DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-081, July 12, 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 1366: ** tentative Fri 0630 WRMI 9955** Fri 1030 KAIJ 5755 Fri 1100 WRMI 9955** Fri 2030 WWCR1 15825 Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 [irregular] Sat 2130 WRMI 9955 Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1500 WRMI 7385 Mon 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB [reconfirmed June 25] 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 ** AFGHANISTAN. RADIO SOLH --- Hola: El 7 de julio a las 1340 sintonicé RADIO SOLH por los 17700 kHz con muy buena señal en Barcelona capital. Pero no tengo información sobre su dirección, así que hoy entré en google y encontré este material que reboto por si es de interés para alguno. Si alguien dispone de dirección de contacto le agradeceré me la haga llegar para tratar de ponerme en contacto con ellos. 73.s JUAN [viz.:] GOOD MORNING JABAL SARAJ What difference could a radio station make in Afghanistan? A Vancouver non-profit helped find out. By Christopher Grabowski. Published: May 13, 2004 TheTyee.ca Words and pictures by Christopher Grabowski The Solh radio station is a pale yellow cube, two stories high. It is the last human-made structure on the northern edge of the Shomali Plains, about 80 km north of Kabul. Beyond it, the massive mountains of the Hindu Kush rise steeply and quickly reach 12,000 feet. The cook and the engineer sleep downstairs in the meeting room. They get up early; eat flat bread and one hardboiled egg each for breakfast end clear the room before the rest of the radio crew arrive from town. The station's director, Zakiya Zaki, comes around 9 a.m., takes off her blue burka and turns on the red radio powered by a car battery. She listens to several news broadcasts in Dari and makes notes. These notes, and the notes made by her deputy Ibrahim Kawish who listens to BBC and Voice of America at midnight, are the basis of the station's morning broadcast. It is how the town of Jabal Saraj and surrounding villages learn about national Afghani affairs and the world beyond. In the rural communities of the Parvan province, illiteracy reaches 70 percent. There are no newspapers, no television and no telephones. Radio Solh came into existence in October 2001 as the result of an agreement between the French organization, Droit de Parole (Right to Speak), and Ahmed Shah Massoud, a charismatic warlord of the Panjsheer Valley. It was the first independent radio station in the country, and still one of only a few in Afghanistan. Today, besides Zakiya, there are three other women among Radio Solh's staff: announcer Doshiza, who is also a nurse in the town's clinic, reporter Salma, and Muzda who prepares and reads daily English lessons on air. In January 2002, two Canadians from the Vancouver-based nonprofit Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society, Jane McElhone and John Keating, went to Jabal Saraj for ten days to provide journalistic training for the Radio Solh staff. Zakiya Zaki says this training gave her and her crew the necessary professional background for preparing the local news and reporting. Having such ability, Radio Solh became a truly functional community radio station. Land mines the new harvest Once a breadbasket of Afghanistan, the Shomali Plains are scarred by years of war. Thousands of landmines have made patches of the fertile land into no-go zones. The ancient but practical irrigation system was blasted over and again by retreating armies. Many settlements turned into ghost towns, as the land could no longer sustain life. Jabal Saraj was the war-front town many times in the past two decades. The Taliban's rockets hit the town's small hydropower plant, with museum quality Siemens turbines from the beginning of the 20th century. A similar fate befell the cement factory and the textile factory with its machines build in England in 1941. This sums up most of the region's industry. At the entrance to the boy's school, an enormous wreck of a heavy Russian tank makes an unintended, intimidating monument of the Northern Alliance's last battle with the Taliban. Boys pay it as much attention as to a boulder, some sit in its shadow to review their homework after classes. Station's dynamo producer In Tajik dominated Parvan province, women are more socially active and independent than in the provinces to the South and West, where - Zakiya Zaki pointed out - "they still can't broadcast women singing on the radio." In Parvan she herself is a cultural and political force to reckon with. A one-time member of National Assembly Loya Jirga, she splits her time among being a mother of six, a headmistress of the girls' school and a radio producer. When she recorded at the school a conversation with one of her students, 17 year-old Nazifa, about a hundred girls crowded around absorbing the unusual event. It was a sad interview. Nazifa, a victim of a land mine, talked about living in constant pain, being afraid that she will become a burden to her family, and her wish that she had died in the blast that took her legs. The tragedy only briefly registered in the expressions of the girls surrounding them, unable to hide their excitement, they quickly reverted to subdued chatting and giggling. Radio Solh frequently accommodates kids in its broadcasts. A couple of times a week, groups of girls and boys climb the winding path to the top of the small hill above the town where the station sits. They sing and chant poetry to mark occasions like the anniversary of Massoud's death. The kids have no political agenda and their presence on the air does not upset the delicate balance between dozens of political and ethnic groups that the radio needs to consider in its programming. Warlords told hands off The station earns a little money from advertising local businesses like a new restaurant and a dress store. It charges about $2.50 Canadian per minute. More substantial support comes in occasionally from several non-governmental organizations like Aide Medicale Internationale that broadcasted basic health education announcements in cooperation with Radio Solh. Radio Solh's staff volunteers most of the time. Their station is still a fragile experiment. Its independence is a function of support from the community. The elders of several clans repeatedly warned local warlords to leave the station alone. Along with some fuel for the generator, that's all the people are able to give to their radio station. In return, the community receives fresh local news and a sense of coherence resulting from being able to tell their own stories and have them broadcasted in a radius of about 50 km. With a significant part of Afghanistan's infrastructure bombed and re- bombed, quite literally, into the Stone Age, and the political system in a good part of the country reverted to the middle-ages stage, with warlords of different rank holding the balance of power, one could regard Radio Solh as some sort of token independent media. Perhaps it's true. It is also true that this little radio station transmitting voices of several women at the foot of the Hindu Kush is a testimony to the inherent ability of communities and clans in the mountain valleys and northern Shomali Plains to constantly find ways to build consensus at the village level - the trait that surely allowed them to survive and preserve their culture for hundreds of years. Vancouver-based Christopher Gabowski is organizing a documentary exhibition on Afghanistan by four Canadian photographers, planned for September. He publishes photo-stories in North American and European print media, and is a founding director of Narrative 360, a non-profit society for documentary arts. CORDIALES SALUDOS / GOOD LUCK / (via JUAN FRANCO CRESPO, E-43800 VALLS-TARRAGONA (ESPAÑA-SPAIN-ESPAGNE-SPANIEN), Noticias DX via DXLD) Interesting, but I don`t think this story has anything to do with the Radio Solh we hear on 17700, as recently discussed. It may not either have anything to do with the US PSYOPS one on 6700, 9345, etc., as this one is obviously a local station, probably on FM. Unfortunately, the Afghans can`t seem to come up with distinctive, unique names for their various radio stations (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. Has anyone heard LRA36 lately from Antarctica on 15476? They should be back now if they were only off for two weeks as expected due to wind damage to antennas (Glenn Hauser, July 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) LRA 36 on the air again! Heard today for a while around 1900 UT with folk music and ID. Fair when heard indoors with DE1103 and telescopic antenna, deep fading (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, ibid.) ** ARGENTINA. RAE is coming in well here tonight BUT, anyone hearing all the hash over them and +- 11710? (Mick Delmage, Sherwood Park, AB, 0249 UT July 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. On Jul 01, ABC reached 75 years! Please have a look at: http://www.abc.net.au/corp/history/75years/ for a snapshot of the ABC's achievement including R Australia (Kurt Aerenlund Pedersen, Sabro, Denmark, DSWCI member #0017, DSWCI DX Window July 11 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. [SW Station TXer Site Archive] VISITING A SHORTWAVE SITE WITH A PORTABLE SW RECEIVER Hi group, Question: Has anybody ever visited a a multi-frequency outlet shortwave tx site with curtain arrays before with a portable SW receiver in hand & noted signal levels & been able to determine if a shortwave frequency originates from the site in question? I have done this with FM sites with a portable Yagi, FM tuner & attenuators (between the receiver & antenna). But logistically this would be a far more difficult proposition for SW. I would/could imagine that severe overload could/would mask any usable findings being too close to a site. Though having lived within 50 - 100 km (north-ish) of the Radio Australia SW TX site at Shepparton I know the signal levels were never unusually strong living that close (as one might have expected) & in fact signal levels were far far stronger in Sydney during a daily 20 minute transition time from the disappearance of the D layer to F layer dominance in the evening providing an optimum skip distance for a particular frequency for a short period of time. The weaker signals at my childhood QTH compared to Sydney I guess would be explained with elevation azimuths of the transmission antennas at Shepparton. I gather an expensive well shielded Spectrum Analyser with RDF loop & maybe attenuators in-line would maybe do the trick?? Not something we all have at our disposal, but useful for revealing some of those frequencies from which sites questions where some of us might have particularly when we've been physically close to some SW sites. Regards (Ian Baxter, Australia, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Ian, Yes, I have visited many SW sites on 6 continental areas, and tuned in the signals from these stations on a regular radio receiver. As you say, the signal is strong, and with harmonics and mixing products when the receiver is so close to the huge antenna systems. What I did notice for example, at Wanneroo in WA, was that the signal fast disappeared as I drove away from the station. About a quarter of a mile away, I could not hear VLW on its regular channels. Greetings! (Adrian Peterson, IN, ibid.) AMP & Ian, That's to be expected. SW signals aren't propagated by groundwave as MW signals are. What groundwave there is attenuates very rapidly as one departs the site. What's left would be spacewave (same as for VHF FM & TV broadcast) and some back scattered skywave. Here in Grifton (not really Greenville), I'm some 10 miles from IBB Greenville. I get Radio Martí-11930 at about S-9 by spacewave. I haven't looked much at the other Martí and VOA transmissions from there, but some are quite moderate in strength --- most especially those "off the back" of the DA patterns. This should be fairly easy. If one uses a portable with the whip retracted (or even removed), it would be so desensitized as to be unable to receive only the most intense signal. Another technique would be to tune for the 2nd harmonic of the suspect transmitter frequency. But that wouldn't be valid if one could not tune a harmonic which is out of range of the receiver. Another method would be to tune for sum and difference of known and suspected transmitter frequencies. AS an example, if one were to visit IBB Greenville and wanted to determine if Radio Martí-6030 were on the air from there or Delano, one could tune one's receiver to 5900 kHz and look for a difference frequency of 11930 - 6030. 11930 is active days from Greenville, but 6030 is an evening frequency and I don't remember if there's an overlap. ``I gather an expensive well shielded Spectrum Analyser with RDF loop & maybe attenuators in-line would maybe do the trick??`` Looks like trying to kill a fly with a cruise missile. Use simple techniques first. Irregardfulsomelessly, Charles, IBB Tech (ret.) (Charles A & Leonor L Taylor, Greenville, North Carolina, ibid.) ** BELARUS. As follow up on recent news that Belarus on its 49 and 41 mb frequencies now has the following summer schedule: 0200-0100 UT, I have checked all BR-1 SW frequencies several nights Jun 24-Jul 10. Here are my observations: Period 0000-0100: BR1 heard on 279 LW, 6010, 6040, 6070, 6080, 6115, 6190, 7110 and 7145. Period 0100-0200: BR1 heard on 6010, 6040, 6070, 6080, 6115, 6190, 7110 and 7145 whereas 279 LW was Off. 6115 was covered by Deutsche Welle in Russian heard // 9685. 7145 was covered by another strong station. Period 0200-0300: BR1 heard on 279 LW, 6010, 6040, 6070, 6080, 6115, 6190, 7110 and 7145 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window July 11 via DXLD) ** BELGIUM [non] / FRANCE. 1467 MW, Zone 80 Azur, via Col de la Madone, this new Belgian station will be on the air from Jul 16, after the tests made in late May. It will be a different programme from the one, broadcast from Liége in Belgium. (E-mails from Pascal Busard, Zone 80, Jul 02 and 07, via Christian Ghibaudo, France, DSWCI DX Window July 11 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4732.02, R Universitaria, Cobija, Pando, *0958, Jul 02, but *1025-1035, Jul 09, ID by female and slogans, pop and rock music cover in Spanish, reminiscent of the 1980's, excellent signal and no RTTY QRM, 35333 (Samuel Cássio, Brasil and Robert Wilkner, FL, DSWCI DX Window July 11 via DXLD) ** CANADA. Hello all, Noticed today that Radio Shalom the Jewish MW station here in Montréal, on 1650 kHz has the French Kol Israel news broadcast at 1700 UT (1300 Local) today July 11. Tuned to 11590 and it was the same broadcast with a 2-second delay. Diverse news returned at 1714 UT. seems to come from some overseas news service also. Wonder if they also have the English broadcast? I did listen until 1730 to see if the English newscast of KOL Israel would be broadcast but it stayed to French language (Gilles Létourneau, Montréal, Canada, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. CRI, 9675, 1300 UT July 11, opening Russian hour with usual Chinese ID, then into Russian, Mezhdunarodnaya Radio Kitaya (MPK). At the outset and during the news I thought the announcers were not speaking with a Chinese accent like so many of their English announcers do, but during some feature at 1344 there did seem to be some accent. This is a regular here, and I`ll bet it`s inadvertently aimed USward. HFCC says: 9675 1300 1400 33,34 SZG 500 37 1234567 250307 281007 D CHN CRI RTC So target is SE Russia, i.e. the Pacific coast and inland from there; azimuth 37 carries on to NAm. [non]. On July 11, 9570 via Cuba was back on, in Mandarin before 1300, English after. Again the modulation sounded better and could not hear any spurs bothering RA here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 790, CMAQ R. Reloj, Pinar del Río, 20 kW, new solid state high technology transmitter, replacing the old power hungry vacuum tube broadcast equipment 950, CM.. R. Reloj, La Habana, 10 kW with a similar transmitter as described above --- Arnie Coro, DX-ers Unlimited, Radio Havana Cuba via HCDX 26.6.2007 1020, CM.. R. Reloj, Las Tunas Christer Brunström, ARC 1200, CMGM LV de Yaguajay has moved to 91.3 FM. Our contact in Cuba reports that many of the small local MV-stations will leave the AM band in a near future to broadcast on FM only. Christer Brunström, ARC 1200, CMGL R. Sancti Spíritus. Two transmitters on this frequency, beamed to different parts of the country --- Christer Brunström, ARC (ARC CENTRAL AMERICAN NEWS DESK July 2007 edited by Tore Larsson, Frejagatan, via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. Discussion of R. Martí frequency usage: See U S A; also AUSTRALIA [and non] ** FRANCE [non]. See INTERNATIONAL VACUUM ** GERMANY. More on IBB Ismaning In fact all IBB transmission facilities at Ismaning have already been dismantled. The four mast antenna for 1197kHz, still visible in the Google aerial images, had been demolished in March 2006. So in fact this post was merely a satellite uplink, as far as actual broadcast distribution facilities are concerned. The Bayerischer Rundfunk and IBB sites at Ismaning are divided by Senderstraße ("transmitter road"). East of it the IBB site, with various satellite antennas around the former transmitter building. It seems that shortwave transmissions from there ceased already in 1993, at least it was in 1993 that the news about 3980 being moved to Biblis broke. And already by 1990 this 3980 was the only remaining shortwave outlet from VOA Ismaning. So it is no surprise that no traces of the former shortwave antennas can be seen anymore, at least I can't spot such traces. Across Senderstraße is the BR site, with FM/TV mast, mediumwave mast and shortwave HQ clearly visible on the aerial pictures and I think easy to assign to the pictures on the website already pointed out by Wolfgang. Equipment: http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning26.jpg --- 801 kHz transmitter (Nautel) http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning48.jpg --- 50 kW Continental from 1969. This is the former AFN transmitter (1107 kHz), still operational and to my knowledge now tuned to 801, just in case http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning46.jpg --- 1938 vintage Lorenz 100 kW transmitter, presumably still in operational order! (Wiederau has an almost identical transmitter which was in everyday usage until 1989 when 1323 moved to Wachenbrunn, freeing up a much younger transmitter for 531) http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning30.jpg --- Unid. Telefunken, presumably mediumwave, too http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning40.jpg --- The S4005 beast for 6085 ... http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning29.jpg --- ... admittedly consuming 230 kW for producing 100 kW. That's the price to be paid for the nonsense to purchase a 500 kW transmitter and run it on a fraction of full power only! http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning58.jpg --- Antenna switch for MW/SW??? http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning38.jpg --- Added DRM modulator http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning45.jpg --- Current FM transmitters http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning31.jpg --- Elder Rohde&Schwarz FM transmitter http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning34.jpg --- Vintage FM transmitters http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning57.jpg --- FM antenna filters. In the background, to the right of the Continental, a 10 kW shortwave transmitter http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning42.jpg --- Control desk, mainly audio it seems (bunch of simpler level meters left, studio-grade RTW level meter right, even two Neumann fader modules, probably for smooth program source changes) http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning43.jpg --- Intercom, power supply? http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning44.jpg --- Stereo coders, RDS generators, audio distribution http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning50.jpg -- On display: West (right) and East (left) German version of RS 566 (western designator) / SRW 357 (eastern designator) PA stage tube for LW/MW transmitters http://www.senderfotos.de/images/bayern/ismaning51.jpg --- More PA stage tubes, rated as 10, 85 and 270 kW; the last one presumably belonged to the now apparently gone Radioindustry Zagreb transmitter Google Maps again: Look also at Erching, about 6 km north/northwest of Ismaning. 700 m east of the Erching settlement are the station buildings of the 1000 kW longwave transmitter, inaugurated in 1953 and shut down in 1973, then leased to the German side and reactivated by the postal office in 1979 for DLF, now on 209, finally replaced by new Aholming site near Deggendorf in 1988. The path of the former feedline to the antenna is still clearly visible. Note also the observation tower and to the right of the station buildings the remains of the diesel tanks; VOA used diesel generators, not mains power, and run the transmitter at 60 Hz; German postal office staff was just shocked when they discovered this during their first inspection of the station! (Reportedly they installed rotary 50/60 Hz converters to run the transmitter off main power, the own diesel sets were from an economical point of view just mad and a real "when costs do not matter" concept, with the 1973 shut-down being the almost unavoidable result.) Pictures of the Erching site nowadays: http://www.lostplaces.de/cms/fernmeldeaufklarung-eloka-sigint/langwellensender-erching.html (Kai Ludwig, Germany, via Ian Baxter, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** HONDURAS. At 0035, Jun 29, I checked the known SW-frequencies for stations from my country: 3250, 4819 and 5010, but heard only static (Elmer Escoto, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, DSWCI DX Window July 11 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. FRANCE (non) RFI-WRN. Listening to WRN NAm at 1400 UT July 11, I hear R Prague, not RFI (Mike Cooper, Jul 11, DXLD) Have had contradictory reports about your NAm schedule, in the absence of R. Budapest. Someone heard R. France International at 14-15 UT a few days ago, instead of Prague, Sweden, but now Prague seems to be back. What`s going on? Will you be carrying RFI in English permanently at some time? (Glenn to WRN, via DXLD) Hi Glenn, RFI is indeed returning to our North American network from Monday [July 16] at 14-15 UT each day. Regards (Tim Ayris, Marketing Manager WRN > TRANSMITTING SUCCESS, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So will R. Prague and R. Sweden still be on at other times? (gh, DXLD) Indeed they will (Tim Ayris, WRN, ibid.) Re 7-080: To follow up, I noted today (11 July) RFI missing and R. Prague and R. Sweden returned to 1400-1500 UT (1000-1100 ET) on WRN's North American service in English. So I posed a question to WRN about this, and an official there responded that RFI will indeed be heard in this time slot daily officially beginning 16 July. Apparently, WRN was testing RFI and the test inadvertently went to air for a few days. I also learned that WRN is in the process of canvassing other international broadcasters in an attempt to reinvigorate and refresh its service to North America. WRN expects to be adding further broadcasters and broadcasts over the next few months. (Personally, I think DW would be an excellent candidate if -- in the absence of shortwave -- they could be convinced to use the WRN platform to reach NAm listeners, who -especially in the case of the US audience -- could do with some additional alternative perspectives.) (John Figliozzi, NY, July 11, dxldyg via DXLD) Radio Mongolia!! BBC Mundo. Voice of Nigeria. RAE (Argentina) (Dan Say, BC, swprograms via DXLD) I second the vote for RAE. Good suggestion! Not as excited about the VON, though. Programming isn't quite as compelling, though admittedly the extra African voice would be worthwhile. If either UAE Radio or Voice of the UAE produce any English-language feature programming -- alas, I know no longer aired on shortwave -- that would be good. All India Radio is worth an addition. Both the Canadian and American economies are intertwined (for better or worse) with India's economy nowadays, so I would appreciate the chance to hear them easier. No opinion on Radio Mongolia - have never heard them. John, are you taking notes? (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, ibid.) ** ISRAEL. IBA MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE, PLENUM GIVE GREEN LIGHT TO PROPOSED REFORMS --- By GREER FAY CASHMAN Jul. 8, 2007 22:47 | Updated Jul. 9, 2007 9:35 http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1183901655695&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull The Management Committee and plenum of the Israel Broadcasting Authority gave the green light on Sunday to a series of proposed reforms designed to take the IBA out of the economic, technological and administrative doldrums and sweep it onto the cutting edge of 21st century broadcasting. The vote was nearly unanimous except for one abstention. Nonetheless, the reforms are on the way, IBA chairman Moshe Gavish told a news conference in the aftermath of a four-hour meeting of the IBA's two governing bodies. The proposed reforms, which will take between two to three years to implement, were worked out over a three months period in conjunction with TASK, a strategic consulting firm. Among the more significant recommendations are increasing the IBA licensing fee, reducing the number of employees by more than a third, digitizing the system, upgrading equipment, and total reorganization and rewriting of work agreements so that it will be impossible for people who are not genuinely working to be paid overtime for work they didn't do. The reforms also call for the depoliticization of the Broadcasting Authority. Gavish made the point that the damaging influence of affluence has already impacted on commercial television, where decisions about what to broadcast or what not to broadcast depend on the interests of the shareholders and heavy advertisers. He did not want politicians to interfere with the IBA in a similar manner, he said. Towards this end, the IBA Management Committee has urged the government to amend the Broadcasting Authority Law whereby appointments to the institutions of the IBA will be made by an appointments committee headed by a member of the judiciary. The committee will determine the criteria required for representatives of the public and will define the status and authority of the various bodies under the IBA umbrella. The full list of recommendations is far more extensive, and the total cost of implementation is estimated to be around NIS 800 million. Although this appears to be an enormous sum, said Gavish, it is preferable to the amount of money that the Finance Ministry would have to lay out if it continued to support the IBA for another five years. The estimated outlay would be in excess of a billion shekels, said Gavish. The budgetary breakdown for the NIS 800,000 is NIS110,000 for digitization; NIS 90m. (the current equivalent of the IBA's deficit) for the upgrading of equipment; NIS 330m. as severance pay for the 700 out of 1,915 employees who will be let go, NIS 130m. for the building and development of a sophisticated Internet site and the legal expenses that this will entail; and NIS 140m. to cover the anticipated deficit that will accrue by the end of 2008. When Gavish was invited to take over the chairmanship of the IBA in February of this year, he held intensive meetings with the prime minister, the minister charged with responsibility for the IBA, the finance minister, and the superintendent of budgets, and promised them all that within four months he would present them with a plan for reform. The only problem, he observed, is that with the exception of the prime minister, none of the people he spoke to was still in office, and he has to start again from scratch to win support for the preservation and rehabilitation of the IBA. Asked whether the current minister responsible for the IBA has seen the reforms, Gavish said that they had been presented to him, but pointed out that Isaac Herzog was appointed less than a week ago and has not yet had sufficient time to study and familiarize himself with the complexities of the IBA. However Gavish was confident that Herzog would endorse the plan. The good news for all those who were afraid that English might disappear from IBA broadcasts is that "despite low ratings" they will not only not disappear, but will be expanded alongside Arabic broadcasts on Channel 33. Gavish said that he was perfectly aware of the importance of English not only to the diplomatic community, but as a tool for getting Israel's message across to the world at large. As for Arabic, "we have neglected the Arab sector for too long" he said, and pledged that dramatic improvements would be made. However he acknowledged that nothing could be done without the cooperation of the workers, the Histadrut and various government ministries, especially the Finance Ministry. IBA director-general Moti Shklar said that public broadcasting should not have to compete with commercial channels in the types of programs that they provide, but should offer an alternative. Competition is not what it used to be, he explained, because today, no one really needs radio or television if they have access to Internet. One of the things he hopes to do is to make all of the IBA's radio and television programs accessible via the Internet. He also wants to merge the radio and television news divisions into a single unit "so that we can achieve synergy using the best talents and energies of both." Although the reforms propose that most productions be outsourced, Shklar was adamant that news and actuality must be in- house. Gavish, conscious of that fact that over the past two decades or so there have been close to a dozen committees that have made recommendations for reforms that were accepted in principle and then stuck in a drawer forever, declared that this time the reforms would be put into practice (Jerusalem Post, via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Editorial: If [IBA] Channel 1 closes http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/880093.html Some quotes: "...While there are many alternatives to its radio stations, the problem is Channel 1 television, for which there is no alternative. The recovery program cannot be limited to firing 850 workers (out of 1,900), as the consulting company hired by the IBA recommended..." "...Unfortunately for public broadcasting, minister Eitan Cabel, whose full-time job was dealing with the IBA, resigned. In Israel's unstable politics, no minister remains in his job long enough to do it properly. Cabel managed to appoint Moshe Gavish as chairman of the IBA, and he appears eager to save public broadcasting. The new minister in charge, Isaac Herzog, must quickly set himself to this task as well. If the Finance Ministry grants fair severance pay, and IBA workers understand that the alternative is the end of public broadcasting, perhaps the miracle that many are hoping for will happen. If Gavish and the IBA's director general, Mordechai Sklar, waste their energy fighting each other, it will spell the end of public broadcasting..." "...Public broadcasting is supposed to provide quality, not boredom. It is supposed to be a principal sphere of activity for local artists, showing dramas, documentaries, investigative and news reports and more intelligent television for children - without ignoring ratings, but also without being enslaved to them. Low ratings are a sign not of quality, but of failure - because a good public broadcaster must relate to its viewers as consumers of content, whereas a commercial broadcaster relates to its viewers as consumers of merchandise. Proper management and outsourcing production to local artists would revitalize public broadcasting, and also raise the level of the commercial channels..." (via Doni Rosenzweig, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. IBA MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE, PLENUM GIVE GREEN LIGHT TO PROPOSED REFORMS --- From July 8 Jerusalem Post http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=1&cid=1183901655695&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull A few quotes: "The Management Committee and plenum of the Israel Broadcasting Authority gave the green light on Sunday to a series of proposed reforms designed to take the IBA out of the economic, technological and administrative doldrums and sweep it onto the cutting edge of 21st century broadcasting. "Among the more significant recommendations are increasing the IBA licensing fee, reducing the number of employees by more than a third, digitizing the system, upgrading equipment, and total reorganization and rewriting of work agreements so that it will be impossible for people who are not genuinely working to be paid overtime for work they didn't do. "The good news for all those who were afraid that English might disappear from IBA broadcasts is that "despite low ratings" they will not only not disappear, but will be expanded alongside Arabic broadcasts on Channel 33. [Note, this is talking about English TV news -- radio is a separate matter.] "IBA director-general Moti Shklar said that public broadcasting should not have to compete with commercial channels in the types of programs that they provide, but should offer an alternative. "Competition is not what it used to be, he explained, because today, no one really needs radio or television if they have access to Internet. "One of the things he hopes to do is to make all of the IBA's radio and television programs accessible via the Internet. He also wants to merge the radio and television news divisions into a single unit "so that we can achieve synergy using the best talents and energies of both." Although the reforms propose that most productions be outsourced, Shklar was adamant that news and actuality must be in- house." (via Doni Rosenzweig, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. IBA CEASES FREE-TO-AIR SATELLITE BROADCASTS TO EUROPE David de Jong writes: On the same day that the Jerusalem Post published the article about the rescue of IBA, the only Israeli TV channel which could be received free-to-air in Europe has ceased broadcasting on the European satellite Hotbird. In a notice in English on the website of IBA, the end of the Hotbird broadcasts of IBA Channel 33 is announced without any explanation other then to switch to the Amos-1 satellite. The broadcasts on this satellite, however, can only be received in the Middle East and not in Europe as the footprint of the frequency used on Amos 1 is restricted to the Middle East. IBA Channel 33 contains some Hebrew, but mostly Arabic broadcasts and also essential English speaking broadcasts including an English TV newscast. It was the only way on television to receive direct Israeli information from Israel itself. However, Israel Radio International (also known as Kol Israel) continues however broadcasting on the Hotbird satellite. Israeli television can now only be received in Europe by subscribing to the pay-TV service ‘The Israeli Network’ (TIN) which costs about 20 euros a month. The Israeli Network does NOT have any free-to-air window and only broadcast in Hebrew (July 10th, 2007 - 11:11 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) Richard Logue Says: July 10th, 2007 at 15:49 e For Israeli TV to cease their only European broadcasts at this time does not make sense. Surely it is in Israel’s interests to have a TV channel available in Europe giving their perspective on the Middle East? This does not make sense. Andy Says: July 10th, 2007 at 16:02 e I would imagine that the reason is financial. An organisation in a perillous financial state cannot always afford to do what makes sense (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** KIRIBATI. 846 kHz, Tarawa, fair at S6 on peaks with nice Island music and man in Kiribati at 0845 UT 7/9/07. Best in some time, as KSWB has an OC tonight (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, Drake R8, SW EWE, IRCA via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Schedule of Radio Furusato no Kaze == Wind of Hometown --- Effective July 9, 2007 via VT Communications 1600-1630 on 9780 TAI 250 kW / 045 deg to North Korea 1700-1730 on 9820 TAI 100 kW / 002 deg to North Korea 73! (Ivo Ivanov, R. Bulgaria, July 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9780, Radio Furusato no Kaze (presumed) via Taiwan, 1600-1630*, July 11, threshold level/poor. Suddenly at 1601 the full power seemed to be turned on, dramatic improvement in reception. Program of nondescript talking in Japanese, at times almost sounded like a radio drama, 1627 piano music, YL with assume sign-off announcement, seemed to spell out their e-mail address, music till BoH, followed by about a 10 second tone. Overall was fair to good. No jamming or QRM of any kind (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wind of Hometown: Here in Denmark, on Jul 10 at 1600-1630, 9780 was covered by Yemen in Arabic, and 9870 [which was a typo for 9780] by VOIRI in Turkish // 7165. At 1700-1730, 9820 was covered by the Voice of Russia in Finnish // 11675 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window July 11 via DXLD) Under ``JAPAN/KOREA``. Why don`t you classify this as clandestine if you do so with Star Radio? (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 3912, Voice of the People (presumed), 1204-1211 Jul 06, Korean monologue // 6600. Both frequencies fair and jammed. 3985, Echo of Hope (presumed), 1219-1240, Jul 06, Man and woman chatting in Korean; a couple of 80's pop songs were played at 1222 and 1228; mostly talk after 1230. Good signal and // 6348 also good strength. 6348 was severely jammed whereas 3985 seemed to be in the clear, although this is hard to believe (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge CO, DXplorer via DSWCI DX Window July 11 via DXLD ) ** KUWAIT. Re unID: ``9885 NO ID, 2120-2135, escuchada el 10 de julio en idioma árabe, cuñas, locutor con entrevista a invitado, posible ID, referencias a Romano Prodi, SINPO 44544 73 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` Maybe it is Kuwait, error, supposed to be on 9855. Anything there? Aoki: 9855 R. KUWAIT 1810-2400 1234567 Arabic 500 310 Sulaibiyah KWT 4745E2910 KUWA a07 (Glenn Hauser, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Kuwait. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Noticias DX via DXLD) Hola: Las escuchas de esta noche, no son muchas pues he pasado un buen rato con la emisora de 9885; yo me permito afirmar que creo que se trata de R Kuwait. He escuchado algo parecido a una identificación y la palabra Al-Kuwait. Naturalmente el árabe no es fácil para mí; por eso no puedo afirmarlo al 100%, digamos 90%. Evidentemente entonces una nueva frecuencia no listada. Por cierto hoy sigue en el aire más allá de las 2310 aunque la señal ha empeorado bastante. 9885.0, 2208 KWT R KUWAIT-Sulaibiyah (tentativa) Radioteatro + ID Kuwait casi seguro 90% NFX 10/07 Ara 55444. Cordialmente, (Tomás Méndez Losa, Spain, playdx yg via DXLD) Saludos cordiales Glenn, todo parece indicar que se trató de unas transmisiones de Radio Kuwait, ¿emisiones accidentales? Hoy 11 de julio no se escucha ninguna emisión en 9885; sin embargo Radio Kuwait está emitiendo en 9855, chequeada a las 1900, 2000 y 2100 UT. Hoy sin embargo aparece un rastro muy fuerte de señal probablemente en DRM que abarca en 9875, 9880 y 9885; a las 2110 se aprecia que ha desaparecido este molesto ruido y no se aprecia señal de emisora alguna. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot, (Valencia) España, Sangean ATS 909, Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So my supposition was correct about it being Kuwait on 9885 instead of 9855. But per online DRM sked there should be none centered on 9880 at this time; just: 1345-1745 daily 9880 282 N Africa 120 Radio Kuwait KWT Arabic Sulaibiyah Kuwait 1851-2050 daily 9890 35 Pacific 50 RNZI NZL English Rangitaiki New Zealand But maybe Kuwait also extended its DRM transmission (gh, DXLD) Tengo que señalar que hoy no estaba en el aire la emisora de 9885 kHz a la hora de ayer. Sin embargo en 15495 frecuencia de R. Kuwait había un programa del mismo estilo al escuchado ayer en 9885. (dicho programa no coincidía en el día de ayer como pude comprobar). En fin un lío. Cordialmente, (Tomás Méndez, Spain, July 12, RX: GRUNDIG SATELLIT 700, SONY ICF SW7600GR, ICOM IC-R2, DEGEN 1103 VISITE MI SITIO WEB PERSONAL EN: http://www.telefonica.net/web2/amaranta/ Pero antes de imprimir este mensaje, asegúrese de que es necesario. El medio ambiente está en nuestra mano, playdx yg via DXLD) ** LIBERIA [non]. CLANDESTINE. 9525, Star Radio, Liberia, via Ascension Island, has a temporary closure, but replaced by Cotton Tree News at 0700-0730 (Bjarke Vestesen, Radby, Blommenslyst, Denmark, Jul 07, DSWCI DX Window July 11 via DXLD) Cf. my observation in DX-Window no. 327 (Anker Petersen, ibid.) 9525, Cotton Tree News, Sierra Leone, via Ascension, *0700-0745, Jul 07, carrier s/on - but audio came first at 0705 with drum sounds and clear ID in English as "Cotton Tree News broadcast programmes of news and information...." and "Cotton Tree News is funded by DC, the European Union, Irish Aid and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation". Clear ID on a mp3-file on request. 34333 (Vestesen, ibid.) Also heard 0742-0752, Jun 29, sounded like CTN program in vernacular, *0744 mixing with Voice of Indonesia. CTN seemed to end at 0752, poor. (Ron Howard, CA, ibid.) I received in two months the Hirondelle-style QSL, similar to Ndeke Luka and Star, direct from Sierra Leone for postal report with a CD recording of their signal. It has CTN logo and full-data except for site on one side, Fondation Hirondelle name, address (Switzerland), logo, URL on the other. V/S appears to be George Bennett, who is their Editor in Chief (Jerry Berg, MA, Jul 09, ibid.) ** MALAYSIA. 5964.64, Klasik Nasional FM, 1150-1220, Jul 05, Malay- flavored vocals, two pips at 1200, news, 1203 a jingle, talk or interview, fair. 6049.66, Asyik FM, via Kajang 1120-1204, Jul 03, pop music, 1200 pips and news, good signal but high/low heterodynes and static noise. 7270.02, Wai FM (presumed), Sarawak, 1157-1215, Jul 08, phone calls in presumed Iban language and regional vocal tunes. No ID heard but fits usual Wai FM pattern. Better than usual today with fairly good copy and the other station(s) on 7270.0 virtually non-existent. It has been several weeks/months since this station has graced the logbook here. At the same time 6049.64 (Asyik FM) was booming in at S9+10 dB (John Wilkins in DXplorer via DSWCI DX Window July 11 via DXLD ) ** MEXICO. Another check for XEYU, July 11: before 1300 I could hear nothing but RHC on 9600, no het audible. But at 1309 there was some weak Spanish talk, news, audible on 9599.2 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOLDOVA. DISCOVER THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA --- The results of the second edition of the contest ``Discover the Republic of Moldova``, dedicated to the 15th anniversary of RMI station foundation Dear friends, first of all, we thank all competitors that backed our initiative and participated in our contest, those who answered to all stages and some stages. Like last year, in the competition there participated listeners form many countries - France and Germany, Russia and China, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina etc. We were glad to have among the competitors our old friends - Raffaele Cioffi from Italy, the winner of the first edition of the contest, the owner of the first award Henrique Dantas Felinto from Brazil, the owner of the II award Christian Ghibaudo from France, Huang Liqiang from China. Each of you, via your participation, or even by a modest message, convinced us one more time that we, the staff of RMI do a useful thing and that our programs are listened to and waited for. We are pleased by this fact, or one of the aims of the current edition of the contest ``Discover the Republic of Moldova`` was namely the promotion of our radio station image, that in current year turns 15 years since foundation and familiarization of the listeners with our programs. The jury of the contest ``Discover the Republic of Moldova`` made up from - the president Veaceslav Gheorghisenco, director of the National Radio, secretary Clara Bacalim, RMI director, the members of the jury- the employees of RMI - Veronica Castravet, Valentina Rosu, Violeta Clichici, Lilia Cater, Natalia Tiganu, decided the following results: The Grand Prix of the second edition of the contest ``Discover the Republic of Moldova`` - A 3 DAY TRIP TO MOLDOVA AT THE WINE FESTIVAL from October, current year - Christian Ghibaudo from France I award – a goblin with the image of the ruler Stefan cel Mare and a CD with Moldovan folk music will be offered to VLADIMIR GUDZENCO from Russia, town Luhoviti, Moscow. II award - a Moldovan cup and a CD with Moldovan folk music - HUNAG LIQIANG from the People`s Republic of China Awards of encouragement - Moldovan souvenirs and CDs with folk music will be offered to the following competitors HELMUT MATT, Germany LENFANT LEE, China HENRIQUE JOSE DANTAS FELINTO, Brazil RAFFAELE CIOFFI, Italy JOSE JERONIMO ZAMORA MATA, Mexico GABRIEL SCHVARTZ, Argentina PARK HEE WON, Corea Congratulations to all listeners. Stay tuned for Radio Moldova International, a station that brings you both news from Moldova and pleasant surprises. 11. 00 - 11. 30 - Spanish 11. 30 - 12. 00 - Romanian 12. 00 - 12. 30 - English 19. 00 - 19. 30 - Russian 19. 30 - 20. 00 - French Monday - A Review of the main events; Society Today Tuesday - Political Flash; People and identities Wednesday - Moldova and the World; World of Culture Thursday - Business Update; Environmental issues (from Lenfant Lee`s blog, China, http://blog.goo.ne.jp/daerduonodaerduo {corrected} with Chinese(?) mixed in deleted here tho I was prompted for Japanese text support!, via DXLD) RMI of course now transmits online only (gh, DXLD) ** MONACO [non]. See BELGIUM [non] ** NETHERLANDS. RNW INVITES FEEDBACK FROM OUR NORTH AMERICAN SW LISTENERS http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/?p=8391 As part of our ongoing evaluation of the services we offer, our English Department is interested in hearing from listeners to our shortwave services to North America. We are especially interested in knowing the following: Which of our daily shortwave transmissions do you generally listen to, and how many times per week on average? Do you consider the current shortwave transmission time(s) to be optimal, or do you have a suggestion for a different time? Please make sure you tell us which state/province you live in. Do you listen to the additional transmissions on Sat/Sun? Do you find these useful? Do you listen to our morning transmission at 1100 UTC? Do you listen to us on other platforms in addition to shortwave e.g. Internet, WRN North America? You can send us your comments to letters @ rnw.nl (comments may be used on the air unless you specifically request otherwise), or leave a comment here if you prefer. At this stage, this is only an informal information-gathering exercise. There is no hidden agenda; we simply want to be sure we’re in touch with the needs of our listeners (July 10th, 2007 - 11:41 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD; also via Ricky Leong, AB, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. One "old fashioned" advantage of shortwave listening: I learned about some tornados in New Zealand via a RNZI broadcast. It does my old shortwave heart good to hear that SW is still getting international news out in a timely manner --- even to the hinterlands of Greenback. All of us in the shortwave hobby are continuously bombarded with talk of how shortwave is a dying medium, and news in now best relayed via other media. I agree that shortwave is no longer a primary source of news in much of the world, but earlier this week, I had the occasion to learn something via shortwave that I had not seen on any other media. Yesterday evening while band scanning, I listened to Radio New Zealand International on 9615 kHz, and was amazed to hear of a series of strong tornados that had hit the country. Since I have several hobby related friends in that country, I immediately dashed off emails to them to check on their safety. Luckily, all were unharmed and suffered no damage. I have yet to see any mention of these tornados in any local newspaper or on any televised news broadcast. Once again, a shortwave broadcaster has informed me about events on the far side of the globe that never made it into my local newspapers or television (Joe Wood, TN, NASWA Flashsheet July 8 via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Local elections began on Papua New Guinea on Jun 30 and last some weeks. They are supported by the United Nations in a few of the main languages of this Nation which in total has 850 different tribal languages/ dialects! Please be aware that their SW transmitters tend be reactivated during this event, so watch out! (Anker Petersen, Ed. , DSWCI DX Window July 11 via DXLD) Wow, we have campaigns lasting two years, but they have elexions lasting some weeks (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** PERU. Re 7-079: ``6536.14, R. Huancabamba, July 4, 2330-, Spanish talk with mentions of Huancabamba, also at 0226 on 6536.06 (poor, fair at 0226) (Mikhail Timofeyev, local DXpedition near St. Petersburg, Russia, RX: Drake R8B, ANT: various directional aerial systems, HCDX via DXLD)`` Name of this now is La Voz del Rondero in Huancabamba (gh) ** RUSSIA. 6195, Buryatskaya GTRK, Ulan Ude, heard by Anton Poloskov and Feodor Brazhnikov in Irkutsk with huge signal, almost as strong as a local station. It replaces 3955 because of better propagation in Siberia (open_dx via Mezin, DSWCI DX Window July 11 via DXLD) Unfortunately covered here in Denmark 2100-0100 by BBC, Voice of Turkey and R Budapest (Anker Petersen, ibid.) Item previously referred to as Selenginsk, must be the transmitter site (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** SAINT HELENA. Hello all, Please be advised that another Test Transmission on 11092.5 kHz USB will take place from Radio St Helena on Tuesday 17th July around 7 pm GMT for about 2 hours approximately. That is around 1900-2100 UT. Please spread the word. Thank you (Laura Lawrence (Miss), Radio Station Manager, Radio St Helena, Pounceys, Tel/Fax: +290 4542 station.manager @ helanta.sh via Ian Cattermole, NZ, UT July 11, ripple via DXLD) ``R.S.H - 40 years - 25th December 1967-2007" The DSWCI strongly advises you to check this new test on Jul 17 around 1900-2100 UTC and sent your reception report to the above mentioned e- mail address. Please note that R St. Helena has not promised QSL's on this test. Instead, the DSWCI again is going to support this additional test by issuing our 50 years anniversary QSL-Card on all correct reception reports (i.e. copies of those sent directly to the station), if sent to: Anker Petersen, Udbyvej 11, DK 2740 Skovlunde, Denmark with enclosed return postage of 1 IRC (valid until Dec 2009), 1 USD or 1 Euro. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, via Mike Barraclough, worlddxclub via DXLD) ** SIERRA LEONE [non]. See LIBERIA [non] ** SLOVENIA. Re 7-080: Slovenia 918 kHz is on, and here near the Austrian-Slovenian border the signal is as strong as it was in the last years (daytime and nighttime). 73, (Patrick Robic, Austria, July 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Re 7-080: Hola Glenn: Permite que te de mi opinión sobre las emisiones en Sefardí de REE, como sabrás el Sefardí es el idioma que hablan los descendientes de los judíos españoles que fueron expulsados de España, durante la época de Los Reyes Católicos alrededor del siglo XVI, de tal manera que al verse obligados a salir de su patria e iniciar una diáspora por diversos países, conservaron en la medida de lo posible tanto sus costumbres como su idioma, con algunas pocas evoluciones desde entonces, básicamente estas escuchando en el Sefardí el Castellano antiguo que se hablaba en aquella época. Es una parte de nuestra historia, nunca se puede estar de acuerdo con la persecución religiosa que se produjo en aquellos años contra los judíos y los musulmanes, recordar la historia es importante para no repetir los errores. Afortunadamente se supone que la sociedad ha evolucionado desde entonces... o tal vez no mucho... por lo que estamos viendo cada día. Cordialmente, (Tomás Méndez, Spain, RX: GRUNDIG SATELLIT 700, SONY ICF SW7600GR, ICOM IC-R2, DEGEN 1103 VISITE MI SITIO WEB PERSONAL EN: http://www.telefonica.net/web2/amaranta/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [and non]. CHINA --- I recently toured Tibet and found the following SW schedule to be valid for R China Tibet: Chinese General News Programme via Lhasa: 4820 (2000-1730) 5935 (2000-1730) 7170 (2000-0300, 0900-1730) 7240 (2000-0300, 0900-1730) 11860 (0300-0900) 11950 (0300-0900) via Xi`an: 6050 (2000-1730) Tibetan General News Programme via Lhasa: 2100-0200 on 4905, 4920, 5240, 6110 and 6130. via Lingshi [near Xi`an in China proper! -- gh]: 7385 (2100-0200, 0930-1800) 9580 (0200-0930) via Xi`an: 6200 (2100-1800) 9490 (0200-1000) 7125 (2100-0200, 1000-1800) Because of transmitter maintenance, there is complete "radio silence" in Tibet on Tuesdays from 0600 to 1000, in both main programmes. The English Programme "Holy Tibet" is aired at 0700-0730 and 1630-1700 in the Tibetan Programme only. I met the producers of this programme at the broadcasting complex in Lhasa and was the first foreign listener to visit them. "Holy Tibet" started in May 2001 and is now a full half-hour programme. New programmes are produced on Mo, We and Fr with repeats on the following days. On Su there is only a music programme. The programme is aimed at tourists visiting Tibet as well as at the descendants of the many Tibetan refugees living in India. (Maarten Van Delft, Jul 10, DSWCI DX Window July 11 via DXLD) However, Christer Brunström recently monitored HT at 1635-1705 (gh) ** TURKEY. One hears about VOT`s essay contest mainly on its own broadcasts, which is not a bad idea. During Live from Turkey on July 10, they mentioned the requirements: not more than three pages, must be in their hands by July 25. Must include name, age, address, phone, e-mail. Subject: the 70th anniversary of Voice of Turkey. Your recollections, suggestions, even criticisms, whatever you want to say. Seven winners will get all-expenses paid two-week tours of Turkey (usually in September, I think, before summer heat breaks). Send to Essay 2007, TRT, Voice of Turkey, P.K. 333, 06442 Yeniþehir, Ankara, Turkey. Or by e-mail to englishdesk @ trt.net.tr They also gave a fax number I did not copy. This is NOT the same as the TRT Competition one spots on their website, for the 80th anniversary this May of the parent organization, calling for programs to be produced: http://www.trt.net.tr/80yilradyo/TRT%20Radio%20Competition%20Regulations.pdf (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re [former] VOA Dixon --- I would guess the power is still connected to run the tower lights. All the antennas are still up. Last time I drove out there at night the area is full of red lights atop the many towers. The Navy still has its large towers up next to the VOA site. Pacific Gas & Electric, I believe runs the power out in the Dixon area. Check out the links at my web site for two articles on the Dixon VOA site. Also the latest "Monitoring Times" has a 2 page article with pictures on the Dixon VOA site. http://home.comcast.net/~vroomski/wsb/html/view.cgi-home.html-.html (Dennis, Vancouver, WA, Vroomski, IRCA via DXLD) Delano: The rumor of the demise of the site was premature. It'll stay on the air for the next few years. VOA Greenville is not going to be on much longer than that, either. Had a minor disagreement with Wayne Heinen. I said he would list the 1180 Marathon site as Radio Martí rather than "VOA" (in lieu of callsign). I pointed out that they are separate organizations under IBB. The 1180 outlet carries NO VOA programming. Martí's studios are in Hialeah, Florida. They say so on the air. And Delano's expenses mostly come out of Martí's annual appropriation (Charles A Taylor, WD4INP, Greenville, North Carolina, July 11, IRCA via DXLD) But what has Delano, California (just north of Bakersfield) ---- to do with Radio Martí -- 1180 -- or Greenville ??? (Mike McKenna, ibid.) Some of the Radio Martí transmissions (on shortwave) are broadcast from Delano, at least as of a year ago. 73 (Joe Miller, ibid.) Mike, About 60% of Delano's hours are Martí time. I think maybe Greenville's hours are about 55% Martí. The rest of either station's hours are VOA. Delano had some Voice of Greece and BBC. But 1180 is solid Martí, and that's why I questioned the listing of the pseudo- callsign "VOA." Wayne Heinen pointed out that QSLs for Marathon come from Washington on VOA QSL cards for 1180 (and, I guess, by extension, other Martí transmissions. If people knew RM's address in Hialeah, they probably should report there as an IBB secretary in Washington wouldn't know anything about RM's programming. RM does its own audience research, and logically reports ought to go there (Charles (retired IBB Greenville Transmitter Troll) Taylor, ibid.) Thanks. Now that I put my Federal Government Cap on --- I see the logic. To hit Cuba by radio -- you use a transmitter site 2,000 miles away -- and not the site less than 200 miles away. I just forgot that Radio Marti -- is run by no smarty. And the distance is so far apart - - that there is room to put another 50 KW AM station "on the air" just a few miles away from the Delano site on 1180. Just plain Fedral Thinking -- at its best (Mike McKenna, ibid.) Thank you. The last sentence happens to be correct. As the guy who used to schedule all Radio Martí shortwave transmissions, before I decided I needed to spend more time on the beach and in the shag joints of North Myrtle, maybe I can 'splain sumpin... HF ground wave doesn't go very far, and skywave has a skip zone. Thus Greenville and Delano (and formerly Bethany - sigh! that was a good site for Cuba!!) are used for HF to Cuba. That's why you won't see Martí leasing HF out of Florida, or even Goose Creek, SC. Too close! I stand by my "Fedral Thinking". Some of us who worked for the Feds gave a %^$%^$^%$! Many still do! df (Dan Ferguson, ibid.) Martí's night transmission from Delano put a whopping signal into here on 6030. IBB moves 6030 from Greenville to Delano at 2200 EST, I think. Carrier and modulation at Greenville drop right at 2200. Delano comes up at 2159:30 and modulation comes up at 2200 sharp. I think Delano propagates better at night into Cuba. Not sure. Anyway, the particular transmitter at Greenville that drops Mart? at 2200 is turned around and comes back up for a transmission to West Africa --- too far for Delano to hit well. Another handover is 13860. Greenville does Martí on 13860 [sic: 13820!] until afternoon, and Delano takes it afterward, I think. The 1180 is four in-line towers aimed at La Habana. 200 kW, effective. It does get into Cuba, and, yes, folks down there know about nulling co-channel Rebelde. Somebody could build another 1180 50 kW on the coast, too. RM-1180 puts very little power of the side of the array (Charles Taylor, ibid.) Thanks for all the good information. It appears that there are two sites or two parts to "Delano". One site just east of McFarland, South of Delano, CA and another north of Delano -- west of Earlimart - Pixley, CA. One site transmit -- the other receive ?? (Mike McKenna, ibid.) Mike, Negatory. Just one site a bit south of the intersection of Melcher Road and Garces Highway, on Melcher Road. There is a wood chip burning plant (I think) near McFarland. There is a dairy west of Earlimart. Can't think of the name of the latter dairy. When the wind was right --- you know what I mean. Both show up on satellite imagining [sic]. Also North Kern Facility of the CA Bureau of Prisons. Sight of the place made my blood run cold. Greenville has two transmitter plants, "Beargrass" and "Black Jack." Beargrass was closed recently, left to rot away. Your tax dollars hard at play! Don't think Delano ever had a receive plant. Audio feed came down phone lines. (Charles A Taylor, WD4INP Greenville, North Carolina, ibid.) Along FL Gu'ff coast, Martí 1180 heard weakly, fluttering beneath los dos o tres Rebeldes. Pure 'sea gain' effect, as it's a tough pull even around the Keys. zzzzzzzzzzz pv zecchino manamarti key, fl (Paul Vincent Zecchino, FL, ibid.) Wife and I drove to Cayo Hueso (Key West) twice. I tuned 1180, and both times Marathon-1180 was buried under los dos o tres trasmisores de Radio Rebelde. Marathon started to come up on top about 1 mile from their towers. Compañero Carlitos (Charles A Taylor, WD4INP Greenville, North Carolina, ibid.) Thank you for taking the lead on this, Dan. You are absolutely correcto-mundo about the HF skip zones. Add to that the ability of major shortwave broadcasters to beam their transmissions in a fairly narrow pattern, and voilà, VOA Delano should be heard very well in Cuba. Lest we not forget that many VOA/RM broadcasts are jammed, as well as propagation conditions changing daily, it is important to transmit from different locations, at different frequencies, and at different times in order to get through. I for one applaud the work that both you and Charles Taylor have done for our country. VY73 de (Joe Miller, AB8YP, Troy, MI, ibid.) I believe the NRC pattern book has the 1180 pattern. As I remember, it was basically a circle right through Marathon aimed at Cuba, with nothing to the N/NW/W, All Southeast. I think they are running 100 KW aren't they? They are rare up here. Logged and QSL'd years ago under both VOA and Radio Martí. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) Paul, According to the NRC DA Pattern Book, it looks like a typical ND pattern for a 50-kW station, except the origin/transmitter site is on the edge of the north of the circle. I just looked it up, and was surprised. I thought it was elongated toward La Habana; but in fact appears to be (as I described it) a broad beam. There also seem to be no minor side-lobes common on many "tight" DA patterns. I expect never to hear RM-1180 unless they do an equipment test on Monday morning on a single tower. Probably won't ID. Incidentally 1180 and all RM HF frequencies close down 0000 - 0500 EST on Monday mornings! (Charles A Taylor, WD4INP, Greenville, North Carolina, ibid.) ** U S A. YEARNING FOR, OR AT LEAST FINDING PARALLELS TO, THE COLD WAR. "Now we are again faced with a new and dangerous global threat, the rise of jihadist terrorism. But more than five years after the Sept. 11 attacks, we have not yet responded with the creativity displayed at the outset of the Cold War. Instead, we are either disparaging Cold War institutions or, at best, tinkering with them to make them play a role for which they were never designed. With a presidential election approaching, we should push the candidates to provide some imaginative ideas and a vision that match the creativity exhibited 60 years ago [including an] organization for public diplomacy in the digital age. This is a field in which America, with its values and media savvy, should be triumphing, but instead it is failing astonishingly. The outmoded structures of the Broadcast Board of Governors, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and the like -- built for an analog broadcast era -- should be swept away for a coherent agency empowered to create an honest and open information strategy built for the age of blogs, social networks, digital streaming and satellite. It should be led by people with the integrity of Edward R. Murrow (who was tapped by President John F. Kennedy to run the sorely missed U.S. Information Agency) and the creativity of the inventors of Google and MySpace." . . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/08/AR2007070800921.html (Walter Isaacson, Washington Post, 9 July 2007 via kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) With all that "creativity" of the Cold War era, it still took 45 years to bring about the fall of communism in Europe, and that largely because Mikhail Gorbachev hesitated to use tanks to quell dissent. During those Cold War years, the BBC was the international broadcaster with the largest audience and most impact, even thought the United States spent more than Britain on international broadcasting. This was because Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty were overlapping and competing with each other, sometimes transmitting to the same country at the same time of day. And U.S. international broadcasters tried to mix news and propaganda, when the audience wanted the former and not the latter. Do we really want to return to that? (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** U S A. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY FOR DUMMIES July 10, 2007; Page A20 GLOBAL VIEW By BRET STEPHENS Late last month, President Bush gave an address at the Islamic Center in Washington, D.C., where he announced that the United States would for the first time appoint an observer to the Organization of the Islamic Conference. "Our special envoy will listen to and learn from representatives from Muslim states and will share with them America's views and values," he said. "This is an opportunity for Americans to demonstrate to Muslim communities our interest in respectful dialogue and continued friendship." To say public diplomacy hasn't been this administration's forte is a truism and an understatement. Still, it's hard to recall any presidential initiative as spectacularly misjudged and needless since Ronald Reagan paid tribute to Nazi soldiers at Bitburg . . . http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB118403480621361747-lMyQjAxMDE3ODE0MDAxMzA0Wj.html This article will be available to non-subscribers of the Online Journal for up to seven days after it is e-mailed. MORE ABOUT BRET STEPHENS Bret Stephens is a member of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board. He joined the Journal in New York in 1998 as a features editor and moved to Brussels the following year to work as an editorial writer for the paper's European edition. In 2002, Mr. Stephens, then 28, became editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post, where he was responsible for its news, editorial, electronic and international divisions, and where he also wrote a weekly column. He returned to his present position in late 2004 and was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum the following year. Mr. Stephens was raised in Mexico City and educated at the University of Chicago and the London School of Economics. He lives with his family in New York City. He invites comments to bstephens @ wsj.com (via David Cole, OK, July 10, DXLD) Mentions VOA Persian service ** U S A. 5070, WWCR, Nashville, TN, 0225-0300, Su Jul 08, DX- programmes, first the last items from DX-Partyline with Allen Graham, 0230 WWCR ID, ad Universal Radio, World of Radio with Glenn Hauser about web stations, R Budapest, R Kuwait and propagation outlook, 0300 WWCR ID and talk, 44444. Best heard for a long time! (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window July 11 via DXLD) ** U S A. Hi folks, Received some recent feedback from Adrian Peterson about WGTG TX QTH. The description Adrian provided me & feedback from my maps of the areas where I later believed the former WGTG site to be indicates the site to be located here: 34 57 07N 84 21 11W Resolution isn't the best & no obvious antennas can this be seen, so either removed or not seen???? Regards (Ian Baxter, Australia, SHORTWAVESITES via DXLD) I vaguely recall Dave Frantz telling me that at some point WGTG moved slightly from one place to another due to problems with the neighbors, so that could throw off pinpointing them (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CW stations to rise from the dead --- OK, maybe a little off-topic, but interesting nonetheless; some silent coastal CW stations are going to return to the air beginning tomorrow and they want reception reports: http://www.eham.net/articles/17064 (Harry Helms, W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19, July 11, ABDX via DXLD) Viz.: Night of the Living (Commercial) CW: from Brian D. Smith, W9IND (ex-WO9I, KA9OIH, WN9ICB) on July 11, 2007 View comments about this article! The last commercial CW station fell silent in 1999, but once a year, several of them fire up their vintage equipment for a one-night return to the airwaves. The eighth annual "Night of Nights" will begin at 0001 UTC July 13 -- which, in the continental United States, is the afternoon/evening of Thursday, July 12. CW transmissions will continue until at least 0700 UTC July 13, and the stations will issue QSLs to those who submit valid reception reports. Scheduled participants include such time-honored stations as KPH, WLO, KFS (returning to the air) and NMN (participating for the first time since the U.S. Coast Guard ended the use of Morse code). Although "Night of Nights" is traditionally an SWL event, this year the commercial stations will be joined by K6KPH, representing the Radio Maritime Historical Society. Manned by professional operators, K6KPH will accept reception reports for KPH, KFS and KSM. But the Society encourages all hams to work the station: "(P)lease don't hesitate to call, no matter what your code speed or experience level may be." Incidentally, the stations prefer reports expressed as QSA/QRK or SINPO/SINFO, since RST is "frowned upon," according to the Society. For fans of CW and/or radio history, this is the real deal -- a chance to obtain QSL cards from stations that are essentially returning from the dead. For many hams, these stations provided a daily source of code practice, thanks to their constantly repeating messages and perfectly spaced characters. For more information, follow this link: http://www.radiomarine.org/non8.html [see also the eham link for more info and comments] (via DXLD) ** U S A. ABOUT THE FOWLER PEAK PIRATE Question: What is the status on the two allegedly illegal broadcast stations on 104.5 and 106.7 MHz in or near central California? The two stations were reportedly built on Fowler Peak and were believed to have gone dark in early December 2006 following an inspection by the FCC's San Francisco office. Answer: The FCC simply says that the case is still an active and ongoing investigation. What makes this case unusual is that the pirate is a licensed broadcaster according to our readers, and the licensee built these stations without FCC permission to extend his or her coverage into distant markets. Obviously the licensee will be in very hot water if the claims are true. For background information, see the following CGC Communicator newsletters: 770, 772, 773, 775, 776 and 782. The unauthorized operations were originally dubbed "The Arnold Pirates" until the site was pinpointed by our readers as being located on Fowler Peak. http://www.bext.com/_CGC/contents.htm (CGC Communicator July 10 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. Re WCMA now 50 kW on 1560: WCMA has had a CP to go to 50 kW for almost 2 years and the station has been for sale for about 2 years as well. The owner is simply using all the publicity to pump up the sale price! He was asking $495,000 for the CP; god only knows what he's asking now! Probably something that is absolutely and utterly without any questionable doubt, INSANE. There's all that power (50 kW) with not a lot of population or economic base! (And remember, this is A D-A-Y-T-I-M-E-R!) The station previously held the call letters WTKN; it got the WCMA call letters from 1230 in Corinth, Mississippi, they swapped calls. Why they changed, I have no idea as WCMA was a heritage set of call letters in Corinth since the early 40s! (Paul Walker, WABV, IRCA via DXLD) A real possibility for the West coast at LSR, but I still see CH 2500. I wonder if still Gospel? 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) Well, their slogan is "Classic Country" per: http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/info?call=WCMA&service=AM But still daytime only and 2.5 kW during critical hours. Info from: http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/info?call=WCMA&service=AM (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, MA, ibid.) Looks as if he created a new entity (Perihelion Global) for himself so he could try to sell it under that name instead of Beebe Broadcasting, too (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), ibid.) Perihelion Global is a real company --- google it! :) (Paul Walker, ibid.) ** VENEZUELA. RCTV SALDRÁ POR CABLE A PARTIR DE 16 DE JULIO AP Posted: 2007-07-12 09:43:25 CARACAS (AP) - El canal privado Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), que cesó sus transmisiones a finales de mayo luego de que el gobierno se negó a renovarle la licencia, anunció el miércoles que a partir del 16 de julio lanzará su señal por televisión por cable. "A partir del próximo 16 de julio... saldremos al aire por Intercable, Directv, Netuno, Planet, por ahora, puesto que seguimos en el proceso de negociación con las demás cableras nacionales y regionales", dijo el director general de RCTV, Marcel Granier, al anunciar el retorno de las transmisiones del canal. "Debemos volver en primer lugar por nuestros trabajadores para tratar de mantener la mayor cantidad posible del talento", expresó Granier al justificar la decisión que tomó la directiva de RCTV de sacar su señal por servicio de suscripción. Agregó que otra de las razones que sopesaron para salir por cable fue que "los espacios de información plural son cada día más reducidos" en Venezuela. En Venezuela funcionan más de seis empresas de televisión por suscripción entre las se incluyen Intercable, Supercable, Directv, Netuno y Planet. Según estimaciones de la cámara local que agrupa a esas empresas cerca de 20% de los venezolanos tienen acceso al cable. El directivo afirmó que en Venezuela se vive una "situación parecida al régimen cubano" porque hay una "dictadura comunicacional" donde impera la "versión oficial de lo que ocurre en el país". Cordiales 73! (via Oscar de Céspedes (Miami, FL), July 12, condig list via DXLD) SHUT BY CHÁVEZ, VENEZUELA’S RCTV TO RETURN ON CABLE RCTV, Venezuela’s oldest and most popular television channel before it was shut down 28 May by President Hugo Chávez, will resurface this month on cable, RCTV Director General Marcel Granier said yesterday. Granier said the privately-owned Radio Caracas Television will broadcast on subscription television from July 16, some six weeks after being shut down when Chávez refused to renew its broadcasting license on grounds the network was conspiring to overthrow him. Granier said RCTV would meanwhile continue to fight for the right to broadcast openly “so that we can reach all of the Venezuelan population without charging anyone.” “RCTV’s going back on the air is not a victory in the battle against President Hugo Chávez, but a triumph for the public which wants to enjoy our programmes,” Granier said at a press conference. On cable RCTV will offer shows similar to those it used to broadcast, but it will not be investing in new programming, according to Granier, claiming that the government had “stolen” some $140 million worth of equipment. With its soap opera-heavy programme schedule but also a firmly independent political line often critical of Chávez, RCTV was the country’s most viewed channel, and its shutdown in May provoked widespread protests. (Source: AFP) (July 12th, 2007 - 12:14 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE. 6045, ZBC, Guineafowl, Gweru, 0249-0301, Jul 06, vernacular speech and drums bothered by Vatican R 6040. Presume ex 3396 which I cannot hear anymore, weak on clear frequency (Martien Groot, Netherlands, DSWCI DX Window July 11 via DXLD) But on Jul 10 at 0155-0210 I heard it back on 3396 while 6045 was Off! (Anker Petersen, Denmark, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 4920, UNID in AM and USB, 1805-1825* and *1903-1950*, Jun 24, Russian pop music with singer groups, no announcements! Very good audio and modulation, 45544. Perhaps it is Minsk utility station, Belarus, back on the air? (Roland Schulze, Germany, DSWCI DX Window July 11 via DXLD) It was not on the air when checked in same timeslots on Jul 02, 03 or 04 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, ibid.) Not RRI Biak I suppose at those hours, if still on (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Hello Gleen, I turned to listen to the Japanese broadcast on 1300-1400 on 7265, but there is no Japanese broadcast on 7265 kHz, it's an unknown south Asia language broadcast talked by man, and strange folk music, sign off on 1330. And please pay a visit to my new blog at http://blog.goo.ne.jp/daerduonodaerduo {corrected} (Lenfant Lee, China, July 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) He`s referring to V. of Russia, scheduled 13-14 in Japanese via Irkutsk, according to Aoki, EiBi, HFCC and WRTH. Then at 14, CRI takes over the frequency in Sinhala via Kashi. Looking at the A-07 VOR sked in WRTH, we find at 13-14 they have Hindi and Pashto on a variety of other frequencies, but nothing ending at 1330, unless there have been recent schedule changes. Since he does not mention any interference, we assume this was still the VOR Irkutsk transmitter, perhaps with a feed mixup if not a permanent change (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ PICTURES FROM NASB 2007 ELKHART, INDIANA Pictures of May 2007 Annual Meeting of NASB and US DRM Meeting, Elkhart, Indiana: http://www.shortwave.org/NASB2007Pictures.html Regards, (Alokesh Gupta, India, July 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Lots and lots, and no one identified. Well, I recognize a few: Jeff White, Adrian Peterson, Mike Adams; and I think the fellow with a long beard is Elder Jacob O. Meyer, of the 5-percent-modulated WMLK. This of course was all about DRM. There are also mp3 files and powerpoint slides (synch them yourself) now: http://www.shortwave.org/mediafiles.htm (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) READING [ENGLAND] INTERNATIONAL RADIO GROUP Three more dates have been booked for Reading International Radio Group meetings: August 18th October 20th December 1st Meetings are held at the Reading International Solidarity Centre, 35-39 London Street, Reading from 2.30 p.m. (Mike Barraclough, worlddxclub & BDXC-UK via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DTV: see PROPAGATION NASB/DRM meeting audio & video: see CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES DRM: see also GERMANY; KUWAIT FCC ACTS ON SET-TOP BOX WAIVER REQUESTS Following are an FCC announcement re set-top box waiver requests; a statement by FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin on same; the FCC's dismissal of NCTA's set-top box request; a set-top box waiver request granted to certain multichannel video program distributors; and, finally, an FCC Erratum to the fourth item. http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-274776A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-274776A2.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-2920A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-07-2921A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-274887A1.pdf (CGC Communicator July 10 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) HD RADIO [thread continued from 7-079] Technological paradigm-busters often have a "Zener effect" --- nothing much seems to be happening for a few years, then a couple of pieces fall into place, and all hell breaks loose. Microsoft debuted the first version of Windows at the November 1983 Comdex in Vegas, yet it wasn't until 1995 that Windows finally conquered the world. Firms like CompuServe and The Source were offering 300 baud on-line services (including e-mail) back in 1982 (I had an $8 an hour CompuServe account), but it was until the late 1990s that significant numbers of people moved on-line. And my point is? This: history is repeating itself with wireless broadband. The 802.16e/802.22 standards are finalized, Intel is now offering WiMax chipsets for portable devices, the FCC is finally near a decision on allocating spectrum (including the primo 700 MHz range), so we're near the Zener point where the "avalanche" happens for wireless broadband. The barriers have been regulatory rather than technical (unlike, say, hydrogen-powered autos) and those barriers are rapidly evaporating. Prices will rapidly drop, just like the rates for on-line and cell phone service did. Infrastructure isn't the issue with HD radio. The issue is something I used to ask the editors I managed when they wanted to sign a book: "Who will buy this and why will they buy it?" In other words, does HD radio have a sufficient "Damn, I gotta have that!" quality? MP3 players and cell phones had that quality in spades when they were introduced. Consumers could quickly grasp their benefits --- "carry around hundreds of your favorite songs in your pocket" or "carry around a telephone in your pocket" were great selling propositions. Ditto CDs --- I still remember how stunned I was by the dynamic range of the first CDs I heard --- and HDTV has a similar striking improvement over analog TV. And people will quickly grasp the benefits of wireless broadband and want it. You only have to look at the reception accorded the iPhone -- - with its expensive, relatively slow EDGE broadband service --- to realize that. . . . . and just wait until faster, cheaper, and better options are available. But what are the benefits of HD radio that consumers can quickly grasp? And are those benefits worth the asking price of HD radios? I'm not so much opposed to HD radio as much as I am a skeptic; why should the average consumer (as opposed to radiohead or audio fetishist) care about it? Regardless of how many broadcasters convert to HD, my fearless prediction is that HD radio will have few listeners until there is virtually no price difference between HD and analog receivers. The current and projected benefits (like data services) are not, IMO, worth the price differential. Maybe Ibiquity and the NAB see HD radio as an earthshaking development, but I think the average person just sees some fancy AM/FM radio --- and a very expensive one at that. (Harry Helms W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19 http://topsecrettourism.com ABDX via DXLD) Harry, I agree with your points, but I would like to add that I am not sure that HD can survive unless it gets more creative with its programming. I like one of the four HD subchannels I can get (assuming they are all on) but I can get even better programming over broadband. One of the HD-2 channels is carrying the live concerts from New York, the Climate Change Concerts, but the left and right channels are out of phase. Also two of the other three HD channels are off right now. I was trying to get 98.7 (licensed to Ft. Pierce) in HD, but it was switching between analog and digital. It sounded terrible. My wife heard it and said --- I thought it was supposed to be CD quality. She has heard the many commercials being run talking about the secret signals between the stations, or something like that, and that it is CD quality. She said quote, "it sounds like s***``. I think HD should have been better prepared before this advertising blitz, but then again, maybe it's just here. I bought an HD Radio because I am a radio geek, and I love new toys, but I am just not impressed enough to recommend it to anyone. On the other hand, when I bought Sirius for the same reason (a new toy) I got hooked, That was 18 months ago, and I do recommend it anyone who will listen. What is sad is, this is a true story --- I worked for a station in Iowa for 6 months in 2006. I gave a ride to our GM and she saw the Sirius radio and told me if I mentioned that I owned a Sirius Radio to the owner of the company, I would probably be fired on the spot. This spoke to me of the fear that some in terrestrial Radio have for competition. Whether Satellite, LPFM, or the XM and Sirius merger. I like the fact that I will have a choice in my car of thousands of streams. Terrestrial Radio will be fine if it gets the Programming issue. It`s so simple. Give the people what they want, and they will listen. (hint: live and LOCAL) (Juan Gualda, Ft. Pierce FL, ibid.) Juan, There is no such thing as truth in advertising. You only have to go as far as your local Burger King to compare that luscious-looking burger in the picture with the squashed, flattened and ketchup-laden mess to know that. If they can get you to buy it, they achieved their goal. Not counting food places, seventy-five percent (or more) of the dissatisfied product buyers will shrug their shoulders and tell their friends its a POS but never take the time or energy to return it. As far as radio goes, live and local is definitely better than syndicated hooey, but --- FM tries to go with more music and less talk because people who want music tune away during talk. At that point, there is no difference between local and non-local. AM is bound to the syndicated talk. Stations on either band would have to pay local talent, and that's probably more expensive than what they're doing now. Given IBOC clutter on either band, use your iPod until the dust settles (Mike Hawkins, ibid.) We've been hearing for several years that the stores will soon be flooded with HD radios. And what do we actually have? Wal-Mart agrees to sell ONE in-dash model. Radio Shack blows out a bunch at $100, but reviews have been far less than stellar. Most people still haven't even seen one. Admittedly, we've finally hit the point where you can actually get one if you want one, but it's not like you can run to the closest mega-mart and find a wide selection of models and price points. Given the typical rate of change in the cell phone/computer/personal music business, which I think can be fairly described as close to greased lightning (the iPod first hit the market less than six years ago), compared with the rate of change in radio, which I think can be accurately described as glacial, at least as far as consumer hardware is concerned, I gotta go with WiMax as running rings around HD radio, even if it isn't available yet (Jay Heyl, ibid.) Well said, Mike. FM can't compete with Broadband if it relies on music alone. I am guessing here, but I think at least 80% or more listeners will find a better "personal" music choice if they look online. It's a matter of being more fragmented. AM/FM Radio can't compete with fragmented music choices unless it can bring people in to listen with personalities, local news, things that CAN`T be found online --- BUT with many clusters doing away with personalities, and with that, the live and local element, they have already lost the battle. A Juke box is a juke box; by default it will have listeners, and maybe many, but it's a matter of time. The era of the gimmick format of the year is over, and music alone is not enough. I am thinking long term here. I have been in Radio 25 years, and I have seen many changes. its been fun, but its been sad too. I have rolled with the changes, and I'll face any challenges to come. Let's hope anyway :-) With all this said, terrestrial radio will get better. It must, to survive (Juan Gualda, ibid.) "WRR has lost 2.5 share points in Collin County since it turned on HD in 2004" tells me a lot more than "I've heard listeners are abandoning stations in fringe areas because of HD." Look - most of us don't have access to the ratings which are a pay service, so we aren't going to have the hard numbers you ask for. But - when I drive to Houston regularly at all times of the year, therefore creating a repeatable reception experiment, and I notice a 60 mile drop in the range of KHTC 107.5, which used to be the first Houston signal you could pick up around Centerville - and almost to the day after it goes HD it has trouble reaching Conroe with a good signal, something is wrong with the way HD was implemented there. This is a serious matter for them, because they lost prime audience. HD, it would seem, causes the analog coverage to decrease dramatically. Forget those coverage maps on Radio-locator - I made careful observations using the same radio each time. And I think plenty of DX'ers on here remember a time when stations were very concerned with reception reports from listeners to alert them that there was a problem. And while we are on the subject of WRR - I NEVER had multipath or picket fencing on them like I have since they went HD. It is bad enough, I know the HD would blend back to analog because the car stereo has a blend function on the multiplex that blends to mono under low signal conditions - AND a crude signal strength meter. WRR is now going out - no bars - over portions of Plano. That didn't happen before HD. Will that affect audience? You tell me - if reception is crappy it is classical listeners who will be the FIRST to complain. But they are a captive audience that won't defect. But they sure won't be impressed with HD if it doesn't cover Collin county reliably (Bruce Carter, ibid.) I play poker online and have been playing in some tournaments with a loosely associated group of players. One of the regular participants recently started streaming music requests and doing live commentary on the tournament. It's just for fun. A friend of his has excess bandwidth at night he donates to support the 20 to 30 people who tune in. It struck me when reading Juan's comment about fragmented music choices that internet "radio", assuming it isn't killed in its entirety by the copyright royalty board, can readily support far more fragmentation of the audience than can any other currently available distribution method. It's hard to imagine even XM or Sirius being able to support a cooking channel, but on the internet it would be no problem. Sign up a few radio/cooking veterans like Melinda Lee and Susan Fenniger (both on in Los Angeles last time I was there), and you'd probably not even have much trouble getting advertisers. Sports topics could be fragmented many ways. Any radio station would be nuts to dedicate even one of its sub-channels to poker, yet I know a bunch of people who would pay reasonable fees to listen to live updates, commentary, and interviews from the World Series of Poker. An internet radio station that could provide that would do quite well. And since the infrastructure cost for such an operation would not be outrageous, the channels could easily come and go as needed. I still have to be convinced the bandwidth issues can truly be overcome, but, if they can, I don't think radio's going to be able to compete. The other thing I think could be a serious issue is geographic coverage. People are willing to put up with fairly bad cell phone reception because there's really no alternative. This WiMax thing is going to have to be more reliable, with near-zero dropouts, or it won't fly as a replacement for radio or the iPod. If reception isn't 100%, people will just stick with what already works (Jay Heyl, ibid.) Jay, Great points. I agree about the dropouts. If it makes for interrupted listening, then it may have problems. New towers are going up all the time though. We'll see (Juan Gualda, ibid.) People who get "free minutes" or "rollover minutes" are infinitely more tolerable of poor cell phone reception. I continually had problems with Nextel coverage, and when I was able to confront them with their "internal-only" coverage maps (which differed considerably from what they tell the public), they let me out of their contract. I told them I was ready to go class action if necessary, and had the documentation to support my case. As far as choices go, I recollect a Bruce Springsteen song from my live concert collection. Its title is "57 Channels and Nothing's On". As far as I can tell, the only medium that really keeps people content is the iPod or MP3 player. It plays only what they want to hear, and if it doesn't, they only have themselves to blame (Mike Hawkins, ibid.) Thread went on and on and on, maybe never continued here (gh) Isn't it lamentable, the way they first corrupt language so that all else may follow? A letter to Radio World Engineering hit it dead on. When Wall St. learned there was a buck to be made in radio, they put their stooges to it. BigKorpseorate/Wall St. shills displaced legitimate talent, the better to stuff more commercials twixt stilted, lifeless, 'entertainment' segments. Doesn't it perfectly summarize this outrage, that 'IBOC' and 'progress' are even found on the same page? After all, we don't - in manner that digital signals were hog- glued to analog - push raw sewage through the drinking water pipe, so as to save on plumbing, do we? Yet this is what BigRadio considers to be progress. Might explain why they lost youth market. And cynically thinking that jamming will somehow secure them a monopoly is a typical short-sighted BigBis non-strategy. They'll have a monopoly all right - 180 percent of nothing (Dr. Zecchino, PV Zecchino, T.D. Mananothing Key, FL, July 9, IRCA via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ DXing DTV near Quincy, IL I'm visiting an old buddy about 12 miles SSE of Quincy, IL, and I'm setting up a RS Model 100 UHF antenna (short, yagi/reflector-type) he already had at around 18 ft. AGL, along with a CM 7777 and used CM rotor. I recently sold him one of my extra RCA ATSC11 STBs. Between yesterday and this morning, I'm amazed at reception. This location is 99-107 miles from most of the St. Louis, MO stations, and most of them seem to be receivable day and night, with some dropouts during the day. Here are some of the stations I've received between last night and this morning: KMTV-DT-45, Omaha, Neb. @ 272 m. 294 deg. (Best catch) KOLR-DT-52, Springfield, MO @ 202 m. 208 deg. KSFX-DT-28, Springfield KYTV-DT-44, Springfield KFVS-DT-57, Cape Girardeu, MO @ 190 m. 150 deg. WOI-DT-59, Ames, IA @ 186 m. 319 deg. WHO-DT-19, Des Moines, IA @ 186 m. 319 deg. KDIN-DT-50, Des Moines, IA (same) WSIU-DT-40, Carbondale, IL @ 160 m. 137 deg. WCIA-DT-48, Champaign, IL @ 150 m. 81 deg. KMOS-DT-15, Sedalia, MO @ 120 m. 227 deg. WUSI-DT-19, Olney, IL @ 180 m. 111 deg. Plus several stations from the Quad City area (Moline, IL; Davenport, IA; Rock Island, IL) @ 113 - 126 miles and a number of stations from various directions under 95 miles (Steve Rich, Indianapolis, IN, July 10, WTFDA via DXLD) That *is* impressive. I think that is due to rural location (not as many stations crowding the band), hazy atmosphere, growing crops and soon. The river *might* help. Someone had mentioned this phenomenon earlier (how far DX one could get in SE IA, was the basic subject), and I'm a firm believer that the heat, crops growing and a rural location really get DX going. In the 70's I used to spend a week or so in South Central Missouri, somewhat near where Marlin Jackson's QTH is. This was on my grandma's farm. I'm not sure about TV but FM had every channel full, day or night on Grandma's portable AM-FM cassette $30 special. This is when tropo had been dead in Indianapolis, it was like an "instant on" when you got past Terre Haute and moved Westward. I would get local, 3000 watt stations from West Central Illinois all the time, at about 150 miles on a tiny radio. You're not far from Jeff Kadet's location, in Macomb. If the steam from the rivers do anything for trop at all, he should be in DX heaven, the Illinois, Spoon, LaMoine and Mississippi are all fairly close (Dave Hascall, ibid.) Hi Dave, I've been getting nightly reception of DTV from the Quad Cities here at Paxton in East Central Illinois. Based on all the accounts of DX in the area, we should probably have someone look into the "Corn Field Effect Theory" in the Mississippi River Valley (Curtis Sadowski, ibid.) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ EDWIN KAGIN LIVE ON GAYBC RADIO, INTERNET THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2007 ~ 3:15 PT ~ http://www.gaybc.com Edwin Kagin, National Legal Director for American Atheists, will be the guest tomorrow (Thursday, July 12, 2007) on the GAYBC Radio Network out of Los Angeles. Mr. Kagin, co-founder of Camp Quest will be interviewed on the John McMullen Show. Edwin will be talking about Atheism, separation of church and state in an era of rampant religious fundamentalism, the recent RALLY FOR REASON at the Creation Museum, and more. You can call in to the program via 818-746-3985, or instant message during the program through AOL via GAYBCstudio. The John McMullen program is broadcast globally daily from 3-6 PM (PACIFIC), 6-9 PM (EASTERN), so check your time zone. Mr. Kagin's interview segment will begin at 3:15 PM Pacific Time [2215 UT] You can live stream the program by clicking on the appropriate icon at http://www.gaybc.com C-SPAN TO AIR SEGMENTS OF AMERICAN ATHEISTS NATIONAL CONVENTION (Wednesday, July 11) AND SATURDAY (July 14) Portions of the 33rd annual National Convention of American Atheists held earlier this year in Seattle, Washington will be aired on the C- SPAN network program "American Perspectives) at 8:00 PM ET this evening (Wednesday, July 11, 2007) and on Saturday, July 14. [0000 UT Sunday July 15, and normally repeats at 0300?] You can watch via television or internet stream through http://www.c-span.org AACON XXXIII featured a blockbuster line-up of speakers including Julia Sweeney, Robert Price, Edwin Kagin, Frank Zindler, Dave Fitzgerald and many more. Check your local listings AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy (AA Media Alert, July 11 via DXLD) ###