Listener's Trashbag

Editor: Sven Gonzalez

NON-NEGATIVE DX NEWS

AUSTRALIA Radio Australia 9580 1330-1340 with nx item about the latest craze in Beijing - Fire Drake dance parties, a.k.a. Jamming to the Jamming. Good signal but the audio was really fuzzy. (Humboldt) Have you outcleaned your ears lately? I outcleaned mine last Tuesday and you wouldn't believe how much clearer the DX sounds. (sg)

BELARUS Radio Belarus reports that for the 2009-B period, incidents of program schedules arriving with used dental floss in the envelope were down by 20%. (Swedish DX Commando)

CHINA For the calendar year 2011, China Radio International will continue offering a series of QSLs focusing on traditional elements of Chinese life. The focus of 2010 is Traditional Foods. The previous two years were Traditional Costumes and Traditional Festivals. For 2011 the theme will be Traditional Forms of Execution. (Radio Damascus Monitoring Service)

CZECH REPUBLIC Contrary to reports elsewhere, Radio Prague will not be leaving shortwave. Instead, they will only be using frequencies that are prime numbers divisible by two. (DX Tortilla via Carson Humboldt)

IRAN In a joint statement, three international broadcasters have condemned Iran for 'deliberate electronic interference' in their broadcasts. Voice of America, the BBC and German service Deutsche Welle said the new wave of jamming began yesterday as Iran marked the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.
          What no one expected was the rapid conciliatory response from the Iranian government. At 15:14:00 UTC on March 27th, the jammers went silent leaving nothing but an open carrier. At 15:14:15, a male voice came on and announced in English( followed by German and Farsi) We are really ashamed of ourselves for having jammed foreign broadcasts. We deeply apologize for having offended you. This was followed by fifteen seconds of open-carrier silence, some giggling, and then the jamming noises were turned back on.(Radio Damascus Monitoring Service)

LIBYA An addition to Radio Jamariyah's Wednesday program line-up, repeated on Saturdays, is Camping With Moammar. The first program had some very useful advice that I'll use on my tenting trip to Yellowstone. Also cool tips on starting a camp fire with camel chips. Via Google I found a place in Tucson that sells those via mail order. I'm ordering 25 pounds. (Hastings)

PAPUA NEW GUINEA - Contray to the report last month, John Arekoi is still the manager and veri-signer for Radio East Septic. There was a misunderstanding over the report that the station had gotten a new head. (DX Illusionary Digest)

ROMANIA Some years ago a decision was made to change the name of Radio Bucharest to Radio Romania International. It was hoped that using the abbreviation RRI would give the station better name recognition among DXers and increase listenership for the Romanian broadcasts to South East Asia. While neither of these events have come to pass, they still throw the best beer parties of any European international broadcaster. And, their female announcers are really hot. (Yemeni Review of DX Law)

RUSSIA Radio Station Tikhiy Okean 7330 w/ ID followed by Mozart's Ukulele Concerto in A Minor. (Ryan Finelli) You sure of that? I thought he only wrote Allegro Waltzes for the ukulele. (gh)

SLOVAKIA The reason Radio Slovakia International suffers from heavy QRM is because they made a pact with the devil. I know this because they were one spot in front of me in line that day. (Robertson)

USA Interesting article entited Voice of America Expands Audience in Sunday's Washington Post. Turns out that listening to American radio is just a fattening as eating American food. Average listener in Eastern Europe gains 1 kg per 8 hours of listening to VOA. (via DX Illusionary Digest)


DOUBLE NEGATIVE DX NEWS

CANADA [non [non]] Radio Canada International 2300 w/ CBC nx on the new stricter limits established by their socialized medicine death panels (Palin-AK) Ditto (Grassley-IA) Apparently that Harold guy who runs ODXA has been told that his time is up the next time he so much as gets a cold. (Rumbley) So not much point in sending a get well card. I'll miss him. (sg)

ITALY [non [non]] Correction to last month's column. The new series of QSL cards from RAI will feature photos of Naples, not Nipples. (Carson Humboldt)

NEPAL [non [non]] I was surprised by the item in last month's column that Radio Nepal had gotten a new head. I didn't know head-hunting was common in the Himalayas. (Kyle) It's not. But apparently the one they had in the studio was over fifty years old and very moth eaten. (sg)

UNIDENTIFIED [non [non]] I came across a station broadcasting in English on 6175 and identifying as the Word Service. I expected to hear tips on using Microsoft products, but instead it was just news and then some cricket scores. What gives? (Pat Mosley)

VENEZUELA [non [non]] The Halo Presidente program has been renamed Hugs From Hugo as part of Hugo Chavez's attempts to portray a new softer image. They are also running a special promotion. Send five reception reports in a 30 day period and get a coupon for five gallons of free gas. (Union of Exiled Ugandan DX Clubs) That should make him more popular with Hummer owners. (sg)


UNBUZZY DX NEWS

AUSTRALIA Our Radio Australia transmitter site at Darwin has finally closed. You know it was really on the Cox Peninsula don't you? Isn't that rich? You know - cox. And, you know what a peninsula is, right? We could never get any work done around here. Someone would say 'I heard things are looking up at the Cox Peninsula,' and we would all break down laughing. God, was it funny. (Angus Thomspon, Program Director, Radio Australia in interview on CNN)

BHUTAN The BBS says they are still using their old 50 kW transmitter, but only as a place to stack books on top of. (Scandinavian Dieters' DX Review)

BOLIVIA Radio Pio XII is not named after Pope Pius the 12th, as commonly reported. Rather the name comes from the Aymara words pio ("difficult") and xii ("dx") (Dan Muir)

BRAZIL The new owner of Radio 9 de Julho is changing the station name to Radio 27 de Setembro in honor of his latest girlfriend's birthday. (Society for the Reformation of DX Terminology)

EQUATORIAL GUINEA From his vacation home in Malibu, California, Teodoro Nguema Obiang, son of the president, told an interviewer that he thought that his country needs to recognize that it is close to both the Equator and the Prime Meridian. The next time his father is spaced out on drugs Teodoro is going to propose that the country be renamed Equatorial Prime-Meridianal Guinea. (Rocking Chair DX)

ETHIOPIA The Voice of Oromo Liberation has given up on liberation and decided to just party instead. Now known as the Voice of Oromo Inebriation.(Radio Damascus Monitoring Service)

GREECE, FORMER OTTOMAN EMPIRE PROVINCE OF Due to budget cuts, the Voice of Greece has fired its English news staff. The English newscasts will continue with the Greek-speaking news readers translating the scripts using Google and reading them. (Bureau of DX Haberdashery) What great news! We need more comedy programs on shortwave. (sg)

HAWAII WWVH heard here for first time on 5000 khz on Oct 29. Could not include the time in my logbook because my clock had stopped. (Horace Morris)

MALAYSIA Traxx FM (relayed on 7295 SW) is now Traxxx FM (note additional x). Significant changes in programming are expected. (Sociedade DX de Meseros Uruguayos)

MEXICO Radio Educacion 6185 is adding English broadcasts to Texas, Oklahoma, and the US Gulf coast. Let's Learn Science will air from 2300-2345 UTC on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Introduction to Basic Logic and Reasoning Skills will air during the same time slot on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. (World of Jammers via Ted Kirley)

NIGERIA Voice of Nigeria's frequencies are finally stable, which is more than you can say for the mental health of their announcers. (Journal of DX Sociology)


BUZZY DX NEWS

SAUDI ARABIA According to Dr Abdulaziz Mohieddin Khoja, the Minister of Culture, Information, and Paying Postal Inspectors to Cover up the Naughty-Bits in Playboy with Black Markers, the Buzzing Service of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is now the Middle East's number one producer of honey. (Association of Radio Beekeepers)


OUTPICKED DX NEWS

CONTESTS The Finnish DX Union - Suomi DX Raskaiden Lämpimät Alusvaatteet (Motto: "Suomi DX On Parempi Kuin Tanskassa DX") - is holding a contest open only to non-Finnish DXers. The requirements are to correctly spell the first and last names of five Finnish DXers on a postcard. A lucky DXer drawn from the correct entries will win a current copy of the Helsinki phone book, courtesy of Nokia. Entries should be sent to: Suomi DX Raskaiden Lämpimät Alusvaatteet, 14983 Seksikäs Suomen Naiset, Pitää Minut Lämpimänä, Finland (via Bill Dernoff) Ummm... probably will need to use extra-long postcards. (sg)

AWARDS Swedish DX Commando is pleased to announce that we have named Barack Obama our DXer of the Year for 2009 in the hope that he will take up DXing at some time in the future. (Swedish DX Commando e-mail list) I'm not surprised. The BLANDX Board of Directors has just awarded President Obama all 16,323 certificates available in the BLANDX Awards program. He's the only person besides BLANDX CEO Bill Kyle to get them all. (sg) I don't see how Obama could be so ego-centric as to think he deserves these awards. (Limbaugh)

RADIO HOBBY MUSEUMS The Baffin Island DX Club is pleased to announce the first five members of the new Shortwave Frequency Hall of Fame that they are building in Iqaluit. The first class of entrants are (in numerical order) 4775, 6175, 9745, 10000, and 15070. Displays at the museum will detail what stations have used these frequencies and why they have been of importance to the SWL/DX community. Nominations are currently being accepted for the 2010 class. (Baffin Island DX Club, direct)


WISDOM FROM SVEN

I might quote more of Ryan Finelli's logs, but they are so filled with real English words that I do not wish to burden readers of this column with them. Plus it would take far too much time to translate them into my personal dialect of Svenglish. Ryan also reports far more detail than anyone really needs. Is it really necessary to state that the station plays music and has announcers? (sg)

THE PEONS SPEAK UP

Can your numerous radio DX programs can be found on an audio-on-demand website? (Hugh Kingsley) No, Hugh. You have to ask nicely if you want to hear them.

Senor Gonzalez, your constant reprinting of DX news from third party publications instead of from paying BLANDX members is becoming a major cause of depression for me. I thought BLANDX was about giving us a forum to stroke our own egos by publicizing our own DX achievements. Am I wrong about that? If I want to hear that diarrhea they call DX news in Scandinavia, I'll learn to speak Swedish. As it is, all the DX news being posted to the Internet by these other DX organizations is making it much harder for stuff I post to come out on top of DX-related Google searches. What are you, altruistic or something? (Cliff Sterling)

Altruistic? Me? What have you been smoking? As I keep having to point out to those DXers who are oblivious to reality, this hobby, and shortwave in particular, is all about stroking MY ego. My reprinting of DX news from inferior publications makes them beholden to me since without me no one would give a rat's bowel movement about what they have to say. I refuse to muzzle myself. (Although I do get an occasional thrill by being spread-eagled and handcuffed to my 4 foot box loop antenna. But never muzzled.) Also as you probably have not noticed in your ignorance, I am critical of any DXer or broadcaster that deserves it. And that just happens to be every DXer besides myself and every broadcaster besides those that carry one of my numerous radio programs - and then only if they happen to have one of my programs on the air at the moment. (sg)