was unusual to hear Trinidad (730 kHz) in the evening; this is normally an early morning log. The last morning of the DXpedition was the most interesting of the DXpedition. Many stations in Spanish were audible well past sunrise. Jim was excited to hear a station on 700 kHz giving wake-up announcements for Ecuador. This was Radio Sucre Internacional in Guayaquil. He thought that stations on 730 and 760 kHz might be Ecuadorans as well, but ID's were not heard.

Comments from Jim Renfrew

The Newfoundland experience began with my wife Robin and I meeting Saul Chernos and Niel Wolfish for dinner in Toronto. Robin is a good sport as she dived right into the conversation about DX esoterica like a veteran. It was good to hear some of Niel’s testimony about the September Miscou NB DXpedition to stoke my anticipation for Newfoundland DX. After Robin left for the return drive to New York, Saul checked his e-mail and based on some FM alerts, made a wild proposal to me to join him on a mini-DXpedition to his Joker Hill remote site north of Toronto. As an early concession to sleep deprivation in Newfoundland, I agreed. Saul has gotten permission to roam the hills with his car in the middle of the night at a university-related nature center. This was to be an FM experience, and Saul was fully equipped with a special radio, and an extendable dipole antenna (I think using a mop handle). We stopped in several parking areas on the top of the hill to check out the conditions, and then soon enough Saul was driving on twin-rutted lanes looking for the right kind of hill to favor Michigan/Wisconsin while blocking signals from Toronto. Amazingly, no security guards or cops came to investigate the headlights dancing around the hillside! The original deal was that I would sleep at Saul’s place and then catch a cab to the airport in the early morning. As we headed back to the city it looked smarter to drive me direct to the airport, so I had a few hours to nap in one of those incredibly comfortable airport chairs.

In the morning I deftly hoisted both of my checked items on the scale at once so that heavier one would not draw a penalty, and I was off to St. John’s. As usual, the approach over the Gulf of St. Lawrence was shrouded in cloud, so “The Rock” was only seen in the final landing approach. All of the cold weather gear that I packed was useless to me because this week was incredibly warm and mostly dry. On a few days the temperatures were around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The lack of rain seemed to reduce the amount of crackling in the nearby power lines.
Conditions to Europe were generally good, although having heard so many stations from there it is getting harder to find new targets. It seems like we spent a lot of time trawling for RNE/SER/COPE local IDs during local breaks. Although we had detailed schedules for these breaks, it was often the case that the national feed continued without any break. Many of these channels have multiple transmitters with a pronounced double or triple echo, so it’s hard to get much more than the ID during those brief local breaks.

A few receptions stood out: China 1521 was heard with Russian programs on two evenings in a row at 0100 and Cabinda 1278 was finally heard after many years of trying, with a music program parallel to 1484.52.

For the second year conditions to Brazil and deep South America were poor, with only the strongest stations observed. However, on the last morning there was a brief flurry of Ecuadoran signals, which was quite unusual.

We were fortunate that our Bed & Breakfast hosts have acquired a computer, so for the first time we had dial-up access during a DXpedition. Since it is the same line used for credit card transactions at the convenience store next door, the access time is limited. The Perry’s went far beyond the call of duty in providing for our varied diets, and this is a reflection of their hospitality and generosity. Although the surrounding land is less than ideal for spreading antenna wire, Ollie’s B&B is a wonderful location for DXing in comfort.

Comments from Chuck Hutton

I stuffed two communications receivers, a laptop, bunches of coax cables, antenna transformers, audio stuff, cold weather clothing, a phaser, etc into 2 suitcases and then flew from the west coast to Newfoundland. Some might call that a pain, but it seemed a small price to pay for the chance to sample the best DX site in North America.

Too bad all the arctic wear took up so much space, since it was as warm in Cappahayden as it was back home in Seattle. Drier, too.

Dodging shipwrecks, we (Jean) installed our antennas here.

I briefly thought about opening up a beach resort and golf club until Jean told me last year at this time there was ice on the edge of the ponds. Never mind……

You know you’re in for a good time when the radio powered up on 1062 (having last heard a Chinese station from Grayland the week before) and there was a mix of Italy and Denmark at a fine level. Didn’t have to do anything, and there were already 2 stations in the logbook.

The Round Cove B&B (owned by Ken and Ollie Perry, as in Olivia) was a fun little place to stay. She treats you like a mother (in the good sense), even timing the meals to our current level of DX fervor. Hearing Nibi Nibi trumps anything else, and she understands. In the mornings, breakfast always awaited us when we finally got up although being part of the Perry clan we had grazing rights anytime. Plus, homemade cloudberry jam for toast…. I don’t think the Lawlor Inn could match that.

Now about the DX: enough to keep things interesting but not a whole lot of stuff that will make you say “oh my”. In addition to the aforementioned Cabinda-1278, I was impressed by a big handful of Iranians: 1080, 1161, 1188, 1224, 1251, 1314, 1332, 1404, 1449, 1467 and 1584. A few others weren’t conclusive so stayed in the ether to be caught next time. A few nights were good for Spain, resulting in hearing Spain on 71 of the 74 frequencies it uses per the 2005 WRTH. Only 711 Murcia, 864 Socuellamos and 909 Palma escaped from me. 828 Terrassa was the toughest of the bunch and had not been heard previously. When there wasn’t a whole lot of action, we collected local ID’s. I enjoyed this, having been in the little towns where some of these stations are during my period of living in Spain. Another moment that stuck in my mind was the perfectly readable signal of Desi Radio 1602 with only 75 Watts and Spanish interference to fight.

I wouldn’t mind a few million more DXpeditions with Jean and Jim. I sure had a good time, with “good time” being defined not as just good DX but just feeling comfortable and enjoying our little excursions, moose dinners, the ubiquitous cod, etc. Maybe these guys will come out to Grayland some year. They would be more than welcome.

Equipment and antennas:

Jean Burnell (JB) Drake R-8A, Icom R-71A
Chuck Hutton (CH) Drake R8B, AR 7030
Jim Renfrew (JR) Drake R8, Drake R-8A
Various splitters, cassette recorders, mp3-recorder, and Chuck's laptop computer
1. Unterminated wire (ca. 350 m) aimed at northern Europe, sometimes useful off the back towards South America
2. Terminated (ca. 450 m) aimed at eastern Brazil, but after four days this was shortened to about 350 m, unterminated, and aimed more towards southern Africa
3. Unterminated (ca. 100 m) towards Morocco

Trans-Atlantic

531          FAROE ISLANDS (t) Kringvarp Føroya, Akraberg, NOV 17 0056 – Presumed; 80's pops, no announcements; SINPO 32442 (JB). NOV 17 0057 – Tentative; noted by Jean with continuous pop music, heard at this time with “Video Killed the Radio Star”, perhaps Faroes with its new programming (JR). NOV 19 2257 – Pop music without announcements; SINPO 44444 (JB).

540          HUNGARY Kossuth R., Solt, NOV 10 2306 – Hungarian talk, ID at 2310, frequency info and off; SINPO 43343 (JB).

540          SPAIN Onda Cero, Barcelona, NOV 13 0250 – Poor but clear on south Beverage under CBT, // 954 (CH).

576          CANARY IS. RNE1, Las Palmas, NOV 16 0657 – Regional news headlines, 0700 pips and back to network programming; SINPO 33343 (JB).

585          SPAIN RNE1, Madrid, NOV 17 0645 – Regional split, ID, news for Madrid; SINPO 23443 (JB).

594          PORTUGAL R. Renascença, Muge, NOV 14 0000 – Pips, ID, news; SINPO 33433 with Arabic QRM and splatter from local VOCM (JB).

603          EGYPT Egyptian R., Barnis, NOV 12 0300 – Tentative; precisely at 0300:00 an anthem started, but it was so poor I did not notice it at the time; I ended the recording about 10 seconds later, but it's not enough for me to be sure it's Egypt, who is the only listed 0300 s/on (CH).

621          BELGIUM RTBF La Première, Waver-Overijse, NOV 18 1918 – Talk about child-rearing, stronger than RNE, which is rare; SINPO 42442 (JB). NOV 18 2210 – News; SINPO 43443 (JB).

621          CANARY IS. RNE1, Tenerife, NOV 16 0645 – Regional break began with "Radio Nacional de España en Canarias," news from Canaries; SINPO 34444 (JB).

630          NORWAY NRK, Vigra, NOV 14 1831 – Fair with man in Norwegian; not a trace of 675 under loud Holland, or of 1485 (CH).

648          SPAIN RNE1, Badajoz, NOV 17 1922 – Lousy log, just network programming at this time; SINPO 34444 (JB).

657          SPAIN RNE5, Madrid, NOV 16 0648 – News for Madrid, 0700 pips and network news; SINPO 34343 (JB).

666          LITHUANIA R. Racja, Sitkunai, NOV 18 1924 – Belarussian talk, song by Lou Reed, ID: SINPO 34443 (JB).

684          SPAIN RNE1, Barcelona, NOV 14 0012 – Phenomenal with S9+40 signal absolutely perfect in 6 kHz bandwidth; so loud I expected to see the tower lights outside the window; reported simply because of the spectacular quality of the signal, which did not sound at all like DX is supposed to sound (CH).

693          AZORES RDP, Santa Barbara, NOV 12 2340 – Listenably good with a jazz program and alone on south Beverage (CH).

720          GERMANY Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Langenberg, NOV 10 2258 – German talk, pips at 2300; SINPO 22432, with main QRM from Portugal (JB).

720          PORTUGAL R. Clube, synchros, NOV 16 0702 – Multiple ID's at this time (JR).

720          UNID NOV 14 0024 – Rapid sweep tone, perhaps a jammer or IBOC artifact of some kind (JR).

729          SPAIN RNE1, Oviedo, NOV 16 0645 – Regional break began with "Radio Nacional de España en Asturias," news from Asturias; SINPO 33343 (JB). NOV 16 0647 – During local break several “Radio Nacional de España Asturias” ID's (JR). NOV 20 0645 – Heard again (JR)

747          CANARY IS. RNE5, Las Palmas, NOV 20 0702 – RNE5 program (JR).

756          SPAIN R. Euskadi, Bilbao, NOV 15 2154 – Poor, // 963 while looking for all the Basque area stations, which were notably good tonight (CH).

774          SPAIN RNE1, Cáceres, NOV 16 0645 – A nice ID “Radio Nacional de España Extremadura” to start the local break (JR).

783          MAURITANIA R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott, NOV 16 1945 – Arabic talk, // 4845; SINPO 32432 (JB).

783          SPAIN Rock y Gol R. Miramar, Barcelona, NOV 16 1945 – "Rock y Gol" ID and talk; SINPO 32422 (JB).

783          SYRIA R. of the Syrian Arab Rep., Tartus, NOV 16 1947 – Fanfare, Arab talk, and music // 828; SINPO 32442 (JB).

792          UNID NOV 16 2055 – Koran, poor in 3rd place behind Spain and France, either Libya or Yemen (CH).

810          HUNGARY Magyar Katolikus R., Lakihegy, NOV 12 2022 – Classical music, // 1341, under BBC R. Scotland; SINPO 22432-1 (JB). NOV 12 2034 – Poor-fair but clear behind BBC and // 1341 (CH).

818.93     MOROCCO RTM, Rabat, NOV 14 1759 – Music, ID just before 1800, pips, news; SINPO 24343 (JB).

819          EGYPT General Programme, Batrah, NOV 18 1735 – Arabic music, // 12050; SINPO 23332 (JB).

819          FRANCE Sud R., Gauré, NOV 18 1734 – Football play-by-play; SINPO 23332-1 (JB).

819          SPAIN R. Euskadi, San Sebastián, NOV 15 2156 – Poor and very bothered by a tremendous hum from presumed Morocco, // 756 (CH).

828          AZORES RDP, Flores, NOV 13 0114 - Fair with PP mx, // 837 (CH). NOV 17 0158 – Music, pips and news at 0200; SINPO 33343 (JB).

828          ENGLAND Classic Gold 792/828, Luton, NOV 18 1946 – "Classic Gold 828 and 792" ID and promo for the "Saturday Night at the Movies" contest; SINPO 32432 (JB).

828          SPAIN SER R. Terrassa, NOV 15 1930 – The last and toughest of the Spaniards I logged by paralleling to the SER network; there was little interference, but there was very little signal and took the best Spanish night of the DXpedition to hear them on a fairly empty channel on the south Beverage (CH). NOV 16 2159 – Poking through Syria with ID; SINPO 23332 (JB).

828          SYRIA R. of the Syrian Arab Rep., Deir-El-Zawr, NOV 16 1949 – Fair, parallel to 783 (CH). NOV 16 1949 – Fanfare, Arab talk, and music, brief talk at 2000 // 783; SINPO 24432 (JB). NOV 16 2253 – Arabic music, ID at 2301; SINPO 33433 (JB). NOV 18 1946 – ID, Arabic music and talk, losing to Germany by 1954; SINPO 33423 (JB).

837          AZORES RDP, Pico da Barrosa, NOV 12 2347 – Fair at best with a jazz program // 693 (CH).

837          CANARY IS. COPE Las Canarias, Las Palmas, NOV 16 2357 – Ads for Gran Canaria, and ID as “COPE Las Canarias” (JR).

837          SPAIN COPE Sevilla, NOV 16 1727 – The local break began with “COPE Sevilla 837 Onda Media”, then ads for a “mercado en Sevilla”, additional mentions of Andalusia and Sevilla (JR).

846          IRELAND R. North, Redcastle, NOV 19 1838 – “I Fought the Law and the Law Won” and other pop tunes (JR).

846          RUSSIA R. Radonezh, Noginsk, NOV 18 2000 – ID, bit of music, literature programme; SINPO 23432 (JB). NOV 19 1856 – ID heard as signal rises over Ireland; also heard later at 2025 with good ID over Ireland preacher (JR).

855          SPAIN RNE1, Huelva, NOV 17 0645 – Regional split began with "Radio Nacional de España en Andalucia", at 0648 major regional news item from Málaga, faded up to dominate briefly at 0655 with an ID; SINPO 33433 at 0655 (JB).

855          SPAIN RNE1, Murcia, NOV 17 0647 – During regional break ID noted: "Radio Nacional de España en la comunidad de Murcia"; SINPO 22422 (JB).

855          SPAIN RNE1, Santander, NOV 17 0645 – Regional break "Radio Nacional de España en Cantabria" a few times; generally slightly stronger than the other RNE1 outlets, SINPO 32432 (JB).

864          ARMENIA Trans-World R., Gavar, NOV 18 1854 – Flute music, 1855 interval signal then talk in unidentified language; SINPO 33343 (JB).

873          HUNGARY NOV 12 2015 – Tentative; fair with opera (CH).

873          MOLDOVA R. Moldova 1, Chisinau, NOV 11 1959 – Mess of signals, but the Moldovan interval signal emerged briefly; SINPO 23442 (JB).

873          RUSSIA R. Rossii, synchros, NOV 19 1757 – Music, ID at 1758, talk, pips, chimes and ID at 1800; SINPO 24443 (JB).

873          SPAIN SER R. Galicia, Santiago de la Compostela, NOV 14 2255 – Local break began with "Radio Galicia"; SINPO 23432 (JB).

873          SPAIN SER R. Zaragoza, NOV 16 2158 – Two ID's during the local break; SINPO 23432 (JB).

891          PORTUGAL R. Renascença, Vila Moura, NOV 11 2002 – Fair-poor in PP underneath Algeria (CH).

900          SPAIN R. Popular de Bilbao, NOV 14 2032 – Promo for programme "en Radio Popular"; SINPO 33433 (JB). NOV 16 1815 – Good, ad and ID (CH). NOV 18 0712 – ID heard as “Radio Popular, la emisora del …” (JR).

909          BOTSWANA VOA, Sebele Pikwe, NOV 12 1935 – English program, chasing BBC but always under BBC's monster signal; interference also from unid with classical piano and an Arabic unid; at 2112 VOA mention (CH).

909          UNID NOV 12 1935 –Koran in Arabic, and every night throughout the session; not parallel any of the standard audible suspects from Morocco, Libya or Saudi Arabia; however Morocco B was not parallelable as no "B" stations were heard (CH).

909          UNID NOV 15 1951 – Opera briefly equal to BBC (CH).

918          SLOVENIA R. Slovenia, Domzale, NOV 12 2139 – News, sound effects at 2141 followed by brief talk ending with "...programa Radio Slovenia"; SINPO 43443 (JB). NOV 13 2018 – Very good, on top of a faint remnant of Spain on northern Beverage with end of choral mx (CH). NOV 18 1900 – ID, accordion music; SINPO 22432 (JB).

918          SPAIN R. Intercontinental, Madrid, NOV 18 1859 – Talk about Latin American dances; SINPO 33433 (JB).

927          BELGIUM VRT R. 1, Wolvertem, NOV 18 1902 – Flemish news, ID at 1903 sounded like "Radio Vlaans" followed by weather, but then the woman ID'ed as "Radio Een"; SINPO 33443 with splatter from CJYQ (JB).

927          PORTUGAL R. Renascença, Évora, NOV 17 0359 – Poor but parallelable to 576 (CH).

954          TURKEY TRT Trabzon R., NOV 12 2305 – Turkish anthem then off; SINPO 22442 (JB).

963          FINLAND R. Finland, Pori, NOV 15 0234 – French song, but then chat in Finnish and pop music; SINPO 44444 (JB).

963          PORTUGAL R. Renascença, Seixal, NOV 11 2359 – Ad, pips, time, ID's, news; SINPO 44444 (JB). NOV 13 2354 – Fair with man in PP, // 891, 981 and 594 (CH).

963          SPAIN R. Euskadi, Vitoria, NOV 15 2154 – Poor underneath Portugal, // 756 (CH).

963          TUNISIA R. Tunisia, Tunis, NOV 10 2255 – Arab talk, Tunisian anthem; SINPO 23443 (JB).

972          GERMANY NDR-Info, Hamburg, NOV 12 2155 – Jazz, ID and address at 2159; SINPO 33443 (JB).

972          UKRAINE Ukrainian R., Kopani, NOV 12 1909 – Talk, ID at 1910 then classical music; SINPO 32442, under Germany (JB). NOV 12 2155 – Choral music, ID and interval signal at 2200; SINPO 32432 (JB).

990          GERMANY DeutschlandRadio Kultur, Berlin-Britz, NOV 12 1958 – German talk, but faded away quickly; SINPO 23322-1 (JB).

990          WALES BBC R. 5 Live, Tywyn, NOV 12 2000 – "5 Live" ID over Germany, but overtaken by domestic CBY shortly thereafter; SINPO 33332 (JB).

999          MOLDOVA/PRIDNESTROVYE Voice of Russia, Maiac, NOV 12 2148 – Seemed like a Russian DX programme with audio clips of other stations; SINPO 43443 (JB). NOV 15 1828 - Fair with sounder and IS (CH).

999          SAUDI ARABIA BSKSA, Tabuk, NOV 16 2344 - Fair to good, even with Spain, with Koran; ID'ed by parallel with 1512 (CH).

1008        CANARY IS. Punto R., Las Palmas, NOV 13 2255 – Talk about Fidel Castro, "Punto Radio, Gran Canaria" at 2259, ads; SINPO 44444 (JB).

1017        MADEIRA PEF, Santana, NOV 16 1807 – Portuguese woman speaking // 1530 Funchal (JR).

1026        ISRAEL Kol Israel "D", Tel Aviv, NOV 16 2316 – Fair-poor, but ID'able via parallel 1205 or SW 5915 (CH).

1026        MOROCCO RTM, Rabat, NOV 16 2116 – Fair w/ AA vocals // 702; occasionally rising up to give Spain a run for its money (CH).

1026        SPAIN SER R. Asturias, Oviedo, NOV 15 1926 – “Cadena SER … Asturias”, “Asturias”, and “Oviedo” mentioned during local break (JR).

1026        SPAIN SER R. Jerez, Jerez de la Frontera, NOV 11 2300 – "Radio Jerez, Cadena SER" then local ad; SINPO 23432 (JB). NOV 16 2159 – Tentative; “Jerez de la Frontera” mentioned just before the end of the local break (JR).

1026        SPAIN SER R. Vigo, NOV 14 0158 – Promo, "Radio Vigo" at 0159; SINPO 22432 (JB). NOV 14 2257 – “Radio Vigo … Cadena SER” during local break (JR). NOV 15 0159 and 0259 – Heard again (JR). NOV 15 0159 – Local break, ID; SINPO 33332 (JB).

1026        UK BBC station, NOV 18 0336 – Poor EE talk (CH).

1035        UNID NOV 18 0327 – Koran, likely Morocco (CH).

1044        GERMANY MDR-Info, Wilsdruf, NOV 16 0035 – Weather report; SINPO 33433 (JB). NOV 18 2302– News, football scores, weather, ID at 2305; SINPO 32432 (JB).

1044        GREECE Macedonia 1, Thessaloniki, NOV 18 2251 – Greek music briefly dominating; SINPO 32432 (JB).

1044        SPAIN SER R. San Sebastián, NOV 18 2259 – "Carrusel Deportivo" football reports then split for local break with ID followed by local ads; SINPO 33433-2 (JB).

1053        ROMANIA R. Iasi,NOV 19 1659 – Pop music program, ID at 1728 mentions “Iasi”, also “Moldavi” and “Timisoara”, interference from TalkSPORT split programming (JR).

1053        SPAIN COPE Zaragoza, NOV 11 2301 – Behind Libya, picked out a COPE programme promo on "COPE Zaragoza"; SINPO 22342 (JB).

1053.07    LIBYA R. Jamahiriyah, Tripoli, NOV 11 2258 – Arabic music, theme from Rimski-Korsakov's "Sheherazade", talk; SINPO 33333 (JB).

1062        FRANCE R. Livres Télérama, Meudon, NOV 18 0310 – Continuous French at poor levels, no ID heard, apparently they've now left the air (CH). NOV 18 0316 – Probable; glimpses of French talk; SINPO 24331 (JB).

1062        ITALY RAI R. 1, synchros, NOV 12 2328 – Italian talk; SINPO 33343 (JB).

1071        SPAIN Euskadi Irratia, Bilbao, NOV 15 2000 – Very good with ID (CH).

1080        IRAN VOIRI, Abadan, NOV 12 0156 - A pleasant surprise with classical (?) piano mx parallel to 6065, poor-fair (CH).

1080        POLAND R. Racja, Koszecin, NOV 11 2159 – End of programme of Belarussian rock 'n' roll, ID in Belarussian and off; SINPO 33443 (JB). NOV 13 2039 – Good with Russian-sounding news with Star Wars type sounder between items (CH). NOV 14 2025 – Belarussian political talk, ID at 2027, music; SINPO 33443 (JB).

1080        RUSSIA R. Rossii, Saransk, NOV 19 1705 – Talk, very weak, but faded up for ID at 1710, Russian music from 1711; SINPO 13542-1 (JB).

1116        ENGLAND BBC R. Derby, Burnaston Lane, NOV 12 0659 – BBC programme under Spain, local ID and news at 0700; SINPO 22442 (JB).

1116        SPAIN SER R. Pontevedra, NOV 14 2157 – SER local break with ads for Pontevedra (JR).

1125        BELGIUM RTBF Vivacité, Houdeng, NOV 15, 1816 – Fair in FF (CH). NOV 17 2100 – Jingle ID, brief French talk but rapidly lost to a station with classical music; SINPO 22422 (JB).

1125        CROATIA Glas Hrvatske, Deanovec, NOV 17 2104 – News, ID at 2109, // 1134; SINPO 33422 (JB).

1143        RUSSIA/KALININGRAD Voice of Russia, Bolshakovo, NOV 12 2043 – Russian talk; SINPO 44434 (JB). NOV 16 1759 – Kremlin bells, heavy interference (JR). NOV 16 1759 – Interval signal under Spain; SINPO 23442 (JB). Russian International R., NOV 16 1858 - IS repeated for 90 seconds at 1858, then ID at the top of the hour as "radio ….." (CH). NOV 19 2159 – Russian song, 30 seconds of fast pips from 2159:30, 2200 normal pips, and Russian news, but no real ID; SINPO 44444 (JB).

1152        ROMANIA Romania Actualitata, Cluj, NOV 16 1936 - Fair and serving as my reference point for parallels (CH).

1152        SCOTLAND Clyde 2, Glasgow, NOV 16 1859 – Ads, jingle ID, news; SINPO 32432 with QRM from Romania (JB). NOV 18 1825 – Talk about upcoming Celtic versus Manchester United football game, ID; SINPO 22432 (JB).

1152        SPAIN RNE5, Albacete, NOV 15 0645 – Regional break, "Radio Nacional de España en Castilla La Mancha"; SINPO 24432 (JB).

1161        ENGLAND BBC station, NOV 12 0030 - BBC 5 Live programming, mixing with Tay AM (CH).

1161        ENGLAND Magic 1161, Goxhill, NOV 18 0244 – "Magic Gold Weekend" and pop music; SINPO 32432 (JB).

1161        IRAN VOIRI, Abadan, NOV 18 0243 – Koran, // 1224; SINPO 32432 (JB). NOV 18 0245 – Koran // 1224 (CH). NOV 19 0233 – Program // 1224, poor under Radio Tay (JR).

1161        SCOTLAND Tay AM, Greenside Scalp, NOV 12 0017 - Fair with Tay AM jingle (CH).

1161        SPAIN Euskadi Irratia, San Sebastián, NOV 15, 2004 – Fair with ID 2004 Nov. 15 (CH). NOV 17 0629 – Basque news, ID; SINPO 33443 (JB).

1170        SLOVENIA R. Capodistria, Beli Kriz, NOV 12 2037 – News in Italian; SINPO 33343 with QRM from Sawa (JB).

1170        UNITED ARAB EMIRATES R. Sawa, Al-Dabbayah, NOV 12 2039 – Excellent and totally owning 1170 with Sawa jingle 2039; power pays off (CH).

1179        ROMANIA Romania Actualitata, various sites, NOV 16 1936 – Poor but parallelable against 1152 (CH).

1179        UNID NOV 14 1846 – Arabic mx, sometimes on top of Sweden on the southern Beverage (CH).

1188        BELGIUM VRT R. 2, Kuurne, NOV 13 2057 – Piano music, ID and news at 2100; SINPO 33443 (JB).

1188        GERMANY MDR Info, Reichenbach, NOV 19 0236 – German language // 1017 (JR).

1188        IRAN R. Payam, Tehran, NOV 12 2028 – Fair and on top with end of a violin selection, ID, talk and onward to more music (CH).

1197        ENGLAND Virgin R., low-powered synchros, NOV 11 2347 – Not so bad (CH).

1197        LESOTHO Family R., Lancer's Gap, NOV 12 2130 – Fair on peaks with religious program (CH).

1197        SPAIN Euskadi Irratia, Vitoria, NOV 15 2005 – Poor but // 1071 (CH).

1206        ISRAEL Kol Israel "D", Akko, NOV 16 2316 – Fair-poor but ID'able via parallel 1026 or SW 5915 (CH). NOV 16 2318 – Arab music under France, // 5915; SINPO 22432 (JB).

1215        RUSSIA/KALININGRAD Russian International R., Bolshakovo, NOV 16 2355 – ID, Russian pop music, 30 seconds of pips at 2359:30, then off; SINPO 33432 (JB).

1224        BULGARIA R. Bulgaria, Vidin, NOV 16 1800 – IS (trumpets) heard through Spanish stations, IS again at 1900 and // 5900 kHz (JR). NOV 16 1829 - Chime IS repeated twice at 18:29:40 in a mix, just before Bulgaria’s normal IS (CH). NOV 16 1900 – Just before 1900 the Bulgarian interval signal became evident; SINPO 22432 (JB).

1224        IRAN VOIRI, Abadan, NOV 12 0143 – Arabic singing, // 6065, this is the foreign service in Arabic; SINPO 23443 (JB). NOV 18 0245 – Fair with Koran, parallel to 1161 (CH). NOV 19 0233 – Program // 1161 (JR).

1224        ISRAEL Galei Zahal, Beersheba, NOV 11 2342 – Parallel to 6973 and 1287, poor-fair (CH).

1224        SPAIN COPE Huelva, NOV 16 1845 – “COPE Huelva” ID heard during local break time (JR). NOV 16 1845 – Local ID and weather (CH). NOV 16 1849 – News items from Huelva, ID at 1859; SINPO 22432 beneath presumed San Sebastián (JB).

1224        SPAIN Herri Irratia, San Sebastián, NOV 16 1800 – "Herri Irratia servicios informativos"; SINPO 23442 (JB).

1233        BELGIUM RTBF Pure FM, Rocourt, NOV 12 0117 – Presumed; pop mx mixing with Virgin, but no ID (CH).

1233        ENGLAND Virgin R., low-powered synchros, NOV 12 0117 – Fair with ID (CH).

1242        ENGLAND Capital Gold Kent, Hoo St. Warburgh, NOV 19 1858 – "...here in Capital Gold", then faded until 1901 when up again with news; SINPO 22432-1 (JB).

1242        ENGLAND Virgin R., low-powered synchros, NOV 12 0111 – Fair with pop music, // 1215 (CH). NOV 19 1856 – Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls," contest promo at 1900, ads, jingle ID at 1904; SINPO 33433 (JB).

1242        FRANCE France Info, Marseille, NOV 19 1900 – Time and bits of news; SINPO 22422-1 (JB).

1251        IRAN IRIB, Kiashahr, NOV 13 2130 – Woman speaking, distinctive music // 1503 (JR).

1251        LIBYA Voice of Africa, Tripoli, NOV 10 2356 – French ID and news; SINPO 44443 (JB). NOV 13 2114 – Chimes, pips amazingly at 2114:45, Arabic ID, then music and dramatic talk; SINPO 33443 (JB). NOV 13 2115 – Good+ with music box chimes and 3 pips at 2115 (yes, 2115), then AA mx (CH). NOV 17 2342 – News in English (JR). NOV 17 2343 – Noted in strongly accented English, good (CH).

1260        ENGLAND Classic Gold 1260, Mangotsfield, NOV 13 2119 – Fair-poor with ID (CH). NOV 19 2056 – Split with Marcher, ads for companies in Bristol; SINPO 32432 (JB).

1260        ENGLAND Classic Gold Marcher, Farndon, NOV 13 2059 – Promo, "Classic Gold Marcher 1260" at 2100; SINPO 33443-2 (JB). NOV 19 2100 – Was a mix of both "Classic Gold" stations, but was split at 2100 with clear "Classic Gold Marcher" ID and another at 2103; SINPO 32442 (JB).

1260        SPAIN SER R. Murcia, NOV 13 2156 – Network programme, local break at 2157:30 began with ID, lots of news from Murcia, rejoined net at 2200:30; SINPO 33443 (JB). NOV 14 2255 – "Radio Murcia" but badly QRM'ed by CKHJ; SINPO 32232 (JB).

1278        ANGOLA/CABINDA EP de Cabinda, Tenda, NOV 18 0026 – Astutely spotted by Chuck, Portuguese host with some phone calls, some pop music, heard "progama nacional" at 0055 and 0121, which prompted a check for parallels and found 4950 and later 1484.52 as well; followed station until 0206 but it never improved; SINPO 23322-1 with QRM from France (JB). NOV 18 0124 – Poor (but alone at times) with pop mx (REM) parallel 4950; later at 0150 paralleled to 1484.5 (CH). NOV 18 0148 – Very poor under France; finally found the signal from this enclave of Angola parallel to the music program on 1484.52 during occasional peaks; no trace of signal had been heard here on previous DXpeditions, not even during the major opening to Angola we experienced in 2004; this may be the highlight of this year’s DXpedition (JR).

1278        FRANCE France Bleu, Sélestat, NOV 17 0026 – Oldies, occasional canned ID's and jingles; SINPO 33332 (JB).

1287        ISRAEL Galei Zahal, Ramle, NOV 11 0100 – Hebrew ID, // 6973; SINPO 32332 (JB). NOV 13 2132 – Pop music beneath Spain, // 6973; SINPO 32432 (JB).

1287        SPAIN SER R. Castilla, Burgos, NOV 13 2156 – Network programme, local break at 2157:30 with "Radio Castilla, Cadena SER, Burgos" ID, local news until rejoined net at 2200:30; SINPO 43443 (JB). NOV 13 2336 – Good with local ID at 2336 (CH). NOV 14 2127 – Local break, ID at 2200; SINPO 32332 (JB). NOV 16 2158 – “Escucha Radio Castilla … Cadena SER Burgos”, a nice ID to start the local break (JR). NOV 16 2158 – Local break,