iPhone Scanner App Very Popular

Andrew Clegg on the Scan-DC reported the following to the list:

Amazingly, Police Radio, an iPhone app that provides access to streaming scanner feeds from all over the U.S., has reached the #5 spot in popularity among the 80,000+ paid iPhone apps. It seems the broader universe has suddenly discovered the fun of tuning into public safety radio transmissions. Police Radio lags only AppBox Pro (a general-utlilty app), Frogger, ESPN Radio, and Sketchbook Mobile.The list of top iPhone apps is accessible in the App Store on the iPhone, and the following link also lists them: http://appshopper.com/bestsellers/paid

Turku Radio QRT

From http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?t=219281

Coastal radio HF tranceivers up for scrapping in Finland

FMA (Finnish Maritime Administration in c/o with the Finnish Communication Authorithy) is closing down the coastal radio station OFK (Turku Radio) HF/MF services at 010110 00:00 UTC. (VHF service still as usual, new transmitters located at Järsö, Hammarland and Geta, ASL +150m).

In OH0 country Mariehamn and Geta HF/MF remote controlled stations will be closed at this time.

This means that all of the (3x)5 kW transmitters located at the former Mariehamn Radio QTH is up for scrapping whith a swift timetable.

This includes all the towers and antennas. The transmitters are old school, modified Standard
Radio Company 1220 or 1610 with a capacity of more than 10 kW. Also a lot of 50 ohm 2'' forced air cable with compressors is up for scrapping..

The former coastal radio network infrastructure provider Erillisverkot Oy has terminated the contract with FMA as from 010110 00:00 UTC

Due to this, the whole commercial ship-shore and safety network on VHF & MF/HF has been completely rebuilt whith a new service provider.. (Navielektro)

All HF/MF stations along the Finnish coast will be terminated and scrapped!!!

This is a shame. Good working equipment scrapped...

Good huntings....

OH1FDW / OH1BB

Pittsburgh G20 Summit Comms on IBN TeamSpeak

For September 24 and 25, 2009, IBN will be providing a dedicated live scanner feed channel with exclusive 24/7 coverage of public service radio communications related to the G20 Summit Conference taking place in downtown Pittsburgh for these two days. International dignitaries will begin arriving this date along with President Obama, and the downtown area has been placed under extreme security lockdown by local and federal law enforcement. The US Secret Service has command of this special security event with support from all city, county, state and some out of state agencies.

Log on to IBN TeamSpeak and join the "PA - Pittsburgh G20 Comms" channel located in the 'In Progress/Special Events' section up top.

http://www.INCIDENTBROADCAST.com:8768
174.142.61.152

Russian Fax Meteo Stations

From my good friend and colleague Hugh Stegman -- he is working on a new project and needs your help.

"I'm involved in a major project bringing Marius Rentsen's 1998 "HF-FAX" list into the 21st century. This is the standard list you find all over the Internet, and it hasn't been updated in 11 years. I've hit a dead end on the Russian fax stations. They don't update to the international bodies, so they've fallen off the NOAA and IMO lists, but people still report them. The old list shows stations in Moscow, Irkutsk, Kiev (Ukraine), Khabarovsk, and Arkangelsk that I can't verify as to on or off-air status. (Murmansk and Petropavlovsk-Kamkatchatskiy have been verified by recent listener reports). Anyone know anything about this? Also, is the Chuo Gyogyo fishery station in Japan kaput?"

You can reach Hugh via utilityworld at ominous-valve.com

South African Amateur Radio Payload Reaches Orbit

SB SPACE @ ARL $ARLS007
ARLS007 South African Amateur Radio Payload Reaches Orbit

ZCZC AS07
QST de W1AW
Space Bulletin 007 ARLS007
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington, CT September 18, 2009
To all radio amateurs

SB SPACE ARL ARLS007
ARLS007 South African Amateur Radio Payload Reaches Orbit

After several delays, South Africa's SumbandilaSat satellite finally
blasted to orbit aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
in Kazakhstan on September 16. The main payload is a multi-spectral
imager, but the satellite also carries an Amateur Radio component
consisting of a 2 meter/70 cm FM repeater.

After SumbandilaSat is fully commissioned, the repeater will be
activated with an uplink at 145.880 MHz and a downlink at 435.350
MHz; there will also be a voice beacon at 435.300 MHz. The
transponder mode will be controlled by a CTCSS tone on the uplink
frequency. The CTCSS tone frequencies have yet to be announced.

SumbandilaSat was sponsored by the Department of Science and
Technology and was built at SunSpace in cooperation with the
Stellenbosch University.

In addition to the SA-AMSAT amateur module, the satellite carries
Stellenbosch University's radiation experiment and software defined
radio (SDR) project, an experiment from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan
University and a VLF radio module from the University of
KwaZulu-Natal.

NNNN
/EX

Kansas City Region TICP

I have located an interesting pdf from the Mid-America Regional Council for PS scanner buffs.

At http://www.marc.org/publicsafety/TICplan.pdf you will find a document titled the Kansas City Region Tactical Interoperable Communications Plan dated April 25, 2006.

It is loaded with interesting background info on interoperability and frequencies.

Kansas City is part of a bi-state metropolitan area straddling the Missouri-Kansas state line. This Tactical Interoperable Communications Plan (TICP) has been created for the Kansas City Urban Area, an 8 county region including over 100 cities. The 8 counties include Leavenworth, Wyandotte, and Johnson Counties in Kansas and Platte, Clay, Ray, Jackson, and Cass Counties in Missouri.

Cass County Minnesota Public Safety Freqs

If you live in Cass County Minnesota and need some scanner freqs check out the link below.

http://www.co.cass.mn.us/sheriff/pdfs/Section2.pdf

Federal Itinerent Freqs

From Peter Sz per the 2008 red book from NTIA

Federal channels for shared use / common use - none of these channels are assigned to any one specific agency - the freqs can be used when there is no need for a specific authorized channel - (whatever that means in actual practice)

Countywide or statewide - repeater ops - transient use
163.1000R/168.3500 in
409.0500R/418.0500 in
409.3375R/418.3375 in

Countywide or statewide - simplex ops - bases and mobiles - no repeaters - wide area - transient
412.8250 412.8375 412.8500 412.8625 MHz

Local ops - common use - all federal users - repeaters
173.6250R/167.1375 in
407.5250R/416.5250 in
409.0750R/418.0750 in

Local ops - common use - all federal agencies - simplex - bases and
mobiles - no repeaters
168.6125 163.7125 412.8750 412.8875 412.9000 412.9125


I guess these freqs would be used for special short term operations -
maybe like county sharks in Chatham - or taking the census - or maybe
even for disaster teams - but since any fed agency could use them, I
am guessing that only low priority uses would prevail - possibly
nothing life or death - but who knows

Norwegian Offshore Vessel to Test Tonight

Tonight there will be a transmission test from a Norwegian offshore vessel. Interesting possibility to test your gear.

*******************************************
From the NDB list;

Offshore vessel Transocean Searcher V7DO3 has responded positively to do a DX test. The radio op. has not confirmed the schedule, but the request called for Friday Sept 11th at 2030 UTC. The vessel is at sea on the West Norway coast between Bergen Florø (= quite far south).

Older lists had this vessels beacon ident as LF5W and frq 598 kHz. Radio op now indicates 570 kHz, there might also have been a change of ident.

Requested transmission duration around ten minutes.

Geir Stokkeland, Vestnes, Norway

Radio issues reported nationwide - Communications problems might be endemic to digital systems.

On the Evening Sun website, Joseph Denilein has a story on public safety communications problems might be endemic to digital systems.

York County isn't the only place that has been having problems with a digital radio system.

Such systems have been failing from Virginia, to California to Canada, according to a weblog compiled by a California telecommunications entrepreneur that lists 79 links to different news reports and other documents concerning problems with digital radio systems. The reports, listed by Daryl Jones on his site blog.tcomeng.com, date back to 2002.

"There are a sufficient number of stories to establish reasonable doubt as to the suitability of these systems," Jones writes. "In fact, there is a clear pattern that would cause a reasonable and prudent person to entertain a strong and honest suspicion as to the suitability of this technology for mission-critical public safety radio communication."

See the rest of the copyrighted story at
http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_13277292?IADID=Search-www.eveningsun.com-www.eveningsun.com

Newcom Group PS Interoperability Bandplan

For my scanner friends in the north, here is the link to the Newcom Group Wisconsin interoperability bandplan, dated 6/16/2006.

http://www.ncwrpc.org/newcom/NEWCOM_Radio_Plan.doc

Are Sunspots Disappearing?

Another day with a spotless sun.

Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

The sun is in the pits of the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century. Weeks and sometimes whole months go by without even a single tiny sunspot. The quiet has dragged out for more than two years, prompting some observers to wonder, are sunspots disappearing?

"Personally, I'm betting that sunspots are coming back," says researcher Matt Penn of the National Solar Observatory (NSO) in Tucson, Arizona. But, he allows, "there is some evidence that they won't."

Penn's colleague Bill Livingston of the NSO has been measuring the magnetic fields of sunspots for the past 17 years, and he has found a remarkable trend. Sunspot magnetism is on the decline.

"Sunspot magnetic fields are dropping by about 50 gauss per year," says Penn. "If we extrapolate this trend into the future, sunspots could completely vanish around the year 2015."

This disappearing act is possible because sunspots are made of magnetism. The "firmament" of a sunspot is not matter but rather a strong magnetic field that appears dark because it blocks the upflow of heat from the sun's interior. If Earth lost its magnetic field, the solid planet would remain intact, but if a sunspot loses its magnetism, it ceases to exist.

"According to our measurements, sunspots seem to form only if the magnetic field is stronger than about 1500 gauss," says Livingston. "If the current trend continues, we'll hit that threshold in the near future, and solar magnetic fields would become too weak to form sunspots."

"This work has caused a sensation in the field of solar physics," comments NASA sunspot expert David Hathaway, who is not directly involved in the research. "It's controversial stuff."

The controversy is not about the data. "We know Livingston and Penn are excellent observers," says Hathaway. "The trend that they have discovered appears to be real." The part colleagues have trouble believing is the extrapolation. Hathaway notes that most of their data were taken after the maximum of Solar Cycle 23 (2000-2002) when sunspot activity naturally began to decline. "The drop in magnetic fields could be a normal aspect of the solar cycle and not a sign that sunspots are permanently vanishing."

Penn himself wonders about these points. "Our technique is relatively new and the data stretches back in time only 17 years. We could be observing a temporary downturn that will reverse itself."

The technique they're using was pioneered by Livingston at the McMath-Pierce solar telescope near Tucson. He looks at a spectral line emitted by iron atoms in the sun's atmosphere. Sunspot magnetic fields cause the line to split in two—an effect called "Zeeman splitting" after Dutch physicist Pieter Zeeman who discovered the phenomenon in the 19th century. The size of the split reveals the intensity of the magnetism.

Astronomers have been measuring sunspot magnetic fields in this general way for nearly a century, but Livingston added a twist. While most researchers measure the splitting of spectral lines in the visible part of the sun's spectrum, Livingston decided to try an infra-red spectral line. Infrared lines are much more sensitive to the Zeeman effect and provide more accurate answers. Also, he dedicated himself to measuring a large number of sunspots—more than 900 between 1998 and 2005 alone. The combination of accuracy and numbers revealed the downturn.

If sunspots do go away, it wouldn't be the first time. In the 17th century, the sun plunged into a 70-year period of spotlessness known as the Maunder Minimum that still baffles scientists. The sunspot drought began in 1645 and lasted until 1715; during that time, some of the best astronomers in history (e.g., Cassini) monitored the sun and failed to count more than a few dozen sunspots per year, compared to the usual thousands.

"Whether [the current downturn] is an omen of long-term sunspot decline, analogous to the Maunder Minimum, remains to be seen," Livingston and Penn caution in a recent issue of EOS. "Other indications of solar activity suggest that sunspots must return in earnest within the next year."

Whatever happens, notes Hathaway, "the sun is behaving in an interesting way and I believe we're about to learn something new."

HBG Swiss VLF Time Station to Close in 2011

Andrea Borgnino is reporting on the UDXF newsgroup, that the Swiss VLF time station HBG on 75-khz time will close down operation in the 2011.

HBG has been in continuous operation since 1966, providing free VLF time signals. The station was originally under the control of the Swiss postal and telecommunications authorities until 1997. From that year until May 2000 the station was operated by Swisscom. In June 2000 HBG has been operated by the Swiss Federal Office of Metrology (METAS).

During recent inspections of the station's antenna mast, tangible signs of aging was noted by the inspection teams. Due the cost of restoration, the Swiss federal council recommeded that the station be closed. The decision to close HBG is being announced well ahead of the shutdown so that users can switch their systems that use the signals to the German time station DCF77, which is well received in Switzerland.

According to the METAS officials, the clocks of some 3600 institutional users (clocks of bell-towers and school clocks school) can be adapted to the signal of the German VLF transmitter with an acceptable investment. In addition to the institutional users noted above, there are other apparatuses that receive signals from HBG (radio controlled alarm clocks, weather receivers, etc). Many of them are also compatible with the time signals from DCF77 and will be able use the German time signals.

Official Swiss time signals from METAS will be available after HBG shuts down via the Internet at http://www.metas.ch/root_legnet/Web/Fachbereiche/Zeit_Frequenz/dissemination/NTP

The news article announcing this is located on the web at
http://www.news.admin.ch/dokumentation/00002/00015/index.html?lang=it&msg-id=28671
Some photos of HBG are located at http://www.mediasuk.org/archive/hbg_e.html

The official announcements are published below in French and German (sorry no English).

L'émetteur de signaux horaires HBG de Prangins (VD) cessera son activité fin
2011

Berne, 26.08.2009 - Le Conseil fédéral a décidé aujourd'hui que l'émetteur de signaux horaires HBG de Prangins (VD) cessera son activité fin 2011. L'émetteur est exploité par l'Office fédéral de métrologie (METAS), l'autorité de la confédération compétente en métrologie.

Depuis 1966, l'émetteur HBG de Prangins (VD) diffuse, sur une fréquence de 75 kHz, des signaux horaires officiels qui sont raccordés au temps universel coordonné. Les informations horaires, parfaitement synchronisées avec une horloge atomique, peuvent être utilisées pour des horloges radiocommandées ou des appareils techniques. L`émetteur est en service 24h sur 24h et la diffusion des signaux horaires par HBG est un service public gratuit. Jusqu'en 1997, l'émetteur était sous la responsabilité de PTT, puis sous celle de Swisscom jusqu'en mai 2000. Depuis le 1er juin 2000, l'émetteur HBG relève de l'Office fédéral de métrologie METAS.

A l'occasion des travaux d'entretien périodiques effectués sur l'installation émettrice, des signes de vieillissement tangibles ont été observés à plusieurs endroits sur les mâts des antennes. Il est ressorti d'expertises confiées à des spécialistes indépendants que, à moins de procéder à un assainissement complet, l'installation devrait être fermée car elle présentait des risques non négligeables.

Maintenir l'exploitation de l'émetteur HBG de Prangins serait très onéreux : le signal horaire HBG est trop peu utilisé pour justifier les coûts élevés d'une révision, selon une étude réalisée par des experts extérieurs. La possibilité de développer les activités du site, de lui trouver une fonction annexe ou un éventuel repreneur a été examinée, sans succès. Le Conseil fédéral a donc décidé de fermer l'installation pranginoise à fin 2011.

La décision d'arrêter l'émetteur a été prise assez tôt, pour laisser le temps aux utilisateurs d'adapter leurs horloges au signal de l'émetteur allemand DCF77, qui est capté en Suisse dans une qualité comparable à celle de l'émetteur suisse HBG. Les horloges des quelque 3600 utilisateurs institutionnels (horloges de clochers et horloges scolaires) peuvent être adaptés au signal de l'émetteur allemand avec un investissement acceptable. Outre ces utilisateurs institutionnels, il existe un marché d'appareils qui reçoivent les signaux HBG (réveils radiocommandés, récepteurs météorologiques). Beaucoup d'entre eux sont compatibles avec l'émetteur allemand DCF77 et pourront donc continuer à fonctionner parfaitement. La
majorité des appareils mis sur le marché sont configurés uniquement pour l'émetteur allemand ; c'est le cas de presque toutes les montres-bracelets radiocommandées.

L'heure officielle suisse continuera à être diffusée par METAS. Un serveur de temps, entre autres, est disponible sur internet (ntp.metas.ch), qui permet de synchroniser les horloges des ordinateurs avec l'échelle de temps suisse. METAS est chargé de la réalisation et de la diffusion des unités en Suisse, dont l'unité de temps, la seconde. Il a également pour tâche de réaliser l'heure officielle suisse et de la diffuser. METAS continuera à assurer l'exploitation de l'émetteur de Prangins (VD) jusqu'à fin 2011.

--------------------

Zeitzeichensender HBG in Prangins (VD) auf Ende 2011 eingestellt Bern, 26.08.2009 - Der Bundesrat hat heute beschlossen, den Betrieb des Zeitzeichensenders HBG in Prangins (VD) auf Ende 2011 einzustellen. Der Sender wird vom Bundesamt für Metrologie (METAS), der Fachbehörde des Bundes für das Messwesen, betrieben.

Der Langwellensender HBG in Prangins (VD) verbreitet seit 1966 auf einer Frequenz von 75 kHz offizielle, auf die koordinierte Weltzeit abgestimmte Zeitzeichen. Die exakt mit einer Atomuhr synchronisierten Zeitinformationen können für die Steuerung von Funkuhren und für technische Zeitsteuerungen verwendet werden. Der Sender arbeitet im 24-Stunden-Betrieb. Die Zeitzeichen stehen gratis zur Verfügung und können von jedermann genutzt werden. Der
Sender wurde zunächst von der PTT und dann bis Mai 2000 von der Swisscom betrieben. Seitdem betreibt ihn das Bundesamt für Metrologie (METAS).

Im Rahmen der regelmässigen Unterhaltsarbeiten an der Sendeanlage wurden bei den Antennenmasten an verschiedenen Stellen erhebliche Alterungserscheinungen festgestellt. Expertisen unabhängiger Stellen haben gezeigt, dass ohne eine umfassende Sanierung ein nicht zu verantwortendes Sicherheitsrisiko besteht und der Betrieb des Zeitzeichensenders eingestellt werden muss.

Ein Weiterbetrieb des Zeitzeichensenders HBG in Prangins (VD) würde hohe Sanierungskosten verursachen. Die Nutzung des HBG-Zeitzeichens ist zu gering, um die Kosten für eine Sanierung rechtfertigen zu können. Das hat eine externe Studie ergeben. Abgeklärt wurde auch, ob Zusatznutzungen des Langwellensenders oder die Übernahme des Betriebs durch andere Interessenten möglich wären, was nicht der Fall ist. Aus diesen Gründen wurde beschlossen,
den Betrieb des Senders auf Ende 2011 einzustellen.

Der Entscheid zur Einstellung wurde frühzeitig gefällt, damit Nutzer des Zeitzeichensignals rechtzeitig geeignete Massnahmen treffen können. Es gibt rund 3600 institutionelle Nutzer (Betreiber von Kirchturm- und Schulhausuhren). Deren Uhren können mit vertretbarem Aufwand auf das Signal des deutschen Zeitzeichensenders DCF77 umgestellt werden, das in der Schweiz mit vergleichbarer Qualität wie dasjenige des Senders HBG empfangen werden kann. Weiter existiert ein gewisser HGB-Konsumgütermarkt (Funkwecker, deren Empfänger auf die Frequenz des Senders HBG ausgelegt sind; Empfänger für aktuelle Wetterinformationen). Viele dieser Geräte sind mit Empfängern ausgerüstet, die sowohl auf den Sender HBG wie auch auf den deutschen Sender DCF77 ausgelegt sind und werden somit weiterhin einwandfrei funktionieren. Der grösste Teil solcher Geräte auf dem Markt ist ohnehin nur auf diesen
deutschen Zeitzeichensender ausgelegt; das gilt etwa für alle Funkarmbanduhren.

Die offizielle Schweizer Zeit wird weiterhin durch METAS verbreitet werden. Unter anderem steht ein Zeitserver im Internet (ntp.metas.ch) zur Verfügung, mit dessen Hilfe Computeruhren mit der offiziellen Schweizer Zeitskala synchronisiert werden können. METAS ist verantwortlich für die Realisierung und Bereitstellung der Einheiten in der Schweiz, und damit auch der Einheit
der Zeit, der Sekunde. Zu seinen Aufgaben gehört ebenfalls die Ermittlung und Verbreitung der offiziellen Schweizer Zeit. METAS wird auch den Zeitzeichensender HBG in Prangins (VD) weiter betreiben bis zum Zeitpunkt der Einstellung des Betriebs, Ende 2011.

Next-gen spacecraft stops at Holloman

NASA's next generation of manned spacecraft leaves Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. Aug. 21 enroute to White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The module was escorted on base by 49th Security Forces Squadron Airmen and off base by officers from the New Mexico State Police and the New Mexico Department of Public Safety Motor Transportation Division along with deputies from the Otero County Sheriff's Department. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Michael Means)

HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFNS) -- NASA's next generation of a manned-spacecraft made a stop at Holloman AFB on its way to White Sands Missile Range, N.M. where launch abort tests will be performed.

The Orion Program's Pad Abort One Crew Module arrived here Aug. 19 via a C-17 Globemaster III and left aboard a tractor-trailer Aug. 21 for WSMR. The crew module has a launch abort system used to for the crew to escape from the launch rocket should something go wrong on the pad or during the ascent to orbit.

Holloman AFB was a vital stop because of the base's close proximity to WSMR and its ability to receive aircraft with heavy cargo.

"It would have been pretty much impossible to get this capsule out here if we were unable to land at Holloman," said Jeff Doughty, the Pad Abort One Flight Test Vehicle crew chief.

The base's reliable support also helped in the decision to bring the module through here.

"We've received excellent support from (Holloman)," said David McAllister, the Dryden Flight Research Center lead of operations for the abort flight test. "We feel like we're at home when we're here."

Holloman AFB was just one leg in the spacecraft's journey to WSMR. It was built at NASA Langley, Va., and flown to Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., to have the avionics and instrumentation installed. When installation was complete, the spacecraft was flown to Holloman AFB, then driven to to its final destination at a launch site on WSMR for testing.

Mr. Doughty said the module is going to WSMR to demonstrate that it can be taken away from the launch pad, ensuring astronauts can get away from the pad in the event of an emergency.

Billed as the shuttle replacement program for NASA, the Orion Program is designed to take the next generation of astronauts to space.

NASA is expecting the Orion to be sent into orbit toward the end of 2014 or early 2015.

Russian Domestic Networks - Update

Per a recent thread on the UDXF group here is a profile of one of the Russian Aero HF networks from my Grove Shortwave Directory, v2 ©2009 by Teak Publishing, Brasstown North Carolina. This list may NOT be reprinted in any form on any newsgroups, or on other info sources, but may be linked freely. For private use only.

Russian Domestic Networks

RF Commission for Airspace Use and Air Traffic Control (RosAeroNavigatsia)
RosAeroNavigatsia Airport Radio Domestic Network (airport names are coded). This is a point-to-point network between airports.

Nightime Nets 2770.0 3245.0 3255.0 3520.0 3595.0 3658.0 3815.0 4045.0 4405.0 4728.0 4755.0 4765.0 5025.0 5085.0 kHz.

Daytime Nets 6405.0 6820.0 6895.0 6945.0 7545.0 7870.0 8095.0 kHz.

According to some sources these RosAeroNavigatsia networks are suppose to be organized by geographic areas, but some main airports are heard on several or even all four networks at various times. The geographic areas for the RosAeroNavigatsia networks are:

Net 1 North, Net 2 Central European, Net 3 South, and Net 4 East.

Call City (Airport) Network
ADULIAR Ukhta, Russia 1
AGURCHIK Moscow (Sheremetyevo), Russia 1, 2, 3, 4
ALENKI Yekaterinburg (Koltsovo), Russia 1, 4
AMBA Samara (Kurumoch), Russia 2, 3, 4
AMBARCHIK Aktyubinsk, Kazakhstan 4
AMPIR Ufa , Russia 3, 4
ARBAT Moscow (Vnukovo), Russia 1, 2, 3, 4
ARIM Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan 4
ASSISTENT, Mosdok, Russia
ATLANT Lugansk, Ukraine 2
ATRAPIN Yerevan, Armenia 2, 3
AVRORA Volgograd, Russia 2
AZARIN Nukus, Uzbekistan 3
BEREZHNY Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia 4
BEZBREZHNOST-DVA Uray, Russia 1
BRASHKA Chelyabinsk, Russia 1, 4
DRABILKA Tbilisi, Georgia 2, 3
DRUZHINNIK Batumi, Georgia 2
DUNIS Kustanay, Kazakhstan 4
ELEKTRICHKA Donetsk, Ukraine 3
EMBA Kirov, Russia 1
FABRIKAT Salekhard, Russia 1
FANERKA Minsk-1, Belarus 1, 2
FASSIMETR-DVA Nizhnevartovsk, Russia 4
GERCEG-DVA Novy Vasyugan , Russia 4
GNEDOY Vorkuta, Russia 1
IZBRANNY Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan 4
KAPEL Omsk, Russia 2 ,4
KARSAK Almaty, Kazakhstan 3, 4
KASTIANKA Uralsk (Podstepnyy), Kazakhstan 4
KATIUSHA Novosibirsk (Tolmachevo), Russia 4
KAVRIGA Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan 4
KAYOMKA Syktyvkar, Russia 1
KAZACHOK Nizhni Novgorod, Russia 2
KHRIZANTEMA Minsk-2, Belarus 2
KIPAZH Odessa, Ukraine 2
LAPATOK-DVA Aktau, ex-Shevchenko (Akshukyr), Kazakhstan 3
LATYSHKA Akmola (ex-Tselinograd), Kazakhstan 4
MAKHAVIK Kurgan, Russia 4
MEKHANIKA Kishinev, Moldavia 2
MELODIYA-DVA Kazan, Russia 2, 4
OKISEL Ulyanovsk, Russia 1, 3
PAYEDINOK Guryev, Kazakhstan 3
POYMA Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 3
PRALIF Tashkent, Uzbekistan 4
RADAN St Petersburg (Pulkovo), Russia 1
RIDAN Makhachkala, Russia 3
SANTIM Pechora, Russia 1
SARDINA Baku, Azerbaijan 3
SERIOZHKA Astrakhan, Russia 3
SHPORA Rostov-na-Donu, Russia 2, 3
SHTAT Sochi-Adler, Russia 2
SHTEPSIL Tobolsk, Russia 4
SISINA Simferopol, Ukraine 2
TAKHTA Orenburg, Russia 3 ,4
TIURIK Krasnodar, Russia 1 ,3
TORBA Saratov, Russia 2
TRENOGA Kharkov, Ukraine 2 ,3
TSADIK-DVA Surgut, Russia 4
TURKMENBASHI Turkmenbashi (ex-Krasnovodsk/ex-POLZA), Turkmenistan 3
TVARETS Penza, Russia 2
UBEZHISHCHE Mineralnye Vody, Russia 3, 4
UCHTIVY Lvov, Ukraine 2
UKLAT Sukhumi, Georgia 2
UVERTIURA Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad 1
VYEROCHEK Beloyarski, Russia 1
YAROK Kiev (Borispol), Ukraine 1, 2, 3
YELOVY Karaganda, Kazakhstan 4
ZADORNY Voronezh, Russia 1, 2
ZOOTEKHNIK Tyumen (Roshchino), Russia 4

As always, any additions or corrections are always appreciated to the eqmail address in the masthead.

New! MTXtra - All Languages All The Time

FREE to MTXPRESS Subscribers - Complete Shortwave Broadcast Schedules

Starting with the September issue of MTXpress, your full-color, faster-than-print electronic edition of Monitoring Times magazine will contain, in addition to its comprehensive listings of English language broadcasts, an expanded 24 hour listing of foreign and English language broadcasts in one convenient electronic file.

This exclusive MTXtra Shortwave Broadcast Guide is available only to MTXpress subscribers - it’s not in the print edition. The new grid is a fully searchable, Adobe Acrobat portable document file (pdf), allowing instant access to shortwave stations’ times, languages, frequencies and target areas!

Broken down by hour then station and frequency, this is the only listing of shortwave radio stations in this format available anywhere. Foreign language students and teachers, expatriates, and radio hobbyist outside of the United States and Canada will especially appreciate our new expanded foreign language format. If you are interested in shortwave programming, then our exclusive MTXtra Shortwave Broadcast Guide is your ticket to the world of shortwave broadcast listening.

Our downloadable, printable, and searchable pdf is FREE each month with your paid subscription to MTXpress. The September edition of the MTXtra Shortwave Broadcast Guide has 114 pages of 24-hour listings for hundreds of broadcasters in all languages.

And what will you get with an electronic subscription to MTXpress? You get more with our digital magazine than is possible with print. The entire magazine is full color. All of the web links are clickable, so if you see a link to a website that you want to visit, just click on it! Want to email an author? Just click on their email address at the top of their column, and MTXpress opens your email program, drops in their address, and is ready for your input! Print out any pages you need for handy access. MTXpress is the perfect delivery and cost effective magazine format for subscribers outside the United States.

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Sample page of the new MTXtra Shortwave Broadcast Guide.

30 Meter AR Band Digital Activity Weekend

It has been announced by several digital mode speciality groups that there is going to be a 30 meter multimode weekend August 22-23, 2009. This ham activity is designed to promote experimentation and the use of different amateur radio digital modes on the 30 meter band. A number of digital mode groups will be participating during this weekend event, so if you wanted to try out an ham digital mode, here is your chance to get on the 30 meter band and have a go at it. This is not a contest, there are no set times, no rules, no set exchanges and no winners.

During this special event you will have a chance to try out the 30 meter ham band and maybe a new mode or two; experiment with and chat with hams who are already using the band; and have some fun. For more details of this event and other 30 meter activity, check out http://www.30mdg.net/.

You can get more information on operating digital modes on the 30 meter ham bands by downloading this free pdf courtesy of the 30MDG at
http://30mdg.net/files/30%20Meter%20Band%20INFORMATION[1].pdf

You can get specific information on this August weekend event in a free pdf download at http://30mdg.net/files/30M%20DIGITAL%20MULTI%20MODE%20WEEKEND%20AUG%2022-23.pdf

This is one of my favorite bands to work in and I will probably be hanging around that weekend. So if you need North Carolina or Clay County on a digital mode in the 30 meter ham band, drop me a note and let's see if we can schedule something, I QSL in all forms (conventional, LOTW and eqsl (AG)), and will be glad to help those that need NC or Clay Co for their logbooks.

So plan ahead and if you have a computer with a soundcard, download some free software and give the ham digi world a shot. I hope to see some of my readers of this blog in two weeks during this special weekend activity on the 30 meter digi bands.

73 de Larry, N5FPW

New HiFer Beacon

From HF beacon Newsgroup via UDXF Newsgroup

Hi All:

I wanted to announce that I have placed on the air a new HiFer beacon on 13.563 MHz. I do have some issues with RF properly coupling to the antenna as I am not seeing the results I would expect so I will be working to improve what little RF is coming out reaches the antenna.

Since a HiFer beacon is a part 15 transmitter and call signs are not intended for this operation the beacon is identifiing itself as "SZX" and will operate 24/7 unless it is down for work.

Mark Garrett, KA9SZX ka9szx@hotmail.com
9885 E 950 th ST
Macomb, IL 61455

Latitude: 40.425008 (40° 25' 30'' N)
Longitude: -90.723732 (90° 43' 25'' W)
Grid Square: EN40pk

National Level Exercise 2009 (NLE 09)

For our readers who are HF Government monioring enthusiasts:

National Level Exercise 2009 (NLE 09) is scheduled for July 27 through July 31, 2009. NLE 09 will be the first major exercise conducted by the United States government that will focus exclusively on terrorism prevention and protection, as opposed to incident response and recovery.

NLE 09 is designated as a Tier I National Level Exercise. Tier I exercises (formerly known as the Top Officials exercise series or TOPOFF) are conducted annually in accordance with the National Exercise Program (NEP), which serves as the nation's overarching exercise program for planning, organizing, conducting and evaluating national level exercises. The NEP was established to provide the U.S. government, at all levels, exercise opportunities to prepare for catastrophic crises ranging from terrorism to natural disasters.

NLE 09 is a White House directed, Congressionally- mandated exercise that includes the participation of all appropriate federal department and agency senior officials, their deputies, staff and key operational elements. In addition, broad regional participation of state, tribal, local, and private sector is anticipated. This year the United States welcomes the participation of Australia, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom in NLE 09.

EXERCISE FOCUS

NLE 09 will focus on intelligence and information sharing among intelligence and law enforcement communities, and between international, federal, regional, state, tribal, local and private sector participants.

The NLE 09 scenario will begin in the aftermath of a notional terrorist event outside of the United States, and exercise play will center on preventing subsequent efforts by the terrorists to enter the United States and carry out additional attacks. This scenario enables participating senior officials to focus on issues related to preventing terrorist events domestically and protecting U.S. critical infrastructure.

NLE 09 will allow terrorism prevention efforts to proceed to a logical end (successful or not), with no requirement for response or recovery activities.

NLE 09 will be an operations-based exercise to include: activities taking place at command posts, emergency operation centers, intelligence centers and potential field locations to include federal headquarters facilities in the Washington D.C. area, and in federal, regional, state, tribal, local and private sector facilities in FEMA Region VI, which includes the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and California.

EXERCISE OBJECTIVES

Through a comprehensive evaluation process, the exercise will assess prevention and protection capabilities both nationally and regionally. Although NLE 09 is still in the planning stages, the exercise is currently designed to validate the following capabilities:

•Intelligence/Information Sharing and Dissemination
•Counter-Terrorism Investigation and Law Enforcement
•Air, Border and Maritime Security
•Critical Infrastructure Protection
•Public and Private Sector Alert/Notification and Security Advisories
•International Coordination

VALIDATING THE HOMELAND SECURITY SYSTEM

Exercises such as NLE 09 are an important component of national preparedness, helping to build an integrated federal, state, tribal, local and private sector capability to prevent terrorist attacks, and rapidly and effectively respond to, and recover from, any terrorist attack or major disaster that occurs.

The full-scale exercise offers agencies and jurisdictions a way to test their plans and skills in a real-time, realistic environment and to gain the in-depth knowledge that only experience can provide. Participants will exercise prevention and information sharing functions that are critical to preventing terrorist attacks. Lessons learned from the exercise will provide valuable insights to guide future planning for securing the nation against terrorist attacks, disasters, and other emergencies.

Ham Radio Hurricane Emergency Operations

With hurricane season underway, all amateur radio operators be aware of the major emergency net frequencies. These nets can be activated on short notice, and if in session, should be avoided during contests, other nets, and regular operations. From the July 15th edition of the ARRL's ARES E-Letter, here are links to the primary HF emcomm Web pages:

Major HF Nets:

WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center http://www.wx4nhc.org/
Hurricane Watch Net http://www.hwn.org/
SKYWARN http://www.weather.gov/skywarn/
Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Net (SATERN) http://satern.org/
The Waterway Net http://www.waterwayradio.net/
VoIP SKYWARN/Hurricane Net. (The latter is an Internet-based operation, but of interest.) http://www.voipwx.net/

Major National-Level Served Agencies:

National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster http://www.nvoad.org/
Red Cross http://www.redcross.org/
National Weather Service http://www.nws.noaa.gov/
Citizen Corps http://www.citizencorps.gov/
Salvation Army http://www.salvationarmy.org/
REACT http://www.reactintl.org/

More on all this as the hurricane season proceeds.