Canadian media company fires Radio airstaff; FM station north of Toronto near shutdown

It's a sad time for Radio in my other mother country, Canada.

At least a couple times last year I posted articles about Radio companies in Canada either taking stations off the air, or laying off airstaff. Three FM's near Ottawa almost went off the air -- a new buyer showed up at the last minute for at least two of them. CHML 900 in Hamilton was shut down abruptly, leaving its airstaff and listeners in the lurch.

CHML 900, the News and News-Talk station in Hamilton, Ontario -- Canada's #9 city -- was shut down abruptly one day last year, with the programming halted and replaced with a tone, and then all the staffers were laid off. Unfortunately, abrupt firing of staff is a long time Radio practice. One day I showed up to work to find that 7 or 8 people in my building were gone. They had been given their notice as soon as they entered the door to go to work. Now that Radio is experiencing revenue issues industry-wide, these sorts of layoffs are becoming more and more commonplace.

Like a recent Canadian station in Markham, York Region, Ontario, that is experiencing revenue problems and may go off the air -- CHML was 'live and local'. A lot of folks in Radio think 'live and local' is the answer to Radio's woes. The example of CHML and other stations show that 'live and local' doesn't seem to make a difference. Either  the ad money's there, or it isn't.

Bell Media got rid of several stations, and in 2023 several AM'ers across Canada were shut down completely. Some radio stations in Western Canada also combined operations with other stations last year, reducing airstaff in the process (news stations in CKWX Vancouver and CFFR Calgary did this). 

Also in Vancouver and Edmonton, news-talkers CHED 630 and CKNW 980 moved their signals to different frequencies, with the stations on those new frequencies basically going off the air, and the airstaff on those stations (880 CHQT and 730 CKGO) being let go.

Obviously, Radio is in flux in Canada, and it's not just hitting the AM band.

Now Corus Media, one of Canada's larger media companies, has laid off airstaff, including some airstaff at a station I hear at night, CFFR 660 Calgary. The company says it saw a 14% dive in ad revenue over 2024. They also saw an 11% cut in ad revenue for their TV stations.

https://broadcastdialogue.com/more-staffing-cuts-confirmed-across-global-news-corus-radio/

Another recent news item showed that an FM station in the highly populated York Region of Ontario, Canada -- CFMS 105.9 'The Region', located in Markham, a city just north of Toronto with over 300K people (the surrounding York Region metro area has over a million) -- is about to go off the air because of declining revenue. Markham itself is the 16th largest city in Canada.

https://www.barrietoday.com/local-news/radio-station-nearing-shutdown-pleads-for-municipal-support-10248009

CFMS is a news and multicultural variety station that also plays Adult Contemporary music. The fact that it is an FM station in a metro area of over a million (York Region) shows that even FM stations in populated areas can have financial issues. 

Declining ad revenues are a really big problem in Radio these days. When Newport, Oregon's news-talker KNPT 1310 went off the air in early 2024, their owner said that their ad revenues dropped by over 50% since the Pandemic hit, and revenues never went back upwards. That took several stations -- AM, FM, and streams -- off the air permanently, leaving coastal Lincoln County devoid of news-oriented radio stations except for an Oregon Public Radio FM station, KOGL, 89.3.

Now we are seeing further cutbacks in the radio industry as Radio companies -- both in the US and Canada -- are feeling the economic pinch. Legacy media -- be it Radio, TV, Cable TV, or newspapers and magazines -- are all being hit with drops in advertising revenues.

Even Public Radio is seeing budget problems as increases in costs are often greater than increases in funding. Here in the US, our conservative government is trying to cut Public Radio funding from the government completely -- leaving all funding to underwriting and donations. Many stations and Public Radio networks may survive Federal government cuts, but others may see stations go off the airwaves.

This could include AM as well as FM public radio stations.

One excuse for government officials to cut Public Radio funding is the same one used by people in the Radio business whenever you talk about AM radio and Shortwave radio: 'everybody's got internet... They've got their cell phone, that's where they get their news and information.'

Sounds terrific. But if a government official like FCC's Brendan Carr says basically the same thing concerning NPR and Public Radio in the US, all of a sudden people in the Radio business don't like hearing that mantra.

The problem is that few in Radio are truly defending Radio. Because Radio is in financial dire straits when compared to previous decades, it seems that the movers and shakers in the industry are at a loss when it comes to keeping the medium, the platform alive.

They often say "we're building our digital platform" as a solution. But any content creator can tell you that online is not a panacea for media. Once you're online, you're competing with millions of other content sites and creators.

Recently, a bipartisan bill introduced in the US Congress, to keep AM radio in vehicles, got pushback from RADIO PEOPLE. I frequent several Radio forums and subreddits, and it's amazing how many Radio industry people are fine with AM being allowed to be removed from car radios and soundsystems.

When Radio people are against a Radio platform, it's no wonder that attacks on the industry by government and corporate interests are succeeding.

Who is speaking out for Radio?

IN OTHER LIFE

As I stated in an earlier article/post here, I took a respite from writing my blog. The weather got cold, I had a property issue to deal with (basically pouring water on a 'fire' that other people were pouring gas on, while lighting matches -- it all had to do with a remote piece of property where we have a dispute with neighbors). My car is still not dependable, and I have an ailing cat, Timmy, who seems to have gotten a bug and is getting better. 

For a couple days he didn't show up at my front door, or kitchen window, as per usual. Finally, I looked around, and he had been hiding out -- sleeping in my living room, behind a chair on a cat bed. I had thought he'd gone outside, but he hadn't. He wasn't feeling well. Finally, I got him to eat some canned cat food with cod liver oil sprinkled on it -- he ate a little off a spoon, then would stop. Then a few hours later I got him to eat again. I placed a heating pad in the cat bed, too. Now he's up and around maybe once a day. After losing a cat just five months ago, it's heartening to see one of my cats get better for a change.

HEARING MALI ON SHORTWAVE!!

I've been DXing every night and/or morning, and although some MW stations have re-appeared from the ether that were missing since 2014, many have never reappeared on any of my radios. 

The re-appearing stations? KEJB Eureka, 1480, with oldies. Eureka is a city on the far northern coast of California. KEJB plays a cool mix of oldies. I hadn't heard them in at least 10 years and they began showing up again.

KDUN, Reedsport, Oregon 1030 is another reappearance. They used to be a nightly listen in 2012-2013, then they went off the air. When they came back on the air, I never heard them until a couple months ago. They play an interesting mix of Classic Hits.

Another reappearing station is KSWB, Seaside, Oregon -- also on the Coast. They were a nightly listen in 2012-2014 or so, then disappeared for 10 years. Now they are back. They aren't as strong as they were in 2013, but it's cool hearing them. Co-channel Classic Hits station KKNX Eugene OR hasn't returned yet, though. I used to hear both of them, playing their mixes of Classic Hits. When the Solar Minimum kicked in, they both disappeared.

Which leads to my opinion about the Solar Cycle: This cycle is a DUD. I should be hearing a lot more than I'm hearing on both MW and SW. Back in 2012 I used to hear KVNS, Brownsville, Texas on 1700, nearly every night, just using a Sony SRF-42 and a small loop. I haven't heard them in well over 10 years. 

I know that some out there think the Solar Cycle Peak is awesome. Sure, it's awesome when compared to a minimum. But it's a mediocre, crap Cycle we're in. Anyone who has logbooks going back several decades (as I do) can tell you that.

But you get what you get.

This isn't to say it's all been bad on SW and MW. Just three hours before posting this article I heard MALI on Shortwave! It was on 5995 kHz, after 0600 UTC (after 10 p.m. Pacific time).

I heard it on my new XHDATA D109WB radio, which I had my indoor 25 ft. / 8 meter wire clipped to. I have heard Mali maybe once or twice before, a year or more ago, on a different radio (probably my Panasonic RF-B45 and indoor wire). RTV Mali broadcasts 50KW from Bamako, the capital. The signal was not readable, but I could tell it wasn't English, some of the speech sounded similar to African accented French, and the music I could hear definitely sounded African.

RTV Mali also came in on my Tecsun PL-398, although the bass response on the XHDATA is greater, making it easier to follow the music. It came in on my Panasonic somewhere in between the XHDATA and Tecsun, with the main differences being the sound or fidelity.

I unclipped the indoor wire and my XHDATA was even bringing in the station off the whip. It wasn't readable, but it was still barely there. 

The XHDATA D109 is a great little radio. I got it just before the tariffs hit on February 4th. I will have an article worked up on it that I hope to publish in a month or so, after I have plenty of time to run it through its paces.

So, even though I still think this Solar Cycle is a dud, it's much better now than it was during the Solar minimum, and I will take whatever I can get. If Mali comes in now and then -- awesome.

Until next time, when I post some of the articles I've been working on,

Peace.

C.C. February 22nd, 2025

(Washington's Birthday)

Taking A Break, But All's OK

It's already been a new year for over a month and a half, and it's been almost two months since I last posted an article here, and although I've had several articles in the works, I haven't felt the impetus to publish them lately. 

The reasons are varied.... I had a property issue I had to take care of, some financial issues to deal with -- and then we had a two week cold snap (where the temperatures got down as low as 18F / -10C, and it was cold in the house. I simply didn't feel like writing much. I have an ailing cat, and a car that needs to be fixed... Life simply got in the way of posting articles here.

The articles I still have to finish are varied -- a couple have a few DX sound files, which take years to load on Blogger, so I've put off posting them.

One is an article on the current, crap Solar Cycle -- an article I've been working on for a year. I kept thinking 'I'm sure the DX conditions will get as good as they were in 2012 so I will be proved wrong', but that's never happened. DX conditions on MW as well as SW have been poor compared to 11-12 years ago. The Solar Cycle article, admittedly, is a bit lengthy.

I've thought of cutting that one down but it's a chore, because it basically says that the latest Solar Cycle is a dud, and that idea is fairly controversial. Consequently, one needs to prove what they say, because there are still a lot of DX'ers and SWL's who think that Solar Cycle 25 is the best thing to happen since peanut butter and jelly appeared in the same jar.

And proving what you say means you include a LOT of info, including charts and graphs from NASA and the like.

All this said, I've taken a respite from posting, and I'll be back here in a week or two.

I have a couple articles on two different XHDATA radios I purchased since Halloween. I've become a fan of XHDATA, because they really have good radios for the price. I'm really enjoying using them in the DX hobby. It's just too bad the crap ionospheric conditions don't really show everything these little marvels can do. :-)

Anyway, I'll be back. Here's hoping you all are doing OK, and if you're in the Northern Hemisphere, you are staying warm.

Peace.

C.C. February 20th, 2025.

A Mouse of Christmas Past: Hum-A-Tune the House Mouse

Recently I was rearranging some books in my small bedroom book library. As I do most of my reading there, that's where I have a lot of my books. As I pulled some books out to move them to a better shelf, I saw him: Hum-a-tune, my wind up 'house mouse'.

I had placed him there several years ago, just temporarily, to keep him safe -- so he wouldn't be knocked down by my cat. The fact he survived all these years is remarkable. 

I got him in Christmas when I was maybe 5 or 6. When I was a kid, we always had two Christmas trees -- there would be the big one downstairs in the living room, and then there was a smaller one that was either in my bedroom, or in the upstairs hallway. Both would have lights. The big tree downstairs had the larger, 'C4', incandescent, multicolored Christmas lights, and lots of glass ornaments -- most of which I still have.

The smaller tree in my room had twinklies, and there would be a few presents under it as well. I don't know why my parents did that, but my Dad did love Christmas.

This one year, I can't remember which one exactly, I got up on Christmas morning to see a few wrapped presents under my little tree (probably books), and there was something stuck inside the tree, in the branches. It was a grey, stuffed mouse, with red ears and a happy face.

When I pulled him out of the tree, I could see he had a key on his back -- he was a music box mouse!

There was a card next to him, stuck in the tree. My father wrote in the card: 

This is Hum-A-Tune, the House Mouse. 

Whenever you're feeling sad, just turn the key on his back, and Hum-A-Tune will hum you a tune, and make you happy!

I knew it was from Dad, because I could recognise his writing. And my Dad was a sentimental sort of person. He worked in a factory, had served in the Army Air Forces in World War II (as a B-29 Gunnery trainer), his father died when he was in high school, and just a year or two previous to the year I got Hum-A-Tune -- right around Christmas -- we had lost his brother, my Uncle Bill, so Dad knew that life could send you some hard knocks.

But Dad also liked the kinder things in life -- things like Hum-A-Tune, for example -- and I think it was because such things reminded him of those better, happier things in life. There are enough things that will hurt you. Sometimes a stuffed animal or simple wind-up toy or music box can make you smile for a moment.

A pic of Hum-A-Tune's back, where you can see the music box key. He is a Knickerbocker toy. Knickerbocker Toys, based out of New York, went out of business in the 1980's. 

Anyway, after I pulled Hum-A-Tune out of the tree, I wound him up, and he did play a happy tune! For years he was in my bedroom, on top of a shelf. Then, when my parents repainted the interior of the house, he got moved to a box, and when I got older, he ended up in the basement, in my old box of toys.

About 8 or 9 years ago, I went down into the basement, looking for the last of the old glass ornaments for my Christmas tree. There were still signs that the basement had flooded (about 2-3 feet worth of water, at least twice since 1991), and it was still a mess.

On the way to the corner where the old ornaments were still kept, I happened to look in the back of my old toy box, which was nearby. The basement had just recently flooded that November -- my house is in a river valley and basements can be dicey because of the water table. My parents had a basement put in knowing that risk. I think the basement has had 5 or 6 floods over the years the house has been here. We've gone through 5 or 6 sump pumps. They end up burning out because they can't handle the water when it happens.

Anyway, I looked in my toy box. And there he was -- my old mouse! I had completely forgotten he'd existed. I picked him up, and remembered -- he had been in my Christmas tree when I was a little kid! It was then that the card, and the words that my Dad wrote, came to mind. I had long lost the card, but I still remembered the words that Dad wrote.

I immediately took Hum-A-Tune upstairs, awestruck that he managed to keep from being damaged in the flooding. He apparently was high enough up in the old toy box that the water never got to him. Unfortunately, his music box no longer works. Sitting in the basement for so many years apparently ran its toll. 

I put him in my bookshelf in my bedroom upstairs. Then, of course, life intervened. I had to take care of my ailing mother for a couple years, and you forget about things... For a couple years I really didn't get any sleep.

But just over two weeks ago, like I said, I found him behind the books. Now I have him near a couple other old stuffed animals from years ago, next to my radios on the headstead of my bed.  

The stuffed animals may look odd there, but they remind me of a time when my Father and Mother were still alive, and life was a lot better, and life was still full of wonder. As I live alone, there is no one to criticise any of them being there, so they stay where they are.

My Sakai guitar. My godfather, my Uncle Calvin (who served on ballistic submarines) got it for my Uncle Dale, maybe 1972 or '73. Uncle Dale was a country guitar player and singer. He always played and sang at family get-togethers, like Christmas. The two uncles had a falling out, and Uncle Dale left it on Uncle Calvin's front porch. In the Summer of 1976 Uncle Calvin invited us up for a barbecue, and he sold the guitar to my Dad, so I could have it. The guitar and small amp together cost $40. So I play a guitar that's been in three separate hands in the family.

When I was a kid, I never thought that life would be so rough, with long stretches of dark times. In many respects, I am probably better off than a lot of people, but it still isn't easy, especially during holidays. And at times like Christmas I really miss my folks, as well as grandparents, aunts, uncles, and some cousins who have all passed on. My #1 electric guitar (my Sakai Japanese Jag copy) used to belong to my Uncle Dale, who was quite the country and folk music entertainer.  He would always play and sing 'Randolph The Bow Legged Cowboy' during Christmases. He died in the early 2000's. Unexpectedly. A lot of the family are gone. It sucks.

It's a real tough time.

Hum-A-Tune reminds me of Dad. And every time I look at Hum-A-Tune the House Mouse, I think of what my Father wrote, and how much thought he put into writing those words. He really wanted to make his son happy. He put so much thought into placing the music box mouse in my tree, and writing the card. I treasure the fact that he really loved me enough to try to make sure I felt loved and cared for, and he always tried to make sure I was always happy. 

Dad left us in 1984, but there still is some of him around. My first guitar, my telescope, my DX-160 SW radio, my old boombox, my bagpipes -- they all remind me of Dad. And now so does this stuffed, music box mouse. 

It's hard to find people like my Father was. Having people like that in your life, frankly, is a rarity. I was lucky, my parents both made me feel that way, especially at Christmas. My Mother and Father had their rough spots. But they never made me feel unloved or unsupported. Every Christmas I miss them.

Now, Christmas is just another day out of 365 days in the year.

My Christmas lights this year, the only decorations I put up.

These Gingerbread men I keep up year 'round on my mantlepiece. Just because.

GOD LILLE JULAFTON!

Right now it's the 23rd of December. The Scandinavians call it Lille Julafton, 'little Christmas Eve'. When I was a kid the night of the 23rd was usually when my folks finished putting up Christmas decorations and getting ready for Christmas time. It was a night that really felt Christmas cheer. It really was like a 'little Christmas Eve'.

I presently have no idea what I'll do this Christmas. I will probably DX a bit, pet my cats, and maybe go out on a night time bike ride. I may work on some old-time banjo tunes on my banjo -- something I've been trying to relearn.

I'll probably read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. My extended family may or may not have a get-together for Christmas. If they do, I'll probably go and play my bagpipes.

But it simply won't be the same as it was years ago.

Here's hoping that all of you out there have a good holiday. If you have someone, give them a hug. If you have a cat or a dog, pet them, hold them close, and tell them how much they mean to you. Life is short. 

Hum-A-Tune says Merry Christmas.

Peace, and Merry Christmas.

C.C.

December 23rd, 2024.

Auroral DX on the MW/AM band! OCTOBER 14th & 15th, 2024

My Realistic DX-350A, which for a few years in the 2010's was my mainstay MW DX radio, in front of my Crate loop I made in 2011. I still DX with the DX-350A maybe once or twice a month.... Radios are meant to be played.

Dear Readers: Here is a blog article I'd forgotten about -- I wrote it after a flurry of MW Auroral DX, where the ionosphere makes MW distance listening interesting by boosting signals from Southern US regions. Sorry for the delay, but here 'tis. 

Recently, as even non-radio hobbyists know, we've had a flurry of Auroral activity in the Northern Hemisphere (where there was any in the Southern Hemisphere I don't know -- it obviously didn't make the news here).

When there is Auroral activity, sometimes the Northern Lights show up as far south as the northern tier of US states. And the Shortwave and Mediumwave radio bands are affected as well. The extra solar radiation zaps the ionosphere and makes it absorb radio signals instead of reflect them back to Earth.

The overall effects of an Aurora can vary -- usually there are 'radio blackouts' (as just described). You'll hear distant signals on the SW or MW bands get weaker and weaker as the Aurora hits -- or you'll turn on your radio one night and there's nothing but grainy sounding static.

This happened recently. About three nights ago I turned on my Realistic DX-394 and tuned the SW ham bands. There was very low activity, and as I was tuning through the 40 Meter ham band, any and all signals just faded down to nothing. It was the same thing with the 30M ham band, and the 20M ham band.

The Shortwave broadcast bands were mostly dead. 49 Meters had non-existent audio for WRMI, WWCR, and Radio Marti was barely audible in the grainy static. A couple other stations that are usually on during the evening -- Radio Educacion on 6185 kHz, and Nikkei 1 and 2 on 6055 and 6115, were extremely weak carriers that even the BFO barely made audible -- you had to listen for them.

MW was like a poor summer night.

Then, after a day or so, the Aurora dissipated. When that happens, often it's a fun time to DX the AM band, because here in the PNW US that means that California, Nevada, and sometimes Mexican radio stations will show up!

On the night of the 14th, it was exactly that way. Some Northwest mainstays like KOAC 550 (Corvallis Oregon), KXTG 750 (Portland, Oregon), CBK 540 (Saskatchewan), KONA 610 (Pasco, Washington), and other regional stations were completely gone, replaced by other weaker signals from further south, or just static.

KXTG 750 was missing -- 750 kHz was just static. KOAC 550 (normally always dominant on 550) was gone, replaced by a very weak KARI Blaine WA (about 150 miles north of me), and 

The next night, the AM band returned at least partly to normal. KOAC 550 was in with Oregon Public Radio news, but conditions overall were a little different from normal. Some regular stations weren't in well, and I heard a few California stations much, much better than normally!

On 1270 kHz, I heard KXBX Lakeport, California with Classic Hits, and I also heard KBZZ Reno with Classic Rock and a full, "92.5 The Hawk!" ID! (Actually, they're called "The Hog"). I haven't heard KBZZ since it was a sports station back in the early 2010's! I also heard KEAR 610, a religious station out of San Francisco that plays soft music and hymns at night, and KLBS Los Banos, California, was in on 1270 also! They have Portuguese language talk and music, serving the Portuguese speaking people in the San Joaquin Valley of Central California.

A pic of my Sangean PR-D5 during better days, when I was Solar Eclipse DXing in August, 2017.

MORE ADVENTURES WITH MY SANGEAN PR-D5

As many of you may know, I have one of these Sangean radios that are known for being really good on MW/AM. Sangean PR-D5's are like mini-boomboxes, which also have an AUX IN so you can plug your phone or tablet into the jack and listen to streaming in stereo. I used to listen to Norway's NRK Norske Folkemusikk channel all the time on my PR-D5 that way.

I also discovered a button pressing glitch that seemed to occur on my PR-D5 after the radio had been powered up for several months. It seemed that the constant powering of the radio -- which kept the microprocessor working in the background, waiting for the Power button to be pressed -- would cause the microprocessor's firmware to read the buttons oddly. 

For example, I'd have to press the Power button several times to get the radio to recognise that I was pressing it. Sometimes I'd press a button and an entirely different function would occur (like I would press a memory channel button and the PR-D5 would switch from AM to FM instead).

I discovered the fix out of frustration. I pulled the batteries, and pulled the plug from the AC wall adaptor, and reset the radio that way.

The re-set worked. The radio's buttons started working normally. A few years later, sometimes the re-set wouldn't completely work. I found that pressing the Power button after de-powering the radio did the trick.

I wrote an article about this button issue in 2017 or so. Here is a link to that article, where I go into more detail about it. Other PR-D5 owners who had the issue also found that the re-set fixed their radios.:

Interrock Nation: How to quickly fix a SANGEAN PR-D5 Power Button malfunction -- and other easy fixes

Recently, that hasn't been working 100%. I finally resorted to spraying contact cleaner down the side of all the buttons a couple times, working them after each spray. I wiped the excess off the front of the radio with a paper towel.

Presto! The radio acts like new again.

It appears that if your PR-D5 has been sitting, unused, for several months (I hadn't used my radio in probably a year, using my Superadios in my writing Den instead), the buttons can either oxidise, or they need to otherwise be exercised to work properly again.

NOW, these fixes may work on many of the Sangean AM-FM only radios. I have experienced these button glitches with my PR-D5, PR-D14, PR-D18, and a couple times my PR-D4W even acted up. It's obvious that something in their firmware can develop these button glitches over time. 

The buttons are fine, the radio circuits and 'brain' are all fine, it's just that the firmware will act up if it sees continuous power for too long.

And the buttons themselves either need exercising (i.e., actual use) or they may need a shot of contact cleaner down the side of the buttons now and then. And periodically re-setting your radio (depowering it completely, letting it sit for 15 seconds or so, and maybe pressing the power button to clear the residual charge in the microprocessor) is probably a good idea, too.

This was another article sitting dormant, that I had forgotten I had written. So here it is, nearly two months late. Better late than never.

I still am finishing the article on the mediocre Solar Cycle 25. I have been sitting on that one for almost a year. Here it is, December, during a 'peak year', and the SW DX conditions are mostly crap and MW DX conditions aren't anything like they were in 2011-2014.

So, it's time to publish that article, being that my assessments of Solar Cycle 25 turned out to be very accurate.

I shall get that article out within the week. 

Peace,

C.C. 12-18-2024

DX Conditions = Abysmal; But MADAGASCAR Gets Through Anyway!

The antenna farm in Madagascar for MWV New Life Station, whose Russian broadcasts to Eastern Europe make it all the way to my location near Seattle -- even when the rest of the SW bands are dead, or mostly dead.

(photo courtesy Russian MWV website)

DEAR READERS: I'd forgotten I had this article written up. Here 'tis, over two months late. That said, DX conditions have still been poor over the past two months, so much of what I say here still applies. Plus, the new battery issue I encountered is probably informative -- batteries can be bad out of the box! Ya learn something new every day.

Peace, C.C.

I am still in a funk over losing my cat, and dealing with a bunch of different stuff here at home, but I have managed to tune the Shortwave bands -- usually in the morning hours, when Asia comes in -- and the MW band at night when I'm in my writing Den, or later at night when I am ready to hit the hay.

I am also working on finishing an article on the latest Solar Cycle, and how mediocre it is -- something I've held off on publishing for several months, in the event that the Solar Cycle somehow begins delivering the DX that it's supposed to be delivering (hint: so far, it really hasn't). There have been a few bright spots where there have been mornings and afternoons with some DX on the SW, and MW at night has picked up slightly, but it's also had swaths of 3-4 days where there are mediocre conditions, too.

That article will be posted by mid-October.

That said, the past few days here in mid-September SW and MW have been mediocre at best, abysmal at worst. I tune my DX-394 + wire antenna during the mornings and often during the evenings, and I use my Superadios, Sangean PR-D5, or Sangean PR-D4W for MW DXing at night (and -- on rare occasions, my trusty Panasonic RF-B45), all with a milk crate loop.

The last couple weeks have been pretty mediocre on both the SW bands and the MW band. Sometimes the most interesting catch I've had is the Desert Whooper on 4096 kHz, a small, low power beacon transmitting 'whoop' noises and some CW out of an undisclosed location in Desert California.

This particular morning (the 17th of September) was an example. As I was sipping my coffee, waking up, and tuning my DX-394, I heard mostly static. The 30 Meter Ham Band was dead, no Pinneberg military RTTY on 10100 kHz, no NAU USN RTTY at 10153, no CW and not even any FT8. WWVH on 10000 kHz was in the mud, and WWV was non-existent. The 20 Meter Ham band was dead except for very weak FT8 noises around 14075-14075, and the 40 Meter Ham band was nothing but static, except for a local (WA-OR-BC) net high up in the band, and even then I could only hear the two strongest stations.

The 31 Meter Band, which is a good SW broadcast band for Asia during the mornings, was nothing but static.

Except for Madagascar.

Lo and behold, 9885 kHz had not just a carrier, but audio! Pop music! The signal was weak, but quite audible in the static, and fairly readable. Then I heard some talk by a woman in Russian, and then a man talking in Russian, ID'ing the station as 'KNLS', which is a Christian station that operates out of Anchor Point, Alaska, usually beaming programs in Russian to Siberia and Chinese and English to Asia.

But KNLS also has a station in the Southern Hemisphere, that broadcasts to Russia and other regions of Western Eurasia from Madagascar.

This is the station I was listening to: the MWV New Life Station being transmitted from Mahajanga, a small city in NW Madagascar, not too far from the Indian Ocean coast!

MWV New Life Station seems to be the KNLS service to Western Russia, while KNLS proper serves Siberia. Both stations play a lot of pop music that ranges from 80's pop to 2010's pop. This morning I heard a pop-R&B track sung by a young woman I had never heard before, and then Harry Styles' 2017 hit Sign Of The Times.

After some more talk in Russian, they played some choral music, which was quite good.

I was able to record some of the Harry Styles' track and the choral music on my phone.

It was very odd hearing Madagascar on my DX-394 -- a very capable radio -- and not hearing anything else except very weak carriers with no audio, or static. But it is what it is: that station in Madagascar truly gets out!

What is really cool, at least for me, is that Madagascar is the closest large, populated land mass to the Antipodes of my home region -- it's on the opposite side of the world from here.

The real Antipodes of Seattle, of course, is near Kerguelen Island in the Southern Indian Ocean, but there are no radio stations on Kerguelen (aside from possibly a local, low power FM for the French scientific and military station there). Madagascar, maybe 1800 miles to the north of Kerguelen, shall suffice. :-)

Like I've said before, both here and elsewhere, when concerning the somewhat disappointing Solar Cycle, there are always some surprises, and this was one of them. To not hear much of anything slamming my radio out of Asia, and no Morse Code or sideband on an early Fall morning when the SW bands should be hopping with signals, only to hear Madagascar beaming a broadcast to European Russia, is just proof that even when conditions are down sometimes you get surprises.

FIRING UP MY REALISTIC DX-398 -- and a new BATTERY ISSUE

With a SIMPLE, EASY Fix!

Just this week -- Monday, to be exact -- I decided to fire up my trusty DX-398, which is probably the best radio I have for SSB and Morse Code reception. My DX-394 comes close, as does my Panasonic RF-B45, but the DX-398 pulls in Sideband signals just a hair better than both of them.

That is, when the signal levels across the band aren't cutting down a couple decibels, only to come back up 10-15 seconds later, as happened to me recently....

I had this happen Monday morning. It was odd -- nothing I'd heard before. Strange dipping and increasing of all noises -- both signals and static. It was like someone was messing around with an RF Gain or Volume control.

At first I thought it was the radio. My antenna is pretty solid -- being indoor, there is no corrosion. And I'd never heard signal levels, across an entire ham band, dip 2-3 db and then go back up maybe 2-3 db just 10-15 seconds later.

For a second I thought it might be the battery connection -- I'd just put in new batteries (Walgreen Alkalines I probably got in the 2010's some time, so they were 'new old-stock' batteries), and maybe I'd not put them in right. I double checked the way the batteries were inserted. They were firmly in place, with no corrosion to be seen anywhere.

Now, I'd had two separate issues with my DX-398 dealing with batteries in the past. One was in 2012 or so when the negative terminal spring weakened where it was soldered to the main PCB board. A good dollop of new solder fixed that. Then last year or so there was a time when the DX-398 would turn itself off after a minute of working, on brand new batteries. That was a bit of corrosion on the positive battery terminal plate -- something that was hard to see, but definitely there. Once I cleaned it, the 398 worked like a charm until the batteries were spent maybe a month or two later.

So this time, when the signal levels on the 10 Meter and 20 Meter bands were wigging like someone was messing with my RF Gain or Volume, I at first thought it was the radio. 

At the same time, I realised that it COULD have been propagation -- although that sort of band-wide dipping and increasing of all signals (and static) levels was something I'd never before encountered in all my years of DXing. I'd seen dips and returns in signals, but not the entire band -- static and all. 

This was something new. Something was awry.

I rechecked the antenna clip and connector. All was fine.

I took the new, old-stock batteries out of my DX-398 and put them in my trusty Radio Shack 200629 (the batteries in that radio were next to dead). I fired it up. It worked great, until the same thing started happening. Dips in both signals and static. It was almost like what I experienced when my antenna terminal was wonky, though I knew it was 100% secure -- and the DX-398's antenna terminal has always been 100%. And instead of cutting volume and then cutting it back up, like someone hit a switch, in this case it was like someone quickly turning an RF Gain or Volume control.

Same problem, both radios. That meant the problem was external to the radios. Meaning it was the antenna -- or the batteries.

I switched off the 200629 and DX'ed with my DX-394 (which works on AC power), deciding to let the problem sit for a while.

Later that day, the thought occurred to me that maybe the problem was indeed the actual batteries. Maybe they had gone bad in the package, even though they looked clean and normal. I'd heard of such things happening before.

After all, if a battery lowers in juice, all the circuits of a radio will decrease in volume and gain. Usually you don't notice this when your batteries weaken because it's gradual. But if batteries dive for some reason, you'll hear it. And when batteries are old or bad, they might put out 6 Volts for a while and then dip to 4 or 5 Volts, before surging back up to 6 Volts again. And your radio's circuits will be affected. A voltage regulator (in most radios) can only do so much -- it can't create power that isn't there.

Of course, this sort of issue hadn't happened to me before. But it was worth investigating.

So I went to my battery box and pulled out another set of new AA's, this time they were Energizers I probably bought before the Pandemic hit. Maybe they were 5-6 years old, but they were alkaline, so they should still be good.

I popped them into my Radio Shack 200629, Tuesday morning. I DX'ed the bands for over an hour with no glitching, no bizarre dipping of signals whatsoever.

The problem was the batteries. They were old, yes, but they were still in their case. But obviously, they were weak enough to where they were varying in output, and it was messing with the gain and the RF, IF and AF circuits of the radios.

You learn something new every day.

So remember kids, sometimes the issue you may be having with your radio just might be the batteries.

More Job Layoffs in Radio: IHeart slashes hundreds of positions nationwide

The largest Radio company in the United States, IHeartMedia, has started laying off "less than 5%" of their workforce, as announced in the radio press (and other news outlets) recently.

The layoffs include managers, programmers, positions that oversee operations of entire 'clusters' of IHeart stations, as well as air staff. The NY Post says the layoffs amount to "hundreds" of positions.

As I reported in this blog four years ago (and it was also reported in the Radio press, as well as elsewhere), IHeart laid off roughly 10% of their workforce at the beginning of 2020. There have been other layoffs in the Radio industry by other companies since then, including some IHeart positions. 

So -- since the beginning of 2020 -- the largest Radio company in the US has gotten rid of maybe 12-14% of their workers.

IT HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE

In this section I am listing links to several earlier articles I wrote in this blog concerning the previous layoffs in Radio. There are a few common threads in the reasons for the layoffs. First, Radio revenues are down, largely because ad rates industry wide have declined. Secondly, leaders in the industry think that Radio is in decline and are acting accordingly. Thirdly, the companies involved are in debt, or otherwise having revenue problems, and possibly ratings issues as well. Fourthly, the industry's bigger players are consolidating operations, thanks to available technology. With more centralized operations, middle management positions -- like program directors in major and middle sized markets -- are less needed, or important. 

And the mostly unstated reason is that listeners are going online -- but not necessarily to online platforms run by Radio companies.

So here are the articles I wrote:

This article is about the IHeart layoffs at the beginning of 2020, where they laid off 10% of their workforce.:

Interrock Nation: THE SLOW DEATH OF RADIO

These articles deal with various layoffs, or station closures that also negatively affected Radio employment.:

Interrock Nation: Radio Morning Shows Experiencing Decline -- another moneymaker for Radio is fading

Interrock Nation: Another Large Radio Company Slashes Jobs in the Midwest US

Interrock Nation: Canadian Radio Company Slashes Jobs, Kills 7 AM Radio Stations

Interrock Nation: SO LONG, RADIO DISNEY. You had a good run.

This next, extensive article, 'Who Killed Radio', goes into detail concerning the numerous processes that reduced the Radio medium from something vital and relevant to an industry in decline.:

Interrock Nation: WHO KILLED RADIO? -- The Processes, People and Decisions that Destroyed the Radio Industry; + Mondo Bando, proto-metal, 1976!

This chart reflects the popularity and listenership among the various large music streaming platforms in the United States. IHeart, at the bottom of the chart, is apparently considered a key player. But they only have 8% of the 18-34's, which does not look promising for online Radio streaming platforms. If the biggest Radio company in the United States can't get more than 8% of the younger demographics, what does that say for the future of Radio online?

(To more easily see the graph, you can right click, and open it in a new tab).

REVENUES ARE DOWN, OR FLAT -- BUT COSTS ARE STILL GOING UP

This latest series of IHeart layoffs are yet one more indicator of an industry in decline, and an unfortunate one. IHeart's impetus for laying off just under 5% of their workers is that -- despite some claims of Radio companies seeing more revenues recently -- revenues overall are down in Radio, and costs are still up, due to inflation.

In one of the articles below, it is claimed that IHeart's online media platform has increased numbers of listeners. Of course, other data (see the graph above) shows that IHeart's online platform is not one of the top players in online listening, and it's only got 8% of streaming listeners in GenZ and the Millennials.

THEY'LL JUST 'GO ONLINE' -- NOPE

Some commenters and experts in the Radio industry believe that the laid off IHeart radio workers will be able to find similar jobs in related fields, mostly online. They think some of the Radio skills transfer to other fields. After all, audio entertainment, in general, is headed online. So why wouldn't the lost jobs also drift online?

Well, the biggest problem with that style of thinking is that online is a different animal. Some of the tech -- audio and visual tech used -- may be similar, but the online content business model is much, much different, and much less apt to have actual employees.

Most podcasts (aside from the big names like Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, Shawn Ryan, Rick Beato, David Pakman, the Daily Wire podcast guys, and the like) are one or two person affairs, where everything is done by one person, using their computer, with perhaps a nice backdrop, a good microphone, and a high quality web camera. They don't need the extra people that traditional media have usually needed. Also, as AI and other automated technology increases, the need for former Radio skills in other fields will be lessened.

If you have AI gathering your news for reporting, who needs actual people?

If you have AI voices for announcing your YouTube infotainment videos, who needs actual announcers?

If you have an easy to use Digital Audio Workstation on your computer, which has less of a learning curve than the SADIE, AudioVault, or SONIC systems that were popular in Radio in the 2000's, who needs a sound engineer or sound editing tech?

And if you are a smaller operation, podcasting on a platform that can monetise your podcasts via a contractual agreement -- who needs sales reps?

I'll repeat what I've said previously whenever these stories of layoffs come up: The vast majority of the laid off people will never work in Radio again, and most of them will never work in a related field again. They will have to be retrained in another industry. 

I wish them luck. Been there, done that.

Technology, and changes in media from legacy industries like Radio, TV, Cable, and Newspapers to everything being online content (much of it not bringing in much revenue unless you are a BIG player like the aforementioned podcasters) has made many of the skills used for Radio redundant.

And, as I said before, a lot of podcasters are small businesses with moderate incomes. No extra revenue for employees.

I feel for the laid off people. They got their notices just before Thanksgiving and Christmas. Most of them know that they won't work in the field again, and many of their skills -- like the sound engineering skills I had when I worked in Radio -- do not transfer outside of the industry.

But it is what it is.

Here are two news articles on the layoffs, which I've referenced throughout the article.:

Widespread Layoffs at iHeartMedia as Music Radio Gets Downsized

Radio giant iHeart Media slashes hundreds of jobs

List Of Those Affected By The iHeartMedia Cuts Continues To Grow – RadioInsight

A picture of my Squeakers in better days. I had just gotten my DSL router, and had just hooked it up. She was -- naturally -- curious about it. This was around 2012? 2013? I still miss my cat....

IN OTHER LIFE...

Just a week ago, we had Halloween. I took a handful of pics of decorations in my neighborhood. I think I will put them in a separate blog article. I only had two small groups of trick-or-treaters -- three kids in all, with three more people if you include parents and one of the kids' mom. They all got candy (except the one mom, who doesn't tolerate candy well).

So now I've got more mini chocolate bars to eat -- enough to last me for a year.

The weather is somewhat moderate for November, which I'm fine with. The MW DX conditions have picked up a little. As most long time DXers know, this Solar Cycle has been a dud. But it does seem to finally be showing a little promise. I actually heard a couple Oregon stations again for the first time in over a decade! 

I have several posts I've been working on and they just need pics. So over the next couple weeks there will be a cluster of them posted, including one on the Solar Cycle.

So stay tuned.

Peace.

C.C., November 9th, 2024.

The Hearing and Un-Hearing of HEARD ISLAND

A vid clip of my Radio Shack 200629 receiving Australian ham VK1A, working US stations from his location just outside Brisbane, Queensland, during the CQ World Wide contest, the night of Oct. 26th, 2024 (Oct. 27th UTC). The ID of VK1A is right near the end of the clip.

Over this past weekend, there has been a 'contest' on the Shortwave Ham bands. These contests have been around for ages -- the bigger ones usually happen two or three times a year, where you'll tune the ham bands and they will actually be crowded with signals, with hams eagerly trying to contact as many other hams as possible

When I was younger, I would buy CQ Magazine periodically. It's a magazine dedicated to the ham hobby. There are articles on how to improve your antennas, and there would be schematic diagrams of projects hams and other radio hobbyists could build. And there would be articles on DXpeditions (where a team of hams will transmit from some rare island out in the ocean somewhere), and also the results of contests.

A QSL Card for Qatar ham station A7XB, a station I heard on 15 Meters long ago, on my Yaesu FRG-7 and 80-100 ft. outdoor wire antenna. It was my most memorable DX catch. I had tuned into a couple guys -- with American accents -- talking. The signals were weak. The one guy seemed to be in Qatar and the other guy had an unusual DX call -- maybe Indonesia or Afghanistan? I don't remember, and I never got his call right. He might have been part of the US diplomatic mission in one of those countries. When A7XB mentioned his callsign, and spelled out his location ("Q-A-T-A-R"), suddenly there was a churning barrelhouse of signals -- all these 10's or hundreds of hams trying to contact him to get Qatar in their logs. I never did find out who the ham actually was, and never heard him again. Even DX Callbooks didn't show up anything. This QSL Card I found on E-Bay, by chance last year, is the only verification I've got for a very rare reception.

 

One year there was a big article on a guy in Belgium who won the CQ Worldwide DX contest -- I don't remember which year, it was probably in the 1980s. There was a pic of him, sitting proud in front of his several, large and expensive ham radio rigs, and also some pics of his antennas, which -- if I remember correctly -- were very impressive.

Now, this weekend a similar contest is taking place, on sideband. So, for the first time in recent memory, the ham bands are fairly close to packed with all sorts of SSB signals -- it's just like it would be on a typical Saturday afternoon on 20 Meters back in the 80s-00's when the bands were always packed. Not so much anymore -- crap propagation and inactive hams, as well as those running the clown car noises on FT8 have made the bands more spare.

But, this weekend, the bands are very busy.

A map of CQ Magazine's 'DX Zones', with the 'Zones' being designated by the people at CQ Magazine, which sponsors the Contest. During the Contest, individual hams (or teams, in a club) try to get as many contacts as possible, from as many of these 'DX Zones' as possible.

Last night I decided to tune around. 20 Meters, of course, was dead except for one guy calling CQ Contest from the Netherlands -- PJ2T, on 14318. He was alone on the SSB section of the 20 Meter band. And although I could hear him readably on my 24 ft. indoor wire and DX-394, he had no takers, except one American ham, K3DXX.

So I tuned down to the 40 Meter ham band. I had a lot more luck. The band was packed. I logged Brazil, Japan, Barbados, Mali, a bunch of hams from all over the US, and -- at least for a while -- I thought I logged Heard Island!

HEARD ISLAND? NO.... NOT REALLY

Heard Island is a remote island that is south of Kerguelen (the Antipodes of WA state, the exact opposite side of the world), which means it's out in the middle of frozen nowhere in the Southern Indian Ocean. So, why did I think I heard Heard Island? Because the guy in Australia, VK1A, had a web page that indicated that he was transmitting from Heard Island [please see screenshot of the page below].

Here you can see what threw me off: the unusual VK1 ham prefix (Australian prefixes are generally VK2-VK7 for each State, with VK1 being ACT, the Australian Capital Territory -- I've never heard ACT), and this page, which clearly denotes this station as being on Heard Island. Obviously -- it's a joke, or somebody, either at the site or elsewhere, typed in the absolutely wrong geographical coordinates.

This is a Ham Radio Station Prefix map. Maps -- and lists -- help you identify the country of the station you just heard. This map may be hard to read, but it -- and others like it -- are available online. I used to have a small book that had a map just like this inside it.

VK1A's QRZ page (QRZ.com is sort of a clearinghouse of info on ham radio stations) didn't have a location (the location only is available if you are logged in, and if you are not a ham, even if you are logged in the information available is a bit restricted). His QRZCQ page of course, was another matter. QRZCQ.com often has a lot more location info available, and QRZCQ said this VK1A guy was on Heard Island. 

The latitude and longitude coordinates -- which somebody had to take the time to type in -- gave the latitude and longitude for Heard Island as well.

I made a recording of my catch, still thinking there was something awry about the location. The operator didn't speak with an Aussie accent, but he's Dutch originally, so that would figure. I even heard him on my Radio Shack 200629, which is an able receiver on SSB but not as good as my DX-394, DX-398 (out of batteries right now) or Panasonic RF-B45.

Anyway, I moved on and listened some more and then went on with my household chores -- feeding my three cats, making some celery soup for myself, etc.

So then I looked up the station again. VK1A -- very little info on his QRZ page, or his main QRZ page (he has several callsigns, apparently quite active). No info whatsoever on ANY ham operating out of Heard Island, even during a contest. No real bio. Just a bunch of callsigns he's used over the years.

I finally logged into QRZ (after signing up), and being logged in more location info appeared. 

It turns out that the guy's up in the hills just north of Brisbane, and the weird VK1 prefix (not a standard Australian ham call prefix) is for contesters and clubs. Why the misleading info on QRZCQ.com? Maybe someone was having a joke? Maybe they typed in the latitude and longitude coordinates too hastily? I've seen misplaced locations on QRZCQ before, but not 7000 miles off.

So, there ya go. I had thought I'd heard Heard Island, but I had NOT heard Heard Island.

But I did get a clear copy of a guy from Brisbane on my Radio Shack 200629, which actually is a decent catch for that radio and an indoor wire. In fact, VK1A came in as well on my 200629 as he did on my DX-394, which is one of my best two radios for SSB and CW. It may have been that the conditions were up. Either way, I'm still happy with the DX catch -- even if it wasn't in the Indian Ocean. :-)

And, in the process, I found out that Heard Island has numerous glaciers, and its mountain, 'Big Ben', is the tallest mountain on Australian territory (although most Aussies think of Kosciusko as the country's tallest one). And -- no one, meaning absolutely no one -- lives there.

Here's a pic. And remember, if it looks cold, it IS cold. Nothing lives there but elephant seals and some penguins.

A picture of Heard Island, located south of Kerguelen, in the Southern Indian Ocean. The mountain is Mawson Peak, part of the mountain complex called "Big Ben". Big Ben is still volcanically active. No one lives on Heard Island, aside from elephant seals, penguins, and some other birds.

Here is an article on Heard Island's volcanic activity, courtesy the Australian CSIRO.

Blowing the lid off the volcanic story of Heard Island - CSIRO

I will post a couple more short articles within the week.

I hope my readers are all doing well. It's almost Winter here in Seattle, although the temperatures have been more or less moderate for it being this late in the year. I hope that holds.

Racofrats, when a kitten, Oct. 23, 2011. Such a long time ago.

I'll close this article with a pic of my cat Racofrats, when he was very young -- still a kitten. He's on my lap, looking to attack the other cats when they go by. He's the survivor of that litter. I call him Rac-a-doodle. He's turning into an indoor cat now. The plush, antique chair on the upstairs landing is all his, as is the cat furniture there.

Peace,

C.C. October 27th, 2024