2850 NORTH KOREA. KCBS, 1304, 11/24/07. Nx or patriotic monoloque. S7 carrier buit low voice modulation and some fading. Fair-poor (Strawman-IA).

3240 SWAZILAND. TWR, 0305, 11/19/07, 0305 11/19/07. OM in monologue. Shona is listed language. Signal up to S9 by 0318. Vocal mx @ 0325. Changed to listed Ndau at 0330. Signal gone by 0345 (Strawman-IA).

3335 PNG. R. East Sepik (P), 1309, 11/24/07. pop/semi classical mix of mx. On past listed 1300*. Suddenly off @ 1311. Only audible signal on 90meters (Strawman-IA).

4699.34 BOLIVIA. R. San Miguel (P), ~2345, 11/24/07. Threshold audio faded out quickly (Strawman-IA).

4746.92 PERU. R. Huanta 2000 (P), ~2345, 11/24/07. Threshold audio faded out quickly (Strawman-IA).

4975.96 UGANDA. R. Uganda, 2204, 11/19/07. S7 signal w/ heavy CODAR interference. NX headlines at tune-in into tlk by 2 OMs. A capella ethnic vocals with heavy percussion followed. Fair to good if CODAR discounted (Strawman-IA).

5030 BURKINA FASO. R. Burkina, 2242, 11/24/07. Hi-life mx was overpowering CNR1. Fair-good signal with a little splatter from 5025 Rebelde (Strawman-IA).

7115 UAE. R. Japan relay 2217, 11/24/. Japanese service w/ nx feature was poor-fair (Strawman-IA).

7340 THAILAND. BBC via Nakhon Sawan, 2325, 11/24/07. English service with commentary re: Ukraine elections. ID @ 2332. S5 signal had fading (Strawman-IA).

11530 MOLDOVA. Denge Mezopotamya, 1345, 11/25/07. WYFR, Okeechobee signed off leaving weak but clear Kurdish tlk and local mx. Improved to S5 by 1349 (Strawman-IA).

Jerry Strawman
Des Moines, IA
AOR 7030+
Wellbrook 330S Loop

Ethiopian jamming hits Voice of America, Deutsche Welle

November 20, 2007

BBC Monitoring (BBCM) can confirm that two major Western broadcasters are suffering consistent jamming of their transmissions to Ethiopia. Jamming is deliberate interference aimed at preventing the target broadcast from being heard. The standard technique is to transmit an irritating noise or continuous music on the same channel as the target.

In the latest media development to hit the Horn of Africa, the scene of numerous “radio wars” over the past quarter-century, shortwave broadcasts from Washington-based Voice of America (VOA) and Germany’s Deutsche Welle (DW) are now being jammed.

In both cases, the target of the jamming is radio programmes in Amharic, the lingua franca and main official language of Ethiopia. VOA is also suffering jamming of another of its regional language services. The deliberate interference appears to have started in the first half of this month, possibly on or around 12 November.

VOA and Cologne-based DW are funded by the US and German governments to broadcast radio and TV programmes to foreign audiences. The moves against the VOA and DW follow intensification by Ethiopia of its jamming of broadcasts from neighbouring Eritrea. The jamming of Eritrean state radio, the latest episode of which began in summer 2007, was stepped up in late September and early October, BBCM observed at the time.

Details of the jammed broadcasts

The VOA’s daily one-hour (1800-1900 gmt) service in Amharic is now being jammed. According to the opposition website Ethiopian Review - www.ethiopianreview.com - the jamming of VOA began on 12 November. BBCM observations have confirmed the presence of jamming signals on at least three of the five frequencies used by the VOA. The direction whence the jamming originates (established by the use of directional aerials) is consistent with the signals being transmitted from within Ethiopia.

VOA currently uses 9320, 9860, 11675, 11905 and 13870 kHz for its Amharic service. The service is not streamed on the Internet, but audio of recent broadcasts is available at www.voanews.com/horn.

On 19 November, VOA’s service in another major Ethiopian language, Oromo, was also observed to be jammed. VOA’s Oromo service broadcasts at 1730-1800 gmt, immediately before the Amharic transmission and on the same frequencies.

DW’s daily one-hour (1400-1500 gmt) service in Amharic is also being jammed. Noise interference has been observed on two of DW’s shortwave frequencies (11645 and 15640 kHz). DW recently added a third frequency (15660 kHz). At the start of its Amharic programme on 19 November it announced that this had been done in response to the jamming. The lead item in the news bulletin that followed was that the Ethiopian government had conducted air raids on villages in the Ogaden region in the southeast of the country. DW maintains a multimedia website for its Amharic service at www2.dw-world.de/amharic.

Opposition broadcasts

Ethiopia has also jammed various private opposition radio broadcasts. The country has been targeted for many years by such operators, which hire airtime (generally an hour a day or on certain days of the week) from commercial shortwave transmission facilities, including those based in Germany and the former Soviet Union. The number and identity of such broadcasts, and their schedules, often varies, depending on the availability of funds to hire shortwave airtime. Eritrea is also targeted by private opposition shortwave stations.

(Source: BBC Monitoring research 16-19 Nov 07)

5900 RUSSIA. IBRA Radio True Light, via listed Petropavlovsk. 1254, 11/17/07.
Fair signal with continuous Chinese tlk by OM (Strawman-IA).

6903.62 PIRATE. 1517, 11/17/07. AM signal with S9 rock music followed
by recorded Alan Weiner rant. 1520 ID as The Crystal Ship (Strawman-IA).

7260 RUSSIA. VOR World Service via listed Vladivostok-Rasdolnoy. 1310,
11/17/07. Poor signal due to HRO splatter. YL in nx format (Strawman-IA).

7450 GREECE. Macedonian Radio Station, 2106, 11/17/07, via Avlis. Steady
S9 signal w/ OM announcing sporting event with crowd cheering evident
(Strawman-IA).

9355 RUSSIA. WYFR via Grigoriopol, 1427, 11/17/07. Religious pgm in listed
Nepali. Wonder how many Nepalis are listening? Fair signal (Strawman-IA).

12035 TURKEY. VOT ending English pgm ” DX Corner” at 1411, 11/17/07.
Said would return in two weeks. YL was reading letters from listeners. Short
IS and English ID at 1412:28. Very good signal (Strawman-IA).

Jerry Strawman
Des Moines, IA
AOR 7030+
Wellbrook 330S Loop
Alpha Delta Sloper

5030 CHINA. CNR1, 1359, 11/10/07. String of
announcements. 5 low and 1 high time pips @1400 were
in step with my atomic clock. ID at 1400:20. S8 signal
was stronger than adjacent Rebelde. Into apparent nx
headlines (Strawman-IA) .

6040 N. MARIANAS. VOA via Tinian, 1415, 11/10/07.
Chinese service was S6 w/ OM & YL back and forth in nx
format (Strawman-IA) .

6080 AUSTRALIA. R. Australia via Shepparton, 1419,
11/10/07. English beamed 334 degrees to FE. S6 signal,
Feature about Australian musical group (Strawman-IA) .

6105 PHILIPPINES. VOA via Tinang, 1424, 11/10/07.
Russian service w/ several mentions of Michael
Chertoff. Into slow English @ 1430. Story about Navajo
indian girl read. Good signal (Strawman-IA) .

7220 CHINA. CRI via Xian, 2309, 11/07/07. Vietnamese
service has nx format by YL. S8 signal (Strawman-IA) .

9599.3 MEXICO. R. UNAM, 1356, 11/11/07. Continuous
classical music through 1400 TOH. No announcements
through 1428 tune-out. Usual fading on signal
(Strawman-IA)

Jerry Strawman
Des Moines, IA
Winradio G313e
Wellbrooks 330S Loop
Alpha Delta Sloper