DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-066, June 3, 2007 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2007 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1361: ** tentative Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 [time varies] Mon 0530 WRMI 9955** Mon 0930 WRMI 9955** Tue 1030 WRMI 9955** Wed 0730 WRMI 9955** WORLD OF RADIO, CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL SCHEDULE: Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN NOW AVAILABLE: http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/podcast.php OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org CONTINENT OF MEDIA 07-01 is now available June 3: (stream) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0701.ram (download) http://www.w4uvh.net/com0701.rm ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. June 2: SOLH: nothing heard on 11665 at about 0700. 11695 at 0915: sub-marginal to max S3 for <10% [SINPO 154x2] with program in presumed Dari and mixed Hindi and Afghan songs [above via UAE, below via UK ---gh] 17700 at 1226-1335 with good signal S9 [45544] ideal for continuous listening. Heard together with my mother in law and wife (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17700, Radio Solh, 1702, música en idioma árabe, con locución en árabe con segmentos breves en ingles, espectacular señal, Temas música "A just Call" con Steve Wonder, mezclado con música árabe, 1705, I love you A just Call... sung by Steve wonder, 1706 música árabe canta un hombre y tambores de fondo, la segunda voz una mujer... 1739, Música árabe interpretada por dos personas un hombre y una mujer, 1741 hombre hablando en árabe [sic], 1743 música de tambores canta una dama ritmo rápido,1750 música con ritmo moderno, SINPO:45444, (H. Frías, Santiago de Chile, COMISIÓN DE RADIOESCUCHAS, FEDERACHI, BOLETÍN ESCUCHAS DEL MUNDO, MAYO 2007, May 1, via DXLD) The dates of all the logs in this bulletin have been deleted, in order to make them much less useful; altho dated May 1, just brought to our attention; see NETHERLANDS (gh, DXLD) ** AFRICA. AFRICA ON SHORTWAVE --- Tony has recently updated the Africa on Shortwave list (on Articles index) for June 2007, which was uploaded last night. http://www.users.waitrose.com/~bdxc/home.html (Dave Kenny, June 3, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Radio Argentina al Exterior is now off air due to transmitter failures (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX June 1 via DXLD) Depends on what you mean by `now`; BTW, no script for the previous week`s RB DX program was posted (gh, DXLD) 15343.8, R. Nacional, 2221-2248 June 2, interview in Spanish, Beatles singing "Ruby Tuesday", BoH 2+1 pips, "Nacional" IDs, Bosa Nova music. Fair-good reception, no QRM (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340 & Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15343.81, Radio Nacional, Buenos Aires, 2205-2215, June 3, Spanish talk. ID. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. Legislation to set up 24-hour broadcasts to the FALKLAND ISLANDS: q.v. ** AUSTRALIA. New Aussie station on 1692 kHz --- Hi All, I & other DXers have noticed a station operating on 1692. Signal is very very weak. Possibly low powered but seems to be originating from SE Queensland. Quite poss part of the Vision FM network which is a gospel huxter [sic]. Anyway, A new DX target for you! Another rumour of a station coming on 1674 soon. - 1674 has been used for temporary tests out of Emu Plains near Sydney from time to time, but I believe this will be a new Melbourne VIC operation (Geoff Wolfe - Bombala NSW Australia, June 3, dxhub yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 5035.0, Radio Aparecida, 0910-0920, June 3, Portuguese talk, promos, ID. Brazilian ballads. Weak. Better on // 6135.0 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Alguns tempos atrás a QRG de 5035 kHz da Rádio Aparecida teve uma severa interferência, por longo tempo, da Rádio Relógio ( hoje rádio religiosa, mas ainda marca hora de minuto a minuto). Na época apelidamos a interferência de "britadeira". Hoje essa perturbação voltou um pouco mais abaixo da QRG 5035 kHz, mais ou menos em 5034 kHz. Percebe-se que é a Rádio Relógio pelo sinal dos minutos. Ela deveria estar funcionando em 4905, mas não está. Garanto que, se fosse um radioamador ou radiocidadão que estivessem provocando essa tal interferência, a Anatel já estaria no encalço deles para lacrar suas estações (Luiz Chaine, Brasil, June 3, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Programa Nas Ondas Curtas da Guarujá Paulista --- A Rádio Guarujá Paulista, de Guarujá (SP), é a única emissora da Baixada Santista que transmite em ondas curtas. Pode ser sintonizada em 3385, 5045 e 5940 kHz. A Rádio Guarujá Paulista valoriza a prática da radioescuta e dexismo. Todos os sábados, a partir das 21h30min, no horário oficial de Brasília [0030 UT Sundays], leva ao ar o programa Nas Ondas Curtas da Guarujá Paulista, em parceria com o DX Clube do Brasil. Todos os relatórios de sintonia são respondidos com um certificado de sintonia assinado pelo diretor-presidente da emissora, jornalista Orivaldo Rampazo. Se você ainda não tem a confirmação da emissora, reserve desde já o seu QSL ouvindo a emissora em qualquer horário. Depois é só enviar o seu informe para o seguinte endereço: Programa Nas Ondas Curtas da Guarujá Paulista, A/C Jornalista Orivaldo Rampazo, Rádio Guarujá Paulista, Rua José Vaz Porto, 175, Vila Santa Rosa, CEP: 11431-190, Guarujá (SP). E-mail: rampazo@.... [truncated by yg] O DXCB conta com a sua ajuda! (Célio Romais, RGS, June 1, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. Re 7-059, just to be sure I wasn`t criticising Radio Free Asia unjustly, I went to their website http://www.rfa.org and Searched RFA on Arakanese --- unfound. No mention of minolity languages in the overall frequency schedule, but of course, they could be mentioned somewhere in the Burmese text (Glenn Hauser, OK, CONTINENT OF MEDIA 07-01, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 1607 UT - 17630 kHz, FIREDRAKE, Contro chi/Against who? Segnale molto buono - 1615 UT - 15530 kHz, FIREDRAKE+CNR 1 x 2 TXs! Tutto questo contro chi? All this against who? Segnali buoni-molto buoni - 1628-1630* UT - 12085 kHz, FIREDRAKE, Contro chi/Against who? Segnale molto buono (Luca Botto Fiora, Italy, playdx yg via DXLD) See extensive Firedrake listing in recent DXLD (gh) Firedrake, 18180 against Sound of Hope, which kindly has again moved just outside the ham band, fair with flutter at 1353 June 2 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 10300 Firedrake, 0950 June 2, good, // 18180 fair. Probably the 24 hour type firedrake, as both still heard at 1545 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 6035, presumed La Voz del Guaviare, 0914-0935, June 1, Spanish. Been following this one for a while, also at 0000+/-. Always hear OM between musical selections but never an ID due to heavy 6030- R. Martí splatter. Is anyone else logging this and is it really Colombia? (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R8, R75, MLB-1, 200' Beveraqes, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Try 2x = 12070 ** COLOMBIA. 5910, Marfil Estéreo, Lomalinda, 0544-0620, 03-06, canciones mexicanas, canciones latinoamericanas, llaneras, identificación entre canciones: "Ahora en Marfil Estereo, sólo éxitos". "Vd. está escuchando Marfil Estereo". "Están escuchando Ondas de Paz". 34333. Mala propagación por aquí para las bandas tropicales en particular, y también para las domésticas fuera de las bandas tropicales, ya desde hace más de un mes, coincidiendo, además, con las noches más cortas del año, lo que reduce considerablemente las horas de escucha para estas emisoras (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, escuchas realizadas en Friol 43,03468611 N - 7,801819444 E, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600G, Antena de cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What`s with all the music on this station? It`s supposed to be gospel- huxtering like its twin La Voz de tu Conciencia, 6010v; I guess the rationale is that ME uses the stealth approach. Are they working in religious messages now and then? Do they mix in religious music, or is it just secular as implied above? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA. Re 7-064: was Edwin Southwell's reply to Richard Read's comments last month (Mike Barraclough, WDXC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 15190, RHC, 1310-1320 June 2, with Spanish programming, first time I have noted them here, fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. GOBIERNO CUBANO PROHIBIÓ ENTRADA DE LOS 500 RADIORECEPTORES Acabo de escuchar a través del programa El Castor Mensajero de RCI, que el gobierno cubano prohibió la entrada de los 500 radioreceptores para los ganadores del Concurso organizado por RCI y Radio Nederland Wereldomroep. ¡Triste! En realidad a mi esta noticia no me sorprende para nada, pero eso debe hacer entender a los oyentes cubanos lo poco que le importa a su gobierno que la libre información corra en la isla. A los colegas de RCI y de Radio Nederland tampoco les extrañe que las camisetas que le enviaran a los amigos cubanos como premio de consuelo también se las confisquen. A los colegas diexistas que sientan alguna simpatía por el gobierno cubano, sería bueno que dieran una opinion al respecto. Lo que da rabia y hasta tristeza es dejar hasta lo último para que el gobierno cubano prohibiera la entrada de los receptores, una forma maquiavélica para echar por la borda las ilusiones de los oyentes luego de haberse esforzado en su participación en dicho concurso. Saludos, (Jorge García Rangel, Barinas, Venezuela, June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As previously reported, this was a well-intentioned contest open to Cuban listeners only, easy to win a SW radio. I also anticipated such a blockade. The receivers should then be brought in by diplomatic pouch and handed directly to as many Cubans as possible, the winners if that can be managed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. ETHIOPIAN REBEL GROUP LAUNCHES RADIO STATION | Text of report in English by Ethiopian opposition website Ethiopian Review on 2 June The Ethiopian People Patriotic Front (EPPF) will officially launch a weekly radio programme on 7 June 2007. The radio programme, Ye Arbenyoch Dimts [The Voice of Patriots], will be broadcast to Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa every Thursday from 7 to 8 p.m. [16-17 gmt] local time. Ye Arbenyoch Dimts can be heard on the following frequency: 15260 kHz, 19 meter band Short Wave (SW) transmission (Source: Ethiopian Review website in English 2 Jun 07 via BBC Monitoring)(June 3rd, 2007 - 16:11 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** EUROPE. PIRATE (Scotland), 6400.01, Weekend Music Radio, 0355-0415, June 3, pop music, ID. Weak. Poor with utility-rtty QRM. (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FALKLAND ISLANDS [non]. DOS PROYECTOS DE LEY BUSCAN ACERCAR RADIO NACIONAL A LAS ISLAS MALVINAS --- 01-JUN/2007 Dos proyectos presentados por el diputado fueguino Daniel Gallo, propician la ampliación de la potencia de Radio Nacional a las Islas Malvinas y promueven la programación de material exclusivo en inglés y castellano para contribuir a afianzar la soberanía en “ese territorio que nos pertenece”. El diputado nacional Daniel Gallo presentó la semana pasada en la Cámara Baja, dos proyectos de ley para que se implementen medidas que amplíen el alcance de LR24 Radio Nacional Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego, y conseguir que su programación sea escuchada por habitantes de las Islas Malvinas y región circundante, en uno, y por otro lado otro proyecto para crear un Servicio de Radiodifusión a las Islas Malvinas, con sede en LRA24 Radio Nacional Río Grande, desde donde se emitirá su programación en idiomas castellano e inglés, durante las 24 horas del día, siendo su objetivo mantener informados a los habitantes de las Islas Malvinas de la actualidad de nuestro país. “Nadie discutirá acerca de la importancia de los medios de comunicación en el desarrollo de una sociedad y el papel preponderante que posee para permitir el acercamiento e intercambio dentro de una nación y entre los distintos pueblos”, sostuvo el diputado a Provincia 23. “Radio Nacional Río Grande LR24, ubicada en la ciudad de Río Grande, provincia de Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur, posee un equipamiento que otorga una potencia de 25 kilowatts, con lo que se logra un alcance que es insuficiente para permitir una correcta emisión de su programación hacia las Islas Malvinas. Siendo una inquietud permanente en los habitantes de nuestra provincia, fomentar lazos y divulgar los diferentes aspectos de nuestra cultura hacia las Islas, y siendo la radiodifusión uno de los medios de comunicación más utilizados”, continuó. “Es por eso que debemos procurar los medios para legar a través del éter a las Islas ya que de esta manera podremos sostener, de otra manera más, la inalienable soberanía argentina sobre las Islas Malvinas, Orcadas, Georgias, Sandwich del Sur y la Antártida, mientras servimos a la difusión de la cultura nacional, contribuyendo al desarrollo de sentimientos de amistad y pertenencia, y contribuyendo al afianzamiento de la unidad nacional”, finalizó. http://www.radiodifusiondata.com.ar/ (vía Nicolás Eramo, Conexión Digital June 3 via DXLD) WTFK? It`s not LR24 but LRA24, silly, per WRTH 2007 on 640 with 25 kW day, 5 kW night. I figured, in that remote area it would more likely be lowband, and started hunting from the bottom up. They want to raise its power or set up a separate Malvinas service from the same location. No mention of using SW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Macedonian Radio, Thessaloniki: English news started at 1158 May 31 on 9935, ended with local weather, lasted just under three minutes (Mike Barraclough, England, June WDXC Contact via DXLD) ** GUINEA. 7125, Radio Conakry, 2215-2300, June 3, French talk. Variety of local African music, Afro-pop, French ballads. Poor to fair. Covered by Russia at 2300 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAITI. Supplement to DXLD 7-064: Radio Sel Hello Glenn, To supplement what was in DXLD 7-064, I have researched and compiled a few additional information: The background, in addition to the general disorder and unsecure situation, is that recently two journalists were killed there, and three days before, the bandit "Ti Will" was arrested while he was participating in a radio broadcast of another radio station, Gonaïves FM. A position statement of the Radio Sel management now is available http://www.medialternatif.org/alterpresse/spip.php?article6062 (this is in Creole, - no French, no English versions available). They state that Radio Sel (and another one, Radio Gonaïves, too) do not hide or shelter bandits. And management underlines that the radio station is a place of freedom, and that police (and MINUSTAH) do not have the right to violate such freedom (via Dr. Anton J. Kuchelmeister, DK5TL, Germany, DXLD) ** HUNGARY. More on Radio Budapest --- Summary of the enclosed posting: A reliable source confirmed on the condition of anonymity that these reports are entirely correct. All foreign language programming of Radio Budapest will close down on June 30, French will be on air for the last time already tonight. An official announcement is expected to be made on June 13. The editors were ordered to withheld any farewell messages until the very last transmissions (Kai Ludwig, Germany, June 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hallo Liste! Aus sicherer Quelle, die ich nicht nennen darf, kann ich die Einstellungsgerüchte leider voll und ganz bestätigen. Am 30.06.07 schließt das dt. Programm von Radio Budapest wie alle fremdsprachigen Programme. Den Anfang macht bereits heute abend das französische Programm. Am 13.06.07 soll es eine offizielle Mitteilung geben. Die Sprecher sind gehalten, sich erst in der letzten Sendung zu verabschieden. Vy´73! (Hendrik Leuker, ADX-Liste via Ludwig, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 9525, RRI, 1101-1119, May 28, Mandarin/English. Ballads with YL between selections. English ID announcement and URL at 1117. Fair (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R8, R75, MLB-1, 200' Beveraqes, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9680, RRI Jakarta, 1000-1012* May 30 (Wed.), singing KGRE jingle, talking about English for Academic Purposes (EAP), song "All Out Of Love", fair. RRI has been off the air for several weeks, so glad to hear them again, but they had audio problems before they suddenly went off the air. Still off at 1024. 9680, RRI Jakarta, 1000-1020 June 3 (Sun.), Kang Guru Radio English program, competition to identify a mystery sound, repeat of the interview Kevin did with young Indonesian actor (Nicholas Saputra), song by Aussie singer Stephanie McIntosh and also "The Others" sung by the Dukes of Windsor, gives the KGRE address to write in for their free magazine (P.O. Box 3095, Denpasar 80030, Bali), fair-good reception (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9680, presumed RRI, 1017-1102, June 2, Indo. OM with talks and listener phone-calls between pop music/ballads. Talk over anthem-like music at 1100 but no ID noted. Fair (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R8, R75, MLB-1, 200' Beveraqes, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9680, RRI Jakarta, 1030-1045 June 2. At tune in, steady Islamic music presented. At 1035 a male comments in Indonesian Language. Signal was good (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, WR G305e/PD TimeWave DSP- 599zx, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11785, RRI, 0857 2 June, free from CNR China [`crash stop' at 0856]. The familiar female voice from the English service with short news, short ID at 0900. Malay program followed at 0900. Signal 15331 (Zacharias Liangas, Retziki, THS, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mess: v11784.88, RRI Jakarta. Cimanggis left 11860 kHz channel at 1100-1600 UT a month ago or so. Now discovered by Roland Schulze on 11784.88 kHz, he phoned me last Friday. From 1100 to 1400 UT terrible mess on this channel, due of co-ch Udorn Thani in Mandarin and accompanied China mainland jamming. Today RRI tiny signal of S=2 only, lousy condition. 11784.88 is also in use by foreign service VoINS Jakarta at 1600-2100 UT. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also on 11785: WHRI-1, 14-16, weekends from 13 with Hmong Lao Radio (gh, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 7289.87, RRI-Nabire, May 23 0750-0802, 25342, Indonesian, Music, ID at 0758, RPK, 0800 Jakarta news relay, // May 26 0758 s/off, May 27 0800 s/off, May 28 0827 s/off (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. 15780, Galei Zahal, 2005-2010, escuchada el 3 de junio en hebreo a locutor en conversación telefónica con invitada en programa musical, en paralelo por 6973, SINPO 44333. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Heard here a little earlier on Jun 3, around 1830 utc, closer to 15781. Long discussion in Hebrew, SIO 343 (Mike Bryant Louisville, KY, R-75, ibid.) A las 2104 Galei Zahal en 15781 kHz con un SINPO 45444. En paralelo por 6973. 73 (José Miguel Romero, ibid.) ** ITALY. Good morning! Wolfgang, I don't really know whether R. Maria has been active on 26 MHz, which first appeared with AM tests, then into DRM. I'm receiving it right now on 26 MHz AM rated 35433; observed started at 1044, phone-ins being heard now. Then I found http://www.mediasuk.org/archive/radio_maria.html where the 26 MHz vertical is depicted... not that different from the one (5 m) I built & installed yesterday, except that mine hasn't got any counterpoise yet, just a Palomar MLB -1 "unun." Aren't they supposed to use DRM? Other antennae tested for this station: K9AY (not a joke), good reception enabling the NW-SW loop & selecting null from the SW; 20 m T2FD, also good reception. Maybe the small vertical performance is enhanced as soon as a ground plane is built. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AFAIK, they have never axually been in DRM (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 9485, Shiokaze - Sea Breeze via Taiwan, 1313- 1320, May 29 (Tue.), in English, YL with details about the abductees, poor/QRM 9480 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9485, Shiokaze - Sea Breeze via Taiwan, *1300-1305, June 2 (Sat.), piano IS, in English, "This is Shiokaze Sea Breeze, from Tokyo, Japan", YL with details about the abductees, poor with jamming noise & QRM 9480 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) CLANDESTINE, 9485 Shiokaze Two, 1300-1315, May 27, Korean? Instrumental music, announcement by male, music and short talks by male, 24332 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, ibid.) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Open Radio for North Korea (ORNK) will change their schedule from June 11th. The New schedule is 1100~1200 UT, 9930 kHz and the transmitting station is KWHR in Hawaii which is in partnership with VT Communications. ORNK will broadcast on weekdays for a while after the schedule is changed. But they plan to broadcast on weekend when they gain the time and the frequency. They will increase the airtime from an hour to two hours as well and it becomes effective as early as July. This change is interpreted as an urgent action to avoid the jamming on 7390 kHz. 1100~1200 UT, 9930 kHz will service an English program of KWHR and we predict that the reception is good in North Korea as Seoul. -- ('Northeast Asian Broadcasting Institute' in Seoul Korea http://www.neabi.com June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST; also via Wolfgang Büschel) ?? translation problem? Not sure what they mean by ``service`` -- maybe replace, from the context? What makes ORNK think 9930 will not also be jammed? Current schedule for Angel 3 shows 9930 before 1200 and after 1400, but 12130 in between. 9930 is already heavily jammed by the Chicom during Sound of Hope, M-F 1400-1600. The only other clandestine on the current WHR schedule for this transmitter is Hoa Mai Radio, Vietnamese, Wed 12-13 on 12130. Currently 7390 is at 14-15 via Tajikistan. Neither site is very close to NK (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. Latvia Today regular in recent weeks Sundays 1500-1600 on 9290 (Allen Dean, Lancashire, UK, June WDXC Contact via DXLD) Written May 26, web publicity for Sunday May 27 had the broadcasts at 1000- 1100! Saturday broadcast times during May were 0800-0900 May 5 and 12, no broadcast May 19, 1000-1100 May 26. Why can't they broadcast at the same times each week? (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) Maybe they are evaluating which times propagate best. Or it has a lower priority if some other client wants a certain time (gh, DXLD) ** LIBERIA [non]. 9525, STAR Radio via Ascension, 0738-0744 May 30, following CTN, "Liberia Today", STAR Radio news bulletin; May 31, 0727-0800*, no CTN programming today, "Liberia Today" followed by interesting program calling for Liberian refugees to return home, interviews with returned refugees telling about conditions in Liberia today ("Security all right"), "STAR Contact" program, VOI not on the air today; June 1, 0726-0745, only STAR Radio programming heard, again no VOI. 9525, STAR Radio via Ascension, 0727-0731 June 2, "STAR Radio with music of our land, coming to you from Monrovia, Liberia", enjoyable selections of Liberian music and singing (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also SIERRA LEONE [non] ** LIBYA. V. of Africa, very good reception on 17725 1400-1600 May 14, 17870 also heard (Edwin Southwell, June WDXC Contact via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non?]. 1/6 1458 UT - 17725, LJB VOICE OF AFRICA - Issoudun (Francia), Inglese, Musica pop africana e nxs OM. Segnale sufficiente- buono. Nuova frequenza? EiBi A07 riporta 17715 kHz. New frequency? EiBi A07 lists 17715 kHz (Luca Botto Fiora, Italy, playdx yg via DXLD) EiBi revised June 1 has it on both frequencies at 14-16, showing 17725 as direct, 17715 via France. Has only been on 17725, AFAIK, and believed to be direct (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOICE OF AFRICA: DATE: 02-06-2007. TIME: 1530-1600 UT. FREQUENCY: 17725 KHz. SIGNAL: GOOD. LANGUAGE: ENGLISH. PROGRAM: ID, NEWS, COMMENTARY. Audiclip available on http://swli05639fr.blogspot.com/ 73's (Francesco Cecconi, Italy, HCDX via DXLD) ** LIBYA [and non]. LIBIA, hoy 3 de Junio se aprecia a La Voz de África en 17625 en paralelo por 17670, la emisora afro-pop en 17660. Se aprecia a otra emisora sin identificar en 17625, probablemente Sawt al-amal, por otra parte es tan fuerte esta señal de la Voz de África que no permite escuchar en 17630 a África N º 1, sin embargo templando a 17632 escucha la emisión en francés de esta emisora con noticias. A las 1216 cesa la emisión en 17625 pasando a 17665. La situación a esta hora es la siguiente: 1220 UT 17620 RFI en francés. 17630 África Nº 1 en francés. 17650 WHRA World Harvest R.5 en inglés. 17660 Emisora Afro-pop. 17665 Voice of África en árabe. 17670 Voice of África en árabe. A las 1222 la señal de la Voz de África es tan fuerte que no permite escucharse por momentos a la emisora afro-pop en 17660. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, June 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) LIBYA (non) At 1120-1130 UT noted TRT Emirler to SoEaAS 0900-1300 UT on odd 17645.04 kHz today June 3rd. At 1128 and at 1315 UT observed West African pop music station on even 17660.00 kHz, S=5 to 7 strength, only fair today. anti-LBY opposition Radio Sawt Al-Amal from Grigoriopol Moldova noted on 17657.50 kHz in Arabic at 1240 UT, weak today in peaks S=5, but West African pop on 17660 kHz a little bit stronger S=7. CRI Kashi China on 17490 and 17650 much, much stronger S=9+10 dB, despite of bad propagation on 16 mb today. All remaining channels in 17615 to 17680 UT range - like ARS 17615 and RFI France 17620 mostly S=2-3 strength only (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, ibid.) ** MALAYSIA. 6049.65, Asyik FM (RTM), returned again after being off the air for several weeks. First noted again on May 30, heard through June 2 around 1130-1230, mostly with on-air phone calls, singing ID jingles. Yes John, it's very nice to have them back again. Heard with the usual het. While they were off I tuned in to try to determine what causes this het, but could only detect a very faint carrier on 6050.0 but too weak to tell anything about it (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, RX340, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6049.65, RT Malaysia, 1012-1020 June 2. With a better than usual signal, noted comments and music. Possibly heard a canned ID (sung) at about 1018. Signal was fair (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, WR G305e/PD TimeWave DSP-599zx, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XEYU, 9599v+, June 2 at 0534, JBA with Spanish talk (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONTSERRAT. MONTSERRAT BREAKS GROUND FOR NEW BROADCASTING FACILITY Acting Chief Minister Idabelle Meade led a special ceremony yesterday to signal the start of construction of state of the art broadcasting facilities on Montserrat. The ground breaking ceremony took place at the site in St Peters, identified for the building of a new home to house Radio Montserrat and the Government Information Unit and Television studios. The new state of the art building will be the permanent home for the Government’s only broadcasting organization and its information dissemination unit. Radio Montserrat currently operates in a converted dwelling house housed, since moving offices during the volcanic situation. Station manager Herman Sargeant said: “Radio Montserrat has been operating in temporary accommodation for twelve long years, twelve long years of hardship and suffering, with staff having to work in less than favourable conditions, poor facilities, cramped space and a lot more. Speaking on behalf of myself and my staff, let me say we are very happy, happier than you perhaps think, and we are looking forward to the day we operate from proper custom-built radio facilities, studios, newsroom office and so forth”. (Source: Caribbean Net News)( June 2nd, 2007 - 17:02 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) Good; I visited ZJB`s modest, cramped little building in the 70s or 80s before the disastrous eruptions (gh, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. DESAPARECE RADIO ENLACE EN OCTUBRE -- Noticia extraida del boletín de Mayo de FEDERACHI. Luis Valderas entrevistando a Alfonso Montealegre: Desafortunadamente durante la entrevista surgió una mala noticia, y es que al ser consultado Jaime por nuestro conocido Luis Valderas sobre las novedades de RadioEnlace para el año se quedó en blanco. Alfonso explicaría el por qué: en el marco de una modernización de la emisora, Radio Nederland habría decidido acabar con el programa a partir de octubre. De todos modos Alfonso expresó estar contento con la labor realizada hasta ahora en la emisora y mira con optimismo el futuro, al igual que Jaime; y ambos seguirán con sus otras labores en la radio (via José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I had been notified about this some weeks ago, but was waiting for them to announce it officially. Here`s the full story, illustrated: http://federachi.multiply.com/journal/item/10 And there is also a TV report linked: INFORMATIVO DE CANAL 2 DE SAN ANTONIO CON VISITA DE JAIME BAGUENA Y ALFONSO MONTEALEGRE A SANTIAGO DE CHILE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2imf-8Iw1XU (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Una pésima noticia y, desde mi óptica, un enorme error de la dirección de Radio Nederland Wereldomroep (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, June 3, condig list via DXLD) Hasta ahora habiamos oido de todo cuando se cierra un programa, una redacción o una emisora; pero, la justificación del cierre de Radio Enlace supera todo... se aduce una futura modernización de las emisiones... ¡el no va más de la hipocresìa! Un saludo (Pedro Sedano, Madrid, España, COORDINADOR GENERAL, AER, ibid.) [earlier:] Estaba escuchando la edición de Radio Enlace este sábado 0330 UT por 6165 y pude notar que a Alfonso Montealegre se le fueron casi 15 minutos del programa hablando de temas políticos con un dirigente boliviano, desviando bastante la atención de lo que realmente nos interesa: radio, onda corta, transmisión. Para escuchar política, yo pondría otro tipo de programas. 73 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DXLD) Well, I hope you stayed tuned anyway for my DX news (gh, DXLD) ** NIGERIA. Voice of Nigeria heard on 9690 kHz in English from tune-in at 1200 UT. Weak signal at first but has now improved to fair. Still audible in English now at 1315. This is probably ex 7225/15120 as neither heard here for some time. I think it was also on 9690 earlier today as I noted something there at 0950 with hum on audio (Dave Kenny, Caversham UK, AOR 7030+, 80 ft Long wire, June 3, BDXC-UK via DXLD) I think he means ex-7255 (gh, DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. U S A. (Pirate), 6210.3 USB, WBNY, 1535-1545+, June 3, Heard on this unusual frequency with song parodies. ID. Poor in summer static (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. The state is celebrating its centennial; OETA is doing a series of 2-minute features about OK history, apparently 111 of them so far, accessible via http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=centennial%20stories (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Early Friday morning June 1, a storm roared thru Enid. We didn`t find it unusual at WOR HQ, tho when day broke there were numerous small branches from our trees on the ground; antennas none the worse for wear. However, within 1 to 2 miles there was heavier damage, estimated to total one sesquimegabuck. Including, as portrayed on the front page of the Enid Eagle June 2 [not online], the roof and antenna of KLGB-LP 94.3. The short antenna tower was bent in half, and yes, by golly, 94.3 free of KLGB. All they had was one dinky little vertical element, which they could hoist on a broomstick temporarily. Here`s our own shot of it: http://www.w4uvh.net/klgb-lp.jpg Why in the world would God do this to one of His stations? Winds were clocked at 80 mph, and were officially declared to be straight-line, altho some victims insisted it was a tornado, despite no tornado warning being issued (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. The duct seems to have entered OK, since KTUL-8 and KQCW- 19 (last relogged as KWFT-19 in 2005). Positive ID on KTUL at BOH. KQCW runs the "CW 12/19" bug for some strange reason (at least the 12 part, maybe its cable channel number perhaps?). Enjoy it guys, gotta run to work this morning (Fritze, KC5KBV Prentice, Star City, AR Grid Square EM43aw, June 3, WTFDA via DXLD) Aha! Another victim of KQCW. I picked it up late last year when they just labeled themselves CW12. You are right, the 12 refers to their cable channel number in Tulsa. I was baffled by their use of CW12 when they broadcast on ch. 19 OTA. They recently added the CW 12/19 due to confusion with viewers in the area who couldn't figure out why CW-12 was really on channel 19. I can't imagine why. They transmit with 5 megawatts (Myron Jackson, Huggins, MO, ibid.) What nonsense. And does every single cable system carrying KQCW put then on channel 12? IIRC, this is one of those US UHF TV stations which has been captured in Western Australia by EME (gh, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Increased QRM for KGWA 960 Enid: see U S A: KMA ** PERU. 5602.8, RADIO LV DE LOS ANDES. El Higuerón, Perú, 2253-2330 Junio 2. Volviendo al aire luego de varias semanas apagada, con música en el programa: Identidad Campesina. Menciona operación a través de los 93.9 FM. Envianndo saludos a oyentes en Argentina y Colombia; dando el No. Tel. 811279 para reportes de Sintonía..." 6536, Radiodifusora LV DEL RONDERO. Huancabamba, Perú. 2225-2245 Junio 2. Programa: Así canta el Huyalas. "...sigue con Federico Ibáñez Matijorena, el dinámico de la radio; siga, siga en sintonía de Radiodifusora La Voz del Rondero..." música folclórica. "..Imitada pero nunca igualada, difusora La Voz del Rondero, la emsiora que el Perú ya esta escuchando AM, FM y onda corta..." (Rafael Rodríguez, Bogotá - Colombia, WinRadio G303i, Sony ICF 2010, Antenas Hilos Largos de 30 metros, Pre. MFJ-956, condig list via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. 15510, 15 May, 0245-0301, Philippines Broadcasting Service, 55444, English. Nice signal, but I've been disappointed with the program content — all about coming elections, and no traditional music at all (Ivan Andreyev, Serpukhov, Russia, Signal via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. 15450, RVA, 1146-1157, May 28, Vernacular. YL with music and talk; cover of "Living La Vida Loca". ID and IS at sign-off. Poor (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R8, R75, MLB-1, 200' Beveraqes, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) EiBi says BR = Burmese (gh) ** PORTUGAL. RDPI, weak but audible on 21830, June 2 at 1355. Only on weekends is this frequency on this late, per Eibi listings. RDPI, weak but audible on 21655, and slightly stronger than // 21830, June 2 at 1355. Only on weekends is this frequency on this early, per Eibi listings (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 7320, R. Rossii via Magadan, 0926-1004 June 2, OM in Russian playing opera and classical music, 0959 sound of rooster, jazz ("Take Five") and R. Rossii IDs, ToH 5+1 pips, noted strong warble/pulsating noise/audio here. Parallel to: 5920 (fair-good, no warble) via Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka, 5940 (fair-good, no warble) via Magadan and 7200 (poor with warble) via Yakutsk. Thanks to Noel Green (UK) for his kind assistance with this log (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. Heard 15250 May 23; they identified as Broadcasting Service of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at 1213, signed off 1227 as English service of Radio Jeddah, "we have been transmitting on the following frequencies" and then abrupt off (Mike Barraclough, June WDXC Contact via DXLD) ** SERBIA. Re 7-064: Those first comments were Edwin Southwell's (Mike Barraclough, WDXC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SEYCHELLES [and non]. News item for my FEBA matter knowledge: WHRA 17650 noted with a DX hobby program in English at 1230-1300 UT from a Canadian religious broadcaster interview. S=9+10 dB today June 3rd. Interesting FEBA Seychelles history item covered, that FEBA closed down totally some years ago: DUE OF TAX SCALE increase dramatically by the Seychelles government! Two 100 kW SW transmitters units replaced from the island, one of them to a new location on Kenya soil! (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That was Rod Hembree`s Radio Weather --- it`s not a DX hobby program but a proselytizing religious program masquerading as such, pushing creationism and other pseudo-science. Thus I would not rely on the accuracy of any other info on the program (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) About one of the ex-FEBA, Seychelles transmitters; I recall the ex- FEBA Seychelles transmitters were sold to WJIE. There were plans to start with one 100 kW transmitter from Uganda but seems there were difficulties to get a licence. Next they planned to start on shortwave from Kenya, but seems it never materialized. The last I heard about this transmitter was in the beginning of 2004, when it was still stored in some Kenyan port. Just wonder if it's still there or shipped somewhere else (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SIERRA LEONE [non]. 9525, Cotton Tree News (CTN) via Ascension, 0733-0735 May 30, tuned in to hear news item in English about the National Electoral Commission (presidential and parliamentary elections coming up in August), "This is CTN with news and information from Freetown, Sierra Leone", about three minutes of silence, then into STAR Radio programming. Still having technical difficulties. No sign of VOI (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Cotton Tree News: As of May 31 broadcasts not being aired due to technical problems (Mike Barraclough, June WDXC Contact via DXLD) [LIBERIA] 9525, Star Radio, 2 June, 0705 mostly talks in a local language. Some hilife song at 0718+ with short ID by speaker. Poor signal, 24422. At 0732 start of CTN with news after 0733. About 0747 mentioning education, still in a local language. Boy in a vernacular language at 0750 mentioning nalulu. Again education mentioned at 0757. ``You`ve listened to news`` in English at 0759. Signal nearly the same as in Star radio (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9525, Cotton Tree News (CTN) via Ascension, 0731-0800* June 2, back with their full programming; starts with drums, in English (news items about Fourah Bay College and its' "180 year tradition", a United Nations workshop, etc.), difficult to understand accent, IDs "This news comes to you from CTN, Freetown", repeat of news in their local languages, new sign-off announcement, something like: You have been listening to the news from CTN in English, Krio, Limba, Mende and Temne, on 9525 kHz short wave everyday. No QRM from VOI, as they were heard today up on 11785 at 1001 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Radio Exterior de España is reported on 11625 and 9665 kHz between 20 and 21 hours. It has announced that the DX Program called “Radio Waves” is aired on Saturday at 2220 hours on 6125 and 11625 kHz and Tuesday at 0020 hours on 15385 and 6055 kHz (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX June 1 via DXLD) ?? Are they finally going to 15385 for the NAm service at 00-01? And still on 6055 too? Most summers 15385 works for a month before and after solstice, and they had been using it for the entire A-season, seldom propagating in April but this year, as somewhat befits solar min, they stayed on 6055 so far. And that should be UT Wednesday at 0020 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. Dear Friends, Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corp. noted today on 7190 sign on at 0020 (ex 7300) in Hindi parallel to 11905. The normal schedule is 0020-0400 0800-1530 in Indian languages (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, India, June 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. 3.4.07 || BSF time signal station is not operating on 5000 or 10000 kHz any more. Low frequency transmissions are planned (WRTH National update checked June 3 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 7325, R. France Inter., 1021-1030* June 3, in Chinese with pop song, off in mid-song, fair. Looking for Wantok Radio Light after sign-off but no station heard here (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [non]. 0558 UT June 2, 9505 kHz, R. TAIWAN INT. - Okeechobee-FL (USA), Mandarino, tk YL. Segnale insufficiente- sufficiente. Jamming cinese assente o non ricevuto. Chinese jamming absent or not heard (Luca Botto Fiora, Italy, playdx yg via DXLD) That`s to Central America. Fortunately, China is not trying to jam any of the RTI relays via WYFR. Maybe the Chinese transmitters in Cuba could help them out? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. The (Tajik language) website of RFE/RL's Tajik service has been covering the (planned) launch of a (re-)new(ed) Foreign Service of Tajik State Radio - Voice of Tajik (Ovozi Tojik). --- New network of Radio Tajikistan with the name of "Voice of Tajik" had to start on May 7th on the day of Radio with seven languages had to fall back due to officials. Asadullo Rahmonov, chief of the Radio and Television Committee says: "During May this radio with seven language will certainly will start broadcasting. From this day of Radio Tajikistan started to use digital technology". Firuza Saidiov, deputy chief of Radio Tajikistan in interview with Radio Liberty said that with this difficulties such as the quality of sound, signal and broadcasting of programs are barriers. http://ozodi.tj/news/2007/05/07.html#072a8854-9530-4d4a-b300-99227871fe7b --- Ovozi Tojik - Voice of Tajik - a new program from Radio Tajikistan begins its foreign this broadcast in seven neighboring and foreign languages. Abdukodiri Abdukahhor, chief of Radio Tajikistan says: Ovozi Tojik will broadcast 16 hours daily. As Abdukodiri Abdukahhor says till now 90% of Radio Tajikistan was in Tajik language, but due to active international network the number of programs in foreign languages increase and in this way the contribution of these languages increase. In one meeting dedicated to this program Karomatullo Olimov, an adviser of Tajikistan president said this network will cover information and cultural events. And will be high responsibility to journalists because introducing Tajikistan is not an easy job. Radio Tajikistan will try to broadcast Voice of Tajik (Ovozi Tojik) programs via satellite and shortwave. http://ozodi.org/news/2007/06/01.html#764bc65d-fae2-4c89-bf39-95d9ac35264d --- (Translations from Tajik by Ibrahim Rustamov) The HFCC file for the A07 season shows a number of additional SW frequencies for Tajik Radio that were registered in anticipation of this new service: 9865 1325 1500 41 DB 200 135 158 1234567 250307 281007 TDJ 7475 1400 1500 41 DB 100 135 158 1234567 250307 281007 TDJ 7470 1500 1530 42-44 DB 100 60 158 1234567 250307 281007 TDJ 7470 1530 1600 42-44 DB 200 60 158 1234567 250307 281007 TDJ 7430 1500 1600 41 DB 200 135 158 1234567 250307 281007 TDJ 7505 1500 1600 41,49 DB 100 135 157 1234567 250307 281007 TDJ 7465 1600 1700 33,42-44 DB 200 60 158 1234567 250307 281007 TDJ 9975 2315 0030 49 DB 200 125 218 1234567 250307 281007 TDJ 11540 1100 1500 43,44 DB 500 71 218 1234567 250307 281007 TDJ 7540 1500 2200 43,44 DB 250 70 218 1234567 020907 281007 TDJ (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, June 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It seems these are all aimed from the ENE to the SE. Any indication of what the languages are? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) I haven't seen more details so far (Bernd Trutenau, ibid.) According to Regnum.ru, Ovozi Tojik started broadcasting on June 1, 2007. It's on the air daily 7 am to 11 pm (most likely, local time [UT +5 per WRTH, so 0200-1800 UT]). The languages are Arabic, Dari, English, Farsi, Russian, Tajik and Uzbek. Additional languages are planned. [so is that just including the existing but seldom reported English at 0345-0400 and 1645-1700? --- gh] Ovozi Tojik programs are produced jointly by Furugi Oriyeno studio and External Broadcasting Service. Tajik TV and Radio Broadcasting Committee says that it renovated 60 offices and studios to be used for the Service. The Committee spent U$10,145 to purchase furniture and equipment. The country's annual broadcasting budget is about $3.76 mln. Regnum.ru report in Russian: http://www.regnum.ru/news/cultura/837206.html BBC's report in Tajik (presumably with a picture of Ovozi Tojik studio): http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/tajikistan/story/2007/06/070601_d_taj_radio_digital_cyr.shtml The Farsi-language version of the same report: http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/tajikistan/story/2007/06/070601_d_taj_radio_digital.shtml ([Sergei Sosedkin], June 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The big, black console is a design seen in many (although not all) Soviet studio fittings, Radio Volga at Potsdam had it as well. And what is looming in the background looks like a Mechlabor tape recorder from Hungary. So this is apparently not just a "symbol picture" but indeed a Tajik Radio studio (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) In the cyr page above, note how the Cyrillic text, which I guess is Tajik, not Russian, reads from left to right on some lines and right to left on other lines, judging at least from the punxuation; do they just alternate? Not sure of that. Altho each individual word reads from left to right. How confusing? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [and non]. Firedrake Jamming contra Voice of Tibet: hoy 3 de Junio a las 1415 se observa en 17550 y 17565 Firedrake Jamming contra la Voice of Tibet; templando a 17568 se aprecia una emisión en idioma asiático conducido por un locutor y una locutora con comentarios, SINPO 32332 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) But what was the carrier frequency of VOT? That`s what counts (gh, DXLD) ** UKRAINE. 12 May, 1900-2000, 7490, 44444, RUI in English to Europe. Via Kharkiv transmitter, unusually good reception in this season. By the way, on 5-6 May Alexander Yegorov presented his fresh 137th edition of "The Whole World on the Radio Dial" at 1900, but the older one (136th) went on the air to North America at 0300 next UT day (Sergey Nikishin, Moscow, Russia, Signal via DXLD) We have positive reports from Baltic States this season, as well as from Russia and some farther regions. But many listeners in Poland, Germany and other European states write that reception quality is too low. I realize that it's impossible to cover the whole Europe with a single 100 kW tx, but we do our best. Regarding the DX programs inconsistency: we have to fill the air with many archived programs. That's why you heard different editions (Alexander Yegorov, Kyiv, Ukraine, ibid.) ** U K. [SW Station TXer Site Archive] Finally UK GE images updated Hi folks, Thanks to some inspiration from Victor's contribution I have just discovered that the Google Earth maps for England have just been updated - finally! We're able to see the 3 current transmitter sites in refreshingly good hi-resolution. Feeder lines are there & you can even see in some cases the antenna's themselves (rather than the usual masts). Referring back to our Excel files the coordinates for Skelton & Rampisham were spot on & Wooferton was pretty good to. I will be updating the coordinates for Wooferton to reflect the location of the transmitter building rather than the site land. Rampisham 50 48 32N, 02 38 39W Skelton 54 44 04N, 02 53 15W Woofferton 52 18 36N, 02 43 14W (updated) To the EXTINCT SITES. Daventry still seen at: 52 15 15N, 01 08 25W - (updated) Can anybody accurately locate where Crowborough was? If anybody else familiar with UK SW, BCB, pirate or official transmitter site history can locate any of the other historical sites please share with the group or send a private email to me for the information to be updated in our Excel files. Regards (Ian Baxter, Shortwavesites Yahoo Group, June 4, via DXLD) ** U S A. Re 7-065: Footnotes to the R. Sawa article, which were omitted in the version forwarded to us: [1] All the analyses, assessments, evaluations and judgments included in this study of Radio Sawa's programs are based on extensive first- hand, personal listening to the American station's broadcasts. The author's conclusions were reached after continual off-air spot- monitoring of Sawa's Arabic airtime. Random sample listening covered most hours of day and night since the station's establishment: [2] A music stinger in broadcast production is something like a punctuation mark in writing. It's a brief burst or bar of music that separates program items or parts of a program segment (via Glenn Hauser, CONTINENT OF MEDIA 07-01, DXLD) ** U S A. Old Crusade for Freedom PSA by Ronald Reagan: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/tsgtv/ (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Of course, RFE was axually financed by the CIA, so it didn`t need contributions from individual Americans; this campaign was a front, more Reagan acting away from the truth (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. VOA's "Daily Download" begins 4 June. "Join host Doug Bernard for a slightly different take on the day’s news." voanews.com Posted: 01 Jun 2007 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) video, that is: Preview: http://www.voanews.com/english/upload/Promo256K_Stream.wmv Algo nuevo desde VOA. "VOA Noticias is a 22-minute live newscast from Washington Monday through Friday. Its format enables it to be used in its entirety or in segments. On weekends, it provides a news summary of the top stories and highlights of the week." Voice of America, 1 June 2007. Posted: 01 Jun 2007 [also TV] http://www.voanews.com/english/About/2007-06-01-voa-noticias.cfm Fills the hours where VOA worldwide English will no longer be? "The Voice of America (VOA) has launched African Music Mix, a continuous stream of African music favorites, available to African listeners, every day of the week. ... 'VOA is the only radio station that offers such a rich blend of African music from around the continent... You can't get this anywhere else.'" Schedule: Daily 0000-0300 and Monday- Friday 1100-1400 UTC. VOA press release, 1 June 2007. http://www.voanews.com/english/About/2007-06-01-voa46.cfm (Posted: 01 Jun 2007, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. The other day I made mention of Google Maps` new Street View feature. I think it is possible to just barely see from a distance of a couple of km one of the masts at the WRMI shortwave site at the nearest Street View intersection of NW 87th Ave & Gratigny Parkway looking to the west. Site coordinates are: 25 54 00N, 80 21 49W (Ian Baxter, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** U S A. I'd like to invite all the Blues enthusiasts in this group to tune in to "The Checkerboard Lounge." A new show on Sundays at 2200 UT on 7415. We are issuing QSLs and have a limited edition card for the first 100 reception reports. All the info can be found at http://www.wbcq.com/checkerboard (NE Alien Hunter, June 2, shortwaves yg via DXLD) Missed it, this week! (gh) ** U S A. I got a call from Ernie Wesolowski on Friday night. On 5/31 KMA 960 Shenandoah IA took down the 48-year-old 480-foot middle tower in its three-tower array, which had been deteriorating and in need of replacement. Until the new tower is built, KMA will use one of its two remaining towers for (non-directional) night operation, power unspecified (station is licensed U2 5000 5000). The station's website http://kma960.com has a short story on the demolition, along with a video clip of the tower falling. Also, the website of KETV 7 Omaha http://www.ketv.com has a video clip. 73 (Bill Dvorak, Madison WI, Column Editor, NRC DXN DDXD-West, June 2, IRCA via DXLD) Bad news for KGWA here in Enid; KMA normally has a null toward them. I`m so close to KGWA that I doubt I can notice KMA`s increased QRM, but it should be a problem once you get away from Enid, e.g. its secondary coverage area of OKC, let alone the nulls (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. THE PRICE OF FREE AIRWAVES By MICHAEL J. COPPS, Washington, June 2, 2007 Op-Ed Contributor http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/02/opinion/02copps.html?pagewanted=print AS a member of the Federal Communications Commission, I often hear how fed up Americans are with the news media. Too much if it bleeds it leads on the evening news and not enough real coverage of local issues. Too little high-quality entertainment and too many people eating bugs. It doesn`t have to be this way. America lets radio and TV broadcasters use public airwaves worth more than half a trillion dollars for free. In return, we require that broadcasters serve the public interest: devoting at least some airtime for worthy programs that inform voters, support local arts and culture and educate our children in other words, that aspire to something beyond just minimizing costs and maximizing revenue. Using the public airwaves is a privilege a lucrative one not a right, and I fear the F.C.C. has not done enough to stand up for the public interest. Our policies should reward broadcasters that honor their pledge to serve that interest and penalize those that don`t. The F.C.C. already has powerful leverage to hold broadcasters to their end of the bargain. Every eight years, broadcasters must prove that they have served the public interest in order to get license renewal. If they can`t, the license goes to someone else who will. Its a tough but fair system if the commission does its job. The problem is that, under pressure from media conglomerates, previous commissions have eviscerated the renewal process. Now we have what big broadcasters lovingly call postcard renewal the agency typically rubber-stamps an application without any substantive review. Denials on public interest grounds are extraordinarily rare. Just recently, the F.C.C. made news because it fined Univisión, the Spanish-language broadcaster, a record-breaking $24 million. Univisión claimed that its stations offered three hours of childrens educational programming per week one of the few public interest rules still on the books in part by showing a soap opera involving 11-year- old twins. That was the right decision. But, viewed closely, it also illustrates just how slipshod our renewal process has become. The fine was not levied at the ordinary time. In fact, the license term for one of the two stations initially at issue had expired 18 months earlier. This is typical applications opposed by watchdog groups often languish for years while the broadcaster is permitted to continue business as usual. Then infractions are commonly disposed of with a small fine. The commission paid attention to the Univisión complaint because the station was part of a chain of 114 TV and radio stations being transferred from a public corporation to private equity firms. Without that, it is unclear when, if ever, the violations would have been acted upon. This even though scholars believe that one-fifth of what is billed as children`s programming has little or no educational value and only one-third can be called highly educational. Our children deserve better. It wasn`t always like this. Before the deregulatory mania in the 1980s when an F.C.C. chairman described television as a toaster with pictures the commission gave license renewals a hard look every three years, with specific criteria for making a public interest finding. Indeed, broadcasters respect for the renewal process encouraged them to pay for hard-hitting news operations. That was then. Nowadays, a lot of people claim that because of the Internet, traditional broadcast outlets are an endangered species and there`s no point in worrying about them. That`s a mistake. First, broadcast licenses continue to be very valuable. Univisións assets many in small markets were sold for more than $12 billion. A single station in Sacramento, owned by Sinclair Broadcasting, went for $285 million in 2004. A station in a megamarket like New York or Los Ángeles could easily fetch half a billion dollars or more. Second, broadcast outlets are still primary, critical sources of information for the American public. Nearly 60 percent of adults watch local TV news each day it remains the nations most popular information source. And so its imperative that broadcasters continue to provide high-quality coverage of local and national issues. But ensuring they do so means putting teeth back into the renewal process. To begin with, shorten the license term. Eight years is too long to go without an accounting we ought to return to the three-year model. Lets also actually review a stations record before renewing its license. Here are just some of the criteria for renewal the F.C.C. considered in the 1990s but never put into place: Did the station show programs on local civic affairs (apart from the nightly news), or set aside airtime for local community groups? Did it broadcast political conventions, and local as well as national candidate debates? Did it devote at least five minutes each night to covering politics in the month before an election? In an era when owners may live thousands of miles from their stations, have they met with local community leaders and the public to receive feedback? Is the stations so-called childrens programming actually, in the view of experts, educational? All of this information ought to be available on the Web so people can see how their airwaves are being used. These issues are even more pressing today: broadcasters are making the transition to digital technology that permits them to send several television and radio channels into our homes instead of the single channel they`ve had up to now. The F.C.C.`s next step after reforming the licensing process should be to address how this new digital capacity can increase local programs and also improve the generally shoddy coverage of minority and other underserved communities. New benefits for broadcasters should translate into public benefits, too. If you need convincing that something needs to be done, consider that only about 8 percent of local TV newscasts in the month before the last presidential election contained any coverage whatsoever of local races, including those for the House of Representatives. This low number is just one example of how poorly stations are serving their viewers. Do stations that make so much money using the public airwaves, but so plainly fail to educate viewers on the issues facing them, really deserve to have their renewals rubber-stamped? Michael J. Copps is a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission. Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. IT’S PUBLIC RADIO, BUT WITH NEARLY EVERYTHING DIFFERENT, INCLUDING THE NAME --- Originally published in Current, March 14, 2007 Commentary by Torey Malatia On June 4, Chicago Public Radio, news and information WBEZ-FM 91.5, will launch a new radio station by splitting off one of its repeaters, WBEW-FM 89.5 in Chesterton, Ind., just southeast of Chicago by Lake Michigan. This new radio station will refashion WBEZ’s public radio mission to a target audience formerly unreachable by WBEZ. This new station will be built on community radio sensibilities but without the characteristic schedule of special-interest shows. In fact, it will have no shows at all. It will air a continuous, seamless talk-based stream completely devoted to Northwest Indiana and Chicago metropolitan area culture, issues and selected music. It is not a news station. There are no newscasts. After hearing what many potential listeners say, we decided to not to merely adapt our usual notions of public broadcasting or to dress the service in its brands — including “Chicago Public Radio.” The new station will not cross-promote WBEZ, and WBEZ will not cross-promote it. We will never refer to it as public radio or give it the typical trappings, such as pledge drives. There will be a website, but it would be wrong to say that it’s the station’s website. Really, it’s the website’s radio station. The name, :Vocalo, is an invention, essentially “Vocal” with an “o” at the end. It rhymes with “Zocalo,” a Spanish word that in Mexico refers to a town plaza and in Colombia refers to the infrastructure that stabilizes a large building. The colon before the “V” is intentional — a trademarked emoticon. We created :Vocalo (and significantly changed our centerpiece service, WBEZ) because we recognized that we had based our work at Chicago Public Radio on certain core assumptions that might no longer be valid. . . [MORE] http://www.current.org/radio/radio0708malatia.shtml (Current via DXLD) Also linx to an extended pdf version of article ** U S A. Alison Stewart, the sassy substitute host for Keith Olbermann on MSNBC`s Countdown, is involved in a new NPR project which I was unaware of until she plugged the website, The Bryant Park Project, http://www.npr.org/blogs/bryantpark/index.html Looks interesting, untraditional and unstruxured, apparently not on the air yet but with some podcasts (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. PROTESTS IN VENEZUELA REINVIGORATE OPPOSITION Rallies by Free Press Advocates Deride Chávez Over TV License By Juan Forero, Washington Post Foreign Service Saturday, June 2, 2007; A08 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/01/AR2007060102630_pf.html BOGOTÁ, Colombia, June 1 -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's decision to pull the plug on an anti-government television station has prompted days of protests and generated international condemnation, giving a weak and demoralized opposition a rallying cry after years of setbacks. University students carrying flags and chanting, "We are students, not coup plotters," faced off Friday with riot police at Caracas's Andrés Bello Catholic University. Nearly 200 protesters have been arrested since Sunday, when Radio Caracas Television, or RCTV, aired its last broadcast after 54 years. Authorities here say that RCTV supported a coup that dislodged Chávez for two days in 2002 and consistently violated a range of telecommunications regulations, leading the government not to renew its broadcast license when it expired. But press freedom groups note that the station has not been officially sanctioned, nor have its owners or managers been charged with conspiracy against the state. Other private stations that were harshly anti-Chávez but have toned down critical coverage avoided the same fate, as communications Minister William Lara readily acknowledged in an interview broadcast Friday on CNN's Spanish-language service. Polls show that 65 to 80 percent of Venezuelan respondents disagreed with the government's decision to end RCTV's concession, though many were simply upset that they wouldn't be able to see some of their favorite soap operas. The widespread dissatisfaction has reënergized an opposition movement that lost much of its momentum after its efforts to recall Chávez were defeated in 2004 and after its decision to boycott parliamentary elections in 2005 left it without representation in the National Assembly. "This has been politically disastrous for Chávez, domestically and internationally," Teodoro Petkoff, a newspaper editor in Caracas who believes Chavez's government is becoming increasingly autocratic, said by telephone from Caracas. "He's found nothing but condemnation all over the world." Manuel Rosales, a governor and opposition leader who lost to Chávez in December's presidential election, has called on Venezuelans to hit the streets and protest what he has called a dictatorial move. "We'll give the last breath of our lives to be sure Venezuela doesn't lose its freedoms," he told reporters this week. While condemnation from the Bush administration, an ideological foe of Venezuela, was expected, criticism has come from many quarters around the world, some of them surprising. Spain's Socialist government, in a joint declaration with the United States, called Friday for Chávez to renew RCTV's license. The European Parliament voiced concern, and Brazil's Senate passed a resolution calling on Chávez to reconsider, drawing a sharp rebuke from the Venezuelan leader. "A head of state who doesn't know how to live with democratic manifestation, such as that of the Brazilian Senate, is probably against democracy," the president of that body, Renan Calheiros, said in response. Reporters Without Borders, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, the Chilean Senate and the Atlanta-based Carter Center have said freedom of expression could be in peril in Venezuela. "I think this weakens the Chávez government's argument that it furthers free expression," said Carlos Lauria, who has studied the case for the Committee to Protect Journalists. "It debilitates that argument." The criticism has prompted a full-scale diplomatic offensive by the Venezuelan government. In the United States, Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Álvarez told CNN that the RCTV workers would be able to find other jobs. Other government representatives stressed repeatedly that the non-renewal was little more than a bureaucratic measure. In an interview with Colombia's Caracol Radio on Thursday, Roy Chaderton, a former Venezuelan foreign minister who serves as a special envoy, argued that RCTV remained a danger to Chávez's government. Noting that the station recently aired "Feast of the Goat," a film based on the novel by Mario Vargas Llosa about a tyrannical dictator and the uprising against him, Chaderton said the intention was to "cultivate" the idea of assassinating Chávez as a solution to Venezuela's problems. Chávez, speaking Thursday, warned that "international rightist, extreme-rightist and fascist movements are attacking Venezuela from everywhere -- from Europe, the United States, Brasilia." That theme -- that Chávez is in mortal danger -- is constant in Venezuela, and political analysts say it is used to manipulate public opinion. Michael Shifter, a senior analyst for the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington policy group that closely follows Venezuela, said he didn't think it would get much traction this time. "All of his previous attacks were on the corrupt capitalists, but this goes way beyond that and it touches on Venezuela's cultural identity," Shifter said of Chávez. "It's very hard for him to talk of the rancid oligarchy here. These are university students protesting, not part of the old order." Still, Venezuela's government seems intent on taking harsh action against its critics. The government has announced that it has begun a legal fight against Globovisión, a 24-hour news cable station that is the lone dissenting TV outlet in the country now that RCTV is only on the Internet. Globovisión is providing highly critical coverage in the wake of the RCTV closing. Lara, the communications minister, said the government would investigate after the station broadcast images of the 1981 assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II. Officials said that was designed to spur a plot against the Venezuelan leader. Chávez later publicly warned the station, saying, "I recommend that you take a tranquilizer, that you take it easy, because if not, I'm going to make you take it easy." José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director of the New York-based group Human Rights Watch, said Venezuelan government officials "just don't get it." "They think that they're entitled to keep politicizing this issue," he said. "I don't think they understand the concept of a free media and the respect it requires in an open society." Reader comments: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/01/AR2007060102630_Comments.html (c) 2007 The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) TERRORISMO LABORAL EN RCTV LUEGO DEL FIN DE LA CONCESIÓN... Una prueba más del fascismo de Marcel Granier y su combo. Vaya hipócrita es tomar como bandera la "libertad de expresión" y no permitirla dentro de la propia casa. ¿Verdad colegas? 73s y buen DX P.D. Esta noticia jamás la reseñaría Globovisión, por ejemplo. ¿Cuál libertad de expresión? ¿La de los dueños y señores de la comunicación? Give me a break! (Adán González, Catia La Mar, Estado Vargas, VENEZUELA, June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: DIRIGENTE DE UNIÓN NACIONAL TRABAJADORES DENUNCIA TERRORISMO LABORAL EN RCTV --- Por: Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN) Caracas, 01 Jun. ABN.- La directiva de Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) aplica terrorismo sindical contra el Sindicato Profesional de Trabajadores de Radio, Cine, Televisión, Prensa y Afines (Sintratv), que funciona en esa empresa, denunció Tony Navas, dirigente de la Unión Nacional de Trabajadores (UNT). Señaló que ante ello solicitaron al Ministerio del Poder Popular para el Trabajo y Seguridad Social (Mintrass) que envíe un inspector, a fin de evaluar las condiciones laborales de la empresa. Navas explicó que desde la culminación de las transmisiones en señal abierta de RCTV, los integrantes de este sindicato han sido «caceroleados» de manera constante y han sido descalificados por la nómina de artistas. Al respecto, expresó que hay 'una suerte de cacerolazo, al punto de que los compañeros no pueden asistir a sus puestos de trabajo. Lo que están persiguiendo es que estos compañeros renuncien'. 'Se viene orquestando una campaña de hostigamiento interno a la que se prestan algunos artistas, que no son trabajadores sino gente que gana contratos fabulosos', dijo Navas. Alertó que tras el cese de la concesión, la directiva 'va a intentar despedir a los trabajadores afiliados a Sintratv'. Consideró que la idea de comunicar el cese de la concesión como 'cierre' busca afectar la sensibilidad de la población. Navas negó que en RCTV exista un cierre, ya que esta empresa sigue funcionando. 'Es mentira que sus operaciones y producción de novelas han venido mermando, ellos están saliendo por la cadena de televisión colombiana Caracol'. (via Adán González, Venezuela, DXLD) A continuación te envío unas declaraciones de Mario Seijas, presidente de Cavetesu (Cámara Venezolana de la Televisión por Suscripción). (AG) AFIRMA PRESIDENTE DE CAVETESU: "EL GOBIERNO NUNCA SE HA OPUESTO A QUE RCTV EMITA SU SEÑAL A TRAVÉS DEL CABLE" La jugada evidente de Marcel Granier es retardar la salida al aire de RCTV, a través del cable y DIRECTV, para seguir manipulando con la mentira del supuesto "cierre", que en realidad es el FIN DE UNA CONCESIÓN. Aún a estas alturas del partido, RCTV no ha hecho una petición formal a Cavetesu (Cámara Venezolana de la Televisión por Suscripción) para entrar en la parrilla de programación de las 64 cableoperadoras existentes en Venezuela. ¿Por qué? Sin duda el asunto RCTV no tiene nada que ver con la LIBERTAD DE EXPRESIÓN. El fin de la concesión del canal de Quinta Crespo - más bien - se ha perfilado como una herramienta "politiquera" de la oposición para intentar desestabilizar el país. En una entrevista ofrecida al diario EL NACIONAL, el pasado 27 de mayo de 2007, en la página 2 del cuerpo "Siete Días", Mario Seijas (presidente de Cavetesu) explica que no sería nada del otro mundo lograr que RCTV pudiese verse por medio del cable: "(...)RCTV tendría que definir cómo llegará su señal a las cabeceras de cada operador (centro de recepción donde se transforma la señal recibida a señal de radiofrecuencia, que es la que se transmite a través del cable o fibra óptica [headend]). La forma más práctica sería subir la señal a un satélite, luego bajarla por una antena y transformar la señal a radiofrecuencia. Eso se puede hacer en TRES O CUATRO DÍAS (...) El gobierno NUNCA SE HA OPUESTO A QUE RCTV EMITA SU SEÑAL A TRAVÉS DEL CABLE", afirma Seijas. "El canal no tiene que solicitar permiso de Conatel (Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones) por una razón muy sencilla: el Estado administra ondas hertzianas, pero nosotros transmitimos por cable y esa es una inversión privada". Más claro no canta un gallo. A medida que pasan los días, la barata comedia telenovelesca del "cierre" se cae a pedazos. Las horas transcurren y en RCTV hay que pagar sueldos y gastos operativos, es decir, tarde o temprano quedarán en ridículo los grupitos de disociados que han tomado como bandera a RCTV, para rasgarse las vestiduras en nombre de la libertad de expresión. Degradado a ser un canal más en el universo de la televisión por cable, RCTV continuará sus emisiones. En definitiva, es el precio que deben pagar sus directivos por haber quebrantado sistemáticamente la ley. --- 73s y buen DX (via Adán González, Catia La Mar, Estado Vargas, VENEZUELA, DXLD) VENEZUELA'S COUNTER-REVOLUTION WON'T BE TELEVISED... BUT IT WILL BE ON YOUTUBE http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070601-the-counter-revolution-wont-be-televised-but-it-will-be-on-youtube.html By Nate Anderson http://arstechnica.com/authors.ars/Nate+Anderson Published: June 01, 2007 - 10:55AM CT When YouTube CEO Chad Hurley told a Congressional committee http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070510-youtube-to-congress-we-advance-democracy.html that his company "advances democracy," perhaps this was the sort of thing he had in mind. An opposition Venezuelan television station whose broadcast license has not been renewed by the government is now turning to YouTube to get its message out after its transmitter was taken over by a state- run channel. Hugo Chávez's "Bolivarian Revolution" has no time for media groups that criticize his government; Radio Caracas Televisión http://www.rctv.net/ (RCTV) is now off the air, and another channel, Globovisión, could be next, according to CNN http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/05/31/venezuela.media/index.html RCTV journalists and producers have not been arrested or stopped from working, but their main link to the public has been removed. Rather than giving up, the station has turned to YouTube, where it now has its own channel http://youtube.com/profile?user=elobservadorenlinea for the show /El Observador./ A Colombian channel is also broadcasting RCTV content into Venezuela. /El Observador/ clips have been seen 175,000 times since May 28, and the channel is currently the most-subscribed channel of the week. While putting the station's shows on YouTube is an excellent idea, YouTube still lacks anything near the reach of over-the-air broadcasts. But the use of the site to avoid censorship is growing, and it's not hard to imagine a day in the near future when the site (or sites like it) becomes as essential as local TV stations. As that happens, YouTube will come into even more conflicts with governments that have an interest in controlling what their citizens see, It's already happening—Thailand's king, for instance, has a thing for iPods http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2006/09/25/5409 but isn't too keen on YouTube http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6528303.stm Will Hugo Chavez show more tolerance? /Update:/ Some readers are concerned that Chávez is getting a bad rap here; RCTV has been accused of supported the earlier coup http://origin.sltrib.com/opinion/ci_6023496 against him and of calling for the overthrow of the current government. It's a complicated situation, but the fact remains that RCTV was a main opposition outlet and that its replacement is a state-run channel. Given Chávez's long history of attacks on the press http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5755-2005Mar27.html and his current ability to rule by decree http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6277379.stm he doesn't look like a man interested in a robust and critical press, though he has not instituted mass arrests or official censorship of journalists. Chávez's concern for government stability and threats against the state are a recent development, too; Chávez participated in a coup attempt of his own http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3517106.stm back in 1992 (via Zacharias Liangas, DXLD) EL NUEVO CANAL CHAVEZVISIÓN --- Vean una excelente paradia del nuevo canal Teves, hecho por los mexicanos. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge2OYyRzzi4&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Enoticierodigital%2Ecom%2Fforum%2Fviewtopic%2Ephp%3Ft%3D199588 Saludos, (Jorge García Rangel, Venezuela, June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. FM FREQUENCY IN SANA’A ‘HIJACKED’ BY CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY BROADCAST A shortwave [sic] radio station has been broadcasting illegally in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, by hijacking the 88.3 FM frequency. The broadcast delivers a Christian missionary message in Arabic without having any licence or permission from the responsible authorities such as the Ministry of Information, says Abdullah al-Dailami the head of Sana’a Radio. The illegal broadcast has been playing for about two weeks, not continuously, and mostly appears in the evenings. The technical and engineering section at Sana’a Radio has identified the location of the source of this broadcast. . . Read more details in the Yemen Observer http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10012313.html (June 3rd, 2007 - 10:30 UT by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) Viz.: It is coming from a house in one of the capital’s residential zones, though he declined to be more specific. “They use a small FM instrument that only broadcasts over a short distance and it cannot exceed the capital’s borders,” he said. “After we identified the area and the house as the source of this broadcast, we informed the concerned bodies, such as the Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs, to take the appropriate measures,” he said. The Ministry of Information followed the correct procedures by identify the source and location of the FM radio broadcast and then reporting its findings to the security and the responsible authorities, said Hassan al-Lawzi, the Minister of Information. The duty of Sana’a Radio and the Ministry of Information is just to identify the source of the broadcast, and report it to the responsible authorities, al-Dailami said. “This broadcast should be stopped because it has been broadcasting its program illegally and randomly for the past two weeks,” said Mohammed al-Saman, the head of the engineering and technical unit at Sana’a Radio. “Any illegal or non- compliant radio broadcast should be stopped because it violated the law. Such activity is considered to be a kind of theft.” The broadcast’s radio wave is very weak and is restricted to only one district in the city. “Because it is a wireless broadcast we are technically unable to stop it. Our mission is only to identify its source and the security authorities will complete the necessary procedures,” he said. Colonel Ahmed al-Sinaydar, the Head of the Office of the Minister of Interior said that the ministry had received a report from the Ministry of Information saying that there was an illegal short-wave radio broadcast based in the capital, Sana’a. “This report was just news-y, about the existence of this broadcast.” The ministry had not received any order to stop this broadcast or to arrest the people responsible for it, he said. That order would come from the relevant authorities such as the police or the public prosecution among others. “Then the report was transferred to the Mayor of Sana’a and the Ministry of Information to inform them of the details of this case. And if this case needs a security involvement, we will respond immediately,” he said. The Secretary General of the Sana’a local council, Ameen Juma’an, said that the matter was out of the local council’s jurisdiction. “We are only an authority that performs its duties that are related to the local council. The local council is not a disciplinary body that would execute such orders and activities,” he said. “We do not have any idea about this issue; those responsible for it are the Ministries of Interior and Information,” he said. The Ministry of Information is the main body responsible for this case, and the Ministry of Interior is simply the disciplinary authority, said al-Sinaydar (via DXLD) Wow, pass the pass the buck (gh, DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. 4828, ZBC, 0212-0235, May 28, Vernacular. Continuous Afro music thru tune-out. Poor under relentless CODAR (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH-USA, R8, R75, MLB-1, 200' Beveraqes, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 3875, 0412. "Rezos y más rezos, Gloria a dios, gloria a dios", desconocida, muy mal audio, encuentro en un recinto cerrado audio muy distorsionado, jamás se identificaron, posible emisora peruana, por la banda. Imposible seguir escuchando, demasiada tortura para mis oidos. SINPO: 34443 (P. Benavides, Concepción, Chile, COMISIÓN DE RADIOESCUCHAS, FEDERACHI, BOLETÍN ESCUCHAS DEL MUNDO, MAYO 2007, May 1, via DXLD) The dates of all the logs in this bulletin have been deleted, making them much less useful. Despite what the text says, this item was filed under CHILE (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 6223, 7-064: Not present at my local evening... will try tomorrow and next following days. No está presente en la nochecita local. Trataré nuevamente los dias subsiguientes (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Jun 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Glenn, Very glad to "hear" you back. Shortwave and the listening audience are so much better off with you than without. Once again, best wishes for the future (Paul Crowley, KC8NWF, May 12) MUSEA +++++ KHQ SPOKANE, AND THE DAVENPORT HOTEL Glenn: I would like to personally invite you to look at and comment about a web page that I just finished. It is at http://spokane.philcobill.com/khq/davenport.php Although it is not directly related to DXing it is related to radio broadcasting. I had fun putting this together and will do the same for other Spokane radio stations in the future. If digital radio becomes the norm, maybe us radio buffs can turn to compiling information and documenting the early history of radio broadcasting (Bill Harms, MD, June 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ HOW RADIO CHANGED EVERYTHING --- THREE REVOLUTIONS HAVE COME VIA THE AIRWAVES. by Guy Gugliotta November 2, 1920: KDKA, the first commercial radio station in the United States, goes on the air in Pittsburgh. July 1, 1941: WBNT, the first commercial TV station, starts broadcasting. April 3, 1973: Martin Cooper of Motorola makes the world’s first cell phone call. Radio has transformed society three times, not to mention giving birth to the entire field of electronics. Perhaps no invention of modern times has delivered so much while initially promising so little. . . http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jun/tireless-wireless (via Bert New & Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) Includes link to color-coded spectrum allocation chart: http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jun/tireless-wireless/allochrt_lg.jpg DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see ITALY ++++++++++++++++++++ PILE UP RECORDINGS OF MW DX BEFORE 24H IBOC HITS Another SDR radio that might be considered is the SDR-IQ from RF Space; I just got one this week and I have been having a lot of fun with it. I've used radios for many years, but this SDR really turns the way you think about radio on it's head. Seeing a visual representation of the spectrum really opens up my understanding of what's going on in the band; the SDR-IQ displays - and records - up to 190 kHz of the band at once. The interface software is more "instrument grade" than the tradition radio representation of systems like the WinRadio, but once I got the hang of it, it was pretty easy to use. The price ($400) is easier on the wallet than many of the other SDR's now available. Universal Radio should have some more systems in stock later this month. I plan to suck up lots of wide-band recordings of the MW band over the next few weeks (filling up a few hard drives, no doubt) so I have something to listen to if the band gets too noisy post-IBOC, (Brett Saylor, Central PA, June 2, IRCA via DXLD) KMOX trashing the BCB --- KMOX RUNNING IBOC AT NIGHT KMOX is trashing the BC band with IBOC from 1100 to 1140. Is this really necessary??? This is the first time I have heard a night time IBOC signal, and they can turn it off at anytime. I can not hear WTAM- 1100 or WBT-1110 or KWKH-1130 or WRVA-1140. But what do you expect from the socialist FCC? (Willis Monk, K4APE, Old Fort TN, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ?? Don`t you mean fascist FCC? Time? Posted at 0455 UT June 3 (gh, DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ARRL TO FCC: SHUT DOWN 'GROSSLY NON-COMPLIANT' AMBIENT BPL PILOT PROJECT The ARRL has again demanded that the FCC shut down Ambient Corporation's broadband over power line (BPL) pilot project in Briarcliff Manor, New York. On May 21 the FCC called on the BPL equipment maker and system operator to demonstrate it's complying with all terms of the Part 5 Experimental license authorizing the system, or face possible enforcement action. In a May 31 letter to FCC Spectrum Enforcement Division Chief Kathryn S. Berthot, ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, contended that it's "long past time that the Commission enforce its own rules," and again objected to the Commission's "inexplicable inaction" in the face of evidence the system is noncompliant. Imlay pointed out that the FCC's May 21 letter made no mention of Condition #1 of Ambient's Part 5 Experimental license. "That condition requires that if any interference occurs, the holder of the authorization will be subject to immediate shutdown," Imlay wrote. "Interference has repeatedly occurred, and it has been witnessed and verified by a member of the Commission's Enforcement Bureau staff. Yet no action has been taken whatsoever to terminate this experimental authorization over a period of more than two and one-half years. This is inexcusable." Ambient operates the Briarcliff Manor BPL pilot program under Experimental license WD2XEQ. ARRL testing as recent as late May indicated the system is operating outside of the parameters of its FCC authorization. The League called the FCC's most recent push to get the company to comply with the terms of its Experimental license "too little, too late and an abdication of the Commission's responsibility to protect its licensees from interference from unlicensed RF devices." "The Commission's obsessive compulsion to avoid any bad news about BPL has clearly driven its multi-year inaction," the League continued. "Had this been any other experimental authorization dealing with any technology other than BPL, the experimental authorization would have been terminated long ago." The League's complaints regarding interference to Amateur Radio communication from the Briarcliff Manor system date back to October 2003 and included supportive technical reports and test results. As it stands, the League maintained, the FCC should have shut down Ambient's BPL system a long time ago. The ARRL further objected to Ambient's "repeated misrepresentations in its six-month reports claiming that its Briarcliff Manor BPL system meets FCC emission limits." New measurements done May 24 by ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, conclusively establish that the Ambient BPL system, in Hare's words, "continues to operate well above the Part 15 emission limits that are stipulated as a condition of its Experimental license." Hare said his latest excursion marked the third time his emissions testing in Briarcliff Manor showed the system to be operating significantly above Part 15 emissions limits. "The spectral masks in this system intended to protect some radio services from interference work poorly enough in this generation-1 equipment, but when the system is operated at excessive levels, strong interference is an inevitable outcome," he commented. "By operating this system above the Part 15 emissions limits, Ambient is making it impossible for any electric utility to use results from this experiment to reach any conclusions about the technical and commercial viability of BPL." The ARRL further argued that the Ambient BPL system should not be permitted to continue operating under the radar with an Experimental license instead of under the FCC's Part 15 BPL rules, adopted in 2004. The Briarcliff Manor system does not even appear in the FCC's BPL database, the League noted. "Causing Ambient to operate in accordance with the BPL rules rather than allowing it to hide behind its experimental authorization would at least be consistent with the Commission's regulatory plan for BPL, however inadequate that plan is in terms of interference avoidance," Imlay's letter concluded. (via Southgate http://www.southgatearc.org/news/june2007/shutdown_ambient_project.htm via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ LEAP SECOND AT JUNEND? JUNE: SPECIAL DAYS: 30 - Leap Second Adjustment Time (via http://espanol.ucanr.org/Calendario/June_2007.htm via June Radio HF Internet Newsletter via DXLD) INTERNATIONAL EARTH ROTATION AND REFERENCE SYSTEMS SERVICE (IERS) SERVICE INTERNATIONAL DE LA ROTATION TERRESTRE ET DES SYSTEMES DE REFERENCE SERVICE DE LA ROTATION TERRESTRE OBSERVATOIRE DE PARIS 61, Av. de l'Observatoire 75014 PARIS (France) Tel. : 33 (0) 1 40 51 22 26 FAX : 33 (0) 1 40 51 22 91 Internet : services.iers @ obspm.fr Paris, 1 February 2007, Bulletin C 33 To authorities responsible for the measurement and distribution of time INFORMATION ON UTC - TAI NO positive leap second will be introduced at the end of June 2007. The difference between Coordinated Universal Time UTC and the International Atomic Time TAI is : from 2006 January 1, 0h UTC, until further notice : UTC-TAI = -33 s Leap seconds can be introduced in UTC at the end of the months of December or June, depending on the evolution of UT1-TAI. Bulletin C is mailed every six months, either to announce a time step in UTC, or to confirm that there will be no time step at the next possible date. Daniel GAMBIS Director Earth Orientation Center of IERS Observatoire de Paris, France (http://hpiers.obspm.fr/iers/bul/bulc/bulletinc.dat via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ From: Space Weather News for June 2, 2007 http://spaceweather.com A big sunspot is emerging over the sun's eastern limb, posing a threat for significant solar activity. Already it has unleashed several M- class solar flares. One of the eruptions, an M3-flare on June 1st, caused a shortwave radio fadeout over Europe. Amateur astronomers with solar telescopes should keep an eye on this photogenic sunspot, while shortwave radio listeners should be alert for flare-triggered fadeouts and other propagation effects. Visit http://spaceweather.com for photos and more information (via Mike Hardester, DXLD) :Product: Geophysical Alert Message wwv.txt :Issued: 2007 Jun 03 0300 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # # Geophysical Alert Message # Solar-terrestrial indices for 02 June follow. Solar flux 83 and mid- latitude A-index 6. The mid-latitude K-index at 0300 UTC on 03 June was 2 (10 nT). Space weather for the past 24 hours has been moderate. Radio blackouts reaching the R2 level occurred. Space weather for the next 24 hours is expected to be minor. Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level are expected (SEC via DXLD) ###